The clear light of dawn danced across the sky, and the morning air was cool and refreshing.
Han Xiao drove a truck, using the radar coordinates to head towards Big Horn Mountain. He had been driving all night, but he wasn't tired at all. He had slept while driving last night and was full of energy now.
The open beta had been going on for several days, and the forum's activity level continued to rise. Han Xiao paid special attention to the Planet Aquamarine section, learning about the various newbie landing sites through players' posts. He had long wanted to join in the fun.
The best time to make contact is when the player first appears.
Just two days ago, he used his privileges to obtain a secret intelligence from Dark Net Organization. A Germinal evacuation force happened to be passing through Big Horn Mountain, and he could take care of it along the way. So he decided to head to Big Horn Mountain.
In the distance, the outline of the Big Horn Mountain Settlement appeared. Han Xiao immediately noticed that there were countless tents set up outside the settlement, much like a refugee camp. Players were bustling about, and the area was teeming with people.
Han Xiao parked the truck on a flat area to the side, and it immediately caught the attention of the players.
Han Xiao got off the car with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He leaned against the side of the carriage, puffing out smoke. His posture gave players the illusion that he was a character who could trigger events.
When it comes to understanding players, that's Han Xiao's forte. He analyzed that now that the game has just started its open beta, all players are full of enthusiasm and will try to complete any task, so they are in a state of "hunger". Moreover, because there are too many players in the new player area, some players will definitely not be able to get any tasks. There are too many monks and not enough meat, too many wolves and not enough porridge.
Therefore, Han Xiao knew that at this stage, as long as he, as a "high-level figure," appeared in front of the players, he would definitely arouse their passion. Although the current players were all newbies and didn't have much to offer, they relied on sheer numbers. He happened to have a way to plunder the newbies' pockets and could also test the NPC template function.
To Han Xiao, the players walking around were nothing more than walking wallets.
After posing for a while, a dozen or so players finally came over out of curiosity and cast a Detection.
[Black Phantom - Unknown] (Yellow Name)
[Level: Unknown]
[Attribute: Unknown]
[Danger Level: Extremely Lethal]
"Wow, this is a high-level NPC!"
"This is the first time I've ever seen this."
"How could someone of this level appear in the beginner village? Is he a boss?"
"It doesn't look like it; it seems like it could trigger a quest."
The dozen or so players looked surprised, hesitated, and wondered whether they should come up and touch it.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. He was currently level 40, more than 30 levels higher than the players, and this time he had genuinely detected their Detection. He cleared his throat and said in a very formulaic way, "You all look like a bunch of great young men. I need some help from you."
After saying this, Han Xiao released the task that had been set up beforehand.
These dozen or so players received the quest.
[[Mysterious Person]: You've encountered a mysterious NPC passing by. He seems to have some work for you to do. Try to please him, and you might receive an unexpected surprise.]
The task required players to collect a plant called "Snake Venom Grass." These players found the rewards to be much more generous than the beginner quests in Big Horn Mountain, offering a thousand experience points, and eagerly accepted the task.
Snake venom grass is a relatively common plant. It can be collected near Big Horn Mountain and is also sold in settlements. It is used to make poison arrows. At this time, many players could not afford firearms and were using melee weapons. Han Xiao set up this mission mainly for testing and to make the following actions logical.
"My current task quota is much higher than before, and I've already reached the basic level for a Grade D task."
Thinking this, Han Xiao opened the template, and detailed credit limit data appeared:
[Maximum reward amount: 36940]
[Total Level Lv40: +12000] (Each level of the first advancement grants +300)
[Rank D: +10000]
[Factions: Germinal (Nemesis) +3000, Thirteenth Bureau (Friendly) +2130, Blood Pact Union (Respected) +3950, Chaisrod Family (Friendly) +1300, Farian Group (Friendly) +1200]
[Legend Points: Black Phantom (Planet Aquamarine) +5%, the Mysterious Zero (Planet Aquamarine) +5%]
The bonus to the single transaction limit for two Legend Points is a percentage increase of +10%. The Legend Points varies depending on the region. Each Planet Legend Points limit by 5%. The larger the region, the greater the bonus, and so on.
The most significant bonus from Legend Points is to the total daily limit. Each Legend Points doubles the total limit, which was originally five times the maximum single limit, but now it's seven times, amounting to nearly 260,000 experience points.
Many players who hadn't accepted the quest gathered around, watching Han Xiao with curiosity and whispering among themselves.
"These are high-ranking people? They look no different from us."
"Black Phantom, that sounds so corny."
"I don't know what field of study he works in."
Oh right, I forgot to mention, the most popular class among players in the open beta is actually the Esper Class!
Because the other four classes require Basic Knowledge to change jobs, while the Esper Class can be obtained by spending money in the store. The rich players use all sorts of methods to get ahead. Of course, although special abilities All Kinds of Oddities, almost no player is lucky enough to awaken a high-potential special ability. In addition, special abilities consume energy, and at the current level of the player, they cannot exert their power at all. The effect is very weak, and it can only last for a dozen seconds at most, which is both weak and fast.
Before long, the players who had completed the quest returned with a bunch of snake venom herbs. They were delighted to see their experience points skyrocketing and felt like they hadn't had enough.
Seeing that there were enough onlookers around, Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he said, "I will stay here for a few days. If you need anything, I can provide some weapons."
As he spoke, he brought up the item selling window and opened it to all players. Han Xiao only set up a few types of weapons: Folding War Blade, ordinary pistols and submachine guns, as well as a large amount of ammunition and special ammunition. He did not sell any other machinery because novices did not have that much money.
However, he also set up a powerful piece of equipment called the "Light Power Arm," priced at a level that no beginner could afford. It's essentially bait, like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey to attract players. Now, the Light Power Arm is of little use to him, mainly due to its incompatibility with the combat mode. Moreover, it's not a rare product; it's just a basic exoskeleton mechanism. Other mechanics will develop similar machines in the future, so selling it early allows him to rip off players. He's the only one doing this.
One issue to be aware of is that he once manufactured Folding War Blade and Light Power Arm for Stardragon, which seems to pose a risk of exposure. However, in reality, it's not a big problem. First, Stardragon is not his enemy. Second, his whereabouts are elusive, so even if his identity is known, it doesn't matter. Most importantly, the efficiency of information exchange between players and factions is very low.
Therefore, selling these machines in the short term will not be a problem. The profits in the player market are enormous, and he won't abandon them. As for the future...
"Once we've grown up, we won't need to keep our identities a secret anymore, so why be a coward?"
Leaving aside Master Han's inner thoughts, all the players who saw the shop items were shocked and gasped in astonishment!
"This is a mysterious businessman!"
"Light Power Arm, my god, this thing is an early-game godsend!"
"It's just too expensive, costing 20,000 Aquamarine Dollar. Who can afford that? Besides, it requires 25 points of Strength to use, which means you need to be at least level 10 to reach that attribute."
"But the guns are really cheap, practically dirt cheap! A pistol only costs 1,500!"
Players swarmed over, their faces full of enthusiasm, calling out to their friends, and soon Han Xiao was completely surrounded.
The allure of firearms to novice players is like the significance of a computer that never crashes to an author who frequently loses their drafts. Almost all players use melee weapons, and it usually takes a dozen people to barely kill a weak beast. Firearms in Big Horn Mountain are ridiculously expensive, and ammunition also costs money, making them unaffordable for beginners.
Han Xiao's current manufacturing cost for a pistol is only around 800, and with a profit margin of 100%, he's already being incredibly honest. You simply can't find a cheaper pistol than his, and he doesn't produce shoddy workmanship. Brother Xiao still has the basic ethics of a mechanic, and he earns money with a clear conscience.
With limited firearms available, players rushed to pool their money to buy them. Those who managed to buy a gun were overjoyed and excited, while those who didn't were dejected.
Closed beta testers also crowded in. The guild leader of the Kill the World Guild, Chop into Eighteen Pieces Cheng Shibalu, bought a pistol from Han Xiao and found that it was countless times better than the homemade guns sold in Big Horn Mountain. He immediately regretted it, thinking that he should not have bought the weapons from Big Horn Mountain.
The goods in the truck sold out, and Han Xiao made over 300,000 yuan in one go. Each player's funds are limited, but there are at least tens of thousands of players in Big Horn Mountain, so it adds up. The truck is modeled after the deceased Big Black. After selling the prepared firearms, he can use the small lathe in the cargo compartment to manufacture new firearms and ammunition.
The real profit from selling firearms lies in the ammunition. Those who buy firearms inevitably end up buying ammunition as well. This is called bundled sales, a hard demand. He learned this lesson in his previous life when he bought instant noodles without seasoning packets from the convenience store downstairs.
Players who bought the gun were overjoyed. One of them aimed at a distant tree and fired, but the recoil caused his wrist to twitch, and the bullet flew off somewhere.
Many players have discovered that without proper shooting skills, they cannot unleash the full power of firearms, turning their initial excitement into frustration.
This is precisely the second layer of bundled sales and after-sales service that Han Xiao has prepared!
Han Xiao chuckled to himself. He set up a skill learning window, but this time he didn't directly release it to the player. Instead, he set a requirement of five points of favorability to learn skills from him.
Players immediately discovered this feature.
"You can actually learn skills from Black Phantom!"
"Wow, it has so many features!"
"You need five points of favorability to learn a skill. How do I increase favorability?"
"I've discovered something! For every 500 Aquamarine Dollar spent, Black Phantom's favorability increases by one! Wait, giving money works too!"
"This is way too expensive!"
The players nowadays have at most one or two thousand yuan, which they saved up by doing quests. Han Xiao is well aware of the depth of their wallets, after all, he also went through the novice period. This move is to give players the feeling that learning skills is a rare opportunity.
Humans are like that; they don't appreciate what's given to them, but they crave what they can't have. This is also a little scheme to improve one's status in the eyes of players. Only by investing resources in them can a sense of identification be cultivated. The specific principle is roughly the same as when an ordinary player has a good impression of a character in a game, they will unconsciously increase their good impression of that NPC... Of course, Master Han's main purpose is to make another quick buck.
Players work hard to save up some money, how could I not make a profit?!
Constantly creating demand for customers and forcing them to buy products—that's the capitalist's Life Drain tactic. Han Xiao stroked his chin, sighing, "Sigh, if I had gone into business back then, there wouldn't be any chance for Sicong."