From the mission Han Xiao issued, Maple Moon guessed that Han Xiao and Germinal were enemies. If it were an ordinary player, they wouldn't even look at the mission background, just complete the mission and be done with it. But she enjoyed the game's storyline and was very curious about the story. The name Black Phantom made her imagine all kinds of assassins and Revenge stories. Maple Moon keenly felt that there was something worth exploring.
"This is the first player I've interacted with outside of quests and trades." Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
Master Han had considered the relationship between himself and the players and concluded that they were not enemies (except for players who accepted quests to defeat him). He could extract benefits from the players and cultivate players with potential to become his allies. Through mutual benefit and a bond of shared interests, he could make them willingly fight for him.
The fact that players can resurrect seems like a disadvantage for Han Xiao, but from another perspective, it also means they are the players' most useful henchmen and cannon fodder. Although there are many unscrupulous players, a symbol of chaos, Han Xiao understands the players' psychology and motivations. As long as he grasps this Vein, he can control their actions to a certain extent. If he uses this well, he can gain a huge advantage when facing NPC forces, just like he has an advantage when facing players!
This seems to have a name: "Playing both sides"?
Oh no, it should be called "grasping with both hands, and making both hands strong!"
Han Xiao had a sudden thought. He glanced at her, then turned and walked into the carriage. Maple Moon was stunned for a moment, then followed him.
The carriage was full of lathes and parts. Han Xiao casually pointed and gestured for Maple Moon to sit wherever she wanted. He lit a cigarette and slowly inhaled, the smoke creating an air of mystery. Seeing this, Maple Moon knew something was going to happen, her heart pounding with nervous anticipation.
Han Xiao flicked his cigarette ash and said, "Germinal is an evil organization that exploits the grief of a nation's destruction, manipulating those who have lost their country to fight for their ambitions, attempting to ignite the flames of war and add another scar to this already wounded world..."
Han Xiao embellished the story, recounting many of Germinal's evil and bloody deeds. He didn't make things up; Germinal had indeed done many bloody things. He could access the Dark Net's archives and his memories from his past life, allowing him to recount these events in detail.
As Han Xiao recounted the story, Maple Moon's emotions fluctuated. Her goodwill towards the Germinal Organization plummeted, replaced by genuine anger. Maple Moon was the kind of emotional player who valued the game's storyline and made decisions based on her own heart, not solely driven by self-interest.
There are actually many dedicated players like Maple Moon. After all, most players come to enjoy the game, and games are stories that can immerse people in them. However, most of these players play single-player games, and only a minority of them are truly dedicated to online games.
Han Xiao actually admired players like Maple Moon. He coughed and deliberately asked a question that was clearly a trigger, "Are you willing to be an enemy of Germinal?"
This is the same as the meaning of YES/NO.
Maple Moon nodded solemnly.
"Black Phantom's affinity towards you has increased by 5 points."
After adjusting the favorability rating, Han Xiao took out a cell phone, handed it to Maple Moon, and said, "Very good, I see your courage. Once you've grown up and have the [book/illustration], contact me again using this phone."
"You have received the quest [Black Phantom's Invitation]: Reach level 20 and contact Black Phantom."
Maple Moon was overjoyed and secretly thrilled that she had made the right choice. Just as she had thought, there was a hidden storyline that could be triggered!
Seeing Maple Moon's excited expression, Han Xiao smiled inwardly. He planned to cast a wide net to catch big fish. Due to the limited quota, he could only train a limited number of players, so the selection was very important. Maple Moon would be a famous Mechanic Class player in the future, and could complement him. She was undoubtedly a good backup plan... uh, a backup option.
As for the specific candidates, we still need to plan carefully. Han Xiao plans to select players who are principled and capable. As long as he shows that he has a hidden storyline that can be triggered, other professional players will automatically come to him, which will give him more room for selection.
A vague outline of a plan emerged, Han Xiao felt it had great potential. However, for now, they needed to wait for the players to grow stronger before proceeding to the next step.
After seeing off the excited Maple Moon, Han Xiao waited until noon. Seeing that it was almost time, he set up a new task and waited for the player to trigger it.
"[Hunting Germinal]: Follow the Black Phantom to intercept a Germinal unit. This is a prize pool mission with a base prize of 35,000 experience points. Accepting the mission requires 500 experience points, which will be distributed proportionally to the top five players (or teams) based on their contribution."
Han Xiao can issue all types of tasks, including prize pool tasks, but unfortunately the reward depends on the maximum amount of a single task. However, for players whose average level is around four or five, 35,000 experience points is still an astronomical number.
Players have to pay an "entry fee" to accept the prize pool mission. Han Xiao tried it and found that he could not mobilize the experience that players put into the prize pool. He was a little helpless and felt that he had lost a way to make money (by scamming) players.
The first to discover the prize pool quest was the Kill the World Guild, who were immediately stunned by the rewards.
"This is the first prize pool mission to appear, right?"
"Holy crap, 35,000 experience points! Even considering the initial investment, that's way too much! I only get a few hundred experience points when I do a quest!"
"If more players take on this quest, the prize pool will accumulate to an astronomical figure!"
The entire Kill the World Guild was in an uproar.
Chop into Eighteen Pieces, then his eyes flashed. "No, we can't let other players accept this quest!"
The guild members were startled and looked at the guild leader in confusion, "Why?"
"Chop into Eighteen Pieces confidently, "This quest only rewards five players or teams. There are tens of thousands of players on Big Horn Mountain, including some professional players. Instead of taking a chance and competing with them, we should grab the 35,000 experience points! If only our own team accepts the quest, we can manipulate the rankings at will. Since the team is also counted as a whole, the experience will be split equally among the members, so the experience won't be much. Only if an individual gets a ranking can we get a huge reward!"
His idea was to have a few core members, including himself, complete the task and gain a huge amount of experience, then train them as elites. This would be equivalent to transferring the experience of other members to the elites. Each person only needs 500 experience points, which isn't much, but if it's concentrated on one person, it can greatly accelerate that person's growth.
The members looked at each other, somewhat reluctant, but compared to the job, it was just a little experience; if they lost it, so be it. They all agreed.
"The mission starts in the afternoon, Black Phantom will definitely set off early, so as long as we prevent any players from contacting Black Phantom for two hours, we'll be all set!"
Chop into Eighteen Pieces, the members all raised their pistols and stood guard beside Han Xiao, instructing, "If anyone gets close, warn them first. If they don't heed the warning, then shoot them directly."
The Kill the World Guild has over twenty core members and over one hundred peripheral members in Big Horn Mountain, making it the largest force for the time being.
These studio-style guilds differ from casual players. They have business in many games, and only mobilize members from other games to join when they determine that a particular game is worth a large-scale investment. The Kill the World Guild has thousands of members, but at this time, there are only a little over a hundred players in Galaxy. They will continue to join as more game pods are released.
Players can kill each other; the more people they kill, the more sin points they accumulate. If they are killed by others, they will drop more experience and equipment.
Han Xiao noticed that a group of guild players had subtly surrounded him, intimidating and driving away any other players who approached, preventing anyone from touching him. They were numerous and powerful, and the players who were driven away dared not speak out against them.
After a moment's thought, he understood the Kill the World Guild's intentions, and his face immediately darkened. "They really have the guts to try and monopolize my prize pool quests?!"
His initial intention in issuing the prize pool mission was to mobilize more players to act as cannon fodder, but the actions of the Kill the World Guild interfered with his plan.
A large group of players gathered around, filled with righteous indignation.
"That's too domineering! I just wanted to replenish my ammunition!"
"What right do you have to monopolize Black Phantom?!"
At this moment, the people from Sky Domain pushed through the crowd and confronted the Kill the World Guild.
Azure Sky shouted, "What do you want to do by Kill the World?!"
Chop into Eighteen Pieces Lu remained expressionless, offering no explanation. With a wave of his hand, the guild members around him immediately raised their pistols and aimed, triggering a chain reaction as Sky Domain also raised its guns.
The players were in an uproar and quickly retreated to avoid getting splattered with blood.
Azure Sky hesitated. His side had fewer people than Kill the World, and they would definitely suffer losses if a war broke out. He didn't understand why Kill the World Guild had suddenly become so domineering; there must be something fishy going on. But with everyone watching, Sky Domain couldn't back down.
Azure Sky and the guild members exchanged glances, confirming each other's thoughts.
War!
Tensions were high between the two sides.
Players craned their necks to watch the spectacle; a brawl between two guilds wasn't an everyday occurrence, especially between two well-known, large guilds.
A battle is about to break out.
Just then, everyone in the Kill the World Guild received a notification from the panel.
"Black Phantom's favorability towards you has decreased by 10 points, currently at -5 points. Current relationship: Indifferent!"
Chop into Eighteen Pieces's expression changed drastically!