The players in this newbie village have been almost completely wiped out. Han Xiao leisurely counted his experience points, another great harvest.
So far, no one has come to buy the letter of introduction, but Old Man Han remains humble and patient. His announcement of the main quest has already caused a huge stir on the forum, and sooner or later someone will take the bait.
"There's only one newbie village left. Maybe I should stall a bit and give the big guilds time to raise the money," Han Xiao thought to himself.
At this moment, two players approached together, their IDs being "Chasing Wind" and "Fierce Dragon Tail Swipe," attracting the attention of the surrounding players. They were players from the Nine Gates Club and the Madman Club, both quite well-known.
Han Xiao's eyes lit up; the expert player had finally arrived.
"Black Phantom, we'd like to purchase a letter of introduction," said Chasing Wind.
"Good."
Chasing Wind and Fierce Dragon Tail Swipe received funding from the club's affiliated guild. The team is the face of the club, and as professional players, they are entitled to this preferential treatment. Each of them contributed 250,000 yuan.
The surrounding players craned their necks, looking on with envy; they had never seen such a huge sum of money before.
"Someone can actually afford it."
"Big guilds are really rich."
"No wonder professional gamers are better than us. If I had those resources, I could play professionally too."
Do you think just anyone can sign with a club?
One player had a sudden inspiration. "If we rob them of their money, the Tu Shu and I will become rich."
"Don't be silly. Putting aside the fact that professional players would crush you, even if you did manage to steal it, the guild would Pursuit you down to the ends of the earth, and those Black Phantom over there might just take you down first."
The crowd was buzzing with discussion.
With a sum of 500,000 in hand, Han Xiao immediately wrote a letter of introduction and handed it to the two professional gamers. He told them about a Dark Net stronghold in the Western Continent, saying, "... Take my letter there, and you can join the Blood Pact Union."
He paused, then said, "I feel I can trust you. There's some work here; would you be willing to help?"
"This is exactly what I've been waiting for." Fierce Dragon Tail Swipe couldn't wait to accept the quest. After accepting one, he wanted to accept another, but was told that only one quest in the series could be accepted at a time.
This was set up by Han Xiao: one letter of introduction in exchange for one task.
"Damn, I can only accept one mission. I thought I could accept all of them," Fierce Dragon Tail Swipe complained.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "If you don't want to do it, then forget it."
Fierce Dragon Tail Swipe, shut up! If you don't accept the mission, the money will be wasted.
Chasing Wind had no choice but to choose the same mission; the two clubs cooperated and formed a team to complete the mission. Fortunately, the mission that Fierce Dragon Tail Swipe was an operation in the Western Continent.
"If you can complete the mission, I might need your help with something else." Han Xiao hinted that to unlock his "hidden storyline," this mission must be completed first.
Professional gamers raced against time, accepting the quest and leaving immediately.
Of the five mission objectives, two are in the Western Continent, two in the North Continent, and one in the Southern Continent. He needs to make sure that someone will pick him up from each one, and all three continents happen to be on his itinerary.
Although the main quest is of Grade A difficulty, this is only the simplest first stage. Han Xiao separated the quest objective into smaller tasks, each with a difficulty level of around Grade D, which he could afford with the experience points he could afford per task.
"When the difficulty increases in the later stages, my quota might not be enough." Han Xiao felt that he needed to find ways to increase his quota. Upgrading was currently hopeless, so he could only focus on faction and Legend Points, which he didn't need to consider for the time being.
"Chasing Wind and Fierce Dragon Tail Swipe are decent professional players, but they don't seem to have any particularly good records in their previous lives. Let's observe them for now." Han Xiao is very strict in his selection of backup players; he doesn't just recruit any professional player he sees.
Madman and Nine Gates announced on the forum that their players had purchased letters of introduction, which was tantamount to advertising and increasing their own popularity. Their extravagant spending attracted a lot of attention from players, who all exclaimed "666" (a Chinese internet slang for "awesome").
Han Xiao indirectly gained more exposure through the advertisements of the two clubs. It's conceivable that other clubs buying referral letters will follow suit, and Han Xiao estimates that he will be seen on the forum many times.
Without stopping, Han Xiao arrived at the last beginner village in the Western Continent. While reaping experience points, he also saw new professional players squandering their guild's wealth to get quest opportunities, leaving ordinary players only able to watch with envy and resentment.
Another main quest objective in the Western Continent was also taken by a professional player, which put Han Xiao at ease. He then leisurely sold his skills and kept an eye on the forums and the Dark Net for intelligence.
"Huh, the Galaxy Sea Times has released a new issue, with the subtitle... 'Professional League Established'?"
Han Xiao perked up; he had been paying close attention to the program and immediately clicked on it.
Male host. "Hello, fellow gamers! This is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing firsthand gaming information and supporting your gaming journey."
Female host. "Xiaochun, I've been feeling very anxious lately."
"What's wrong, Qiuqiu?"
"I've fallen for a man. He's quiet, handsome, and aloof—a true heartthrob. But he never looks at me directly, and he never speaks to me."
Don't worry, I think you two are a perfect match.
The female host exclaimed in surprise, "Really?"
"Of course, he's a cool, aloof god, and you're a short, hot ghost—you're a perfect match."
"..."
It's the same cringeworthy, corny joke that appears at the beginning of every episode; Han Xiao finds this style so endearing he almost wets himself.
The comments section was flooded with complaints and criticisms.
Many players watch "Galaxy Times". In less than a month since it started broadcasting, it has become an authoritative column in the eyes of players. After all, it has an official background and a lot of first-hand information.
After exchanging a few words to get the atmosphere going, the male host said, "Alright, let's get back to the main topic. Today's program will analyze the hottest Inhuman Phenomenon, the movements of professional gamers, and we've also invited the renowned Li Ge as a guest in the studio, so don't go away!"
The program was as detailed as ever, starting with a review of the current progress of players on each planet and a commentary on the rankings.
"... Currently, the highest-level players in the vanguard are approaching level 20. Level 20 will be the first advancement, and it's unknown who will receive this honor. The first player to successfully advance will be recorded in the game's historical milestone."
"As you can clearly see, there are basically no professional players among the top-ranked players. Japan players make up the largest proportion. As we all know, Japan's home planet is Planet Loni, where technology and magic coexist, and its crystal civilization is at its peak, making it very suitable for taking on quests and leveling up. France and the United States also have a significant number of players, while Huaxia has fewer on the list. Oh, I see an old acquaintance, Maple Moon. Remember her? She gained over 100,000 experience points when the open beta first started, and that was the first prize pool quest that all players encountered so far."
"Speaking of Black Phantom, he has firmly attracted the attention of players on Planet Aquamarine since the very beginning of the game. Recently, there has been new activity; he has repeatedly appeared in the newbie village to provide guidance and benefits. Not long ago, he revealed another main quest, the prerequisite of which is an item worth a staggering 250,000 Aquamarine Dollar! If players from other planets want to understand the price concept, they can go to the exchange rate section to see the amount of resources that 250,000 Aquamarine Dollar can be exchanged for."
Players from other planets envy Planet Aquamarine; why don't they have such a helpful newbie guide?