Chapter 82.2: Forcing Plotlines on NPCs
Regardless of whether Hal was venting his anger or reflecting on his past, his sudden outburst aligned perfectly with the players' expectations of "NPC storyline progression." Blossoming Strokes, who was rather proactive, didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity and asked in earnest, "This Weisshem is a truly wicked place. What do you think, Hal?"
Hal instinctively wanted to reply with "It's none of my business," but he remembered how the undead had threatened him the previous time he had said that. So, he gritted his teeth and grunted, "Yes, yes, so what?"
The four players simply had no idea that Hal was reluctantly playing along because he was afraid of their threats. Believing this was the "storyline being progressed" energized them, and they watched Hal eagerly.
"Hal, I think we need to eliminate this den of evil and rescue the people there. What do you think?" Blossoming Strokes was so excited her breathing became heavy.
Hal impatiently muttered, "Of course." It was only after he replied did he come to realize what this undead was actually saying. In an instant, the look of annoyance on his face turned into pleasant surprise.
"Success!" Guileless Gale, Win By Grinding, and Unceasing Entropy were equally thrilled.
"Then let us go and attack Weisshem, Hal!" Blossoming Strokes said excitedly.
"Exactly! We should do just that. This is our purpose for heading out this far!" Hal decisively agreed.
Hal had been racking his brains on how to deceive the bunch of undead into wreaking havoc and causing massive trouble for Yang under Rex's watch. But now, these undead were actually volunteering for it!
Of course, just because he wanted to let the undead go and stir up trouble didn't mean he was willing to risk his own life. Thus, Hal immediately put on his "NPC" demeanor and shamelessly said to the four players, "My undead friends, if you wish to save the people in Weisshem, there are two things you need to do."
"Say it and we'll do it!" the four players declared confidently.
Hal put up two fingers. "First, you guys have to convince Rex. If Rex disagrees, he has the authority to cancel a quest issued by me. Second, you must complete this mission on your own. We have a past with the Rhine Kingdom and will attract powerful enemies if we enter town openly, which won't be conducive toward saving the unfortunate people of Weisshem."
"No problem!" The four players thumped their chests in glee.
By "activating" Hal's interactive storyline, the four players believed that they had nearly secured the quest, and convincing Rex was the final step.
Hal's request for non-participation by instructor NPCs didn't seem like a big issue to them. In most games, NPCs simply talked, while players did all the legwork.
With a consensus reached, Hal and the four players were all pleased, and a harmonious atmosphere prevailed among them.
When Yang Qiu came "online," these eager players had already formed their raid group and teams and were surrounding Rex, requesting the quest.
As Yang Qiu "listened in" on the players trying to convince Rex for a bit and came to understand what had happened during the 16-hour absence when he was "offline," a peculiar expression came over his face.
"…Yang?"
Inspector Lowell, who was seated opposite Yang Qiu, partaking in afternoon tea, sat a little straighter in his seat upon noticing Yang Qiu's strange expression.
Yang Qiu collected himself and gave a slight smile. "Inspector Lowell, could you please look after the place temporarily?"
Lowell: "??"
The Black-robed Inspector considered that the undead had been gone for four days and made some mental calculations of the tricycle expedition team. "Forgive me for presuming… Have your undead gotten into trouble in the Rhine Kingdom?"
"Of course not." Yang Qiu sipped on his tea calmly. "In fact, what our undead friends are about to do is also something I once wished to do. Just that back then, I was too busy dealing with those lunatics from the Radiant Sun Church to do so."
Hearing this, Inspector Lowell's expression turned grave.
Something that the "Nightmare Butcher" wanted to do didn't bode well.
"I think that perhaps you might need a companion, Yang," Inspector Lowell said solemnly.
"It would be more honor," Yang Qiu accepted graciously without the slightest shred of hesitation.
Lowell: "…"
The Black-robed Inspector suddenly felt something was off…
While Yang Qiu pulled a little trick to get Inspector Lowell involved, elsewhere in the camp, Rex, who was besieged by layers upon layers of undead, was utterly bewildered.
He couldn't understand how Hal had managed to reach an agreement with the undead. After all, Hal had never been willing to engage with them beyond assigning quests!
"…Everyone, please calm down and listen to me." Rex gulped hard and motioned for the undead to quiet down. "Six months ago, I passed through Weisshem. It might be a small town, but it houses dozens of black-market businesses, all of which employ muscle. Moreover, the town has its own militia… Taking Weisshem wouldn't be easy.
"Besides that, Weisshem is several tens of kilometers away from Indahl, the largest city in the south of the Rhine Kingdom. Indahl's garrison will definitely respond quickly, and even if we manage to capture Weisshem, we won't be able to hold it.
"Furthermore, there are thousands of civilians living in Weisshem who have no connection to the black-market businesses. If the town falls into chaos, those innocent civilians would inevitably suffer…"
Having waited impatiently for hours to set off, Brother Lahong couldn't stand it anymore. He raised a hand and fervently declared, "Don't worry, mere mercenaries and thugs are nothing. At most, we can raid them at night. There's no need to worry about holding the place. We will have a respawn point once we take the stronghold. What can that garrison from Idali or whatever even do then?"
"That's right!" Qin Guan chimed in. "Just leave it to us, Rex. Look at our quality; we're entirely different from those feudal armies. We guarantee that we'll take over Weisshem without the slightest bit of harm befalling the civilians!"
The two blood alliance leaders had already said all the grand words, so Ji Tang could only sincerely urge Rex on, "Please trust your undead friends, Rex. Even though we are deceased, we understand the value of life."
Players wouldn't attack civilians. This bit was something that Ji Tang was most confident in. With Identify, they could tell with a single glance that these ordinary folk held no valuable loot.
Rex looked to the sky and sighed. "Very well. Then, let me accompany you on this journey—"
"No, no, no!" Yang Ying, Tang Jia, Qin Guan, and others who had advanced to become warriors got anxious and vehemently tried to stop him. "Don't make things more complicated. We'd have to focus on the siege and protect you at the same time. We don't have the luxury of that!"
Rex: "…"
He actually wanted to feel touched by the undead's care for him, but for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't add up…
When the expedition team set out, Yang Qiu had granted these instructors additional matrix permissions. In addition to the usual "daily" quests, they now had the option of freely issuing quests, allowing the instructor NPCs to command the fearless players to step up in case of emergencies.
This permission was also reserved for Mia, but Yang Qiu didn't directly include Mia in the matrix. Instead, a backdoor was left to Rex, where he could "pull" Mia into the matrix as a last resort if her life was in danger. After all, even professional-level combatants already found it challenging to withstand the mental torment inflicted by players, so it would certainly be harder for Mia, who was merely a civilian.
Once Rex had been convinced by the players, Hal led his fellow brothers to take the stage. Under Rex's intense gaze, Hal shamelessly approached him, feigning concern for the undead operation and discussing how to issue quests that would make it easier for them.
With the experience of being "quest-issuers" for nearly two months, these "advanced NPCs" were familiar with the routines and formats for assigning tasks to the undead, whether they liked it or not.
Once Rex's apprehensions were cleared, this bunch soon issued well-structured quests:
- [Save Weisshem]
- [Rescue Captured Civilians]
- [Eliminate Enemies]
At Rex's strong insistence, the [Eliminate Enemies] quest was changed to [Capture Enemies]. It wasn't that Rex was afraid of his undead compatriots inadvertently shedding blood; he was more concerned that the undead might get carried away and harm civilians.
The players didn't care whether it was "eliminate" or "capture." They gladly accepted the quests and set off for Weisshem gleefully.
After watching the undead depart jubilantly, Rex turned his head and glared icily at Hal.
Hal, not one to back down, returned with an unfriendly gaze.
"…Sometimes, I really don't understand how someone as short-sighted as you managed to rise so high." Rex's suppressed anger was evident in his voice, unspoken but palpable. "Did you think that you can act without consequences after leaving Taranthan? Don't be naive, my friend. Yang sees all you guys do."
There was a subtle shift in Hal's expression, but he didn't show any signs of fear. Instead, he let out a mocking chuckle and said, "Stop lecturing others here. Who do you think you are, Little Charlie? Don't forget that this plan was the undead's idea in the first place. So what if I incited it? If Yang doesn't object, it means he approves of it. What right do you have to be spouting crap out of your butt?"
Rex couldn't refute what Hal said at all. His lips quivered for a moment before he could only hiss, "I hope you have the confidence you speak of."
As Hal and his gang watched Rex leave in a huff, Knight Instructor Jerome couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "This fellow is really arrogant."
Tuttle muttered with a deadpan expression, "He's already a weapons master at such an age. He naturally has that right."
This former Sacred Crows' strategist clearly wasn't in the right state of mind after the morning's setback. His comment struck Hal, Finley, and Jerome pretty hard.
Hal had barely made it as an assassin after the age of thirty. Finley, in actuality, hadn't managed to advance to master treasure expert, and Jerome, who was the same age as Rex, hadn't even obtained an official knight insignia—were it not for the fact that they weren't confident of taking down Rex even when combining forces, these bunch would have joined hands and eliminated this troublesome guy a long time ago.
Finley was about to make some small talk to break the awkward atmosphere when he suddenly paled.
"Finley?" Jerome, standing next to him, realized something wasn't quite right with his comrade's face.
Hal turned to look and got shocked as well. "Hey, buddy, what's wrong with you?"
"…Wait! We've overlooked something!" Finley exclaimed, sweating buckets. "Those undead have gone to attack Weisshem on their own… But they can't communicate with the locals! And they disappear if killed… How are we going to make the people of Weisshem know that they are from Taranthan?!"
Hal was dumbfounded for a moment, then suddenly pinched his thigh hard and unleashed a phrase he had learned from the players.
"The f*ck!"
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