Chapter 44: Interfering With Allies
October 18, 8 a.m. real time.
It was already afternoon in the game when Unceasing Entropy logged in to take over. Having been online for over ten hours of game time, Ji Tang was feeling somewhat exhausted and immediately transferred the group leadership over to Unceasing Entropy when she logged in.
Before logging out, Ji Tang didn't forget to give Unceasing Entropy some pointers on how to organize players when dealing with elite monsters and mini-bosses, as well as to create a relatively safe environment for damage output when taking into consideration the type of monsters to ensure player casualties were kept to a minimum.
Tang Jia, Yang Ying, and Jia Luo had also alternated logging in and out to preserve their online time. When Unceasing Entropy logged in, Tang Jia and Jia Luo had just logged out, leaving only Yang Ying and two unaffiliated solo players in their small team.
Unceasing Entropy checked the entire player group's online status, then called Qin Guan and Brother Lahong over.
"At the moment, we barely have a hundred online in our group and Ji Tang has already logged out. In my opinion, we should do our best to cooperate in earnest and avoid as many casualties as possible should we encounter monsters. What do you guys think?" said Unceasing Entropy.
"Absolutely," Brother Lahong said with a smile. "We only have one Undead horse available for replenishing manpower, and each round trip to transport players is taking longer. We've changed the rider several times already, so it's best to minimize deaths."
Qin Guan nodded in agreement. "You are the commander, we'll listen to you."
During the player's "night of rampaging," which was the "day of suffering" for advanced NPCs, Unceasing Entropy had led a group of unaffiliated players in a memorable battle that these two big shot players vividly remembered.
Unceasing Entropy smiled, and in the next monster encounter, she didn't hesitate to command the elite troops the two big shots personally brought as if they were part of her own squad.
In traditional PC games, the individual ability of a team commander might be strong, but whether or not they could successfully clear a dungeon often depended on the willingness of the players to "stay focused." Those who were absent-minded throughout the entire dungeon, either being distracted by other tasks or constantly pulling aggro even during boss fights just to chat or browse the internet, often frustrated raid leaders.
However, the full-immersive game "OtherWorld" was different. Although the commander couldn't observe the entire raid through a monitor with a flick of the mouse like in a PC game, players couldn't chat or browse the web while raiding. And since private messaging wasn't available yet, there wasn't much else they could do. As a result, players tended to be more focused and willing to follow instructions. As long as the commander didn't act irresponsibly, the raid could generally proceed smoothly.
Of course, being able to lead a team and fully utilize their collective strength were two different matters. The same elite squad that Brother Lahong managed only overcame monsters through sheer force and aggression, but Unceasing Entropy was able to orchestrate them with rhythm and purpose, coordinating their movements and attacks.
Leading the player group, Unceasing Entropy only defeated two elite monsters, but by then, Brother Lahong and Qin Guan had given up on their intentions to recruit her into their own factions.
It was clear that Unceasing Entropy was someone who could rally a team, lead an elite squad, and manage a guild. If they brought her over to their own factions, wouldn't they just be giving her the opportunity to rise up and eventually supersede themselves?
In traditional online gaming guilds, it was quite common for a strong individual who had been recruited in the early stages of the guild's formation to eventually break away and take away a significant portion of the core members. The moment they made a call, half of the guild's key players would follow.
Then, the two big shot players, who had been guarded and engaged in covert struggles with each other for a while, secretly cooperated during subsequent material auctions and employed monopolistic tactics.
In this game, monsters only dropped materials, not equipment or money. However, this didn't mean that materials were not valuable. Ordinary materials could be exchanged for personal reputation with Lord Yang or other advanced NPCs (the reputation went to the NPC associated with the exchange, and since it was most difficult to raise reputation with Lord Yang, exchanging the materials with him was most cost-effective), which regular players found useful. Uncommon-grade materials and higher could be exchanged for territorial prestige, which was important for those who aspired to compete for the position of town mayor.
After the official website revealed the scope of authority possessed by the town mayor, anyone with aspirations of being a leader in the game couldn't help but be tempted to vie for it.
Firstly, the mayor held the power to allocate land both inside and outside the town. Players who wanted to establish a Blood Alliance and had obtained enough territorial prestige could apply for a blood alliance base. However, the decision on where to allocate the land was in the hands of the mayor.
There was great room for maneuverability in regard to this, and anyone could understand this aspect.
Secondly, the mayor could appoint a sheriff. Players who held the positions of "mayor" and "sheriff" could issue a daily quest three times a day, just like advanced NPCs. That's right, players could assign quests to other players!
These daily quests weren't specific laborious tasks; rather, they were team-oriented elite monster hunting quests, similar to the "Exterminate Rats" quest issued by the Zombie General.
The blood alliance that held the positions of mayor and sheriff would have six additional elite monster hunting quests per day compared to other player factions, and the benefits of such an arrangement didn't need to be explained.
While Ji Tang was commanding, Brother Lahong and Qin Guan had been busy stockpiling materials. Since the circulation of money among everyone was constantly shifting, there were times when the factions didn't have enough which allowed unaffiliated solo players to benefit. Now that this bigwig duo had realized Unceasing Entropy as a potential third-party competitor, they decided to cooperate—
When unaffiliated players placed bids for materials, they would outbid them. And if their competitor faction offered the highest bid, they would back off if they didn't have enough funds.
After a round of auctions, all the unaffiliated players had become aware of their shameless monopoly tactics…
As the group moved off again, Yang Ying couldn't help but move closer to Unceasing Entropy. "Qingyue, they are doing this on purpose, aren't they? By doing this, nobody else can get their hands on the materials."
"They indeed have more people, and the money they can pool together isn't something unaffiliated players can compete with," replied Unceasing Entropy with a faint smile. "It's fine. Materials aren't the only way to earn prestige during this dynamic plotline quest.
"Are you saying we should focus on the escorting and repelling pursuers quest?" Yang Ying asked. "But the territory prestige for the escort quest is added to the entire group and there won't be any difference. Are we going to compete in capturing prisoners?"
"Yes." Unceasing Entropy nodded. "Uncommon-grade materials give 20 territory prestige points, while Rare-grade materials give 50. Gaining a captive is equivalent to four Uncommon-grade materials and ten Rare-grade materials. We definitely can't compete with them in terms of finances, and we can only best them in this aspect."
Brother Lahong and Qin Guan weren't wrong to take precautions. Unceasing Entropy did have her sights set on contesting for the position of mayor.
The reason was very simple. If the position of mayor was snatched up by those from a large blood alliance, then the casual and unaffiliated players would never have the chance to receive the six daily quests. Just as it had been during the "night of rampaging" previously, had Unceasing Entropy not stood up to organize and lead, the unaffiliated players definitely wouldn't have a share of the items dropped by the advanced NPCs.
Unceasing Entropy herself actually wouldn't mind, but her temperamental childhood friend, Tang Jia, might be so pissed off that she wouldn't eat. Thus, Unceasing Entropy could only try her best to vie for the position.
"Based on my understanding of Unceasing Entropy, if she wished to compete, she wouldn't give up so easily," Blossoming Strokes, running alongside the tricycles of her team, said to her friend Qin Guan with certainty.
"Indeed." Qin Guan frowned. "Tsk, this bit is troubling. With the credibility she built up during the 'night of rampaging,' unaffiliated teams with materials would definitely support her if she spreads the word."
During the "night of rampaging," both Qin Guan and his main rival, Brother Lahong, hadn't brought any unaffiliated players to their sides.
Unceasing Entropy had come out to lead the unaffiliated players that night and managed to get quite a lot of scraps. Moreover, the auctions she held were fair, and not a single copper coin was taken for herself unfairly.
If not for the fact that there were only about 300 players in the game and most of the relatively active players had already been recruited by the two bigwigs, Qin Guan suspected that this girl would have already done something great.
Blossoming Strokes also knew the advantages that unaffiliated players alone had and actually suggested bringing over some unaffiliated players back then.
However, there were too many people following Qin Guan and a handful of more active players came forward and said, "Why do you have to bring people who don't usually farm with us?"
Thus, Blossoming Strokes weren't very useful then…
It was common knowledge that the in-game currency in this game could be easily converted into real cash. Having one more person in their faction meant dividing the wages among more people. Regardless of how impressive Blossoming Strokes' reputation was, it was impossible to expect all 60 plus players of their faction to conscientiously consider the team's future and sacrifice their immediate benefits.
Even without mentioning the 1:10 stable currency exchange rate in "OtherWorld," in certain WOW servers, arguments and disbandment of teams over the distribution of gold coins that weren't even worth a few dollars were prevalent.
But that had all passed, and the rather easygoing Blossoming Strokes didn't really mind. She pondered for a moment, then said, "Unceasing Entropy didn't log in the whole of last night and when she came on, Ji Tang logged out. They are most likely accumulating game time. If everything goes smoothly, when we connect with the Camore refugees that we are supposed to receive and deal with the pursuers, their entire team should be online."
"So they've shifted their focus to taking prisoners." Qin Guan stroked his chin. "They certainly have an advantage when it comes to that. There isn't a weak member in their team and that Ji Tang is especially formidable. We might not be able to surpass them if it comes down to taking captives."
In a traditional game where the objective was to seize a particular resource, the side with more players would undoubtedly win.
But in this game… players who had played for nearly half a month (Earth time) had completely given up on such fantasies. Even advanced NPCs would flee, so how could humanoid monsters not run away?
They had even fought against advanced NPCs before… Had the advanced NPCs in town not turned to fight them and used the Town Hall as a stronghold for a standoff, the players wouldn't have any answer to deal with them if the advanced NPCs just chose to run away.
"Ji Tang is indeed impressive. I heard he used to be in the military." Blossoming Strokes nodded, then chuckled. "But there's no need to be afraid. Their small team might be skilled in combat, but even if all the unaffiliated players helped them, they still have fewer people than us. If Ji Tang's efficiency in capture is too great, at most we could coordinate with Brother Lahong and send a few people to stall him."
"We have no choice but to do that." Qin Guan nodded.
When doing quests, interfering or slowing allies down wasn't really an issue. Not attacking fellow players was already considered a courtesy…
At 6 P.M. October 18 (Earth time), 11 A.M. in the game, after two days and one night of gameplay, the tricycle expedition team arrived at the mission location marked on the paper map carried by the zombie general—Desolate Wasteland.
Well… It was just a plain covered with overgrown grass and thorns.
This location had quite open terrain, which was well suited for a preset battlefield. The zombie general had chosen a spot near the river to stop, then issued players the [Setup Camp] quest:
One of the tasks was to clear the ground, removing the scattered stones, rotting wood, and tripping hazards like thorny bushes.
Another task was to set up camp, unload the packages from the cargo tricycles, and use the plastic tarps and locally sourced wood to construct tents…
"I knew it, this damned game won't just magically spawn a new campsite. We have to do everything ourselves!" Disgruntled players vented their frustrations while begrudgingly carrying out the tasks.
Normal living beings would have been exhausted and collapsing after such a long journey in this vast wasteland while constantly dealing with monster attacks along the way. Only these players could remain energetic, with some even feeling regretful that they couldn't continue to fight monsters…
Elsewhere, the Camore weavers led by Yang Qiu weren't having as smooth an experience.
As players began to build the camp, the weavers, who had only traveled merely a quarter of their counterparts, were being chased by pursuers from the direction of Camore and driven into a valley.
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