Chapter 52: Poisonous Marshlands
At present, players who had completed their first job advancement only had four skills. The reason for the limited number was that players' mental strength wouldn't be able to bear it if too many skill runes were equipped. Nonetheless, even just having four skills still represented a significant improvement for players that had completed their job advancement.
Yang Qiu, being a high-level black mage, knew better than most about the extent of mental energy consumption that skill runes entailed. Therefore, he needed to provide the most suitable runic combinations for first-job spellcasters while taking into account their mental capabilities.
For non-spellcaster players, the skill runes equipped were derived from the runes used by alchemists for their golems. Even golems without consciousness could participate in battles when equipped with runes, let alone characters controlled by players.
The players had easily handled around 70 household guards in the day, and their success wasn't solely because of their intimidating skeletal appearance; after all, a cornered dog would bite, and those household guards didn't just submit meekly without resistance.
Just that, although the players at their current strength level could engage in a brawl with the household guards and even come out victorious, their fights ended up in disarray, without any clear strategy…
They were, after all, law-abiding citizens that had grown up in a peaceful country, and it was simply impossible for them to have any experience in street fights.
Moreover, these players practically looked the same, and their equipment didn't have many significant differences. This made it near impossible for the onlooking Holy Legion soldiers to distinguish them apart. The sight of skeletons hacking and hollering at one another left them utterly overwhelmed…
An ascetic in white robes couldn't help but comment with a deadpan expression, "I've seen villagers in Camore bind cloth strips on their arms to differentiate between friend and foe during a water dispute in the countryside… Can these undead really tell who they are attacking?"
"It's totally a mess," another holy warrior staring blankly at the scene muttered.
A silence came over the Holy Legion soldiers.
Is this called yearning for order? This mess?! Everyone's thoughts hovered around this notion. However, they had enjoyed two meals here, and despite the chaos caused by the undead, these creatures couldn't be considered outright evil. Out of courtesy and decorum, no one voiced their complaints aloud.
"…Forget it," Andres said stiffly. "Everyone, go back and rest. I'll ask Inspector Lowell to set up sound barriers around the camp."
———
Ji Tang, leading Yang Ying, Jia Luo, and a bunch of unaffiliated players out of the base, saw the chaotic brawl in the distance.
"They're still fighting?" Yang Ying exclaimed in surprise. "Isn't it over yet? They've been at it all night."
"It's definitely not over," Jia Luo said matter-of-factly. "Earlier, someone from Guileless Gale's side lured monsters over to Vanilla's side, causing them to get team wiped. Though it wasn't intentional, Vanilla's faction still held a grudge. When I logged out earlier to have supper, I heard someone saying Give Me Medicine was going to lure monsters to get Guileless Gale's team wiped out."
Yang Ying didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Is that really necessary? There are so many monsters in that swamp that all players combined couldn't clear. There's simply no need to fight over them."
"It's not a matter of kill-stealing monsters, but rather, monopolizing high-grade materials," an unaffiliated player chimed in. "During the day, Ji Tang farmed a lot of territory prestige, so it's only natural for Brother Lahong and Vanilla Boss to be anxious."
Yang Ying still couldn't agree and shook her head repeatedly. "If you want materials, either farm them yourself or spend money to buy them. There's no need to ruin the game for everyone."
"Heh, you don't understand, Sis Ying," Jia Luo said. "Fighting against others is a lot of fun, you know? In a game I used to play, two large guilds were at odds from the start of the server. The two years they spent in conflict made our server incredibly lively. Later, one of the guilds switched to another server, and within two months, our server became a ghost town."
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"That's right, competition is a good thing. A game can only stay vibrant when there's competition," other unaffiliated players chimed in.
"Logging in would become boring otherwise."
Yang Ying: "Oh…"
"We won't be heading this way. Let's take a detour." Ji Tang turned around and informed his party. "While they are distracted and fighting, let's go hunt elite monsters."
"Sounds like a plan!"
Desolate Outpost was surrounded by abundant water sources. About 800 meters south of the base was a swamp that stretched for miles.
For living humans, this swamp was undoubtedly a restricted zone. The poisonous fog and miasma here were much more severe than those in the Sorensen Mountain Range, and the water and grass teemed with venomous insects and snakes. Blood-sucking mosquitoes, the size of a child's fist, filled the air and could drain a wild buffalo dry within minutes.
But to the players… even the most venomous snakes and bugs would only gross them out at most.
The "monsters" here could be shown via players' "Identify" and ranged from level 1 to 4.
Currently, players still couldn't handle level-4 monsters; the painful lesson from when Guileless Gale's team was wiped out had already been posted on the forum.
Fortunately, there weren't many level-4 monsters around. After suffering several wipes, the "pioneer" player teams had determined that the two level-4 monsters they found were only active at the central part of the mangrove. It was relatively safe as long as that area was avoided.
Monsters between the range of level 1 and 3 were well within the players' fighting capabilities.
Ji Tang led the small party made up of members of four teams northwest into the swamp, braving the dark mist and toxic fumes. Soon, players taking turns to use "Identify" detected a monster.
"It's a Demonized Toad, a monster we've slain before," the unaffiliated player who spotted the monster was visibly excited and promptly whispered to the team.
"A level-3 monster? Can we handle it?" a player that had revived back in Exile Town and only recently teleported over asked nervously.
"Relax, we can take it down. We fought one on our way here," said Yang Ying confidently. "In this game, a monster's strength isn't solely determined by its level. For instance, among level 1 spider monsters, the ones with octopus-like tentacles are easier to defeat compared to the ones with scythe-like legs. This Demonized Toad is nothing like that rat king back in town; it moves slowly and doesn't have high defense."
Party leader Ji Tang surveyed the surroundings and said, "The terrain here isn't ideal. We won't be able to escape if we fight here and lure more monsters in by mistake. Let's retreat back the way we came and lead the Demonized Toad further out before we fight it."
The unaffiliated players were all rather obedient and nodded in agreement.
Ji Tang then asked, "I need a few wanderers to help me lure the monster, any volunteers?"
"Me! Me!"
"I'll do it!"
Several wanderer players immediately volunteered.
Due to the difficulty in transitioning to the mage class, knights being punching bags, and the squishiness of warriors, the most popular class among players at present was the wanderer class. For every ten players that had successfully done a job advancement, at least six were wanderers.
Ji Tang selected a few wanderer players, then turned to Jia Luo and instructed, "There's no need for you to lure the monster. You and Yang Ying lead the rest out and wait at the grass plain we just passed."
"Got it." Jia Luo nodded and immediately went to lead the rest of the party with her.
Once the main group was gone, Ji Tang led the wanderer players who volunteered to set up traps in the dense shrubbery.
As they watched Ji Tang skillfully fashion traps out of vines and branches, the few wanderer players were amazed.
"Ji Tang… Brother Tang, are you a hunter in real life?" a player asked curiously.
"No, I foug—served as a soldier in the southwestern region." JiTang laughed. "Come help me tie this vine to the tree trunk over there."
"Right away~!"
After their initial astonishment, the wanderer players felt something wasn't right. "Hey, Brother Tang, the Demonized Toad is quite huge. Will these traps even work against them?"
"These traps aren't meant for monsters," chuckled Ji Tang.
The wanderer players helping set up the traps paused. These players weren't idiots and, with some thought, could easily understand Ji Tang's intent.
"What Guileless Gale's team started truly sucks. They fostered the trend of luring monsters to hurt others, and many might suffer in the future." An older unaffiliated player sighed.
"Yeah," another player chimed in. "The monsters in this game are already so ferocious, and it's difficult to escape once they are aggro-ed. Now, with this trend of luring monsters, guilds don't even have to resort to PK and can just lure monsters to wipe unaffiliated teams like us."
"It's tough enough for us randos to form teams and farm monsters, and now we have to be on constant guard against luring monsters. It's just too difficult!"
Ji Tang only chuckled, but didn't say anything.
He was well aware that the players that had formed factions had some resentment toward him due to Unceasing Entropy's insistence on trying to become mayor of Exile Town.
However, he too did have the intention of vying for the position of mayor.
This wasn't for personal glory in the game, but because he genuinely felt uneasy for "civilian NPCs" coming into Exile Town if players became the mayor.
Ji Tang wouldn't have been so proactive in leading parties, hunting monsters, and gathering materials all night long if that wasn't the case. As the only person in the player community who knew the truth, this was the responsibility that Ji Tang had to shoulder.
…It would be great to have a few more helpers, Ji Tang sighed to himself silently.
Players approached the game with a mindset of wanting to be entertained. Even if they died, they could respawn within half an hour and wouldn't have any psychological burden placed on them regardless of whom they killed.
During the "Night of Rampaging," when players were fighting over equipment and each other, Ji Tang spent the entire time in distress.
The "advanced NPCs" were incredibly resilient and didn't shed much blood even after being stabbed by the players. However, these new "civilian NPCs" couldn't compare to them. Having observed them closely, Ji Tang found that these civilians all showed severe symptoms of long-term malnutrition. For them, a simple stab or push could easily lead to injury.
Yet, he couldn't tell the players straight up to handle these NPCs with care, which made Ji Tang nearly cough up blood from the frustration.
Just as Ji Tang was worried that his shoulders weren't enough to bear this burden alone, two bare skeletal frames emerged from the ground at the platform in Exile Town's center…
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