Chapter 56: Undead Merchant Association
Upon discovering this alleged conspiracy, the casual player, who had stumbled upon the revelation, was livid and immediately abandoned his current quest, logged out, and went straight to the forum, ready to unleash hell.
Teacher Yu Chi was also seething. Her initial Potential hadn't been too shabby as she started off at 40+ points. However, because of her limited playtime, she hadn't reached 50 Potential value or leveled up yet. Seeing these two newcomers with such incredible Potential made her feel a grievous sense of injustice.
Everyone bought the same helmet and played the same game, so how could it be this unfair!
However, Teacher Yu Chi had spent enough time on the forum to know the nature of this game's development team. Since the launch, players had furiously complained about the abundance of repetitive grinding tasks, unfair randomness of initial Potential values, unreasonable quest designs, the difficulty of defeating monsters, inadequate storage space, and many more. Yet, regardless of how intense the criticism or how many pages a complaint thread reached, the official staff remained unresponsive.
Only when people came running to the forum begging for an account after seeing posted gameplay videos did the forum administrators spring into action and swiftly ban such accounts.
In short, the stance of the game development team seemed to be one of indifference, as if saying, "Play if you want, scram if you don't."
Given this track record, Teacher Yu Chi could easily predict the outcome of this "conspiracy": Even if players were to vent their anger and outrage on the forum, it was highly unlikely that the game development team would pay heed.
After all, the game wasn't officially launched, and players hadn't paid any fees to access it. The only expense incurred was the material cost of the login helmet.
In other words, players had no leverage, and they couldn't even resort to the ultimate weapon of giving downvotes.
Also, attempts to drive the game developers into a corner, such as a mass player exodus or demanding refunds for the helmets, simply weren't feasible. No player who owned a helmet would engage in such a ludicrous act.
Some players had even gone to the extent of purchasing safes to store their helmets, ensuring they weren't damaged by their pets or mistakenly discarded by cleaning staff.
Even Teacher Yu Chi herself had specifically procured a small case to store her helmet.
There was the convenience of playing the game while sleeping, with no compromise to personal life and entertainment, as well as the lengthened perceived flow of time in-game, which effectively added a third more to one's lifespan. Anyone who would truly quit the game and abandon their account must really be out of their minds!
"Oh well, it's not the first time the damned game developers have been this way," Teacher Yu Chi, a mature adult, sighed. She decided to abandon her current quest and ran to seek out those two newcomers.
She wanted to learn about the backgrounds of these two newcomers and, if possible, befriend these "nepos" and ride on their backs. If they had backdoors to manipulate the random Potential value in-game, then there would surely be other benefits waiting to be uncovered.
After half a month of hard work by the 300 or so players, the garbage in the Exile Town had been cleared, and dilapidated buildings beyond repair had been demolished. Streets and zones had also been designated and construction had commenced on sites supervised by the NPCs.
Although these buildings were only marginally better than the dilapidated houses found in third-tier cities, they at least looked like habitable places.
Teacher Yu Chi followed a road from the end of the central street that led south, passing by the Wanderer Guild construction site. When she ran toward the place where the zombie general used to stand, she noticed the trail of the two newcomers.
On the empty space diagonally opposite Butcher Manan's workshop site was a heap of steel plates. The two newcomers, wielding wrenches, were busily assembling the steel plates.
"What the hell?!" exclaimed Teacher Yu Chi.
From the looks of it, these two are definitely nepos, Teacher Yu Chi concluded. There aren't any NPCs issuing quests here, and the building materials are different from those provided at the various sites!
The Master Gatherer worksite where Teacher Yu Chi had been grinding reputation was stacked with bricks, asphalt, and earthen tiles. She had continuously ground so many reputation quests that she was close to mastering the skill of bricklaying.
Teacher Yu Chi fearlessly went over and greeted warmly, "Hello!
"Hello."
"Hi."
The two newcomers responded politely.
Master Liu's voice sounded quite normal, just that it was like the deep, slightly hoarse, and husky voice of a middle-aged man in his fifties.
In a game setting, Old Geng's voice was quite conspicuous. To Teacher Yu Chi's ears, it sounded like the thick, dignified tone of a respected elderly scholar or expert.
Teacher Yu Chi subconsciously straightened her posture and didn't dare to be as casual as before. "Um… I haven't seen you two before. Are you guys, uh, new players?"
"Heh, isn't it interesting how our 'newbie' status gets recognized wherever we go?" Old Geng chuckled. "Yes, we've only been here for over ten hours… Oh, wait, in this place, one hour is equivalent to half an hour, right? So, we've been here for six hours."
"Didn't Xiao Zhong say so, there are only about three hundred uh… players here, and they all recognize each other. So, naturally, they can tell the two of us are new," said Master Liu with a smile. "What can we help you with, young comrade?"
Even though both of them were skeletal frames squatting down doing manual labor quests like other players and had spoken casually, Teacher Yu Chi felt like she was facing senior leaders. Teacher Yu Chi almost had the urge to bow down, especially when Master Liu had addressed her as "young comrade."
"Uh, heheh…" Teacher Yu Chi regretted approaching them so hastily and forced out a smile. "Well, actually… I just wanted to ask how you got your game accounts?"
Master Liu and Old Geng seemed to guess what she wanted to ask and burst out in hearty laughter.
"Ah, that's… Being able to play this game is indeed all the rage, huh." Master Liu shook his head while continuing to chuckle. "Don't get any ideas, young comrade. We're different from you 'players.' We didn't just come here to play; we are… um, hired by this game."
Teacher Yu Chi: "??"
"That's right. Hired." Old Geng also laughed heartily. "This game's… what was it called, the development team? They hired us old folks to serve players like you. Since players can only be online for 12 hours a day, we come here and take on the role of what's that… um, NPCs for five hours."
Even more questions flooded Yu Chi's mind. "??"
"Oh, I remember now." Master Liu slapped his forehead. "We should be issuing quests to players. Come on, young comrade, take a look at our quest and see if you are keen."
When the creator of "OtherWorld" sent out this batch of "helmets for tool players," an operating manual for NPC accounts had been thoughtfully attached. Also, the NeuroTech Center's need to maintain the community's status quo that "OtherWorld" was indeed a game meant that these two had received… "training" before logging in.
The training included, but wasn't limited to, how to act like decent NPC characters, fulfill NPC roles during "working hours," and interact with these players that were so unpredictable.
In short, as the first batch of "real people playing the role of NPCs," these two had the same permissions in the Imprint Matrix as the native "advanced NPCs." They had an independent reputation calculation system and a relatively flexible "shift mechanism" with the authority to assign quests during their "working hours."
This was the first time Master Liu was using his "NPC exclusive panel" and fuddled around clumsily for some time before he found the option to issue quests and finally selected it.
Instantly, just like when interacting with advanced NPCs, a reputation notification popped up on Teacher Yu Chi's character panel.
———
[Undead Merchant Association] reputation activated.
This reputation is essential for players with lifestyle classes.
Upon achieving "Friendly" reputation with the Merchant Association, the player can access new material exchange channels, increasing options to exchange materials/lifestyle class products for specific materials/potions/equipment/items, and gain privileges to hire NPCs. After reaching an "Honored" reputation, the player can obtain a Free Trade Certification, which allows the player to apply for the construction of a residence/shop and to independently hire NPCs or players to form a trading caravan.
On reaching "Revered" reputation, the player can apply for the Taranthan Land Usage Privilege, allowing the player to build factories, estates, plantations, and more.
[Undead Merchant Association] reputation can be gained by completing any quest issued by undead NPCs.
———
Teacher Yu Chi's jaw nearly fell to the floor when she finished reading the introduction.
Her notion of sucking up to these "nepos" had apparently given Teacher Yu Chi a pair of wings, and this lifestyle class player immediately made a "hand it over" gesture to Master Liu. "I accept! I accept it! Please give me the quest!"
———
Meanwhile, over a hundred kilometers away in the wilderness, the chief officer of the Holy Legion unit following behind the undead convoy, Inspector Lowell, suddenly stiffened up.
"There's the presence of monsters ahead," Lowell turned to alert the black mage beside him.
"I know," Yang Qiu replied calmly.
"…Aren't you going to make the undead stop?" Lowell wasn't too pleased with Yang Qiu's nonchalant attitude. "There are so many civilians in the convoy. If monsters get through…"
Yang Qiu smiled. "Don't worry, Inspector Lowell. Believe me, no one is more passionate about getting rid of monsters than our Taranthan undead."
Lowell: "…"
Before Lowell could respond, the undead convoy came to a halt. The undead dropped whatever they were doing and rushed toward the direction where the monster's presence was concealed while giving off loud shouts of "WAKAKAAA!" as they raced with each other to get there first.
Civilians in the convoy: "…"
Holy Legion soldiers at the rear: "…"
Yang Qiu gave a shrug to the stiff Lowell and said, "The undead's enthusiasm for exterminating monsters won't let them miss any targets that can be attacked. What we have to do is maintain a safe distance like this and make sure to not give them the wrong idea that we intend to compete with them for the monsters."
Lowell: "…"
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