Chapter 103: Chapter 102 Side Business (Ask for Recommendations! Ask for Recommendations!)
Jiang Qiao was earnestly explaining to these five antiques, whose combined ages might exceed two thousand years, about the lives of modern people and the duties of instance bosses.
However, the only ones who were genuinely paying attention were Queen Mei and Knight Lion Heart.
Knight Wasp was holding her chin with one hand, listening casually, while Hawkeye Knight, sitting behind her, spent the whole time watching butterflies flitting around the garden.
If it weren’t for Knight Wasp’s warning glance, Hawkeye Knight might be chasing butterflies all around the garden by now.
In contrast, Queen Mei’s performance was much more like that of an exemplary student; not only was she listening attentively, but she was also seriously taking notes with a pen.
If there were a school-themed version of the Battle for Divinity, Queen Mei would probably play the role of a literary girl archetype, the top student of her class. Knight Wasp would be the rebellious girl, Knight Lion Heart the rule-abiding top student and class president, and as for Hawkeye Knight…
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“I have a question,” said Queen Mei, slightly raising her hand, prompting Jiang Qiao to stop his explanation.
“Speak,” Jiang Qiao said. He had just finished discussing the definition of bosses in this iteration of the game, as well as the motivations behind the players’ actions, and was about to start describing the players’ ways of thinking when Queen Mei interrupted him.
Jiang Qiao told them directly, in a way they could understand, that Holy Spirits was actually a game and they were characters within it.
For example, Jiang Qiao compared the Battle for Divinity to something like a trial of heroes, where only by defeating them could the Holy Spirits gain greater strength; none of this deterred the Holy Spirits from falling for their… images in the real world.
There was no notion of betrayal hidden in Jiang Qiao’s thoughts after Queen Mei handed over the Divine Fragment to him.
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“Are these the only things we can do?” asked Queen Mei.
“Which things?” Jiang Qiao asked in return, at that moment wishing he could remind the casually listening Knight Wasp to ‘pay attention, the exam’s coming!’
“Every day in the royal city, those Holy Spirits come to… compete, to defeat them or be defeated by them,” Queen Mei answered.
This was one of the tasks Jiang Qiao had assigned them at the current stage.
“First of all, your working hours aren’t ‘every day.’ In my plan, the Battle for Divinity only opens for three days on the weekend, that is, only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The remaining four days are at your disposal to do whatever you want,” Jiang Qiao explained.
On the whiteboard behind him, Jiang Qiao wrote out the concept of the week. Just by looking at the working hours, Jiang Qiao truly seemed to be the most conscientious boss in the entire universe.
Staff working just three days a week and having four days off… Even if you could find such a job in Hua Country, the benefits might not necessarily be as good as those offered by Jiang Qiao.
“So, what do you all want to do during your days off?” Jiang Qiao was curious about the daily lives of the four Knights and the axe-wielding men. As for Queen Mei, Jiang Qiao even had special arrangements for her daily life.
Queen Mei’s popularity in the game was second only to the doll-like sister’s, who was set in players’ hearts as the virtuous wife, waiting for you to come home for dinner every day.
This also led to the possibility that if war were to break out in the future, like if the Legion of Annihilation led their army to attack Earth, Jiang Qiao couldn’t possibly send the doll-like sister into battle with a sword.
No, Jiang Qiao had considered the scenario of the doll-like sister going into battle with a sword… but that was his ace in the hole, a BUFF for motivating players that he wouldn’t bring out until the final moment.
At that time, a capable NPC would be needed to guide the players’ direction, and Queen Mei was an excellent candidate.
“I want to cultivate land,” Hawkeye Knight said, speaking up at this moment. His voice, filtered through the helmet, sounded a bit muffled and slow, giving Jiang Qiao the impression of a child around thirteen or fourteen years old, somewhat simple-minded and naive.
Hawkeye Knight’s suggestion was met with an icy glare from Knight Wasp. She turned and gave Hawkeye Knight a look, and he instantly shut his mouth, daring not to make any further requests to Jiang Qiao.
“Permission granted, that patch of ground outside is yours. There’s a plethora of plant seeds, too; you’re free to plant however you want,” Jiang Qiao said, pointing to the grass on the other side of the garden. The instance lord’s residence map garden came with a cultivation feature, so Hawkeye Knight could do whatever he wanted with it.
The Hawkeye Knight, after being glared at by the Yellow Jacket Knight, dared not speak, only clenching his fists quietly and giving a slight wave to express the excitement in his heart.
“What about the others? I will accept any proposal as long as it’s not too excessive. This is your newcomer’s welcome package, miss this chance and there won’t be another,” Jiang Qiao asked.
“Creator.” Seeing that her other knights and the axe-wielding man kept silent, Queen Mei knew they were waiting for her to speak, “May I communicate with those spirits?”
“Of course, what kind of communication do you want?”
Jiang Qiao was still pondering how to persuade Queen Mei and the players to interact outside of instances, but it seemed the queen was looking to make some new friends.
“I… don’t know. In the Divine Fragment War trials, we probably shouldn’t show a friendly side to those spirits.”
As Queen Mei said this, she glanced at the notes she had just written; most of the content consisted of intimidating tutorials such as ‘Ten Ways to Beat Players Into Submission’ and ‘How to Arrange the Instance Boss’s Script to be More Impactful’.
“Then are you interested in live streaming?” Jiang Qiao felt like a seasoned Hunter at that moment, with a trap half set and a little rabbit lying inside of its own accord, eyes shining brightly at him.
“Live streaming?”
Queen Mei quickly flipped through the book in her hands, searching for information related to internet live streaming.
“Your Majesty! I suggest that you should… not try live streaming,” the Yellow Jacket Knight couldn’t help but speak out at this moment.
She had watched nearly thirteen hours of live streaming, all about the Divine Fragment War’s battles, and she had come to understand what kind of social medium live streaming was in those thirteen hours.
This was the equivalent of exposing one’s entire life in front of a group of unfamiliar spirits!
“Troy, if I use live streaming, can I interact with many spirits?” Queen Mei asked the Yellow Jacket Knight calmly.
“In theory, yes. When I was watching the streams… the beings referred to as ‘streamers’ were always interacting with many spirits,” the Yellow Jacket Knight said.
The Yellow Jacket Knight certainly wouldn’t dare to lie to Queen Mei.
Jiang Qiao on the side couldn’t help but want to laugh; it was quite normal for the Yellow Jacket Knight to mistake the stream’s live chat for interactions with other spirits.
“Then I would like to give it a try,” said Queen Mei again in a serious tone to Jiang Qiao, “How do I become a streamer?”
“Don’t rush, this requires promotion… but with your popularity, you’ll quickly attract many spirits to watch,” Jiang Qiao replied.
His plan was to have Queen Mei ‘break the fourth wall’, as was the case with the NPC, the puppet girl Fureya.
‘Breaking the fourth wall’ means interacting with players outside of the game, which could increase the players’ sense of immersion and make them believe that Mei and Fureya are real.
All this was in preparation for upcoming battles; for Jiang Qiao, “Spirit” was more than a game, it was also a means to resist the incursion of external threats.
The Legion of Oblivion wouldn’t let Blue Star off easily, and… their collection targets also included Divine Fragments, so player battles against this group wouldn’t be few in the future.
“Do you have any other requests?”
What Jiang Qiao needed to do now was to gather more powerful NPCs, increase the players’ strength, and build a buffer zone and battleground within another world.