My Players Are So Fierce

While Meow King went off alone for the meeting, the other players were not idle either.

They had pretty much scavenged all the garbage in the outer city area, but the small players soon discovered new ways to entertain themselves.

For instance, after completing Lady Tris’s twelve-circle scavenger hunt, they could take the opportunity of delivering wine to hear from Tris many “insider stories” about the outer city area.

Such as which households were rumored to have hidden formidable items, which blacksmith shops excelled in crafting certain special things, and even the former headquarters of the city’s underworld gang that once dominated the outer city area.

Like urban legends, these stories seemed trivial, but upon closer inspection, Lady Tris’s insider information actually contained hidden clues.

The special areas she mentioned were all very well concealed. Without a local guide, it would be difficult for small players to pinpoint the locations precisely within the unrecognizable city ruins.

However, if they could piece together the truth from various details, the rewards they could obtain would be bountiful.

For example, just yesterday afternoon!

The student trio of Cyborg Snail, Gugu Chicken, and Ah Yuen followed Lady Tris’s insider tips to discover a masterwork veteran-grade ranger ceremonial rifle from the basement ruins of a local retired major’s house.

Joy Stick and his buddies had also been busy with this lately.

They exchanged wine for information from Tris, inquired extensively at the survivor camp, and actually found a place that might contain a large quantity of good stuff.

It was in an abandoned passage under the seventh sewer entrance in the outer city area.

Rumor had it that this used to be the secret base of the outer city’s underworld gang, possibly housing a gangster treasury, and not far from there was also a large blacksmith shop.

So if they were lucky, they could score a hefty sum to serve as the team’s startup funds. Maxim had even given them a quest to find a way to bring back the equipment from the blacksmith shop.

For the cash-strapped Joy Stick, this was an opportunity he could not afford to miss.

The reason Stick was so desperate for cash was very practical.

He was broke!

Mainly because he had not expected that the thirteen friends he had recommended would all join the game in the same batch. Aside from the five who had died foolishly or due to bad luck and had to revive, he now had 8 mouths to feed under his command.

The ammo consumption for each of their outings was a huge burden, and mere scavenging could hardly meet their daily needs.

Desperate for a side hustle, the loyal Stick had no choice but to take a risk for his brothers’ sustenance and venture into the only area of the outer city that had not been thoroughly explored yet.

The sewer area.

According to local residents, the city’s sewer area was a vast labyrinth harboring many dark and dangerous things. Of course, compared to the calamity brought by the astral realm’s fissure, those things could hardly be considered dangerous.

This exploration was also part of Murphy’s plan.

He had arranged for the “Great Burning” later tonight, intending to officially wrap up this special week-long event.

However, before issuing the next main quest to the small players, he had one very important task to attend to.

“Swish”

With a sweep of her blood-red bat wings, Lady Adele’s figure landed precisely before Murphy.

With her hands folded over her abdomen, she spoke softly to her elder:

“The last local life force in the outer city ruins has disappeared, near the area where your servants went to explore the sewers.

In three days, they worked in relays, tirelessly searching to bring over 460 people back from this land of despair. No matter how you look at it, your servants truly deserve to be called warriors.”

“They have always been so, and I have never doubted them.”

Murphy was quite satisfied with this outcome.

Although they had failed to rescue all those trapped deep in the ruins, he had witnessed the small players’ efforts. Their three-day search had more than doubled the number of survivors in the camp, and those who had been saved from despair were grateful to these foreign-tongued warriors.

By extension, Murphy’s image among them had also become very positive.

This was exactly what Murphy had hoped to see.

The first step of uniting hearts had been perfectly demonstrated, allowing him to smoothly proceed to the second step. As the key players who had played a decisive role, the small players deserved to be handsomely rewarded!

Especially the first five small players who had triggered this “hidden quest”.

With this in mind, Murphy decided to test the waters on the forum. He instructed the waiting Lady Adele:

“You and the Young Lady prepare yourselves. At dusk we’ll go to the underground ‘Nocturne’ sanctum and unearth those three underground nexuses from the ruins.”

“As you command, Master Murphy.”

Lady Adele retreated two steps, spread her bat wings, and flew into the sky, disappearing into the dim light.

This taciturn half-elf blood descendant truly enjoyed flying. Ever since becoming a vampire, Murphy had never seen her walk on solid ground if given the chance.

She would definitely choose to fly whenever possible.

“What an odd quirk.”

The fledgling vampire elder who had yet to sprout wings grumbled sourly. He then found a spot to sit down, summoned the forum interface, and skillfully infiltrated the game group to screen-peek.

After the autonomous login feature was enabled, the players’ online times had also become fixed. They would choose to enter the game during the transition between day and night, so as not to miss the activities of the vampire NPCs while also being able to pick up a few quests from the human survivors at the camp.

At this hour, the only ones not online, apart from Lumina due to the time difference, were the five small players who had just logged in yesterday only to be killed by the spawn of despair.

They were currently chatting idly in the group.

Murphy did not join them but instead opened a private chat with Lumina and sent her a message:

Alpha: 【Just now, the system backend showed that the large hidden quest you all triggered has been completed. The dev team is quite satisfied with the result. To be honest, when they designed this hidden quest, they never expected it to be triggered so quickly, so they only left a placeholder for the quest reward.

Now they’ve sent me to ask if you have anything in particular you’d like.

As the first players to trigger a major story-driven hidden quest in the game, the dev team can give you a small ‘easter egg’ to commemorate your outstanding performance.

This kind of ‘custom reward’ opportunity is rare, so think it over carefully.】

LuminaYanghen: 【Wow, is that a thing? But doesn’t that count as a serious oversight on the dev team’s part? Will they get docked pay? SlySmile.jpg】

Alpha: 【Wipes sweat.jpg Well, there’s no helping it. The dev team has a heavy workload. Thanks to your active participation, many bugs that weren’t discovered during internal testing keep popping up, but under such intense work, some oversights are normal.

Just don’t go blabbing about it, okay?】

LuminaYanghen: 【Hmph, so this is the legendary ‘hush money’, huh? Then can I make an outrageous demand, like having my character transported to the elven realm? I found a storybook in the ruins yesterday, and after the player interface translated it, I confirmed that there are elves in this game, right?】

Alpha: 【There are, the Castilia elves are quite a powerful force in the background. But that high-level map area is far from Transia, this “newbie area”, thousands of kilometers away, so it’s not really fleshed out yet, basically just a folder created.

Let’s go for something more realistic, do you really like elves that much?】

LuminaYanghen: 【Hey, brother! You can tell from my game ID, right? I always choose elves in every game I play, so it’s a bit disappointing that we can’t customize appearances at the start of this game.

But let me guess, the dev team giving us five ‘custom rewards’ isn’t just to commemorate this major hidden quest, right?

I’m guessing the dev team wants to use excellent rewards to guide the current players to change their gameplay mindset, encouraging them to actively seek out the details woven into the fabric of the game to drive its progression?】

Alpha: 【Hm? Why would you think that? Elaborate.】

LuminaYanghen: 【It’s simple, I’ve noticed that although Meow King and the others are very invested, they’re still using traditional gaming mentalities to wander aimlessly in《Reality Realm》.

Like that gangster sewer base they’re going to explore today, I actually discovered its existence on the very first night, no exaggeration.

The scattered newspapers in the city occasionally reported news about that place. If they had paid attention to these ubiquitous sources of information while scavenging, they wouldn’t have needed to deliver wine to that insatiable but pretty alcoholic Lady Tris just to get the key information.

Their approach clearly stems from the traditional gaming mindset of ‘NPCs driving the plot’. Although they appear diligent in action, they cannot conceal their mental laziness!

This game is made to be extremely realistic.

It adheres to the underlying logic of the real world in constructing its game world. My current feeling is that to truly understand this game, you can’t treat it as an ‘imaginary world’!

Hehe, brother Alpha, am I right or not?】

Alpha: 【You really are a clever little thing, I admit you’re right on all counts. But the official stance won’t be so overt in guiding players, we don’t want to teach them how to play the game.

We also have no right to deprive players of the joy of exploring this ‘new world’.

So, you’re confirming that you want elf-related item rewards, right?

Looks like the dev team will have a headache on their hands. In the background lore, the Transia region has no connection to elves whatsoever. But we’ll leave that headache to the dev team, I’m just here to relay the message.

You should quickly coordinate with the other four online, then summarize the rewards you all want and give them to me. The dev team will try their best to fulfill them.

But once again, this matter must be kept confidential.】

LuminaYanghen: 【OK, leave it to me. Erm, brother Alpha, when is our next round of invitation codes coming? I just convinced two friends, and they’re really capable, much smarter than me.】

Alpha: 【Have them go through the internal recommendation process when filling out applications. When recruiting new test players next time, they’ll be given priority consideration. But I can’t give you a specific time, the testing plan will be micro-adjusted based on the current story progression pace.

So if you want more buddies to play with, you can’t slack off during the game’s testing phase.】

After concluding the forum exchange with Lumina, Murphy rose from his spot. He casually drew the rapid sword from his waist, gave it a flourish, and with the imbued stealth of the unique dark stride, his entire figure slid eerily forward a few steps before sheathing his sword gracefully.

Like elves, do you?

Well, isn’t that convenient?

I just so happen to have a secret sword art from the shadow elf Mejeva clan waiting to be taught. Perhaps Lady Adele’s blood lineage secret, that “hidden quest”, can also be assigned to Lumina to drive its execution.

That “elf fanatic” probably wouldn’t refuse, right?

Speaking of which, should I recruit more deep role-players like Lumina? These RP players might just be the most suitable group for Transia’s current situation.

Around half an hour later, as Murphy roamed the city ruins hunting astral beasts to practice the Tomb Guard Sword Arts, he paused in his tracks. A forum private message from Lumina had arrived.

Opening it, he found that the other four didn’t have such fanciful ideas.

Day One No Fap and Black Stockings were quite pragmatic, wanting skill tomes or weapons and equipment that could enhance their characters’ strength.

The middle-aged Dump Truck and Bulldozer didn’t have such pursuits. Not chasing power, they seemed to have immersed themselves in camp management, savoring the joy of commanding hundreds of people in the game.

What they wanted were tools that could help the camp quickly restore its productivity.

“What humble demands, what great players! Where else can you find such wonderful workers who don’t even ask for money?”

Murphy sighed in admiration.

He took out the map from his spirit pouch, scanned it, and changed direction, leading his astral dire wolf towards another part of the ruins.

There was a small alley there that specialized in selling various farming tools and seeds, where he would surely find what the two old fellows wanted.

As for weapons, equipment, and skill books, those were even easier to obtain.

Day One No Fap was a dual-blade swordsman, while Black Stockings was a greatsword swordsman. Giving them mastery tomes of the Blood Vulture Sword Arts along with fine weapons from the warehouse guard series would do the trick. Though not high-tier, the Blood Vulture Sword Arts were the foundation of the Blood Vulture clan’s physical job system, not random common goods.

And at this stage, mastery tomes that raised skill caps could only be obtained through Maxim’s “Trial of Strength”. In the entire game, only Sister Pomegranate had accidentally acquired one due to a bug, they were truly rare commodities.

Based on the small players’ current “leveling” speed, in two days’ time when this special event ended, the most talented batch would probably reach around level 8, just a hair’s breadth away from triggering the Black Iron Trial.

The small players’ growth rate did surprise Murphy.

If not for the game’s time constraints, these tireless folks would level even faster.

He knew he had to accelerate and complete his own Trial of Strength first. An NPC who couldn’t stay ahead of the players would be disdained. But finding a Black Iron-tier enemy with blood in the current Kadman City would be no easy feat.

Those Witch Hunters might be ideal targets, but they had a Golden-tier White Knight guarding them. Unless Tris regained her full strength overnight, for his own wellbeing, Murphy would have to play it safe and steady.

No matter!

Taking it slow was fine.

He wasn’t bound by game time limits, so walking slowly wasn’t an issue. As long as he walked steadily enough… Ah, just starting out in this world, he absolutely couldn’t afford to stumble now.