Chapter 45: Healthy Competition |
Blood-Soaked Plains.
Broken Star sat atop a twisted dead tree, gazing into the distance at the brawling mass of players, utterly perplexed.
Through recent contact, he had discovered that this group of mysterious beings possessed the special ability to switch into monster forms during combat.
Though physically weak, their abilities were far from lacking.
However, he still could not grasp the behavioral logic behind these mysterious beings.
He observed that they often gathered in large groups, scouring the mountains for Evil Entities and monsters, ganging up on them in brutal fights, displaying extremely aggressive tendencies.
But their actions were not driven by territory disputes, nor resource competition. Hunting monsters didn’t seem to serve any purpose like acquiring food either. It appeared as if they simply fought for the sake of fighting, then left with smiles on their faces.
And today, he witnessed something even more bizarre.
These mysterious beings had broken out into internal conflict.
The strange part was that just moments ago, these mysterious beings were queuing up in front of the caverns in an orderly fashion, chatting and laughing.
Then, for reasons unknown, they suddenly broke out into brutal fighting, with the sole objective of killing their fellow kind.
This tendency to erupt into deadly combat over the slightest dispute left Broken Star completely bewildered.
It was the same as last time, when they had risked their lives to save him. Prior to that, he had slain thousands of these mysterious beings. Logically, they should view him as an unforgivable enemy.
Yet when he was on the verge of death, these beings desperately tried to rescue him, sacrificing countless members of their own race in the process.
Broken Star simply could not comprehend the logic behind all of this behavior.
“I don’t get it.”
He muttered softly, lowering his gaze to the rune imprint in his hand, his expression growing despondent.
He had arrived safely, but now couldn’t return.
Without the shuttle’s signal transmission assistance, he was lost, not even sure where he currently was.
The thought filled Broken Star with rage.
The shuttle had protective rune armor capable of withstanding damage. In theory, any external destruction would instantly trigger an alert on his rune battle armor, allowing him to locate it quickly.
Furthermore, the shuttle had a built-in tracking system. Even if stolen, he should have been able to pinpoint its exact location.
And yet, inexplicably, the shuttle had vanished without suffering any damage or being moved.
Aside from these mysterious beings, he could think of no other culprits.
This was also why he had recently been closely observing their activities, hoping to discover the whereabouts of his missing shuttle.
—
“Dinner Gang members, gather at Emperor’s Mound Village. We’re going to tear off the Divine Wings Guild’s heads. They’ll pay for bullying one of ours.”
“Boss, the gold-farming crew has been contacted. They’re on their way now. Once we join up, we’ll charge together.”
“The Kindergarten Guild is ready too. They’re waiting for us at the Blood-Soaked Plains.”
The battle over the Soul Crystals had escalated. Both guilds were now taking it seriously, rallying reinforcements for another round.
Even Li Tie, who normally played solo, had been called in to join the fight.
With the Dinner Gang leading the charge, their forces gathered at Emperor’s Mound Village before marching toward the Blood-Soaked Plains, kicking off another round of fierce combat.
Besides the two sides, many onlookers also gathered.
They had no affiliation with either guild, simply coming to watch the drama unfold.
Meanwhile, the forum buzzed with heated debates over the strength of both guilds.
The hottest topic was Li Tie of the Dinner Gang, in-game name ‘Iron Forge,’ currently ranked number one in Body Tempering.
At this stage, many players had already opened their second Star Vein, but Li Tie was the only one who had reached Body Tempering level 5, allowing him to fully inherit five monster souls simultaneously in human form.
His combat strength stood out in this clash.
The battle axe in his hand, fused from five spirit weapon souls, was devastating, cutting through Divine Wings Guild members like grass. None could last even a single round against him.
Spectators in the forum discussed the scene feverishly.
Endless Night: This guy’s insanely strong. Definitely top three among all players, maybe even number one. The spirit weapon build’s burst damage is absolutely brutal. I’m shaking watching him, it’s like he’s cutting down little kids one after another.
Dark Land Is Fun: Ridiculous damage output. He just got lucky joining the game earlier than us. The early Primordials near Emperor’s Mound Village were weak, he soloed five of them and made a fortune.
Humanity Rising: Don’t talk nonsense. Even if you met those Primordials, you wouldn’t have had the strength to hunt them. I’ve seen this guy in other games before. He’s Dinner Gang’s top enforcer. Extremely fierce, rumor has it he even fought in real-life wars against alien forces.
I Won The Lottery: He might be strong in both real life and this game, but he’s still small fry compared to the forum braggers. Everyone here has level 20 Star Veins and Body Tempering, with 13 monster souls and not enough slots to embed them all (sarcasm.jpg)
—
Despite the jokes, players grew increasingly interested in Li Tie’s spirit weapon build.
At present, among all existing soul combinations, it was the most violent melee Star Vein build.
When Li Tie’s battle axe struck, it dealt piercing, amplified, and mental impact damage, resulting in staggering destructive power.
Under his assault, Divine Wings Guild was utterly crushed.
The battle lasted over an hour and ended in Divine Wings Guild’s total defeat.
But this didn’t mean the feud was over. All the spectators understood that these two guilds had now formed an irreconcilable grudge.
Whenever their members encountered each other in the future, another fight was inevitable.
Just as the observers had predicted, an hour later, Divine Wings Guild members began logging back in, but rather than immediately seeking revenge, they flooded the regional voice channel, aggressively purchasing sacrificial power.
Their intentions were obvious, strengthen themselves before challenging the Dinner Gang again.
This behavior caused sacrificial power prices to spike once more.
The Divine Wings Guild leader offered a purchase price of 200:1 and stated they were willing to pay even more for players selling in larger quantities.
Gold-farming players were ecstatic, since the value of killing monsters had effectively increased.
Regarding the conflict between the two major guilds, the spectators voiced unanimous support.
—
Naturally, Qi Sheng, watching from the shadows, was fully aware of the guilds’ confrontation.
But he had no intention of interfering.
Before inheriting the trace of Origin from the Emperor’s Sign, he too had been a devoted gamer who loved all kinds of games.
From the very beginning of creating the Challenger System, he had given serious thought to player competition.
In MMORPGs, one major driving factor for players’ desire to grow stronger is precisely conflict and competition between players.
Many games deliberately create limited resources to spark conflicts that encourage players to spend more.
Some companies even recruit internal ‘plants’ who stir up trouble, join different guilds, and incite fierce rivalries to push players into spending to get stronger.
From a strength-growth perspective, the motivational effect of competition far outweighed any internal resource loss.
As external threats like the Black Tide Legion appeared, players within the same faction would eventually band together to face them.
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