Chapter 56: Everyones Getting Rich |
Primordial Altar.
Qi Sheng rapidly scanned through the forum content.
It had been two days since the conclusion of the Shadowed Cavern purification battle. The hottest topic among players was the expansion of Emperor’s Mound Village and the incorporation of the Shadowed Cavern.
Mining efficiency had significantly improved as players no longer needed to waste time traveling.
This successful acquisition of a Territory Node also made players realize something important.
The core gameplay of this game was divided into two parts.
The first part was personal growth, allowing players to boost their attributes and hunt stronger monsters and Evil Entities.
The second part was faction growth, specifically, the Emperor’s Sign faction to which all players belonged. Each time a Territory Node was purified or a Primordial Monster was contained, every player in the faction benefited.
After the battle, many internal conflicts among players were resolved.
Previously, the two guilds had repeatedly clashed outside Emperor’s Mound Village, at the ancient battlefield, and in the Shadowed Cavern, basically fighting on sight.
But in order to capture the Shadowed Cavern quickly, both guilds ultimately agreed to cooperate against the Black Armor Soldiers after mediation by other guilds.
Once the mission was completed, their conflict was settled.
This successful campaign also inspired Qi Sheng to recruit more players again.
Switching into Emperor’s Sign mode, a flood of data filled his mind.
[Player Count: 10,329]
Contained Primordial Traits: 15
Gargoyle (Petrification), Owl-Headed Fiend (Dirge), Black-Scaled Serpent (Venomous), Bonefire (Inkflame), Force Savage, Shatter, Sweep, Soul Sever, Nether Ghost, Taunt, Duskhaze (Shadowform), Light Shield, Qi Eater, Resistance, Bind.
Players’ Sacrificial Power Output (Taxed): 132,552 points today
Average Monster Level: 11.3
Territory Nodes Controlled:
Emperor’s Mound Village (the burial site of Emperor’s Sign’s final trace of Origin; possesses the Rule Trait of Flesh Reconstruction)
Shadowed Cavern (Resource class Territory Node, continuously nurtures spiritual ore resources)
Sacrificial Power Pool: 3,239,480
—
During this Shadowed Cavern campaign, players had contained 4 new Primordial Monsters for him: Taunt, Qi Eater, Resistance, and Bind.
Among them, Taunt was a Second-Generation Primordial; the other three were First-Generation.
The Resistance ability greatly increased defense against all types of elemental damage, reducing incoming damage, a very suitable Star Vein pairing choice for Gargoyle players.
The final one, Bind, was discovered by players upon entering the fifth underground level of the Shadowed Cavern. It was a plant-like creature imprisoned in an ice chamber built by Iceblade’s people and was defeated by focused fire from the players.
Its Primordial Trait allowed it to rapidly construct an energy cage near its target using mental power, restricting the target’s movements.
However, the Bind inherited soul didn’t generate much discussion on the forum.
While the ability provided decent crowd control on its own, no powerful Star Vein build had yet been developed to fully capitalize on it.
Players who tested it in the simulation tower found that the most compatible combination for now was Gargoyle, since Gargoyle was already a tank-focused inherited soul. Adding a control-type inherited soul allowed it to restrain enemies while absorbing damage.
But at the current stage, with players’ Star Vein levels still low, Bind was clearly not a priority compared to Taunt or Resistance.
In terms of control, Taunt completely outclassed Bind.
The only difference was that Taunt’s control drew aggro while still allowing the controlled target to attack, whereas Bind physically restricted the target, preventing it from attacking until it broke free from the cage.
As for long-range damage-dealing players, they had far more inherited soul options available, and Bind wasn’t even in their top choices.
After reviewing the information, Qi Sheng opened his eyes.
With over 3.23 million sacrificial power still in the pool, he decided to initiate another recruitment phase.
This time, he planned to spend 2 million sacrificial power to recruit 2,000 new players into the game.
The remaining 1.3 million sacrificial power would be reserved for issuing rewards, developing new features, and for future use as needed.
—
8 PM.
Human Federation – Starnet Security Center.
“Little A, did you get the download slot?”
At the question, the projection robot on the desk shrugged and sighed in a very human-like way.
“I used the high-frequency connection method you suggested, but every response has been a failure, saying all slots are already taken and no download permission is available.”
Hearing Smart Assistant A’s explanation, Ding Xiu couldn’t help but sigh as well.
His superiors had ordered him to investigate the truth behind the link, but there was no trail to follow at all.
The only available download link was inaccessible. To him, the mission was simply impossible.
Every day he would ask Little A several times, and the answer was always the same.
“Keep working.”
Putting the issue aside, Ding Xiu prepared to resume processing other report cases.
But at that moment, Little A suddenly exclaimed.
“Ding Xiu, there’s a different response from the link!”
“Show me!” Ding Xiu immediately perked up.
Little A pointed, and a virtual screen appeared in front of Ding Xiu. A new message had popped up.
[Connection failed… and the reason it failed is because you were cheating.]
Ding Xiu: “…”
It was clear that whoever controlled the link had detected his high-frequency connection attempt to cheat for a download slot.
Smart Assistant A spread its hands helplessly.
“As you can see, high-frequency connections won’t work. I suggest you switch to manual attempts.”
At the same time.
Human Federation, Yelan City.
In a cluttered room, Tong Xin’s eyes were bloodshot. His desk was piled with snacks and energy drinks.
Opening the group chat page.
The usually lively Kindergarten chat group was now silent. Since that day, members had barely appeared. Even when they did pop in, it was only to mention respawn cooldowns before diving back into the game.
“You bastards… how could you all leave me behind.”
Muttering under his breath, Tong Xin continued clicking the mouse furiously, trying to get a download slot.
But the message remained the same:
[Game download limit reached. No new download permissions available.]
“I don’t believe this.”
Frustrated by the repeated failures, Tong Xin kept clicking like mad.
He had even quit his job to fight for a download slot.
A few days ago, Drunken Milk had posted a screenshot in the group chat that completely broke him.
The screenshot showed a payment receipt: Drunken Milk had earned 13,000 credits by selling in-game currency from Dark Land.
According to Drunken Milk, that was just three days’ worth of income, on good days, it was possible to earn even more in just one day.
That was when Tong Xin’s working-class resolve completely shattered.
Nothing was more painful than watching all your friends getting rich while you remained stuck in place.
Thinking of this, Tong Xin muttered again.
“You bastards!”
It hurt even more than if they had betrayed him directly.
So he quit his job and devoted himself entirely to frantically clicking for a download slot.
By now, he had been at it for three days and nights straight. His dark circles were so thick they startled even himself in the mirror, yet he still had no success. The link remained firmly locked.
“I won’t give up! Come on! Let me in already!”
Growing more desperate, he clicked even faster.
His emotional agitation combined with physical exhaustion finally took its toll. His vision blurred, and as his consciousness wavered, Tong Xin collapsed face-first onto the desk and passed out.
At that very moment, a different message popped up in the top right corner of the webpage.
[Downloading… Progress: 0.01%]
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