Chapter 73-3: Hidden Quest? (3) |
Two hours later.
A large number of players flooded into the livestream of the player ‘Raging Chicken.’
The reason was that during his livestream, Raging Chicken encountered the same story event mentioned in the forum post by the player Following the Wind. He was sent by the Evil Entities to the high tower platform.
This instantly shot his stream to the top of the popularity rankings, attracting a huge crowd of players eager to witness the triggering of the hidden storyline.
At this moment, however, Dinian Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye were feeling frustrated.
Looking at the mysterious creature sitting on the platform, they saw uncontrollable joy and excitement in his eyes. There was not a trace of fear, only endless fanaticism.
The Dinian Evil Spirit, who had once waged war across the Dungeon World and spread fear to countless living beings, was encountering such an absurd situation for the first time.
“You’re not afraid?”
Knowing he had triggered a hidden quest, Raging Chicken trembled slightly, suppressing his excitement as he carefully considered how to respond.
Meanwhile, the spectators in the livestream chat flooded in with suggestions.
“Hurry up and curse at him! Insulting him will definitely trigger the hidden quest. As an Emperor’s Sign warrior, you must show aggression when facing Evil Entities.”
“Just attack him! You have to show your courage to trigger the quest. Don’t be like that last idiot who answered honestly, that guy was too dumb.”
“Don’t listen to the guys above. I suggest answering the question first and then slowly developing the dialogue. If you suicide charge before the storyline unfolds, you won’t trigger the quest. Trust me, bro, I’ve been playing Sin Land for five years and have a deep understanding of this Lunar Eclipse race-developed game.”
—
With various options flooding the chat, Raging Chicken hesitated briefly, then gritted his teeth, switched to his Owl-Headed Fiend form, and charged directly at the Dinian Evil Spirit.
“As Emperor’s Sign warriors, we will never compromise with Evil Entities!”
Crack!
With the sound of his neck breaking, the livestream screen went dark, displaying the message.
[Player has died. Livestream terminated.]
“I told you, you have to engage in dialogue to develop the storyline. Charging in right at the start is suicidal. Dumb move. Too stupid.”
“Another fool who threw away a huge payday. I really don’t get the point of suicide charging. It’s a shame it wasn’t me who triggered this event. I definitely wouldn’t have wasted the opportunity.”
“That was hilarious. Look at how the guy who met the God of Wealth handled it, he chatted for a long time and got the Celestial Rune Combat Technique as a reward. So obviously, when you encounter special events, you need to talk first and let the storyline unfold before triggering the next phase.”
The audience expressed their opinions about this failed hidden quest attempt.
Everyone agreed that Raging Chicken had been far too reckless. If it had been them, they were certain they could have triggered it, but all they could do was lament their own lack of luck.
An hour later, the ‘Hidden Quest’ appeared again.
The player who triggered it immediately started livestreaming, and his stream quickly climbed to the trending charts.
The livestream comment section once again filled with countless backseat strategists.
When this new player encountered the Dinian Evil Spirit, he chose a different approach.
At first, he answered the questions normally, but when asked about the source of his power, he followed the advice of the chat, looked at the Dinian Evil Spirit with determination, and declared.
“Despicable Evil Entity! You’ll never learn the secrets of the Emperor’s Sign. I’ll fight you to the death!”
With that, he transformed into his monster form and was immediately slapped into black mist.
After this player’s death, others who triggered the hidden quest began experimenting with increasingly unorthodox methods, trying to discover the conditions to unlock the quest through trial and error.
For example, one player, after triggering the ‘Hidden Quest,’ responded to the Dinian Evil Spirit’s interrogation by bursting into tears, declaring loyalty to the Black Tide and stating that he had long been disgusted with the Emperor’s Sign.
This approach was inspired by a suggestion from a player in the livestream.
The suggestion theorized that the hidden quest might require players to infiltrate the Black Tide as undercover agents, triggering a unique spy storyline and allowing for a different progression path from other players.
The idea gained many likes and became this ‘lucky player’s’ chosen strategy.
As expected, it ended with the player’s death.
Despite the continuous experimentation, players were unable to crack the hidden storyline’s trigger conditions, and discussions on how to activate it only grew hotter.
—
Evil Eye Tower platform.
After killing yet another captured mysterious creature, the Dinian Evil Spirit fell into complete silence.
Reflecting on the past two days, he felt as though his mind had been stuffed with bizarre nonsense.
The behavior of the mysterious creatures was far too erratic, to the point where they didn’t even seem like members of the same species.
Some attacked him without warning. Some knelt and begged to join the Black Tide. Some refused to speak, glaring at him in rage. Others sincerely tried to persuade him to lay down his arms and join the Emperor’s Sign. The most ridiculous one sat on the ground after being captured and tried to communicate with him using sign language, enraging him into slapping the creature into black mist on the spot.
These erratic creatures seemed to treat his interrogation like a stage for bizarre performances.
Each time, they responded differently to his questioning, never repeating themselves.
Yet he had never obtained any useful information, only strange and confusing remarks that provided no help in understanding rule power.
At one point, he even considered giving up.
But the Overseer Eye always convinced him to continue, suggesting that this might eventually lead to discovering the method to wield rule power. Reluctantly, he endured the mental torment brought by these creatures’ absurd performances.
Now, the Dinian Evil Spirit had finally run out of patience. The suppressed fury surged wildly in his mind.
He walked to the edge of the platform, his dark red eyes flashing as he spread his arms and roared skyward.
At once, the Black Tide energy inside him surged like a massive wave, shaking the entire tower.
“Dinian, control your emotions. As a commander-class warrior, you must always remain rational,” the Evil Eye advised solemnly.
“Screw your rationality! Aaaaahhhhh!”
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