Based on the quests that Han Xiao assigned to the players, Maple Moon had guessed that Han Xiao and the Germinal Organization were enemies. Most players would just want to complete the task and get it over with, so they would not even bother with understanding any background information about the quest. However, Maple Moon enjoyed exploring the story plot and became curious about the background story of Han Xiao. Black Phantom—this name made her think of all sorts of assassins and stories of vengeance. She believed that there was something she could dig further into.
She is the first player to interact with me outside of assigning quests and selling equipment. Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
Han Xiao pondered about his relationship with the players and concluded that they were not enemies—except for the players who took on missions that targeted him. He was able to not only extract profits from players but also train players with potential and let them become his allies. By exchanging help and resources, he could make these players willingly fight alongside him.
As the players could resurrect, it was somewhat unfavorable to Han Xiao. However, looking from another perspective, it also meant that the players were best used as fighters and cannon fodder. Although most players did not have principles, and therefore, using players in such a manner could be rather chaotic, Han Xiao was clear about the players' psychology and what motivated them. As long as he manipulated them properly, he could control the players' actions to a certain extent. If he made good use of this strategy, he could gain a huge advantage when fighting against NPC forces—the advantage could be as big as his advantage when interacting with players!
What's this called again—two-timing?
Nah, it should be called focusing on both sides!
A flash of thoughts sprinted through Han Xiao's mind as he glanced at her. He then suddenly walked up to the vehicle. Maple Moon was startled momentarily before she followed.
The vehicle storage compartment was a workshop full of spare mechanical components. Han Xiao casually pointed his finger to ask Maple Moon to sit wherever she wanted. He then lit a cigarette and began smoking. The smoke created a mysterious atmosphere, and Maple Moon, upon seeing this scene, knew immediately that something exciting was about to happen to her. This caused her heartbeat to thump rapidly. She was very expectant.
Han Xiao flicked the ashes off his cigarette as he said, "The Germinal Organization is an evil organization that is using the grief the people who lost their country to manipulate them into fighting for their personal gains. They outlandishly try to start a world war and add more scars to this world that is already covered in wounds…"
Han Xiao embellished the story with many details of the evil deeds that the Germinal Organization had previously committed, but he did not twist any facts around. The Germinal Organization had indeed committed a lot of bloody acts. Han Xiao was able to know all this based on the memories from his past life and by reading the relevant case files on the Dark Net. He gave a good account of all these incidents to Maple Moon.
As Maple Moon listened to Han Xiao attentively, her emotions fluctuated up and down. Her impression of the Germinal Organization plummeted as she felt the anger brewing within her. Maple Moon was the kind of person who would get emotional from the storyline of a game, and she would always make decisions based on what her heart wanted. She had never been motivated by personal gains.
There were actually a lot of players like Maple Moon since most players were there to enjoy the game. A game was a story that people could easily immerse themselves in. However, most of such players were playing offline games, so it was rare to find players like this in an online game.
Han Xiao, in fact, found players like Maple Moon admirable. He coughed and asked a question that was clearly leading to a quest. "Would you be willing to become an enemy of the Germinal Organization?"
It was basically a yes or no question.
Maple Moon nodded solemnly.
_____________________
Your reputation with Black Phantom has increased by 5 points.
_____________________
After adjusting her reputation points, Han Xiao took out a mobile phone and handed it to Maple Moon. "Good, I have seen your courage. When you have grown stronger, contact me using this phone.
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You received the quest [Black Phantom's Invitation]. Reach LV 20, then contact Black Phantom.
_____________________
Maple Moon was secretly delighted by her correct choice. She was right—there were hidden plots that could be triggered!
Han Xiao's secretly chuckled as he saw Maple Moon's delighted face. He was planning to spread a wide net to catch all these players with good potential. However, due to the limited number of players he could train, choosing each player carefully was a very important thing. Maple Moon would be a famous mechanic in the future and could be a good assistant for him. She was definitely a good spare tire… Cough! I mean an alternative.
As for the remaining candidates, Han Xiao had to think hard about them. He was prepared to choose the players who had good principles and potential. As long as Han Xiao showed players that they could trigger hidden missions from him, the rest of the professional players would automatically come to find him by themselves, and this would allow him to have more choices in picking the candidates.
A rough plan was generated inside Han Xiao mind, and he believed that it was rather actionable, but for the time being, the players still required a period of growth before he could proceed to the next step of his plan.
…
After he sent away the excited Maple Moon, he waited till noon before creating a new quest for the players.
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[Hunting Germinal]: Follow Black Phantom to attack a troop from the Germinal Organization. This quest is a Prize-Pool Mission, and the base reward is 35,000 EXP. 500 EXP will be consumed by accepting the quest and be placed in the reward pool. The total reward will be split proportionally among the top 5 players (or teams).
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Han Xiao had the ability to release different kinds of quests including a Prize-Pool Mission. Unfortunately, the reward he could dispense for a Prize-Pool Mission would still depend on the upper limit of a single mission. However, as the players were mostly around the level of four or five, 35,000 was still an astronomical number to them.
The players wanting to join the Prize-Pool Mission had to pay an 'admission fee'. Han Xiao tried and realized that he could not manipulate the EXP that the players put into the prize pool. He felt bummed, like he had lost another way to earn—scam—the noobs.
The Kill-all Guild was the first to discover the Prize-Pool Mission. They were shocked by the sheer size of the reward for the quest.
"This must be the first Prize-Pool Mission!"
"Oh woah! 35,000 EXP! Even for the base reward, it is way too much! The quests that I can do now only give me a few hundred EXP!"
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"If more players accept this quest, the prize pool will accumulate to an astronomical number!"
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All the members from the Kill-all guild could not contain their excitement.
SliceYouUp's eyes flashed, and he had a different thought. "No, we cannot allow other players to accept this quest!"
Members of the guild were shocked and asked the president, "Why not?"
Slicer eighteen spoke volubly, "Only five players or teams can receive the prize for this quest. The Big Horn Village has few hundred thousand players which even include some professional players. Rather than competing with all of them and rely on luck, why not just get the 35,000 EXP into our hand! If we are the only ones to accept the quest, we can easily manipulate the ranking and distribute the reward without the rest of our guild. Also, if we only win the quest as a team, each member will only gain an insubstantial amount of EXP. If we can distribute the EXP to a few individuals, it will be a lot more useful!"
He wanted to get several core members to complete the task and earn the huge amount of EXP—it was basically transferring the EXP that other members of the guild would gain to an elite few. If everyone in the guild were to gain the EXP, each person would only average about 500 EXP, which was insignificant. However, if the EXP were to be transferred to just a few members, their growth would be greatly accelerated.
The guild members look at each other in consternation. Although they were reluctant, they did not want to lose their job. It was only a little EXP; it would not matter that much. So, everyone agreed.
"The quest only starts in the afternoon, and Black Phantom will definitely set out in advance. As long as we do not let any players come into contact with him during these two hours, we are set!"
SliceYouUp ordered his guild members to hold up pistols and guard the area around Han Xiao. He then gave an order. "Warn any person that's coming near him. If anyone defies the warning, fire immediately."
The Kill-all guild had more than twenty core members located within Big Horn Village and more than a hundred secondary members. It was the biggest player faction at the moment.
These guilds working in a studio were different from casual players. They had a presence in many games, and only when they were certain that a particular game was valuable enough to have a great investment in would they then move their members based in other games into that specific game. The Kill-all Guild had a few thousand members, but there were only about a hundred of them based in Galaxy. More players from the guild would join the game when more VR capsules were on sale.
Players in this game could kill each other. However, the more people they killed, the more Sin points they would accumulate. The amount of EXP and equipment that a player would drop for dying was proportional to their Sin points.
…
Han Xiao realized that there was a group of guild players around him chasing the other players away, preventing anyone from getting close to him. They were rather aggressive and stern—those that got driven away were afraid to speak up.
He pondered for a moment and immediately understood what the Kill-all Guild was trying to do. His face turned black. "This guild to trying to swallow my Prize-Pool Mission alone—how fearless!"
His original intention of the Prize-Pool Mission was to get more players to join in and become his canon-fodder, but the Kill-all Guild was now interfering his plan.
A large group of players gathered on the side. They were indignant.
"They are too authoritative! I just want to buy some ammunition, that's all!"
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"What right do you have to forcibly occupy Black Phantom‽"
At this moment, members of the Sky Territory Guild forced their way through the crowd and confronted the Kill-all Guild.
Jade Green Sky then shouted, "What are you guys trying to do‽"
SliceYouUp was expressionless. He did not even bother to explain before he gestured with his hand; his members around him immediately aimed their pistol at Jade Green Sky. This immediately triggered the members of the Sky Territory Guild—they responded in kind.
All the other players were slightly shocked by this scene. They quickly moved backward, lest they got splashed with blood.
Jade Green Sky was hesitant. He had fewer people on his side, so he knew that he would be at a disadvantage once the battle began. He did not understand why the Kill-all Guild suddenly became so authoritative, but he was certain that something fishy was going on. Furthermore, with so many eyes around observing them, the Sky Territory Guild could not act like cowards.
Jade Green Sky and his members glanced at each other, confirming each other's thoughts.
Fight!
Tension was building on both sides.
Other players stretched their necks to watch the show—two big, famous guilds fighting against each other was not an everyday occurrence.
The battle was on the verge of starting.
Just then, every member in the Kill-all Guild received a notification on their interface.
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Your reputation with Black Phantom decreased by 10 points.
Current Reputation: -5
Current Relationship: Cold
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SliceYouUp was astonished!