Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

Chapter 26.2: Strength of First-Tier Players

Epic quests were never meant to be easy, nor were they not meant to torture players. If these fellows thought they could mindlessly grind through the game until the end, all of Yang Qiu's efforts would be in vain—hardcore players ought to play a hardcore game!

The advancement quests of WoW were much more challenging than similar games on the market, and had there been any player that never experienced being slain by the miniboss during an elite quest? But when the classic server opened, players still came flocking in!

As the game developer, Yang Qiu was determined to make players truly experience how cruel this dark magic plane could be.

Meanwhile, the players had already arrived at the tiny wooden house. As usual, they thoroughly searched the house, but the team of players didn't find anything.

"After teaming up, we could all see the parchment and zombie arm that Give Me Medicine found. It doesn't make sense that we can't find any clues if they are right in front of us. Since there's nothing here, it means that the only clues in this place are the parchment and arm. What does everyone think?" Blossoming Strokes was the first to speak.

"I agree," said Unceasing Entropy, another player known for her intelligence. "This is a critical quest in unlocking further game content. From the contents of the letter, we can tell that it's about the origins of Exile Town. Given such context, I believe it's highly likely that the whole of Exile Town is part of the quest area. We probably have to search the entire town… no, the key locations in this town."

"Hold on a moment," Brother Lahong interjected. "With so many players running around grinding quests for the past few days, most places other than the southern part of town where the giant rat is have already been thoroughly searched. A lot of trash has also been cleared throughout the town. Can we really find any clues this way?"

"This house was also cleaned up by players too," Win By Grinding suddenly added.

"Uh…" Brother Lahong muttered.

"Where do you think the key locations might be?" Blossoming Strokes looked toward Unceasing Entropy.

"Underground," replied Unceasing Entropy.

"Huh?" Brother Lahong was surprised.

"There are a number of houses in this town with cellars or basements. These underground spaces are small, usually just one or two square meters, and seem to have been used by the former residents for storing supplies," Unceasing Entropy explained. "Because these underground spaces are so cramped, players don't pay much attention to what's beneath the surface."

"Oh…" Blossoming Strokes came to a realization. "But when receiving a quest from NPC Lord Yang, we discovered that there's actually a very large space beneath this town."

"That's right. The cellar of the warehouse behind the Town Hall leads to a space as big as a basketball stadium. So what about other cellars?" Unceasing Entropy went on. "Is it possible that players have come across some seemingly small cellars or basements that actually have passages leading to similar underground spaces, just that they're blocked or collapsed?"

"Makes sense." Blossoming Strokes stroked her chin. "If this town was once established by a group of 'pioneers' for habitation, then logically, the people who used to live here would have considered safety and protection measures for their residences, such as building defensive structures like city walls."

"Now, we players can see that this small town is nestled in a valley, surrounded by mountains to the east, west, and north, with only one exit to the south, which is obstructed by that giant rat. We aren't able to leave at all, so we can assume that… beyond the south, there are even more dangerous things than that rat," Unceasing Entropy rambled on.

"Clearly, the people that used to reside here abandoned this town because they were unable to ensure their safety when attacked by the giant rat and other things. But before being forced to completely abandon this town, they should have had emergency measures to fend off dangerous attackers, though not as dangerous as what eventually drove them away," explained Blossoming Strokes.

"That's why it's unlikely that the area beneath the Town Hall is the only underground space in this town. There should be other such spaces, similar to bomb shelters or the like," Unceasing Entropy added.

"In that case, if we search the cellars and basements that players have discovered, we should be able to find some clues," Blossoming Strokes concluded with a nod. "Let's get to work, then."

The exchange between these two left others in a blank daze…

Qin Guan, Give Me Medicine, Tang Jia, and Yang Ying silently exchanged glances.

It seemed that Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy had a better understanding with each other than their own companions whom they had been playing with for days… It was truly a complex feeling.

"It would be quite a waste of time if all of us went and searched together," Unceasing Entropy spoke up again.

"Let's split into two groups. You take one and I'll take the other," suggested Blossoming Strokes.

"Your side should take the extra person. Yang Ying has activated 'Basic Battle Roar,' which can make up for that lack of personnel in critical moments," said Unceasing Entropy.

"Alright, then. Win By Grinding, Phantom, and Guileless Gale, come with me," Blossoming Strokes commanded.

"Everyone else, with me." Unceasing Entropy turned to her teammates, focusing on Brother Lahong and Study Obsessed.

Everyone: "…"

The charismatic Brother Lahong, who usually had the role of a leader in this game, was rather surprised to be ordered around so succinctly without having a chance to say a word. However, in the face of these two capable and resourceful ladies, Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, he hesitated slightly and decided to keep his mouth shut.

This was a very crucial quest, and even the three closed beta veterans didn't dare form their own team and attempt it; Vanilla Pudding had even released a video to solicit skilled players to join, so it was best for him to be obedient. After all, this full-immersive game relied on face-to-face communication, unlike traditional games that relied on voice tools where whoever spoke loudest had the final say.

The trigger point for the quest was the small wooden house located in the central street of the town. The two groups were responsible for searching different sides of the town, with Unceasing Entropy's group heading to the nearest houses with cellars as their starting point.

After the groups split, Brother Lahong glanced at the people in his team. Though he didn't have any ill will, he couldn't help but challenge Unceasing Entropy. "Since we're going to search the cellars players have already discovered, shouldn't we wait for more players to come online and ask around?"

"There are a total of 123 wooden houses in the town, and among them, 68 have cellars. Over half of these houses with cellars have been classified as dangerous and demolished, leaving 32 intact," Unceasing Entropy said without hesitation. "Using the central street as the dividing line, there are 13 intact houses with cellars on the eastern side. The cellars that were buried after the houses were demolished amount to 21."

"Eh? You actually counted them?" Study Obsessed exclaimed.

"It wasn't just me who counted. Blossoming Strokes, Ou Huang, Win By Grinding, and a few others have independently conducted our own counts," replied Unceasing Entropy.

"The official game website doesn't provide any background information on the game. It simply introduces the undead race's Resurrection Master recruiting us to return to the abandoned land of Taranthan in an attempt to revive the undead race.

"We speculate that the reason why Lord Yang wants to resurrect the undead as well as the overall background information of the game are hidden within the quest line.

"Since the official game doesn't provide any triggers for the main quest, we all believe that players may need to fulfill certain conditions to activate the main quest line. That's just something we have contemplated to some extent. Counting the visible buildings in the Exile Town was merely a trivial preliminary task," Unceasing Entropy concluded.

.

Study Obsessed and Brother Lahong: "…"

So this is the true strength of first-tier gamers? How truly formidable!