Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

Yang Qiu summoned his undead horse and headed to the southwest wall of the city, a known location among high-level black mages. He looked up and shouted to announce his visit to the Lord of Fear and took out a well-wrapped gift, then waited patiently.

Moments later, a hidden door creaked open in the seamless city wall. An imposing figure in armor, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a man save for the singular horn on his forehead, stepped out.

This demon gatekeeper… might pass for human during a cursory glance, but any such illusion was quickly dispelled by his towering stature, dwarfing even Yang Qiu, who was quite high up on his steed.

With practiced ease, the demon took the gift from Yang Qiu, speaking in the articulate common tongue of the main material realm, "Human black mage, His Lordship is preoccupied with dealing with enemies and cannot grant you an audience. Please, attend to your own matters."

The Realm of Fear was a favored haunt for black mages, and the gatekeepers here were well-versed regarding their visits.

"I mean no intrusion upon His Lordship. I've seen the forces of Calamity," Yang Qiu responded with a nod and a smile. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to establish a small outpost not far from the main battlefield, to lend our strength to His Lordship's cause."

It was a common practice for black magicians to "drop by" the demon realms, seeking to sharpen their skills without any expectation of remuneration from the demons.

The gatekeeper, no stranger to such requests, replied nonchalantly, "Proceed as you wish, black mage. But be warned, should your outpost face any troubles, we cannot spare any forces to cto your aid."

"Such audacious demands are far from my intentions," Yang Qiu assured with a broad smile, well aware of the demons' nature. "I only seek a token from Fear Army to prevent any unfortunate incidents of friendly fire."

"Hold for a moment," said the gatekeeper, not his first tentertaining such a request, before retreating and closing the door behind him.

Ten minutes later, the concealed door opened once again, and the towering gatekeeper reappeared, handing Yang Qiu a crystal pulsating with a violet glow. "Imbue your forces with a trace of my lord's essence, and you shall avoid any misidentification."

Gratefully accepting the Fear Crystal, Yang Qiu presented a personal gift to the gatekeeper. This was wisdom passed down by elder mages; never request extra favors without offering a gift in return.

Even the specifications for gifts when visiting the demon realms had been summed up by black mages—

If it was just seeking a few summons, gifting an exquisite accessory like silver would be enough.

For a longer stay (sblack mages would spend months or even years in the demon dimension realms), higher value gifts such as gold jewelry, fine art (paintings, statues, etc.), or delicate silk products would be fair.

If seeking the gatekeeper to pass a message, drinks, food, silver… The price didn't have to be that great, but manners were a must.

The demon race might be rough and brutish, but exquisite ornaments and works of art from the material realm were rather popular here.

Aside from that, demons were somewhat carefree and didn't bother with trifles, which meant they were much easier to deal with than most humans. (Demons didn't have the warmongering humans had.)

The only mistake one absolutely could not make when dealing with demons was being disrespectful—they could not accept being scorned, humiliated, or taken lightly. Attempting to be pretentious in front of demons would often result in a horrible death.

With a 19.9 yuan set of bone china and a bottle of G Province specialty plum wine given out to receive the friendly Fear Army's permission, "Demon Realm Battlefield Trial" could officially be launched for players.

At present, a total of 50 players, in two raid groups of 25, could be accepted each tthe battlefield opened. Those who weren't quick enough had to queue up.

Yang Ying, Tang Jia, Unceasing Entropy, and others ran to the Town Hall looking to see if the new battle mode was fun, only to find that a raid group spot was already occupied with people from Brother Lahong's side. The other raid group spot was occupied by Qin Guan, Blossoming Strokes, and others.

"Looks like there's no chance for this round. Shall we queue for the next?" Unceasing Entropy shook her head upon seeing the crowd at the Town Hall.

"Only formed-up groups can occupy the queue position. Where are we going to find so many patient players to wait together with us?" Tang Jia said dejectedly.

"Ehh? Blossom doesn't seem to have enough?" Yang Ying counted the group of people and realized it didn't add up. There weren't even 20 people.

Tang Jia's eyes lit up, and she immediately ran shamelessly to Blossoming Strokes' side and enthusiastically promoted herself, "Blossom~ Are you guys short? Do you think we could cwith you all? You know all about Sis Ying's combat ability, and together we are a peerless duo. Qingyue can heal, and Jia Luo deals high dps~"

Before Blossoming Strokes could even speak, Qin Guan, who didn't usually like to bring in outsiders, answered, "Alright, sure. How many in your team? Come, I'll add you into the group."

Blossoming Strokes immediately closed her half-opened mouth.

GiveMedicine had brought the most elite of their bunch to Poisonous Marshlands, and Qin Guan wasn't willing to lose in the first battle to Brother Lahong… Thus, he was willing to group up with "outsiders."

Qin Guan's group had four vacancies. Tang Jia turned around to see her team… and unceremoniously set Orange Cat aside, pulling Unceasing Entropy, Yang Ying, and Jia Luo into the raid group.

Orange Cat feigned crying without tears. "Hey, hey. Leavingbehind for real? Are you guys heartless?"

"It's okay, Orange Cat. There will definitely be room for you later when we make our own group," Yang Ying consoled. "It's now peak online time, and there are many good teams. See if you can find a random one to mix in."

"Never mind, I'll go do squests first. We'll see when you guys cout," Orange Cat muttered dejectedly.

Jia Luo twisted the knife further. "Don't advise him to join the random groups, Sis Ying. He definitely won't do so. Everyone would commend him for his good equipment, but when it comes to farming monsters, they would disdain him for his low damage output and weak skills."

"Jia Luo!" Orange Cat howled in anguish.

Unfortunately, Jia Luo didn't hear Orange Cat's angst as the two groups of players were teleported (summoned) away when the count was met.

A red moon in the dark sky, a seemingly endless expanse of barren earth, a towering mountain in the distance, and a steel city almost integrated with the massive formation.

The roar of the wind brought with it the faint sound of fighting and killing, as if sterrible beast was in its death throes, and there was also a shrill cry not like that of a living person ringing in air.

Tang Jia ran out of the cave where they were teleported to, her jaw dropping when she saw such a magnificent battlefield scene that could never be witnessed in any other game. "Whoa… Such a big map. This is the OtherWorld version of Aoshan?"

Blossoming Strokes also cout, muttering to herself as she surveyed the surroundings, "I imagined the map would be small since only groups of 25 are allowed in… How can even a 40-man group be enough for such a large map?"

"Since 40-man groups can't enter, there must be a reason why too many aren't allowed in," Qin Guan explained calmly. "Perhaps it's stickers in the distance, while the actual scenes aren't too large. Many online games do this."

"Stickers…" Unceasing Entropy mumbled as she stared at the mountain and massive steel castle on top.

It was indeed impossible for such an exaggerated building to appear in reality—compared with the castle, the Burj Khalifa was like a simple building that could be built by a contractor team with a simple high school education. Unceasing Entropy couldn't imagine how such a fantastical building could be built by human power.

"…Indeed, I'm overthinking." Unceasing Entropy exhaled lightly.

"What did you say, Qingyue?" Tang Jia vaguely heard something and turned over.

"Nothing, the wind is too strong," Unceasing Entropy said, following the crowd out. "Eh, where's Sis Ying and Jia Luo?"

Unceasing Entropy halted and tiptoed to look around…

Yang Ying and Jia Luo were still in the cave and hadn't cout.

"Sis Ying, Jia Luo, keep up!" Unceasing Entropy hurriedly went back to urge them.

"Coming, coming. Wait!"

Seeing the reason her two companions were dawdling in the back, Unceasing Entropy nearly laughed out. "Don't pick at that amethyst, it's just a map decoration! How can something that we aren't able to 'Identify' be taken away!"