***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Ele3 for the donation! ^^
***
The game’s main city area had always been bustling. After players successfully complete a dungeon, very few immediately dive into the next one.
After all, the dungeons were full of dangers, and no one knew if they would survive the next game. Naturally, if they could avoid it, most players chose to spend points to rest in the main city area for seven days. The main city area was also where most players gathered.
But today, the game’s main city area was exceptionally lively—so much so that it had reached the point of being noisy.
Some players in the game’s main city area hadn’t been on the forums and were looking at the noisy players in confusion.
“What’s going on today? Is everyone going crazy?”
A nearby player was astonished. “Don’t you know!? A big shot has put up a bounty task for 100,000 points!”
“100,000?” The uninformed player was shocked, his eyes filled with disbelief. “Are you sure it’s 100,000?”
“Oh, I misspoke. It’s not 100,000.”
The uninformed player rolled his eyes. He had said it before – how could there be a bounty mission worth a hundred thousand? Even the highest-level advanced instances, where no one survived, had only seen bounties of up to ten thousand.
The player corrected himself, “It’s 400,000.”
“How much!?” The player suspected he had misheard. “400,000!?”
That player, without waiting for the other to respond, immediately denied it, “Impossible, you’re joking. The highest point for a bounty mission is only ten thousand. Are people not even thinking before lying now?”
“Yes, that’s right. So, four big shots issued the bounty mission, but the content is the same—find a player.”
“Moreover, according to the description, they are looking for the same player.”
The tone of the other party’s statement seemed very sincere, and there was no hint of guilt. However, such lies could easily be exposed with a little probing.
The uninformed player took out his phone directly, logged into the forum, and then saw the four pinned notices. After clicking in, he silently counted the digits of the points.
One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand.
It really was 100,000...
The player was dumbfounded, and many other players who hadn’t logged into the forum before were just as stunned.
Players quickly opened the other three bounty tasks, all offering the same 100,000 points.
So, saying it was four hundred thousand wasn’t at all exaggerated because the bounty missions were all for the same player. Finding that player allowed one to simultaneously obtain the points for all four bounty missions.
That’s 400,000.
A tall player, upon seeing the offered reward points, without hesitation, took a screenshot of the reward task page and posted it in his team.
[Anyone free? Let’s form a team, who’s in!!!?]
[Darn!!! Four hundred thousand! Is this for real? Count me in!]
[What the heck could be more important than this? Even if I’m busy, I’ll make time! Count me in!!!]
No danger involved, and the points were so high that only fools wouldn’t join.
If they actually found the person, it would be like a heaven-sent pie.
The power of an individual was limited, and many players, upon seeing those four bounty missions on the game forum, immediately sought out those with whom they had good relations or players they knew to form teams.
After all, it wasn’t just difficult to find people; even if you found someone, catching them was also challenging. The mission also stipulated that the capture must be done without causing any harm.
Moreover, players who were worthy of a bounty from the top-ranked players on the leaderboard might be exceptionally strong. It would probably be difficult to catch them without forming a team.
And even if ten people teamed up to search together, each person could still earn forty thousand points once they found the target.
It’s definitely a number that most players could only dream of.
The game’s entire main city was in a frenzy, a noise it had never experienced before.
All for the sake of finding one player.
***
Hunger awakened Ruan Qing. When he woke up, his head still throbbed slightly, but it was better than before he slept.
He took a shower, changed into new clothes, put on a hat and a mask, and was about to go downstairs for a meal.
This time, Ruan Qing planned to stay offline for seven days before entering a dungeon again.
But as soon as Ruan Qing opened the door, he heard the commotion outside.
A group of players flooded into the hotel entrance, which was usually empty.
Ruan Qing abruptly halted, choosing not to continue descending the stairs rashly.
Because this didn’t feel right.
The hotel he chose required a significantly higher number of points for accommodation, three times more than regular hotels.
Many players couldn’t afford these points, so there were hardly any people staying here.
He specifically chose this hotel to avoid most players.
However, so many people were coming in now...
Ruan Qing stood discreetly upstairs and looked down. There was a group of players standing in the lobby of the hotel, seemingly about to check-in.
However, the players’ conversation had nothing to do with checking in at all.
--I feel like it’s impossible to be here. The accommodation here is ridiculously expensive. As long as you’re not stupid, you wouldn’t choose to stay here.
--Maybe what you think is impossible is actually the most likely place?
--Indeed, we’ve already searched the places players often go to. Obviously, the other person is hiding in a place that is not easily thought of by people.
--But we haven’t found the person yet. If we spend all our points now and still can’t find him in the end, we’ll definitely go bankrupt.
--That makes sense. Those willing to go in and search with me, bring out your points and let’s go together. Those unwilling, leave the team.
After Ruan Qing carefully understood what several people were saying, his eyes narrowed imperceptibly for a moment. This group of people was looking for someone?
Moreover, searching for someone aimlessly?
One should know, the game’s main city area was quite large. Going out to find someone without considering points, either that group of people had gone collectively mad, or the person they were looking for was exceptionally important to them.
Or... there was enough incentive driving them.
The game’s main city area was a relatively safe place, prohibiting the use of any items and fighting. Once any violations occurred, the guards of the game’s main city area would take away the offending player.
So even if they were looking for someone, they wouldn’t be so rushed as to search blindly without considering points.
One should know that the points required for searching a hotel were much higher than for staying, and there’s also the need to appease the players staying there.
So, the only remaining situation was one driven by incentives.
Incentives were quite common. The player forums provide a dedicated task reward module, where other players could take on tasks and earn extra points.
Ruan Qing took out his phone and opened the forum. Before he even had a chance to open the task reward module, he saw four notices posted on the homepage, along with many posts with ‘100,000’ and ‘400,000’ in them.
Ruan Qing knew that posting on the notice board required five thousand points. Without much thought, he clicked on it.
After Ruan Qing read the content carefully, he froze directly.
... The person they’re searching for... could it be him?
Ruan Qing remained silent for several seconds, then scrolled down to look at the reward points. It happened to be one hundred thousand.
The other three bounty missions were identical, except for the language used in the description. However, it was evident that all four individuals were looking for the same player.
Ruan Qing really didn’t want to admit that he was the one being sought, but after seeing the familiar names that posted the rewards, he had to admit it was him.
Four hundred thousand points...
It’s truly a generous offer.
run ruan qing
ReplyDeleteIt would be fun if he could "find himself" and earn all those points while taking off the posts by completing them
ReplyDelete