Chapter 7: From Virtual to Reality (4) (Bonus Update)
==============================
Are you still worried about how to finish your last meal without knowing where your next one will come from?
Are you still feeling sorrowful and distressed at the thought of sleeping on the streets tonight?
Are you still begging and groveling to join the Immortal Gate to learn some skills?
We understand the struggles of newcomers.
Especially now that a massive inflow of newbies has sent prices soaring and rents skyrocketing. Even the assessments at the Immortal Gate come with hefty fees!
The cost of living for newcomers has surged at least tenfold compared to when the server just opened six months ago.
If you don’t want to be tied down, the only option is to steer clear of the cities.
That means living like an ordinary villager in the countryside or the woods.
Is that what you want?
No! Since you’ve come to this otherworldly Asking Dao Continent, everyone wants to write their own legend here.
So if you don’t want the mundane and the mediocre, come join the Anti-Immortal Sect!
The Anti-Immortal Sect is part of the mysterious Extermination of Immortals organization.
(For more on Extermination of Immortals, check the forum sticky.)
The Anti-Immortal Sect boasts powerful financial backing. Here, labor is rewarded, farmers have their fields, and most importantly, every cultist has a chance to receive personal tutelage from an Extermination swordsman, whose abilities are in no way inferior to those of any Immortal Gate.
The fact that Thousand Bird City, once one of the Seven Great Immortal Gates, has sworn allegiance to Extermination of Immortals is the best proof.
Joining the Anti-Immortal Sect and becoming a loyal follower of the Cold Moon Witch will be the smartest choice you make in this world.
……
In no time at all, posters for the Anti-Immortal Sect’s recruitment were plastered all over Sky Void City.
After browsing through the forum about the Cold Moon Witch and Extermination of Immortals, the four young boys suddenly felt they’d hit the jackpot. Missing out on such a badass organization would be the real regret.
At the same time, recruitment posts for the Anti-Immortal Sect were flooded by an increasing number of “supporters.”
In just a day or two,
The Anti-Immortal Sect recruited nearly two to three thousand newcomers.
This was amid a chaotic scene of veteran players vying for these new recruits.
Many veteran players formed guilds and urgently sought new members.
They knew full well that even if newcomers knew nothing now, with a bit of nurturing, they’d soon become mediocre swordsmen. Perfect cannon fodder material!
Feel sympathy for newcomers?
Ha! Not a chance.
We all have one life; who’s got time to pity someone else?
If you don’t gather strength quickly, who’s to say that the three races’ war won’t sweep the players in too?
Moreover, many veteran players have already chosen sides.
What will they do when the leaders of the three races send them to fight alongside NPCs in battle?
When the situation turns into player vs. player,
What will they do then?
Some players believe that hitting someone when you know they have only one life left is no different from m*rder.
Aside from powerful recruitment posts, the forum also featured a sticky titled “Players Shouldn’t k*ll Each Other.”
“We are all homeless players.
Since fate has brought us together in Asking Dao Continent, as players, we should band together to face the challenges ahead.
Besides the natives (Humans, Monster Race, Demon Race), we players should unite to form a Fourth Race rather than join them and cause division and infighting among ourselves.
After all, no one can say for sure whether dying in the game means returning to the real world or if your soul just vanishes completely.
Therefore, as a community of interests, shouldn’t players give up on fighting each other and focus their efforts outward?
I propose, no internal strife among players!
Even if disputes arise, don’t solve them with violence.
What we need is to get through these two years safely and then return to the real world.
Players who agree with my viewpoint, please leave a comment on this post so every player can see.
We must form a player alliance to help every brother and sister who agrees not to act against fellow players find their own organization.
Everyone, we need your involvement!
Let’s strive to ensure that each of us returns to the real world safely!”
Ninety-nine percent of the top post responses were from newcomers.
When veteran players saw this post, they fell mostly into a heavy silence, some even scoffing at it.
After going through numerous storms and expansions,
Veteran players weren’t naive enough to think this so-called proposal was anything but nonsense dreamt up by out-of-touch idealists.
Player alliance? Player community?
Humans are the best at infighting.
Even in the real world, hundreds of countries exist, yet those are all humans. How come they haven’t given up internal struggles for mutual prosperity?
So now that we’re in another world, everyone suddenly changes their views and decides to give up their infighting gene? As if they’re united against an external threat?
They’ve seen zombie movies too.
In this world full of zombies, the few last humans are still bickering among themselves.
Human nature has always been dark.
Especially without regulations or worldly pressures, the evil side easily magnifies.
Rather than hoping the other side will be kind, why not ensure your own strength first, and then talk about cooperation and safety?
Before long, reality proved just how unrealistic the newcomers’ fantasy of players respecting each other’s space really was!
Sky Sword City, known as the largest metropolis for Humans,
Boasts towering walls, a bustling populace, vibrant commerce, and a thriving entertainment industry. If you have money, there’s nothing you can’t buy in Sky Sword City.
Of course, all this prosperity can’t be achieved without the Law Enforcement NPCs under the Heavenly Sword Sect. Without them, the influx of players could easily turn the city into chaos, not to mention the many wandering cultivators and disciples from other sects.
To prevent corruption within the law enforcement, most of the enforcement NPCs are rotated among inner disciples, changing every month except for a few key figures.
On the very next day after the players received the system notice, it just so happened to be the day of the new law enforcement NPCs taking over.
They were supposed to wait for the next batch to arrive from the Small Thousand World before the current team could leave, but this time, no one showed up, no matter how long they waited.
The disciple sent to hurry them back came back pale and terrified to report to the city lord,
The entrance to the Small Thousand World was shut, and they couldn’t send any messages there or know what was going on inside.
The city lord was alarmed and rushed over himself.
What he found matched the disciples’ report: the teleportation array between the Small Thousand World and Sky Sword City had lost all connection to the Small Thousand World, as if it had completely vanished from existence.
This was bad.
The reason the citizens obeyed management wasn’t merely because of the law enforcement agency. It was primarily because Sky Sword City was backed by the Heavenly Sword Sect; if something went wrong, reinforcements would come swiftly.
He had to keep this terrifying news under wraps.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Good news rarely travels far, but bad news spreads like wildfire, and soon the word spread through Sky Sword City that the Small Thousand World was completely sealed off.
People hidden all around the city began stirring.
Especially Li Hanbo, the former leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect Guild, who saw this as a positive sign: could the ownership of Asking Dao Continent be starting to shift toward the players?
Down on his luck for too long, Li Hanbo decided it was time to make a big move.
……
End of the update, please show your support!
