Chapter 276: Competition Among Players
Yuliya decided to let Maria and Andrew get busy first.
"Little Moon, remember I asked you to gather some intel from school? Got any news?"
"Not yet, I’ll ask again tomorrow."
"And make sure to check on the Jade Emperor Kingdom too, see what they know over there."
"Got it."
With the mission in hand from Yuliya, Little Moon took her leave.
As for Yuliya's plans to visit other countries, that's best saved for later.
Right now, the Jade Emperor Kingdom had plenty to keep her occupied, and her Golden City needed her to stick around and monitor the situation for a while.
So, it’s really crucial to just relax for the time being.
"Luti, what were we talking about again?"
"We were discussing 'Li Kui's Ingenious Schemes Capturing the Wild Emperor.'"
"Great, let’s move on to the next episode: 'Wolfrun Smoke Signals Arise on Cybertron, Lin Daiyu Captures Megatron Seven Times.'"
"Huh? Your Highness, who’s this Lin Daiyu?"
"She's Diao Chan's daughter."
"Oh, please continue."
"Once upon a time in the distant world of Cybertron..."
Little Moon had no idea that Yuliya was crafting outrageous tales somewhere else, otherwise, she would have sputtered out her soda in shock.
Instead, she opted to find someone to grind quests.
She headed over to the plaza.
The current plaza was divided into two groups.
One group was waiting patiently to pick up quests, while the other was just finished and waiting for teammates to join in.
The commonality? Both groups had split into their own factions, engaging in silent battles amongst themselves.
One flaw in this game was the absence of a keyboard.
Chatting was all done telepathically, manifesting whatever you thought almost instantly.
Wasn't this going to put the piano players of Zu'an out of work?
Without the sound of piano keys, the battle strength of the Zu’an folks drops by half.
Everyone typed at about the same speed, eliminating the classic "I type a page while you struggle to get one line out" scenario.
Since there was no way to win through rapid-fire typing, strategy and tactics were paramount.
The leader of the Huaxia Server was of course, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky.
He snagged second place in the last event, making quite the name for himself.
Now, with everyone united against a common foe and some folks just sitting on their hands, he had to step up and lead.
In the Golden City, while the Huaxia Server players ranked first in numbers, it wasn’t exactly a crushing lead.
Plus, the Huaxia Server was the target of a siege; when you added up the numbers from all the other servers, they were three times more!
In such a disadvantageous position, how could they avoid defeat?
There was a way.
Everyone knew that when it came to online confrontations, it was all about siege for territory, but psychological warfare ruled above all.
Forget about presenting facts and reasoning; that’s useless!
What was needed was some good old-fashioned personal attacks.
But everyone was a civilized player; a bit of decorum was necessary.
So what to do?
Enter the internet gentleman’s six arts: etiquette, urgency, filial piety, joy, tension, and mischief.
Why were they dissing the Huaxia Server? Because they were desperate!
Classic case of jealousy; some folks can’t even be good sons!
But they just couldn’t hold back; it was a laugh riot.
In the end, we always came out on top.
What? Some might not grasp what’s happening?
If you don’t understand, go home and hit the books! Study hard! Stop just playing games every day!
This slick little combo really left the foreign players speechless.
What kind of scene were they witnessing?
Little Moon stepped forward and patted Fiery Conflict Across the Sky on the shoulder: "Alright, alright, enough with the taunts. Any thoughts on checking things out?"
"Sure, if a beautiful girl is inviting me, how could I refuse?"
Since their last main quest, Little Moon had gotten chummy with a few folks.
Now she was among the top players on the Huaxia rankings, earning the right to gaze at anyone levelly.
As for Fiery Conflict Across the Sky, he had always admired Little Moon and wanted to recruit her over.
But he had failed.
Not just him; other guild leaders, including Eastern Dragon's Can't Sleep, were all trying to get her on board.
Among the top players of the Huaxia Server, only two had a chance of being swayed.
One was "Wind," since she had no guild, giving that theoretical glimmer of possibility;
The other was Little Moon, since for many, school was irrelevant—they had better opportunities elsewhere.
But they all struck out.
On the surface, it looked like Little Moon was backed by her school, but in reality, she was supported by Yuliya.
"You find someone; I'm off! No wasting time." Little Moon responded flatly, adding, "Have you seen how far behind you are from first place? Shouldn’t you be putting in some effort?"
"…"
Ouch, that was a hard hit for Fiery Conflict Across the Sky.
But he suddenly turned and asked, "Little Moon, do you know the Wind God?"
Little Moon shot him a deadpan glance. "Nope."
"Oh, okay. The Wind God hasn’t made it to the Golden City yet. You think something’s gone wrong?"
"How do you know she's not here?"
"Somebody’s watching the Teleportation Array in Emerald City. Not just me; all the other guilds are keeping an eye too."
There was only one known Teleportation Array, theoretically meaning to reach the Golden City, you had to pass through there.
With only one entrance and exit, it was pretty troublesome.
However, no one knew that the Wind God they were searching for was right under their noses.
"..." Little Moon fell silent for a moment, shook her head, and sighed. "Don’t you think it's a bit inappropriate to keep tabs on someone like that?"
Fiery Conflict Across the Sky surveyed her expression, spotting no oddities.
"True, it is a bit inappropriate, and I do feel a little bad. But look at the situation in the Golden City; our Huaxia Server is about to get overwhelmed. It's better if she steps in to take charge; my skills are a little lacking."
I’d say your skills are the stronger ones! Didn't you just crush it back there?
Saying you needed her to take charge was just a cover-up; you know that perfectly well.
Little Moon scorned inwardly.
"Suit yourself. We should be leaving."
With that, Little Moon strode toward the city gate.
Fiery Conflict Across the Sky gathered a few folks and followed suit.
They set off, and the players who had been caught up in the earlier banter were also finally springing into action.
The first group dashed out of Golden City.
But before they reached the gate, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky proposed three rules.
First, players cannot attack one another; violators would face consequences proportionate to the effects of their actions, whether they accidentally hurt someone or actively attacked.
Second, if faced with a formidable opponent, form temporary teams, and rewards will be equally shared.
Third, stream live; all teams will broadcast the entire escapade.
After all, they were just getting their feet wet, and no one really had a grasp on the surrounding situation; no one wanted to go overboard.
They were all top players from various servers, and losing just one life carried a hefty weight.
If this led to widespread conflicts among players, the losses would be unimaginable.
Everyone was a wise player and understood the stakes involved.
And so, under the watchful eye of the live stream, the factions agreed to these rules.
However, there was one key thing that wasn’t mentioned in the treaty: monster stealing.
Each relied on their own skills, and as long as nobody got hurt, it was all good.
You can steal monsters; no problem, just better make sure your skills are top-notch.
Otherwise, don't mind me if I "accidentally" trip you up!
