Chapter 198: Your friend “Doesn’t Eat Cilantro” has gone offline, “Doesn’t Eat Beef” has gone online (Two-in-One)
【Someone’s getting anxious.】
【It’s a pity for you, brother; if your hard-earned rank could be as solid as your words, that would be great.】
After Mr. Silver directly shared the link to the livestream, replies from the other party came in swiftly.
After all, in this day and age, who doesn’t want to win when they are surfing the internet?
Seeing that he was about to win this online argument decisively, this “Little Ferret Candy” ID still didn’t back down, continuing to act stubborn.
【Having this time waiting for the activity results means I have nothing better to do, so I want to see what this so-called “immediate number one” is all about.】
【I hope that when you are chased by the Iron Cross in front of thousands of viewers in my livestream, you can still maintain this stubborn confidence.】
Not just the streamer passionately confronting Mr. Silver, the argument between one person and one ferret on the gaming forum quickly attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
There’s no helping it; since ancient times, people have loved to watch the drama unfold.
And Mr. Silver’s retorts were much like those internet players who easily get provoked, classic loudmouths and programming pros.
While the rank means nothing, the bravado is unparalleled.
Moreover, Mr. Silver’s statement, “Not being number one is just because I don’t want to play, as long as I want to win, I can be number one in minutes,” is practically a classic phrase among loudmouth players.
This was quickly turned into a meme and spread across forums and various player group chats.
Thus, for a while, netizens from all over the mainland flocked to the livestream started by Mr. Silver, joining the crowd of onlookers.
Under normal circumstances, not many people would have the time to watch a stream clearly hosted by someone who talks tough.
However, the timing of Mr. Silver’s livestream was spot on, as the limited-time “Deep Blue Harbor” challenge event was about to conclude, and with less than a day remaining, there wasn’t enough time for a complete challenge.
Besides the rare players who only start grinding at the last minute on the final day of the event, most players had already completed the ranking push and passed the activity, with quite a few entering a period of idleness.
In such a time when everyone was taking a break, the sudden appearance of such juicy drama was bound to attract attention.
As a result, the number of viewers in Mr. Silver’s livestream skyrocketed from zero to tens of thousands in less than half an hour, and continued to rise steadily.
As the audience, who were there just for fun, entered the livestream, they immediately started mocking.
【Wow, this person’s ID is really called “Little Ferret Candy,” I can’t stop laughing.】
【Such an ID can only belong to a bad player; the last time I ranked, I encountered someone called “Doesn’t Eat Cilantro,” and it almost made me cry.】
【To the one above, if you’re matching with players like that, shouldn’t you reflect on your own issues?】
【Let’s be honest, you really don’t understand. Haven’t you ever encountered someone with this kind of ID at midnight, who silently dominates the game? Your friend “Doesn’t Eat Cilantro” has gone offline, “Doesn’t Eat Beef” has gone online.】
【But whether this account belongs to “Little Ferret Candy” or “Big Ferret Hard Candy,” even if it’s the account holder who found a legendary alternative, I still don’t believe he could rank number one for the “Deep Blue Harbor Speed Challenge” in less than a day.】
【This limited-time event is different from the past; the first place can be invited to the Mechanical Research Institute to participate in the “Artificial Angel Project.” I don’t know how many professional players and skilled streamers of “The Guardian’s Poem” have grinded for months just to achieve today’s ranking. In less than a day, it’s impossible to even plan a complete clearance pathway, let alone achieve the first place!】
【Bro above, are you seriously analyzing this? Aren’t we all just here for fun? Do you really think this loudmouth can get to the top of the rankings?】
【I went specifically to check the match history of Little Ferret Candy; it’s a newly created account that’s only two hours old. This person is just a pure cloud player, whose tough talk was exposed online, so he created this account and livestream.】
【That said, didn’t you notice? This time, “Little Ferret Candy” seems to have encountered the Cult Dungeon starting scenario, which is recognized as one of the most difficult initial scenarios in this “Deep Blue Harbor” activity.】
【Professional players and skilled streamers avoid the Cult Dungeon start outright; the initial limitations are so severe that it’s impossible to rank high.】
The livestream’s comments section became noisy.
Most of the comments were mocking “Little Ferret Candy” and the classic phrases Mr. Silver had just used during the online argument.
However, among the vast audience, some players who focused more on the game content quickly determined the initial identity that the streamer had randomly received through the dark and damp dungeon environment.
The limited-time challenge activity for “The Guardian’s Poem” had been open for three months and was nearing its end.
Players had worked hard for these three months, exploring the challenge to return to “Deep Blue Harbor.” Various strategies and tactics had been compiled by players through repeated attempts and experiences shared on forums.
Although it was nominally a chance to return to Deep Blue Harbor just before the Iron Cross Plague outbreak, experiencing everything that Hero Rast went through—players’ initial identities in Deep Blue Harbor were actually restricted for the sake of game balance.
There were dozens of starting identities, and each time a player attempted the challenge, one would be randomly drawn from these.
Players generally considered the best initial identities to be “The Coachman” and “Fallen Nobility,” offering high freedom and a decent amount of starting resources right from the beginning.
For instance, the Coachman starts with better physical attributes than other identities and has both “Riding” and “Horsemanship” skills; after the Iron Cross Plague outbreak, having both skills provides a huge mobility advantage once a horse is obtained.
As for the Fallen Nobility initial identity, the player’s attribute panel may be lower than the average of other identities, but this identity allows players to start with a revolver, which drastically boosts combat power compared to other identities.
Moreover, the nobility identity grants players a higher negotiating power with other characters in Deep Blue Harbor.
In contrast, the “Cult Dungeon” is acknowledged as one of the most challenging starting scenarios by players.
Players face severe limitations on freedom at the start, and many items that could be easily acquired before the Iron Cross Plague outbreak are simply unreachable. Additionally, being close to the polluted artifact of the Evil God revered by the cult means players constantly suffer from pollution, resulting in many players being forcibly logged out due to reaching critical mental condition within just a few hours.
Of course, for game balance, the “Cult Dungeon Prisoner” starting identity does provide various compensations; for example, surviving only four hours in this scenario could yield higher scores than surviving ten hours in other starting scenarios.
However, even professional players and skilled streamers of “The Guardian’s Poem” avoid this starting identity like the plague, and regular players naturally express their reluctance, preferring to forcibly exit and wait a day rather than endure the pain.
At this moment, however, “Little Ferret Candy” clearly could not choose to remake, as forcibly exiting would mean that by the time the cooldown period was over, the event would be finished.
In fact, from the livestream’s main perspective, Rast also did not choose to remake.
He simply stood up quietly from the dungeon, looking toward the dungeon’s entrance, where a cultist wrapped in dark robes was scanning the dungeon for prisoners with the help of torchlight.
“Aiz.”
His voice was calm as he spoke a name, causing the livestream comments to quiet for a moment.
However, soon enough, the cultist at the dungeon’s exit reacted.
Holding a torch, he entered the dungeon and stared through the rusty iron bars at Rast in the cage, his hoarse voice now tinged with confusion: “How do you know my name?”
【Aiz is the name of the dungeon guard cultist?】
【Wait, wasn’t this Little Ferret Candy a brand new account? Shouldn’t he be a complete newbie? How does he know the real name of the dungeon guard cultist?】
【He probably hired a carry; although “The Guardian’s Poem” has strict iris verification, with today’s technology, there are definitely ways to bypass it. Remember when a streamer was caught hacking right after the server opened? Before getting caught, he stubbornly claimed it was just a backpack and magazine issue.】
【As for this cultist’s name… The cult possesses the pollutants of the Evil God behind the Iron Cross Plague, making it a mid-tier BOSS.】
【I recall there was a big player who summarized the identity information of these cult members before, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this dungeon guard’s name was included.】
Inside the livestream, comments began to flood the screen.
However, even the explanations that followed seemed a bit lacking in confidence.
After all, what normal player would remember the name of an inconspicuous enemy NPC in the game?
This Little Ferret Candy seemed to have come prepared.
“I definitely know your name.”
Rast gazed through the iron cage at the puzzled cultist outside, his voice still calm: “Not only that, I also know you come from the slums, having wandered the streets since you were a child.”
“When you were nine years old, a pharmacist from the western district took you in and let you apprentice at his shop.”
“That pharmacist came from a small village called Aiz in the neighboring province, traveling here. Because he had no wife or children… he cared for you as if you were his own.”
“Two years ago, that pharmacist passed away from illness. In memory of this fatherly benefactor, you changed your name to Aiz—”
“Moreover, the reason you ended up here was that you heard the statue of that Lord had miraculous powers to raise the dead… You wanted to try using that sculpture’s divine effect to resurrect your benefactor, the one who helped you.”
“You…”
The cultist in the black robe’s pupils shook.
It wasn’t surprising that the other party knew his name; perhaps among the materials selected for sacrifice by the holy sect, he had heard other companions call his name at some point.
However, the other party actually recounted the origin of his name and his past regarding the pharmacist he regarded as a benefactor…
These matters were Aiz’s greatest secrets; not even the other companions of the holy sect, let alone the leader, had he ever confided in.
Why would a sacrificial material chosen by the holy sect know these things?
【Hey up there, are you sure this information is also in that big player’s strategy summary?】
【That being said…】
【Don’t listen to his nonsense; this Little Ferret Candy must have something up his sleeve.】
【I previously saw other professional players and streamers attempt the “Cult Dungeon” starting scenario; they would wait until the third hour after the start to try to break out directly during the chaos of delivering food to the prisoners by using force. Although in the end, they also inevitably fell to the surrounding cultists with firearms, as long as they could k*ll a few cultists during the breakthrough, their overall score wouldn’t be too low.】
【Just watch, he’s probably trying to attract the guard’s attention with this information he uniquely gathered, most likely planning to trick the guy into opening the cell door before attacking.】
【Though the Cult Dungeon start is tough, the scoring bonuses are high. Don’t say, even if first place is a stretch, this Little Ferret Candy could indeed score pretty high.】
A flurry of comments rapidly scrolled in the livestream.
Mr. Silver sat next to the computer desk, smugly glancing at the livestream, then at Rast.
Tricking the cultist guard into opening the cell door and then seizing the g*n to sweep through… this was indeed a good strategy for clearing. Given Rast’s familiarity with the cult and his combat skills, it should be feasible.
However—
Mr. Silver popped a bag of chips open with his little paw and began to munch contentedly.
Based on what he knew about Rast, Mr. Silver felt that this guy’s approach was unlikely to be so by-the-book.
“How would you know…”
The cultist named Aiz raised his voice suddenly but quickly forced himself to halt, clearly worried about being overheard by his companions.
He opened the cell door and lowered his voice: “Who are you, and how do you know these things?”
【Is Little Ferret Candy about to make a move now, right here?】
However, in the public eye of the comments, Rast did not act as they expected.
“Actually, deep down, you already know the answer, don’t you?”
Rast gazed at the cultist who was so close, his voice still calm:
“Besides the Supreme Lord, who else could know those secrets of yours that have never been spoken to outsiders?”
(End of Chapter)
