Chapter 22: The Era of Deterrence Begins
In the world of Otherworld, based on players’ experience, a regular d*ath results in losing a level and having your experience bar wiped clean, along with losing 1-3 pieces of equipment. However, dying from a purple sand encounter means losing two levels AND your entire experience bar, plus all your gear.
The drop rates for items in your inventory are terribly complex—there’s not a reliable reference to be found anywhere.
Don’t ask where this experience comes from; there are always players who can’t keep their hands to themselves and accidentally poke the wrong thing, only to get deleted. Or they go out into the wild to challenge themselves, turning a simple team mob-hunting game into a hardcore Souls-like experience.
But this time, things seemed a bit different.
Before long, the players at the resurrection point had crunched the numbers and reached a conclusion.
Everyone ended up with their current level’s experience wiped clean but retained one piece of equipment. In other words, no levels lost!
To double-check, they consulted players who had been squished by the BOSS before. That sort of d*ath was normal—a definite level loss.
So, it turns out the d*ath method was the problem.
“Oh, I see.” Fiery Conflict Across the Sky rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then awkwardly fished for a new topic, “Hey guys, how high is your realism setting?”
“Uh… does it matter?”
“Did you feel anything when you died?”
“Not at all.”
“Exactly, no feelings at all!”
“Right! No feelings!” Fiery Conflict nodded vigorously. “But normal d*ath hurts, right? This is my first in-game d*ath with my realism percentage cranked up. But I felt nothing!”
“So, what are you saying, Brother Tian?”
“I got it! Brother Tian’s saying we got blasted into ash in an instant! That’s why we didn’t feel a thing.” Someone flexed their biceps, “Brother Tian is awesome!”
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to him with slightly twitching lips.
Someone nearby slapped him on the forehead: “If you can’t speak properly, just shut it! No one’s mistaking you for a mute.”
“Uh… cough cough. You guys continue.”
“Anyway, that’s my skill laid bare for everyone. Compensation will be given out shortly; we’re done here. It’s getting late. Those who need to log off, go ahead. I’m tired, so I’ll head out.”
Fiery Conflict waved goodbye and glimmered away in a flash of white light to log off.
Seeing this, the crowd exchanged glances and started logging off as well, leaving behind a few stragglers who decided to go their own ways.
About ten minutes later, white particles coalesced into human form, and Fiery Conflict logged back in.
He waited for a bit, and soon a dozen players from his guild popped back online.
“Brother Tian, you called us back. What’s up?”
Fiery Conflict switched from his previous serious demeanor to a smug grin: “Did you guys see the livestream? Wasn’t my move amazing? Pretty awesome, right?”
“Uh… it was impressive, but that side effect… it’s a bit indiscriminate, even taking out our own people.”
“No, no, no! You don’t get it.”
Fiery Conflict adjusted his imaginary glasses, “It’s normal if it doesn’t discriminate! If I had a skill that didn’t hurt me at all, I’d actually feel uneasy since it could get nerfed at any moment.”
“That’s true, it would throw things off balance. Only possible if it’s a cheat.”
“Before I tried that skill, I was wondering, but now I’m not scared at all!”
“And we’ve verified it—this kind of d*ath doesn’t cause level loss or inventory drops. Plus, I wiped out thousands of players without turning red! If I just leveled up and stood there n*ked in a crowd, what would people think of me?”
They’d look at you like you’re a creep… but he didn’t dare to say that: “So, what’s Brother Tian implying?”
“It’s deterrence! Nuclear deterrence! Once this livestream goes out, which faction would dare to cross me? I could wipe them all out myself!”
Fiery Conflict spread his arms wide, as if holding the entire world in his grasp: “My old rivals will shrink back when they see me!”
“Whoa… that makes sense. But Brother Tian, this skill packs a punch now, but it might lose its flair later.”
“Don’t worry. There’s something I didn’t mention. This skill is growth-oriented, and the damage scales with my level. And it deals real damage!”
“Holy cow! Awesome! Brother Tian!”
“Super awesome!”
“Completely invincible!”
The officers all snapped back to reality, enthusiastically applauding.
Suddenly, a voice cut through from the shadows: “Yeah, very awesome, Brother Tian.”
Then many figures emerged, all leaders and officers from other guilds.
With Fiery Conflict’s crew around, they formed the so-called players’ elite council.
Gone was their previous camaraderie as they now faced off with sharp words.
They’d worked closely together before, but now that cooperation was over, the competition was fierce.
“Brother Tian, with such good news, why didn’t you share it with your brothers?”
Fiery Conflict frowned: “Why are you all here?”
“We know Brother Tian so well that we could hardly miss out on your ambitions.”
“You’ve been online this whole time, waiting?”
“Precisely.”
Fiery Conflict paused for a while, then stretched lazily: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just had a meeting with my guild officers; now that it’s done, I’m logging off.”
With that, he was already preparing to log out.
“That skill you have… you bought it, right?”
Fiery Conflict froze mid-action.
“Was it the nuclear bomb?”
“…”
“I remember there was an NPC who…”
Before he could finish, Fiery Conflict dashed out.
His crew exchanged glances and took off after him without a second thought.
The others stood there bewildered until someone shouted, “What are you standing around for? Let’s go! He’s definitely up to something!”
So, late at night, a gaggle of players chased each other around town. The ruckus disturbed the roosters and dogs, prompting residents to grumble.
Xu Xiaofeng was skipping her way back into town. Today was special; the city gates were open due to some heroic deeds by the outsiders.
However, as she stepped in, she noticed dozens of people charging towards her, led by none other than Fiery Conflict Across the Sky.
Oh dear! What’s going on?
Did they find out I stole their BOSS? Or does he know I sold him a fake item?
Oh no! When you’ve done enough bad stuff, the day of reckoning will come!
Without thinking, Xu Xiaofeng braced herself, squatting down and shaking like a leaf.
But the moment she squatted, something felt off.
I’m an NPC now! He’d have to be mentally challenged to think an NPC would steal a BOSS—plus, I hid it so well!
And well, the stuff I sold him was only a tiny scam—definitely not a fake. He can’t return it now, and the money is in my pocket.
In any case, no money, and no life to give! This is Otherworld, and NPCs are the bosses here—players are just stinky little brothers!
Thinking this, she regained her courage but still chose to remain crouched, trembling.
Sometimes being cute has its use, no matter the circumstance.
The poor little girl looked so pitiful; could you really bear to be mean to her? Sob sob…
