Chapter 70 - 68: Crafty Merchant

Guard Brigade’s eyes lit up, as he expected, a 97% realism is best not to be underestimated. Besides, how could a game directly throw players into a desperate situation? Aren’t they afraid players would stop playing?

Look, now the mission has come, hasn’t it?

It’s a mission to rescue other players. He could already foresee the growing popularity of his livestream bringing him immense profits.

However, at this moment, Baiyi was a bit stunned. He didn’t expect that his influence on the players seemed to be even greater than he had imagined.

[You have issued a mission to player [Guard Brigade], your Specialty [Crafty Merchant] has activated, reducing the player’s completion reward by 30%. (To be given upon mission completion.)]

Baiyi glanced at the Crafty Merchant Specialty, which he originally didn’t consider important, now it seems.... a bit overpowered...

No wonder such a generous boss like him was slandered as a crafty merchant; it turns out this is part of the player’s Template’s residual power?

Baiyi looked at Sabo and smiled, "Unlock our friend’s restraints, let’s take a walk."

Sabo nodded, an extreme sense of defilement arose, and a black potion appeared in his hand, which he immediately poured into Guard Brigade.

[You have ingested Extreme Contaminant, and your negative status has been neutralized.]

Guard Brigade felt his body again and attempted to stand up. The momentary weakness made him uncomfortable, but after stabilizing, he cautiously asked, "Mr. Baiyi, how can I assist you?"

Baiyi stood up, and the Mechanical Throne behind him automatically disassembled into tiny mechanical parts, quickly assembling into thirty Worker Bees, which swiftly returned to the hem of his coat.

He thought and asked, "The Marvel is indestructible, but I feel your bodies are quite fragile. Are you undying, or can you be resurrected?"

Baiyi walked out; players were sprawled across the ground. They couldn’t even move their eyeballs, so naturally, they made no sound.

Yet, with help from player forums, they all simultaneously entered Guard Brigade’s livestream, keeping tabs on this bizarre game’s progress.

Players are prideful, and if they become truly displeased, they will quit the game.

After all, games are meant to bring happiness, not to torment players.

Baiyi knew this too, but a virtual game with 97% realism is destined to be popular, so there’s no need to fear players abandoning it in masses; many are still lining up outside.

Still, even so, he planned to be more restrained—when you harvest leeks, you must remember to fertilize; otherwise, if the leeks fear you, it becomes troublesome.

"Yes, you guessed right; each time we die, we resurrect here," Guard Brigade honestly replied.

Without any protective mechanism at the resurrection point, he was bewildered, but since it was this way, he wanted to keep going.

Baiyi nodded, taking out a potion and giving it to a player who was stuck holding the door, asking patiently, "This Marvel, may I kill you?"

"Are you kidding..."

Clink, clink, clink...

The sound of gold coins clashing resounded, and four or five Gold Coins appeared in Baiyi’s hand.

"The Marvel does not die; this is compensation," Baiyi asked with a smile.

The player named [Hehehe] immediately changed his tune. Those aware of the game’s background knew that during this period, Copper Coins had strong purchasing power, and one Gold Coin equaled ten thousand Copper Coins, equating to five thousand pounds of grain.

This exaggerated purchasing power of ordinary goods was astonishing.

It also meant, before switching jobs, Gold Coins were exceptionally hard to acquire, practically impossible.

So, given the game’s popularity, selling Gold Coins to streamers and some wealthy individuals should fetch a high price!

Most importantly, he was only Level 1! No cost at all!

Thinking of this, he quickly changed his tone, "Of course, no problem. Mr. Baiyi’s research spirit is truly admirable. Go ahead."

Baiyi smiled and nodded, stuffing the Gold Coins into [Hehehe]’s hand, and they immediately disappeared, likely stored directly in his panel.

Boom!

[You killed a player, Experience Value +10.]

Understanding gleamed in Baiyi’s eyes, gaining only ten experience points, and the prompt didn’t show the player’s level—wonder if it’s ten points per level...

But it’s not a big issue; his thoughts were becoming clearer.

Too bad players can leave the game, otherwise, what a spawn point would this be? It’d be an Experience Farm Paradise!

After around ten seconds, the player’s body re-materialized, looking pleased at Baiyi, "Mr. Baiyi, would you like to try again?"

Clink, clink, clink...

Boom!

[You killed a player, Experience Value +10.]

After ten seconds, the player resurrected again, looking more eager than ever at Baiyi, "Mr. Baiyi, continue?"

Guard Brigade beside him had a hint of envy in his eyes, why didn’t he choose him when there’s such a big one beside him?

Baiyi shook his head, "No need, thank you."

"No, no, no, contributing to science is my honor."

Baiyi, along with Sabo and Guard Brigade, began to wander around the player’s spawn point; gradually, the problems became amicable, and the attitude became friendlier.

He unfroze another nameless player and issued the same mission as Guard Brigade’s, but this time, Sabo took him away.

As Sabo took the player away and returned, he shook his head at Baiyi, who then concluded the experiment.

Baiyi summarized this experiment, realizing he couldn’t truly harm players, but he could restrict them.

For instance, imprisoning them—even if their bodies were immobilized, their spawn point served as the perfect prison. As long as their negative status remained, their accounts would be obsolete.

Additionally, releasing missions to players was easier than anticipated, with players playing a very large, almost crucial, role.

Furthermore, since both beta and version 1.0 capped players’ levels at Level 20, they posed no threat and their value increased once more.

So, the initial intent to enslave players vanished because... slavery was impossible, at least not for Sabo!

"Mr. Sabo, this Marvel doesn’t seem malicious to the Federation; please release them," Baiyi gently said.

"Okay." Sabo rubbed his hands as an extreme defiling power began to spread, and a special Domain Power was retracted.

Instantly, moans rang out, some players cursed, while others stood silently; the scene was unexpectedly chaotic.

Simultaneously, Baiyi’s panel displayed a message [Two players completed the mission, Gold Coin +30, Experience Value +180.]

It was evident—the original special missions for the two were 50 Gold Coins and 300 experience each, but when the missions were given, 30% was docked, truly worthy of being the [Crafty Merchant] Speciality!

Baiyi sighed with a slight cough as Magic Power surged in his mouth.

He apologized sincerely, "Dear visitors from the Otherworld, I apologize for my earlier actions, but Marvel represents all uncertainties, and being here at the Border City, I must ensure the Federation’s safety."

"I will provide you with optional compensation to express my apology."

As Baiyi spoke, he noticed the players’ eyes on him were peculiar, instinctively checking Guard Brigade’s livestream.

In the livestream, exclamations of "Oh my!" flooded the screen, along with posts like [This Baiyi is actually a boss!].

Baiyi browsed and saw a screenshot come into view.

[You were shot in the head by a Demon Hunting Revolver, killed by Silver Level Boss Baiyi...]

He recalled—this was the way players looked at bosses...

They... want to start a fight?