Chapter 20.2: Game Developer Yang Qiu

Even the three veterans of the closed beta were also involved in hard labor. Give Me Medicine was grinding his heart out at Tuttle's side, while Vanilla Pudding, who had originally been farming Warrior Instructor reputation, had switched to grinding zombie NPC quests, along with Blossoming Strokes.

Vanilla Pudding was quite the player too. Not only did he find a zombie NPC for questing that was as cost-effective as the fourth zombie, but he had also gathered a group of gamers, probably a bunch of his casual fans, to do the same quests as him.

Just as Yang Qiu was about to shift his attention to others, he heard one gamer pledge his loyalty to Vanilla Pudding, saying, "Don't worry, Boss Vanilla. We'll only sell the copper coins we earn to your friend, never to anyone else."

Yang Qiu: ".."

Alright.. This Qin Guan fella might have a slightly lower Potential, but he did possess the charisma of a leader among players. Yang Qiu speculated that if guilds were implemented, Qin Guan would definitely be the first to form a team.

"But, in this world, organizations formed by the skilled professionals aren't called guilds.. Perhaps, after the conditions are met, it would be better to call the formed player group an alliance. It's best to act according to the customs of the land we're in." historical

Organizations that used "group" in their name were usually mercenaries or thieves, while those using "association" linked with criminal activities or cults; legitimate and upright organizations (or those that pretended to be upright on the surface) tended to avoid using these two naming conventions.

Take, for example, the Alchemist Association formed by alchemists, which was actually an organized crime syndicate..

The legitimate organization formed by righteous spellcasters was called "Mage Tower."

And the organization of righteous wanderers was called "Shadow of the Gale."

The various armed forces established by individual countries were referred to as "armies" for larger ones and "squads" for smaller ones. Legally recognized private armed forces were referred to as "alliances."

While it might seem a bit unconventional to refer to player leaders as "alliance leaders" in a fantasy-themed game, Yang Qiu had taken on the self-proclaimed title of "Lord of the Taranthan Wasteland." This title positioned him as the leader of a player group that was considered a legitimate civilian armed force within his territory.

Taranthan was situated between the Rhine Kingdom to the west and the Duchy of Shiga to the east. As the game progressed further, players would be bound to come into contact with these two nations. If Yang Qiu's group of players were identified as a "group" or "association," it wouldn't be conducive to diplomatic relations.

As for whether the neighboring human nations could accept this group of undead gamers, Yang Qiu wasn't worried the least.

As long as the Fourth Calamity could give the Radiant Sun Church, which would eventually come bearing down on them, a hard time, his legitimacy of being Lord of Taranthan would be easily resolved; whether the neighbors were undead or not wasn't really a problem at all..

After observing how Qin Guan enthusiastically recruited players to join him in gold farming, Yang Qiu finally turned his sights to the third person that piqued his interest.

Number one player, Ou Huang, who initially started with a Potential of 54 which had increased to 56 after a day of gaming. Right now, he was active in a concealed basement in Exile Town.

"You even managed to find this place, no wonder you are the number one player," Yang Qiu remarked as he observed Qu Huang meticulously rummaging through the basement.

This player had logged in half an hour after the server was launched, and besides time spent offline for meals and rest, he had logged nearly 20 hours of gameplay, yet only completed a solitary beginner equipment quest.

Someone capable of climbing Mount Everest at the age of 18 was definitely no ordinary person, so Yang Qiu could understand his disinterest in doing mundane tasks for petty rewards. However, it was quite baffling that Ou Huang hadn't even raised any reputation with the various job instructors. His approach was rather unconventional.

And while he hadn't been doing quests, Ou Huang had been far from idle. He had explored every nook and cranny within the 1.5 square kilometers of Exile Town and also paid a visit to the giant rat in the south that prevented players from escaping the valley. Well, and he also contributed quite a few defeats to that giant rat..

At present, that giant rat had killed slightly more players than all the NPCs combined.

When Yang Qiu had used discounted frozen chicken breasts to lure this giant rat into town and trap it at the southern entrance using black magic, he hadn't expected this demonized rat to be such an adept killer..

In any case, the player named Ou Huang had a completely different play style, unlike others who were interested in increasing their states. He, on the other hand, had a passion for seeking out things that other players had yet to discover.

He was indeed the perfect candidate to gradually uncover the "deeper game background" that Yang Qiu intended to showcase through a hidden quest.

However, Yang Qiu had no intention of letting Ou Huang become the trigger for this hidden quest.

It was because Ou Huang didn't quite embody the "player" archetype. How could he let a player that didn't mindlessly do mundane tasks trigger hidden quests? If others were to believe that triggering hidden quests was based on some other mysterious factors, then who would Yang Qiu rely on to help with the reconstruction of Exile Town?!

This sort of play style trend mustn't be encouraged. Only a mundane culture of hard labor would reap benefits!

Yang Qiu once again shifted his gaze and turned his attention to the most diligent quester in the entire game.

Without a doubt, that title belonged to the studio owner, Mo Shu, with the ID "Eight At Once." But such a choice would also be.. impractical.

Yang Qiu felt that allowing a studio to dominate the game wouldn't be good for fostering the gaming culture here.

Once again, Yang Qiu's sights shifted to the most active non-studio questing player. Give Me Medicine, one of the three closed beta veterans who was diligently laboring away at Tuttle's construction site.

While Vanilla Pudding was busy recording videos for content and organizing other players, and Blossoming Strokes ran around all over the place, neither of them showed the same level of enthusiasm as Give Me Medicine.

"Alright.. You, then." Yang Qiu's eyes narrowed. "If you can maintain this level of enthusiasm for questing even after this bidding event ends, you will be the first to trigger a hidden quest."

Without feeling any shame for his covert actions, Yang Qiu calmly stood up, left the Town Hall, and summoned the Undead Horse.

And then he got on the Undead Horse and leisurely rode around the various construction sites.

Wherever he went, awe-struck exclamations were elicited from gamers all around, regardless of whether they were busy with manual labor or chatting and strolling around.

To be able to stand out among the countless skeletal creatures from the Dimensional Realm and be chosen by Yang Qiu, a high-level black mage, as a means of transportation meant that this Undead Horse, clad in black iron armor, with its flesh zombified and eyes emitting a cold purple glint, was incredibly visually alluring.

When Yang Qiu arrived at the construction site overseen by the Knight Instructor, several players who were diligently farming reputation were practically drooling from their eyes..

If not for the fact that Undead creatures couldn't produce saliva, these players who intended to play as Death Knights would probably have drowned in their own drool.

Knight Instructor Jerome was a handsome man with a full beard that still revealed his refined features. He wasn't just handsome but humble and polite too. As soon as he saw Yang Qiu, the black mage who provided for them, he immediately stood up, took off his straw hat, and bowed, "Good day, Mr. Yang."

"Good day, Jerome." Yang Qiu returned a smile and nodded as he dismounted from the horse's back and handed over the reins. "I'll entrust the Undead Horse to you. Hope you find an excellent new owner for it."

After handing over the reins, Yang Qiu untied a crystal bead from his wrist, which was bound with sinew, and handed it to Jerome. "This is the crystal for summoning the Undead Horse. With it, even those who don't know summoning spells can easily summon this horse."

Jerome gulped and accepted the reins and the summoning crystal..

Summoned creatures appearing on the trading market weren't that uncommon, and the creatures from the Dimensional Realm that most people rarely encountered weren't considered unique for a high-level black mage who could freely traverse the Dimensional Realm.

However, Jerome still couldn't understand why Yang had entrusted him with the task of distributing this horse..

He could tell that Yang, who wanted to claim ownership of the Taranthan Wasteland, was an ambitious person. It appeared like Yang intended to train these rebellious but unexpectedly intelligent undead to become a more reliable and combat-ready undead army.

But the question was, why didn't Yang do it himself? Why had Yang delegated this task, which was a form of demonstrating strength and winning the loyalty of the undead, to him?

Although he couldn't comprehend it, Jerome, who was adept at understanding how to pander to those in power, still tied the reins of the Undead Horse to the notice board.

Yang Qiu looked approvingly at this bearded handsome fella. Jerome understood he had purposely ridden over so that the undead could appreciate the magnificence of the mount and wouldn't just use the summoning crystal to send the Undead Horse back to the Dimensional Realm.

"Your work will be slightly harder these few days, but do your best. I have faith in you." Yang Qiu patted Jerome's shoulder, then added, "Come over to the Town Hall later. I have some matters that need your opinion."

In Jerome's mind, he automatically translated Yang Qiu's words as, "Come to the Town Hall and receive rewards after work." Thus, he grinned shyly and nodded.

After Yang Qiu left, those players farming Knight Instructor reputation immediately rushed in to take screenshots of this magnificent black steed from all angles.

There weren't that many players interested in playing as a knight. Most of the players that were farming the Knight Instructor's reputation were doing so to qualify for bidding rights and to sell it off afterward.

Now, the more attractive the Undead Horse was and the more potential buyers there meant that these players could take advantage of the opportunity to earn a significant profit!