Chapter 36.2: Follow-up Handling

"Now that we've reached an understanding, let's put this matter completely behind us. There's no need for further investigations or blame. We're all friends, and it's just not worth it. I will now comfort our departed friends. As for you guys, go freshen up, splash some cold water on your faces, and get yourselves ready to continue working."

At this moment, the former bandits all had constipated expressions. Just moments ago, they had been slashing and hacking at the undead all night, and now they were expected to act as if nothing had happened. Wasn't this truly a challenge to their capacity for accepting things?!

Without any consideration for the fragile spirits of the former bandits, Yang Qiu immediately immersed himself in the imprint matrix and issued an announcement to the players online:

———

System Announcement:

Dynamic quest [Rebellion Suppression] is over.

Due to the emergence of an underground spider nest, unrest has spread within Exile Town, leading to advanced NPCs showing intent to defect.

Players have successfully suppressed the rebellion. All players who logged into the game during the dynamic quest will receive 100 Exile Town prestige, and all players who participated in the battles during the dynamic quest will receive additional 500 Exile Town prestige.

Dropped equipment is to be managed according to players' own discretion.

Players who caused damage to the public property of Exile Town during the dynamic quest will have 100 Exile Town prestige deducted.

Thank you for your active participation. Players can check the gained or deducted territory prestige points in their character panel.

Appendix: During non-quest periods, maliciously attacking advanced NPCs will result in the deduction of all Exile Town prestige and account suspension.

———

As soon as the announcement was made, the players outside the Town Hall who had been incessantly cursing and urging the NPCs to engage in combat fell silent.

"So, this was a dynamic quest? Damn, developers are so lazy. No hints were given out before the quest started?"

"Thank goodness I logged in early today and managed to take part in a wave of battles. Otherwise, I would have fallen behind in territory prestige."

"Fighting all night grants the same rewards as those who only fought one or two battles? That's so unfair!"

"Don't act all innocent after obviously profiting from it! How much equipment have you all obtained!"

"Everyone, gather up. It's time to auction off the equipment!"

"Don't rush with the auction first. Some of those that died haven't logged back in yet."

"I'm so exhausted. Can someone help me collect my share of the auction earnings?"

The players dispersed while clamoring among themselves. Yang Qiu glanced outside through the battered wooden door and signaled the former bandits to move the furniture back in place.

Hal and the gang didn't dare to rush out too quickly. They took their time restoring the furniture to its original state and even found excuses to help Yang Qiu tidy up a bit. After some time, they finally poked their heads out cautiously, maintaining their battle formation as they scanned the area.

The undead had indeed dispersed, and not a single skeleton remained outside.

The bunch of former bandits still didn't dare leave their cover and all looked back toward Yang Qiu with doubt and hesitation.

"Go back and freshen up. Don't worry, our undead friends won't attack you again." Yang Qiu waved them off. historical

The former bandits had no choice but to form small groups of twos and threes and returned to their respective tents.

The three compatriots of the Wanderer Class, Hal, Tuttle, and Finley, huddled together and made their way back to the Wanderer Guild's construction site. However, rather than feeling relieved upon seeing their familiar posts, they collectively froze upon witnessing the situation in their area of jurisdiction.

As quite a number of players did quests at this site, a small, considerable square had already been set up. The mishmash group of casual players that relied on Unceasing Entropy's command and the lead of Yang Ying, Tang Jia, and Ji Tang had gotten a breakthrough during the fracas and managed to snatch quite some scraps. Now, they had chosen this location to auction off the spoils of war.

As the three job instructors returned to their posts, they saw Tang Jia, ID Stuffed Gummy, hold the short dagger she had snatched from Finley and shout loudly, "White-quality dagger! Although a white rarity without special effects, its attack is quite high and has a comfortable grip. Can be used as an off-hand weapon. Starting bid at 10 copper coins!"

"12!"

"15!"

"20!"

"20 going once, any more bids? This is good stuff dropped by Treasure Expert Finley! You won't find another such opportunity if you miss it!"

Yang Ying nudged Ji Tang, who was sitting next to her. "Didn't you say that this dagger has a nice grip? Make a bid."

"I don't have money.."

"It's okay, I'll lend you some."

.

Ji Tang quickly raised his hand. "21!"

"21, going once! Any more bids? This is the dagger that Finley used!" Tang Jia shouted enthusiastically.

Among the three stunned individuals on the street, Finley's face suddenly came to life..

"Calm down, Finley!" Hal and Tuttle quickly held on to their dear friend from both sides. "Don't act impulsively!"

Daggers were popular weapons in most traditional PC online games, but in this full-immersive game, the length of the weapon actually had a significant impact on a player's combat effectiveness. So, even though Finley had carefully maintained this favorite dagger of his for years, it still couldn't fetch a high price. In the end, Ji Tang won it for 26 copper coins.

After auctioning off the dagger, Tang Jia raised another item.. a wrist guard covered with some unknown beast's hide. With an even louder voice and a more passionate tone, she shouted, "Pay attention, everyone! It's time for the highlight!

"An excellent wrist guard dropped by the Assassin Instructor Hal Maxwell. It has a tenacity effect that makes it indestructible by blades and impervious to arrows! Although we only managed to grab one and the other was taken by Give Me Medicine, it doesn't matter because they can still be used individually. I have already tested it, and the effect is fantastic!"

Hal: ".. (゜ロ゜)"

Hal's equipment could be considered top-notch among the former bandits, with every piece of his from head to toe enchanted by an alchemist before. Those wrist guards were enchanted with tenacity runes, making them not only lightweight and flexible but also capable of withstanding the bites of large monsters.

An overwhelming surge of anger rose from the depths of Hal's heart when he saw his wrist guards desecrated by the filthy undead. With a swift motion, he unsheathed his longsword..

"Forget it, Hal! Let it go!" This time, it was Finley and Tuttle who struggled to restrain Hal.

This mishmash group of players was indeed smaller in size and consisted mostly of laborers. Compared to the groups led by Brother Lahong and Vanilla Pudding, their combat power was slightly inferior. Even though Ji Tang, a rather strong ally, had joined them, they still hadn't managed to snatch many valuable items. Apart from Hal's wrist guard (singular) fetching a premium of over 100 copper coins, the subsequent miscellaneous items were auctioned off at prices ranging from 20 to 30 copper coins each.

These players, with a complete disregard for others, auctioned off the items in front of the unfortunate owners for slightly over half an hour before finally the auction concluded, and they happily went their separate ways after sharing the spoils..

Hal couldn't remember how he endured this day. The undead, who had brutally fought and relentlessly stripped the former bandits of their equipment during the previous night, now acted as if they had amnesia and casually conversed with them and requested and submitted quests.

As if that wasn't enough, what made Hal's blood boil was that these undead beings shamelessly mentioned everything that occurred on the previous night while completing their assigned quests right in front of them!

"Whoa, for real? You guys robbed NPCs?!"

"What do you mean 'robbed'? They were drops from fighting mobs, and there's territory prestige too!"

The skeleton glanced at Hal, then asked his companion, "But the NPCs are still here, right? Did they respawn after you guys farmed them? Was the uniqueness of advanced NPCs in the previous update announcement false?"

"We didn't slay them. Monsters in this game are different from ones in traditional games. They can drop equipment if you manage to attack them," another skeleton chimed in enviously. "Hal dropped some excellent gear. It's a pity our team didn't manage to seize any. One of his wrist guards was taken by Vanilla's team, and the casual players' team took the other. Vanilla's side got the helmet too."

At his post, Hal was seething with anger and gritted his teeth to prevent an outburst.

The skeleton that was asking the questions nodded. "Ah, I see. So that's why this NPC seems different today compared to yesterday. No wonder it's called a unique NPC. The dropped equipment doesn't refresh. And if killed, he can't be revived."

"Yeah. Thankfully, we don't have to kill them to get the equipment. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do my assassin job advancement, and all the reputation I was grinding would be for nothing."

Suddenly, the fuming Hal felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been doused on him.

This former audacious and fearless leader of a bandit gang cautiously glanced at the two skeletons that were casually discussing his own mortality. Worried that they might notice, he then forced himself to look away.

He really shouldn't have believed that damned black mage's nonsense and not have come to Taranthan in the first place!

Regret filled Hal's heart, leaving a bitter taste..

As Yang Qiu consumed mana to craft runes and meditated to recover, he observed the interactions between the advanced NPCs and the players.

There wasn't much to say about the players. The Fourth Crisis was a group that constantly shifted between lawful good and chaotic evil.

As for the former bandits.. After having firsthand experienced the players' chaos, they had become rather earnest.

The uniqueness of the advanced NPCs was tied to job advancement reputation, which was a form of protection that Yang Qiu provided for the former bandits. As long as the former bandits didn't act recklessly, the likelihood of players actively attacking them was low.

For example, players who had diligently earned reputation with the Assassins Instructor would naturally protect their own job instructor, and the higher the reputation a player earned, the stronger their inclination to protect their instructor would be.

After all, even though he had disguised this other world as a game, Yang Qiu didn't want their fellow Earthlings to unwittingly become murderers.

Well, it seems fine for now, but once this precedent is set, some players will inevitably get weird ideas and figure out means to loot equipment without killing NPCs, Yang Qiu mused, stroking his chin.

If I push these thieves too hard and rely solely on exploiti.. accountability, it will be difficult to keep them in line for long.

A positive environment where attacking NPCs is only permissible under exceptional circumstances has to be established, whereby the protection of NPCs is mandatory.

"Alright then, it's time to introduce civilian NPCs!" Yang Qiu rose from his seat and adjusted his robes.