WTYTIAAN Chapter 193

Chapter 193

Up until now, “Homeward Journey” had been open for servers for a month and a half. Not long ago, it had just experienced an internal beta version update. On the surface, the internal beta 2.0 version only added 7,000 new internal beta players and lifted the entry and exit restrictions of the Newbie Village, which seemed like not much of a change.

—That was only for ordinary players. Those in the official know knew more and could guess more.

The internal beta 2.0 version had more changes than just that, there were also many hidden changes, the most obvious being the triggering of quests.

All players who stepped out of the Newbie Village could clearly feel that this game had become more real.

This was especially reflected in the receiving of quests. In the Newbie Village, NPCs would take the initiative to issue quests, but after leaving the Newbie Village, all NPCs would not take the initiative to issue quests, but rather had a condition for triggering a quest.

This condition was very random. You could even tie up an NPC and beat them up, forcing them to issue you a quest. These quests were usually very simple, and the quest rewards were pitifully small. The most important thing was that doing so had a certain probability of reducing the faction favorability of the NPC’s faction, and at the same time, there was a risk of being locked up in prison.

You could even be counter-killed. Since discovering the operation of forcing NPCs to issue quests, many players on the forum had tried this operation, and the final results varied, mainly depending on the NPC’s personality, status, and strength.

…Completely in line with real-world logic.

That was why it was said that this world had become more real after internal beta 2.0.

This also allowed some of the above guesses and inferences to be further confirmed.

From the moment the first batch of players entered this game, their secret operations unit had members specifically for information collection and analysis. The opening of the level rankings and the players appearing on them were also the focus of their attention.

Anonymous.

The first player to successfully level up, thus opening the level rankings. Since then, this anonymous player had never fallen out of the top ten on the level rankings, and even if they occasionally fell out, they would quickly catch up, but few people knew this anonymous player.

They were like a shadow hidden among the players. No one knew their ID, appearance, or even any inside information…

Oh, no, there was some. Someone on the forum had vaguely mentioned that this anonymous player might be a GM hidden among the players by the game company.

After the intelligence department collected this information from the forum, they focused on checking the whereabouts of this player, but unfortunately, most of the news about Anonymous was speculation and conjecture, and none of it could be confirmed.

[Ying Yi], as the captain of a squad, had memorized all the players in the top twenty of the level rankings except for Anonymous. The player in front of him, whether in appearance or the weapon used, did not match the list in their memory, but their strength was so strong. That could only be Anonymous, about whom they had never collected any information.

These thoughts flashed through their mind. [Ying Yi] met the pair of red eyes. Thinking of the confidential documents they had seen for some reason, and the guesses about Anonymous on them, the corner of their mouth subconsciously raised a little, revealing a rather amiable smile, not knowing what kind of stormy waves the team members around them were experiencing in their hearts when they saw this smile.

Was this still their taciturn and serious captain?

[Woof Woof Squad], having had a longer partnership with [Ying Yi], quickly understood [Ying Yi]’s meaning. Thinking of some of the confidential documents [Ying Yi] had vaguely mentioned before, although they didn’t know what was inside, they knew there was such a confidential document.

Feeling the change in the captain’s emotions, [Woof Woof Squad] subconsciously cooperated with the captain, “Yeah, the monster we just fought wasn’t a high level. We thought the monsters here were all the same level, and we accidentally went too deep. But you seem to be very familiar with this place?”

Yan Yunqing could feel [Ying Yi]’s defenses, but didn’t have any special feelings about that rather polite smile that was in line with social etiquette. Hearing the other party’s words, they just nodded.

“Okay, but your levels are too low. It’s best not to enter the Forest’s Depth so quickly. The levels of the monsters a little further in are higher. There’s a monster with a level of over fifty in that direction.” Yan Yunqing pointed in a direction.

As for why they were so familiar with this place, Yan Yunqing didn’t give an explanation.

Why else? Because their real level was very high, so they could sense the level aura of nearby monsters? This was a bit mysterious. Players still relied on the strength given by the system level. Even if their level reached Yan Yunqing’s level, they couldn’t sense the monster aura.

This was still the practical experience Yan Yunqing learned in Hogwarts Academy.

“Level fifty!” [Lonely Fire] gasped when they heard this. They had already fought so hard against a level thirty-four monster. Wouldn’t they be instantly killed by a level fifty monster?

[Hell Cruiser] yawned while holding their staff, continuing to be half-dead.

“I don’t know what the monster spawning mechanism is in this forest. The monsters were only level sixteen in the position just now, but after going a little deeper, the level of the monsters has soared to level thirty-four.” [Bin Storm] complained.

Yan Yunqing’s gaze fell on them, explaining, “This forest doesn’t have level divisions for monsters. You could say that after entering the forest, you might encounter monsters around level ten, or you might encounter monsters around level fifty. The reason why the monsters on the outskirts are low-level is just because the guards of nearby cities often come to clear them. You’ve only encountered some stragglers.”

Hearing this concept for the first time, the five people couldn’t help but be stunned.

Seeing that they seemed to really not understand, Yan Yunqing knew that they were probably the same as other players, probably not knowing much about the game’s background story.

“The two great empires border the Norman Forest, and those cities close to the edge of the forest all have guards stationed there.” Yan Yunqing explained, “Because the monsters running out of the forest can easily harm ordinary people in these cities, the two great empires have set up guards in the border cities. Like Tangas City, it’s a city of Bato Vita near the Norman Forest, and the Tangas Guard is quite powerful.”

“Although it can’t compare to the Sawyer Army that has been guarding the border of the Sea of Death for many years, it’s still quite strong. They sweep the surrounding forests for monsters every month.”

The five people were even more dazed.

[Lonely Fire] was shocked, “Where did you get all this information?”

Yan Yunqing paused, “Uh… this is common sense in this world, right? You can know if you just ask any NPC in a nearby city. Don’t you pay attention to the game’s background story?”

The five people looked at each other. They had tasks to do every day, either fighting monsters or collecting certain materials. Where did they have time to be lore nerds, or even to hear such inside information?

“Then you can pay more attention to it. Sometimes the conversations of NPCs also contain a lot of information. Maybe you can even receive some hidden quests.” Yan Yunqing said lightly, “I saw someone in the Newbie Village on the forum who received a hidden quest before?”

They even mentioned the forum?

A hint of doubt arose in [Ying Yi]’s heart, but it was quickly extinguished by them.

If Anonymous was really as the people above speculated… then it would be normal to keep observing the forum.

“Are there really people who play games and don’t skip, but seriously watch the story?” The veteran game player [Lonely Fire] exclaimed, “I only hear ‘Towards the stars and…’ before the daily quest settlement voice ends.”

Yan Yunqing showed a subtle expression.

Ah, skippers.

What a coincidence, they used to be a skipper too, but the bad habits were all changed after playing “Demon King.” After all, if you skipped even a little bit of the story in this game, it could lead to a bad ending, or a failed battle, and even UR cards could be torn up, forcing Yan Yunqing to carefully study every word of the NPCs.

In order to turn some powerful UR cards into subordinates, they even researched historical materials word by word!

Thinking about it now, they wondered if they were crazy at the time. They could flip through historical materials for a game. If they had put that effort into studying, they could have gotten into… oh, sorry, they just finished the college entrance examination when they transmigrated over, and they didn’t know what school they got into.

Yan Yunqing shifted their gaze.

Sure enough, the existence behind this game influenced them at the time, right?

[Ying Yi] and [Woof Woof Squad] both saw the change in Yan Yunqing’s expression. [Woof Woof Squad] didn’t feel anything, but [Ying Yi] was even more puzzled.

If Anonymous was really as speculated above, why would they show this kind of… subtle sense of recognition at this time? Did Anonymous also play the game that Li Yan played?

Should they go back and let the people above research the game that Li Yan played…

Yan Yunqing’s voice interrupted their thoughts, “Some games are worth studying the game’s story in depth.”

[Lonely Fire] nodded repeatedly, “That’s true.”

“So are we just going to stand here and chat?” [Hell Cruiser], who had been watching from the side, couldn’t help but interrupt them, seeing that they were still awkwardly chatting about the game, their face was pale, and it looked like they would fall asleep at any moment, “Maybe we can find a safer place to sit down and rest while chatting?”

The melee fighter [Bin Storm], who had also consumed a lot of stamina, raised both hands in agreement, “I agree!”

[Lonely Fire] hesitated and glanced at [Ying Yi]. It seemed like they hadn’t completed their task today? Shouldn’t they chat for a few words and then have the captain end the conversation, and then they would go their separate ways to continue doing their tasks?

[Ying Yi] ignored [Lonely Fire]’s gaze and nodded, “Okay.”

[Lonely Fire] was stunned, “Huh? Are we not going to continue fighting monsters and leveling up here?”

[Hell Cruiser] unobtrusively stepped on [Lonely Fire]’s foot, getting a gasp of pain and a glare.

[Lonely Fire]: What are you doing?

[Hell Cruiser]: Shut up, shut in.

[Lonely Fire]: I told you I’m not a shut in!!!

“The level of the monsters here is still too high. Let’s stop here for today.” Captain [Ying Yi] turned to Yan Yunqing and said, “Thank you for your help just now. How about adding a friend? We’re going to run a dungeon later. Do you want to come along?”

Yan Yunqing blinked and followed the trend, “Okay, let’s add a friend. Do you have dungeon resources on hand?”

As they spoke, they reached out and swiped, and a translucent panel appeared in front of them. They glanced at [Ying Yi]’s game ID, and opened the search friend in the game friend panel.

[Ying Yi]

Add friend→Friend request sent.

[Ying Yi] received the friend request and quickly clicked to accept, while also glancing at Yan Yunqing’s game ID [Ri An], quickly going through the list of popular players on the level rankings in their mind, but as expected, they had no impression at all.

Looking at the friend’s level again, 19.

Very good, confirmed, this was the Anonymous on the level rankings.

“It’s a dungeon that my teammates and I found while fighting monsters before. It’s relatively remote. Currently, we should be the only ones who know about it, but it may not be just us for much longer.” [Ying Yi] said, “After all, it’s just a level 15 dungeon.”

Yan Yunqing understood.

They were using a low-level dungeon resource to get on their good side. Anyway, this level would be useless to them soon, and it wouldn’t matter if it was exposed in the future.

Sure enough, none of the official people were fools.

“Hey, Captain, you guys added friends? I want to add one too, I want to add one too!”

…Well, not necessarily.