Segman, not letting his anger get the best of him, turned his gaze away from the strangely dressed humans and looked towards the entrance of the Tower of Trial.
At the entrance of the Tower of Trial, he found the figure of Prince Hilze'er from the Dark Flame Country. Hilze'er's physique was so bloated that he might start panting after just a few steps.
What made Segman grit his teeth in hatred was that this obese prince's magic talent far surpassed his own.
Segman and his mentor hid in a corner, observing secretly. Around Hilze'er were five relatively reliable-looking adventurers, mercenaries?
He couldn't confirm who those five people were, or rather which strange group had suddenly appeared in the Tower of Trial, so Segman temporarily identified them as adventurers.
The prince of the Dark Flame Country kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, saying something gratefully to the five adventurers before his figure turned into light and disappeared into the Tower of Trial.
"It's an employer-employee relationship," Segman immediately deduced that the five adventurers were not citizens of the Dark Flame Country, but more like mercenaries.
"Your Highness, I think it's necessary to speak with them," suggested the old mage.
"I understand."
Segman walked straight toward the five adventurers. What puzzled him was that the five adventurers had no defensive mindset, chatting and laughing with each other, completely unaware that they were in a dangerous wild area.
"If the president didn't bring that NPC with zero agility, our record could be faster by a few minutes, right?"
"Let's just research a new strategy. Also, gathering the six-piece fashion set early helps with the dungeon runs."
As the five members of the Dancing Nuclear Guild were discussing their next move, Segman had already come before them.
The attire of the five people from the Dancing Nuclear Guild was something Segman could somewhat accept; at least none of them were wearing fashion items. Segman could barely distinguish their roles from their attire.
A priest's outfit, two mages' outfits, and two dressed like warriors... or mercenaries?
Segman could feel a powerful magical aura from the five of them, at least not weaker than his.
"Greetings, everyone," Segman tidied up his appearance and approached the five adventurers to speak to them.
When the five members of the Dancing Nuclear Guild turned their gaze to Segman, a shield warrior named Mamayougou was about to step forward and say something to Segman, but was stopped by Mo Shigui.
"Another new quest. Who among you has the highest charm and oratory skill?" Mo Shigui asked the other team members.
"Captain Heiguo has the highest charm and oratory skills," one team member said.
"I know! Heiguo isn't online right now. What about the others? Report your charm and oratory skills to me."
Mo Shigui's raiding party was incomplete today. A combat mage named Heiguo Zhuru wasn't online. His oratory and charm skills were the highest in the entire Dancing Nuclear Guild.
Mo Shigui assumed there would only be one random NPC quest per day, but it seemed that the mechanism wasn't as he had guessed.
"I have minus three charm points, so I won't report," said the elemental mage with the ID "Your Mom Will Die Tonight."
"How did you get minus three points? Five charm, seven oratory. What about you, Rain Song?" The shield warrior ridiculed the elemental mage while asking the others.
"Seven, three," Rain Song said simply.
"Look, with Heiguo gone, I'm the most charming one here! Twenty charm, twenty-one oratory, president, I'll go!"
Fluffy Rabbit raised his hand and waved it at Mo Shigui. The class he played was the Holy, a priest class upgrade. There was nothing wrong with the class itself. The issue was that he played a female character, while in reality, he was a male player, making his character a 'trap'...
Being a 'trap' was one thing, but the Tian Gong Game Platform's voice changer made it clear: "never fall in love online in VR games! Never!"
"Brother, go ahead," Mo Shigui made a gesture of invitation, and Fluffy Rabbit hopped towards Segman.
Segman, listening to their discussion, didn't understand what they were saying. Even if he did understand, he couldn't figure out what the numbers meant.
But when Fluffy Rabbit, the Holy, approached him, even the prince of the Flowing Water Country, who had seen countless beauties, was taken aback by her stunning appearance and aura.
Charm is the hardest attribute to enhance in Holy. It cannot be increased through leveling up, only by completing hidden tasks or obtaining certain equipment that boosts charm.
Another factor making charm hard to boost is that it can decrease due to some tasks or player actions.
Currently, most players have a charm value between three to five points, which is considered normal. Fluffy Rabbit's twenty charm points were forcefully increased by a special item called the 'Goddess Jade Hairpin.'
Five points is considered normal, ten points is attractive, fifteen points is exceptionally beautiful, twenty points just meets the threshold for "drop-dead gorgeous," and twenty-five points is the standard for "breathtakingly beautiful."
Charm is useless to players but invaluable when communicating with NPCs. Oratory skills determine whether you can persuade the NPC, but charm determines whether the NPC is willing to talk to you.
Seeing Segman seemingly pleased to chat with Fluffy Rabbit, even inviting her for a long, thorough conversation, he brightened up.
"Do you need something from us?"
Having played Holy for thirteen days, Fluffy Rabbit was used to communicating with NPCs.
"I have a commission for you," Segman couldn't help but sigh, thinking beautiful girls are true treasures of the world. His anger at having his record broken was soothed by Fluffy Rabbit's soft voice.
"A commission? What kind of commission?" Fluffy Rabbit asked.
Segman's line was the standard NPC opening, with no plot description, directly giving out the task.
"Ahem…" Segman cleared his throat, barely snapping out of the daze from Fluffy Rabbit's beauty to discuss serious matters.
"I hope you can help me break the Holy Record on the first floor of the Glory Stone," Segman's commission was a probe to test these people, and Fluffy Rabbit's presence made him consider recruiting them.
Their strange behavior aside, breaking the Holy Record on the first floor of the Tower of Trial proved their strength.
When Segman said this, a dialogue window popped up in front of Fluffy Rabbit.
Five preset options appeared below the window.
1. Agree (high chance of reward, Segman's favorability increases by 30)
2. Negotiate (increases reward, 20%-40% chance of failure— oratory skill and charm attribute bonus)
3. Ask reason (requires 15-18 charm points)
4. Refuse (Segman's favorability decreases by 50)
5. Ignore (Segman's favorability decreases by 30)
These options provided a vague direction for the conversation. Fluffy Rabbit didn't have to follow them strictly in answering...
"I want to know what benefits we'll get if we accept your condition," Fluffy Rabbit chose the second option, seeking to know the rewards for this task.