Xiao Yu felt like he was in the midst of an underworld negotiation as he glanced at the monster leaders and their lackeys that surrounded the area.
"Little Goblin, you seem like a fresh face. Why isn't Craigan here?" Hogg was the first to speak. He seemed to be an acquaintance of the old Chief.
"Hehe, our old Chief has passed on. The Mud Horde belongs to me now."
"Hmph hmph, Goblins all look the same to me," Blake Rhode snorted.
"Um, Chief Eric, why did you gather us here?" Golden Tooth jittered nervously. He eyed Hogg cautiously as he spoke. The Kobolds have always been tyrannized by the Gnolls, hence all of them followed Hogg's instructions.
"I have something to discuss with you guys. I have a great plan and would like to invite you all to join me."
"Plan? What plan?" Judging from their responses, they did not seem to believe that a puny Goblin Chief was capable of coming up with any great plans.
"The plan is to attack Night Whisper Village."
"What?!" The three leaders were stunned at Xiao Yu's proposal and thought that they had misheard him. It was ingrained in them that only Adventurers could attack their campsites. Since when could monsters attack the Adventurers' villages and cities?
Hogg was irritated. "Are you joking? How is this possible?"
"Why, are you afraid?" Xiao Yu sniggered at Hogg.
"You seemed to underestimate me," Hogg growled. "Hmph hmph, Hogg is never afraid, Hogg is the strongest!"
"You don't have to give anymore excuses. I know that you are afraid, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed, the Night Elves are far stronger than us. Even though it's only a village, it still overpowers the hordes here. However, if we work together, we can defeat them and take down Night Whisper Village."
"But even if we unite and take down the village, what good will it bring us?" Blake Rhode snorted.
It was a player's style to question the benefits; however, Xiao Yu thought that he could not conclude that Blake Rhode was a player just yet. Usually, when a monster had an odd name, such as Li Goudan, Wang Er Ma Zi, or Romance in the Rain, it was almost certain that it was a player character.
However, professional players would often choose names that were in line with the game's style, so it was difficult to determine if they were NPCs or players. For example, Xiao Yu's character was called Eric, which was usually a NPC's name.
Xiao Yu eyed the Bandit and sent a message. "Player?" Only players were able to receive this message. He observed his facial expressions closely, and Blake Rhode's composure was broken as he subtly nodded. The latter did not expect the Goblin to be a player.
Xiao Yu sent a message each to Hogg and Golden Tooth, but the system indicated that no such characters could be found. It seemed like they were both NPCs.
Xiao Yu sighed. The situation would not be so sticky if they were all players. While he was pondering, he received a message.
Derek (Gnoll Vanguard): "I am a player, I will hear what you have to say."
Xiao Yu glanced towards Hogg and saw a figure dressed up like a Gnoll. He was clad in black leather armor and held two choppers. He carried a flag with the Gnoll's signature wolf spikes drawn on it. His name was Derek (Gnoll Vanguard) and his silver border indicated that he was a Rare Elite.
Xiao Yu was reassured upon confirming that Derek was a player. Although he was not the leader yet, he should be the next one in the chain of command, hence he should be rather influential.
He began his explanation. "You guys know that for us to level up, we have to kill monsters just like the Adventurers. However, Mode advancement relies on Reputation Points. How do we gain Reputation?
"Seeing that you guys have advanced to Rare Elite, you must have realized that killing monsters with names or NPCs will reward us with some meagre Reputation. However, this process is way too slow. Monsters require 100 Reputation Points to advance to Rare Elite. However, to go from Rare Elite to Elite, you will need 300 Reputation Points, which isn't that easy.
"You must be confused regarding how I managed to advance to the Elite Mode although I just started the game not too long ago, right? I only started this game three or four days ago, but I managed to gain so much Reputation because I completed two Plot Events.
"Plot Event?" An odd look descended on Derek's face. "What do you mean by Plot Event?" Derek questioned. Blake Rhode, on the other hand, appeared to be deep in thought.
Xiao Yu understood that Blake Rhode was aware of Plot Events, but the same could not be said for Derek.
"Simply put, they are the events that occur in the game's storyline and between monsters and NPCs. Events that will be recorded in the Firmament Archive, such as monsters' city sieges, or a hero conquering a land, or a battle between Alliances and Hordes.
"You will gain Reputation if you participate in such events and prove to be useful. The more influential you are, the more Reputation Points you will gain.
"Taking my current proposal as an example, if I lead the Mud Horde to take down Night Whisper Village and kill all the Night Elves, I will receive around 1,000 Reputation Points—and these are just the points from the Plot Event. If I kill the NPCs there, the Reputation Points I get will propel me straight to Boss mode.
"Of course, I can't accomplish all of that with my current strength, hence I would like to seek your help. I would like to share this with all of you here. If we can conquer Night Whisper Village together, everyone will receive a couple hundred points, which could advance you guys to Elite Mode."
"I see. " Derek came to the realization that he had accidentally advanced to Rare Elite Mode, and he was not sure exactly how he had managed to do that. After listening to Xiao Yu's explanation, he was enlightened and looked as though he wanted to lead the Gnolls to attack Night Whisper Village immediately.
However, he soon grew concerned. "Will the system allow this? We are attacking a newbie village that is filled with Adventurers that paid money to play the game. Will the system still allow us to attack them?"
"Hmph hmph, contrary to that, instead of stopping us, the company is glad to see this happen."