"Tsk—"
Fried Tomato spat out with regret and sheathed his wooden sword, his expression similarly unattractive.
Li Mu quickly thought everything through, he repressed his anger and said with forced calm:
"If you leave now, I can pretend nothing happened."
Money moves people.
The game is different from reality.
Compared to the real world, bound by morality and law, the gaming world is freer and more unrestrained, and it also easily brings out the other side of human nature.
Three hundred players, not all can be united.
26 Divine Blood Crystals, totaling 20,800 contribution points—in the game's early stages, this would be worth at least 20,000 RMB.
It's not surprising that someone would be willing to take risks for it.
However, clearly, the player named Fried Tomato was not prepared to confront all the beta testers, or he wouldn't have used his ultimate move at the first instant, aiming to kill Li Mu before he was discovered.
Elf Kingdom really is quite different from other virtual games.
In this nearly 100% simulated game, "one-shot kills" actually aren't that rare.
Although the odds are low, if you seize the right moment and aim for the weak points, even players with lower levels could one-shot higher-level monsters.
This, although different from the mechanics of typical games, feels more realistic to the players.
It also makes combat in Elf Kingdom more dramatic and engaging.
At times, strategic intelligence is even more important than sheer stats.
At least, this is the case when there isn't a large gap in levels.
Fried Tomato daring to make a move on Li Mu was also based on this factor.
If Li Mu was killed in one blow without any awareness, no matter how he argued, he couldn't clear himself from the Divine Blood Crystal affair, and Fried Tomato would have easily taken all the boss loot.
Regrettably, he underestimated Li Mu's reaction, and the assassination failed.
The two were locked in a standoff in an instant.
Li Mu, not being a combat class, as a support Druid, he had not yet drawn a single offensive skill.
In Elf Kingdom, skills play a significant role, especially those bestowed by Eve.
If it were the indigenous people of Sacra learning a skill, then mastering it would undoubtedly require understanding, practice, familiarization, and then proficiency...
But the skills granted by Eve are different.
She imprints the method of releasing a skill directly into the player's consciousness through a connection with the player's mind, with the game system assisting the player in casting skills.
For the players, this is like having a 100% skill proficiency.
Meaning, the skill's effects far exceed normal damage.
Therefore, Li Mu did not have the confidence to defeat Fried Tomato, a warrior, in a one-on-one fight.
As the commander, his skills were well known, and if a real confrontation occurred, Li Mu likewise had no confidence in escaping from Fried Tomato's hands.
If Li Mu remembered correctly, this Fried Tomato was also among the top players out of the three hundred; aside from boxed meal services, there were few whose gameplay was as sharp as his.
Even with anger in his heart, all Li Mu could do at this moment was try to buy time and attempt to persuade the player before him:
"Fried Tomato, I can somewhat guess your thoughts. I don't want to comment on anything else, but since you didn't kill me right away, it has already become meaningless. I think… you don't intend to make enemies out of the other 71 beta testers, do you?"
A proper threat is necessary.
Of course, it's also important to give hope.
"So, the same sentence, if you leave now, I can pretend nothing has happened."
Li Mu said calmly.
The expression on Fried Tomato's face changed slightly, and after what seemed like a moment of struggle, he finally gave out a cold laugh:
"So what? It's just a game. This is only a beta test, even if I offend seventy players, getting 20,000 contribution points is worth it. The official launch isn't even out yet; as an online game, faction battles are bound to happen eventually, and I never thought I'd always play house with you guys…"
"Moreover…"
Saying so, Fried Tomato's expression turned slightly playful:
"There are only you and me here, even if I forcefully kill you, what evidence do you have that it was me?"
Hearing his words, a flicker of contempt crossed Li Mu's face, but it quickly turned serious.
Fried Tomato was right; only the two of them were here, if he were killed by the other party, he would have no evidence to prove it was him.
Although he was the temporary team commander, he had not yet established his authority.
Moreover... with Fried Tomato so confident, he probably had a backup plan.
He might not be acting alone, or… he might have already prepared an alibi before coming to attack me.
By then, if he insists that he didn't do it, it'd become really hard to argue against…
Damn it, does this game not have a Red Name system?
At this moment, Li Mu couldn't help but curse inwardly.
"Heh heh, stop stalling for time. Let's end this quickly."
Fried Tomato snickered and lifted the wooden sword again, using the skill [Charge] and thrusting towards Li Mu.
Li Mu's face changed, and he quickly ducked behind trees for cover while starting to chant a spell.
However, his skill wasn't instant and was still half a beat too slow.
All that could be seen was Fried Tomato executing a slash that took out Li Mu's right arm, which was holding the Magic Wand.
Blood spilled everywhere.
"Heh heh."
Watching Li Mu's health bar drop by a quarter in an instant, Fried Tomato's mouth slightly curled upward.
However, before he could continue his assault, a system notification suddenly appeared in the vision of all players...
[Warning! Warning!]
[Player "Fried Tomato" has maliciously attacked player "Li Mu", and has been judged as a Primary Red Name player]
[Primary Red Name penalty: Experience gain reduced by 50%, contribution points gain reduced by 50%, can be attacked by all players, upon death all looted items under Red Name status will be forcibly returned to their original owner]
[Primary Red Name penalty lasts until the target is dead, after death ignoring perfect resurrection count, level forcibly decreased by 1, first Red Name death results in account ban for 24 hours]
[Current kill bounty: 50 contribution points]
Fried Tomato: ...
Li Mu: ...
Does Elf Kingdom have a Red Name system?
Of course, it does.
As a seasoned gamer who has played countless online games over the years, how could Eve possibly forget about this?
In fact, when Fried Tomato was attacking Li Mu, She also noticed the situation here.
26 Divine Blood Crystals, conservatively estimated to be at least 35 points of Divine Power value, She was equally concerned about this substantial asset.
If it wasn't to avoid interfering with the game mechanics, She would have liked to directly retrieve the Divine Blood Crystals from Li Mu.
So, when Li Mu left Feilengcui, Eve had been closely monitoring his movement, but She didn't expect to witness this scene.
Eve somewhat despised Fried Tomato in her heart.
Although if he seized the Divine Blood Crystals, they would ultimately be sacrificed to her, but he had broken the game rules.
For a moment, Eve even considered permanently banning him.
However, as a game GM, She had more to consider...
Games are different from reality, and it's impossible for all players to be united.
In real society, countless laws, rules, and morals bind human life, maintaining the normal functioning of human society.
Likewise, this also deprives humans of some sense of freedom, especially the release of biological instincts: desire, greed, violence, etc.
Conflict and war have accompanied human history, and the genes for killing and destruction are also buried deep within mankind. Although civilization has removed mankind's fangs and made humans more moral, the evil side has not been completely eradicated.
These things don't show when rules are in place, but as soon as the rules disappear, they quickly expose themselves.
Games are a place that most easily triggers the other side of humanity.
Because games don't follow the rules of reality!
Furthermore, for a considerable number of players, indulging in games has become a way of entertainment.
But Elf Kingdom is not just a game!
Thus, if Eve wanted to control the players, She needed to bind them with rules as well.
And the rule Eve favored first... was the Red Name system!
And the criteria for judgment are the player's "malice" and the extent of the damage.
Of course, such a restriction must be appropriate, ideally not dampen player enthusiasm while also maintaining a certain order.
This isn't just to create order among players, but also to prepare for the return of the Elf Clan in the future.
Eve didn't want to see her subordinates becoming players who treated Elves like dirt and acted recklessly!
After all, you can never predict the ethics of players.