Most players complained that they played the game to escape the real world not to work to death in the game. The game developer gave a perfunctory response Jin Lin wasn't interested in. What he loved about Gods of Equino were the tasks and PK in the arena. What was exciting about PK battles was the experience plus the prizes attached to fighting in the arena.
This was how the broke Jin Lin gained the title GodLin in the game. Because he was strapped for cash when he started playing and couldn't afford spending hard cash in the game, he played in the arena every single day while live streaming.
What kept him going despite all his hindrances was the hope of seeing his older brother again. It was this hope that encouraged him to carry Fen Hao's rich friends in the game.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat before a charming melodious voice spoke through the mic, "Okay, so I know I promised I would run a lottery today for you guys to pick who I will carry today to eat chicken but I would have to postpone... Today I am going to carry bosses," he said clicking on the next available task which was a high-level instance.
The barrage that had been muted suddenly reached its time limit and an overwhelming number of complaints flooded the screen. It seemed his multitude of fans rallied together to slice their favourite anchor who loved money so much.
[And this here folks is another slave working for the man.]
[Dage... I know I am poor but don't I deserve to play with you too?]
[This trash anchor has abandoned me.]
[Hubby don't listen to them. Grind hard so you can come to propose marriage to my family.]
These were the kinds of comments that had Jin Lin muting the barrage in the first place. As much as he loved his fans he couldn't afford to be distracted right now. He flipped his phone over and typed a message to Fen Hao before returning to the game.
Soon after five characters appeared in front of him one by one. Based on the gear their characters were wearing they were most likely rich young masters. There was only one way one could get that kind of gear in this game and that's money.
There was no magical drop of equipment after killing a big boss in the dungeon or through mining. The only way one could gain this high-end equipment in Gods of Equino was through money.
Whether the person had the skills was an entirely different matter. These rich young masters were turning the game into a fashion show more prestigious than the Paris fashion week.
If it weren't because players were required to meet a specific quota of successfully completed tasks each week they would have been fine prancing around in the game while flaunting their wealth for all to see.
This is where people like Jin Lin came into the picture. The other four barely acknowledged him as they accepted his request for them to join the party. It was Fen Hao who yammered on nonstop trying to introduce a new player who was joining them for the first time. The rest of the group were familiar with him as this wasn't their first time at the rodeo.
The dungeon they were going into was a maximum six-party mission with a complicated job description. The main goal was killing the big boss which was a creature designed by a person Jin Lin could only describe as crazy.
Even Frankenstein was not as crazy as the sicko who came up with these creatures. When the big boss dies it would drop a level twenty beast core with a faint purple colour.
This task wasn't easy more especially because besides the big boss there were human-like creatures with crooked backs as minions. To get to the big ugly boss one had to go through different levels of these minions.
Because the graphics were so good it made the situation especially eerie. Jin Lin had naturally been through this dungeon several times before with Fen Hao but this group of second-generation heirs hadn't which is why he was escorting them to level up.
The team chat turned especially lively while waiting for the team leader to start the game instance.
[Team Chat]
LordChen: Hey fatty Fen, what's taking your boy so long?
FenFen: Come on.
FenFen: I already lost a shit load of fat.
MengLee: It doesn't freaking matter. We can't change the name. We are too used to it.
GuppyKing: Fatty Fen Fen, how about I buy you a tub of lard as a token of appreciation if we win?
FenFen:?
Jin Lin naturally noticed their harsh treatment towards Fen Hao and so did his fans but it was always like this. Each time Fen Hao brought this group of losers they would always taunt him like he was their walking talking punching bag.
Jin Lin had already tried to talk Fen Hao into ditching this group of ghouls but the man wouldn't listen. He was seriously starting to think Fen Hao was a closeted masochist.
This is one of the major reasons he especially disliked this group of people.
If it weren't that they were approaching the deadline for the release of Equino which required money to get the capsule, he wouldn't accept the job.
"System select level of difficulty," said Jin Lin through the open mic officially ending Fen Hao's torment. Well, at least for now.
"Please select preferred level of difficulty team leader," was the melodious response from the system as a prompt flashed on the screen.
"You selected 'Hard' as your level of difficulty. Would you like to proceed?" replied the system.
Everyone, "...."
His teammates truly hoped that team leader Lin had made a mistake otherwise they might as well give up and pack their bags right now. Their reaction was extremely warranted because the word hard in Gods of Equino was equivalent to the word back-breaking in the real world.
Most players dabble between easy and intermediate but the disadvantage was that it would take a long time to complete the task. It would indeed take a long time but the percentage of success was higher but this great buddha had just picked the greatest level of difficulty shocking the entire team.
"Yes, let's proceed," said Jin Lin readying himself to kill some monster while playing deaf and blind to the curses coming from the team chat. This was his form of retaliation against this group of mean girls for bullying his best friend.