While there appeared to be a little conflict over the issue of kill stealing, Xi Wei breathed a sigh of relief when the two groups of Players successfully converged.
With that, the first hurdle was over, and Xi Wei didn't have to worry about his new religion being wiped out in its infancy.
"Leah Yakaran, the princess of a fallen kingdom, is quite far from the starter village, and would probably need some time to reach there … In other words, the main quests that the Players can do now are carrying bricks, building the starter village and exploring the outskirts of the Valley of the Tragic Dead."
Xi Wei reached out with his tentacles to scratch the top of his bald ball. "Still, there's something weird about the skeleton army this time. Things aren't as simple as they seem. Why don't I treat it as a side quest and let the Players investigate it themselves …"
Since every Player in the mortal realm was basically Xi Wei's eyes, he would know if the Players noticed anything, and he would just have to adjust the quest according to the situation.
Moreover, after interacting with other Players, he understood that his game system was different from theirs, and it wasn't optimized like Eleena's.
If he had to describe it, it would be the difference between a role-playing game and a business simulation game …
Still, Xi Wei's definition of him wasn't so much a Player, but more like an NPC who issued quests to the Players so that they could help build the starter village.
Of course, that process was beneficial to Angora as well. After all, the more prosperous his territory was, the more rewards he would receive as its lord.
The only thing he had to be careful now was not to expose the fact that the town had become a lair for cultists (cultists) of the God of Games and get destroyed by other churches …
There was also the fact that he couldn't let the Players enter the Valley of the Tragic Dead without restraint.
It wasn't that Xi Wei didn't want the Players to clear the Valley of the Tragic Dead as soon as possible. In fact, he hoped more than anyone that the Players could easily clear the entire Valley of the Tragic Dead. After all, it had once been a battlefield of the gods, and they might even be able to pick up some broken divinities. That way, Xi Wei wouldn't have to risk attacking other gods and plundering their divinities.
However, the Valley of the Tragic Dead was a dangerous place. The Valla Empire had once sent an army of ten thousand to explore the valley, which was shrouded in purple miasma all year round in search of the legendary plant known as the 'Herb of Resurrection', which could resurrect others. However, the entire army was wiped out by an unknown creature before they even made it far, with less than ten survivors.
While the Players' morale was high, Xi Wei had the feeling that the Players would be wiped out every ten meters, especially at the beginning of the exploration …
Even if they could be revived, they would still lose EXP and even levels. If they didn't control it, it would definitely happen on a large scale, causing the average level of the Players to stagnate, which would greatly affect Xi Wei's subsequent plans.
As for why Xi Wei was so sure that the Players would choose to explore instead of building the town, the reason was simple. As a Player, compared to farming vegetables for four to five hours straight, wasn't an adventure where they could obtain great equipment and experience much more attractive? Moreover, courting death was something that was deeply ingrained in the Players' DNA, be it on Earth or in another world.
After all, Eleena and the others were still cautious when they fought the monsters before they tried reviving, afraid that they would be killed by the monsters instead. However, after Marni died once and they tried reviving, their behavior became much more carefree, just like when they were rescuing the newbie village. They were almost like their peers back on Earth.
It was fortunate that the Players' mentality was similar to that of the Legends back on Earth. Moreover, they were devout believers, which was why their behavior was still manageable, or Xi Wei was worried that they would drag him down along with them as they self-destructed.
"Either way, let's do this for now …" Xi Wei reached out with his tentacles and quickly typed something on the 'computer' he had created with his divine power.
☆
Not long after the Players had defeated the skeleton army, they suddenly received a message from the System.
Since it was a message from the System, all of them saw the contents at once. Some of them who were drinking and resting even poured the alcohol into their noses.
Compared to the confused Players, Eleena, who was the first to come into contact with the System, was carefully reading the message from the Lord God.
[Ding! Game Version 0.02 update complete]
[Currency System activated. You can now earn Game Coins through quests and killing monsters. Game Coins can be used to purchase items and equipment from the System Shop and specific characters.]
[Reputation System activated. Only the Unnamed Town has Reputation settings at the moment. Reputation can be obtained by completing 'Commission Quests'. Commission Quests can be obtained from the Noticeboard (Unbuilt) and Angora Faust.]
[A new 6-man dungeon, Outskirts of the Valley of the Tragic Dead has been added. A corresponding number of Miasma-Dispelling Torches are required to enter, and can only be purchased from Angora Faust with game coins by players with Friendly Reputation or above.]
[[Epic Quest: Explore the Valley of the Tragic Dead] has been added to your quest panel. Each exploration of the Valley of the Tragic Dead series dungeon will increase your exploration progress by a percentage. You will receive a corresponding reward when your exploration progress reaches a certain value.]
[Finally, I wish you all a happy game — God of Games]
The letter wasn't long, and Eleena quickly finished reading it.
Aside from her, the other Players had finished as well, and discussions could be heard everywhere in the town.
"That must be the legendary oracle!"
"Why doesn't it sound the same as the oracles in the stories I heard …"
"Don't ask, the God of Games is awesome!"
"Who's Angora Faust? Why is his surname so weird? "
"So this is the Unnamed Town? Why does it look like a village … "
"That's right, even my hometown isn't that shabby!"
The residents of the Unnamed Town were left bewildered by the Players' unusual behavior, and all of them turned to Angora, their pillar of support.
After all, if it wasn't for Angora's calm command when the skeleton army attacked, not a single one of them would have survived. Now that things had progressed to this point, the residents of the town were basically treating him as their true lord.