A deep and dark mine shaft.
Two skeleton soldiers, carrying mining picks, stood in front of a strikingly handsome statue, touching their jawbones as they appraised it critically.
"Did this statue... change?"
[Pig-Headed Knight] vaguely remembered that when he was online last night, the statue didn't look like this?
The nearby [Bull-Headed Warrior] shook his head.
"I didn't even notice this thing... by the way, what's this statue for?"
"Don't know, forget it, it's ugly as sin! Smash it!" The Pig-Headed Knight would never admit that he was jealous.
However, just as he was about to carelessly swing his mining pick, a green light struck his forehead, popping his soul right out of that skeleton's body.
"What the heck?!"
Staring at the fallen skeleton, the [Pig-Headed Knight], now floating in the air as a soul, exclaimed in shock.
"How did I turn into a corpse?!"
Yiye Zhiqu, who had also just logged on, came up to him, scrutinized him carefully for a while, and then looked toward the statue ahead.
"I guess... you touched something you shouldn't have."
Curious about the oddity of the statue, but with the lesson learned right beside him, he dared not move any closer.
The Pig-Headed Knight was so anxious he was nearly in tears.
"Damn it, there's not even a sign... wait, how do I get back into my body?!"
Yiye Zhiqu: "Why don't you open your interface and see if there's anything unusual in your status bar?"
Every player has the option to hide or display their interface.
The interface allows for checking the attribute panel, current status, and health bar, as well as accessing the quest log, and more.
Indeed.
The Pig guy quickly found something peculiar in his status bar, where a line of small text appeared next to the demon icon.
[Lord Demon King's Ultimate Penalty: 59 minutes 21 seconds.]
"What the... soul separation for an hour?! And I must stay online?!"
"With an in-game skill like that, you're out of luck," Yiye Zhiqu shook his head and walked away, "I'll have to put up a sign here... Since you've already stepped on a landmine, you might as well go into observer mode for now."
"Damn it!"
In soul form, players cannot venture too far from the core of the Demon King Territory, they can only move nearby.
Looking at the pitiful Pig guy, a bunch of silly players couldn't help laughing heartlessly.
But thanks to this incident, a consensus formed in everyone's mind—
It seems that the Demon King's statues are not to be touched.
Watching the players' actions from a distance, especially the one named Yiye Zhiqu, Luo Yan suddenly spoke to the air beside him.
"Youyou, is that guy your alt?"
Although there were no mirrors here, just a little while ago Luo Yan discovered that even if they couldn't see each other, it didn't hinder their communication.
Youyou replied with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
"What are you saying, Lord Demon King, how could that be possible?"
"Alright, I just thought he was a bit too clever... never mind."
Attacking the core of the Demon King Territory would get one forcefully kicked out of their character for an hour.
If someone did it a second time, that would be deliberate mischief, starting with a twenty-four-hour ban.
Luo Yan had originally planned to find a sign to erect nearby to remind everyone not to attack the resurrection point, but he did not expect such an itchy-fingered unfortunate soul to appear so soon, taking him by surprise.
It seems that just a warning sign is not enough, better to hide this anger-provoking statue as soon as possible.
This place is, after all, human territory, and who knows when adventurers might come.
Staring at that tall and handsome figure, Luo Yan carefully examined it for a long while before ultimately sighing and saying,
"Youyou... you've really made things difficult for me."
Seeming to feel a bit embarrassed, Youyou spoke softly, trying to offer some reassurance.
"It's okay, Lord Demon King! Look... the statue is quite handsome, isn't it?"
"It's not about being handsome or not... my trouble just got bigger."
Luo Yan shook his head, looking at the dome of the mine, not wanting to speak.
First off, he couldn't siphon off any reverence for the Demon God.
Any human knew the name of the Demon God was Bayele, and what He looked like.
As for Luo Yan...
What was that supposed to be?
Another concern was the attitude of those in Hell, which was Luo Yan's most immediate worry.
Perhaps as Youyou had said, the Demon God might not sense such a distant territory, but once things settled down here, it was inevitable that Hell would eventually send someone to check.
If they discovered that he had replaced the Demon God Statue with one of himself...
The mere thought was unimaginable to him.
"I need to go to Thunder City to find a craftsman who can make a statue."
That brings up another issue, can he actually find a craftsman willing to make a Demon God Statue in Free City, a place where the belief in Saint Sis prevailed?
Maybe he should just kidnap one...
"Lord Demon King, that sort of thing doesn't really need your attention for now, it would take some time even for those from Hell to come over, right?" Worried that Luo Yan had forgotten the main issue, Youyou softly incited, "Shouldn't we focus on the important tasks at hand?"
"Understood."
Knowing what she was hinting at, Luo Yan looked around the mine, where many skeleton soldiers were still standing dumbly against the walls, obviously not online.
For being among the chosen few closed beta testers, these guys were remarkably lazy.
This would not do!
"Youyou, go ahead and post an official update on the official website... let the players know about the Joss Paper and other things."
Luo Yan suddenly remembered another matter and continued.
"Right, not just the currency system, but also Contribution... players can earn Contribution Value from completing tasks, which can be used for 'Soul Upgrade' and 'Job Change'."