Players on the Move

Suddenly, Cassius spoke, shattering Mantou's fantasy of diving through the sky atop a wyvern. "The hour grows late. You should take your leave. I hope you will be fully prepared the next time we meet." With a gentle flick of his wrist, a portal blazing with raging flames manifested before them. Before any of the four could react, a formidable magical force field seized them, stuffing them straight through without leaving any room for struggle or resistance. A flash of white light burst before their eyes, and they were already back in their rented cottage. The characters on the invitation had dimmed into darkness; evidently, there would be no second use. Reflecting on what had just transpired, Xiaye Qiuyu couldn't help but say, "That shop is so cool—no, I mean, that NPC is insanely important!" Singo, on the other hand, felt a pang of regret for publishing that guide so prematurely. "I really didn't expect Faction Contribution to be this useful. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so fast." "That fighter prestige class, Redscale Conqueror, is definitely the strongest early-game class, bar none." Tiansheng Zhankuang rubbed his bald head. "I want to get my hands on a draconic bloodline too. Feels like it's crazy strong." Singo nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Just the natural armor alone puts you a cut above ordinary players, to say nothing of the stat bonuses and spell abilities." Mantou remarked in a low, measured voice, "Then shouldn't we keep this secret so no one else finds out?" Hearing that, Xiaye Qiuyu and Tiansheng Zhankuang nodded in agreement. With their mindset as professional players, monopolizing information to pull ahead of the competition was standard procedure. Yet Singo voiced an objection. "No. We definitely have to make this news public." Mantou was bewildered. "What if someone snatches the crimson scales before we can?" His mind was utterly consumed by the prospect of becoming a wyvern knight, leaving room for nothing else. Knights were a man's ultimate romance! Singo shot him a rather contemptuous look before speaking: "Naturally, we won't reveal it right away. We wait for the right opportunity." "What opportunity?" "Keep an eye on the major guilds. When they start fighting over Faction Contribution quests, that's our cue." Xiaye Qiuyu caught on immediately and explained, "Gold coins are scarce in the early game. Those big guilds will probably focus on gear instead of spending money on quest items. But once they build up some momentum, they'll definitely try to buy quest items like the Mysterious Invitation." "And once they realize what Faction Contribution does, they'll undoubtedly hoard the information and begin hoarding the Faction Contribution quests they previously ignored. That's when we publish the news, rallying as many solo players as possible to compete with the guilds and slow down their progress." Tiansheng Zhankuang chimed in, "And the window before that happens is our chance to build a massive lead over everyone else in Faction Contribution!" Light finally dawned on Mantou, and he gasped, "You top-tier pros really have hearts of coal, don't you?" "What do you mean, 'hearts of coal'? This is called game sense," Singo retorted. "If you're bad, git gud. When the time comes, you'll be in charge of posting the video, I'll put out the guide, and we'll ride the hype wave straight to the top." "Deal." Tiansheng Zhankuang eyed the invitation on the table, which now looked like an ordinary sheet of paper. "Should we buy another invitation first? That thing probably isn't in infinite supply. It'd suck if those bastards from the guilds snatched it up, especially Wangquan." "Do you have beef with them?" Mantou asked curiously. Tiansheng Zhankuang gave an honest chuckle and rubbed his bald scalp. "Nothing huge. Back in *Star Domain*, I took an anti-ship blade and chopped their guild's mothership to pieces. I'm just worried they'll target me once they gear up in this game." Cold sweat beaded on Mantou's forehead. He thought to himself, *This guy is a certified ruthless lunatic. Definitely not someone to cross lightly.* Xiaye Qiuyu asked, "Where are we going to scrape together that much gold? We already sold off everything but our shirts for those ten coins." Singo sneered with supreme confidence. "Did you know that the City of Baator's exchange recently rolled out a new service? Gold loans. You only need collateral worth a tenth of the borrowed value." Mantou noticed Singo sizing him up with an unkind glare—or more specifically, appraising the gear he was wearing. His face fell at once. "I ground my ass off for this gear! Don't you dare get any ideas!" "Mantou... don't you want to become a dashing dragon knight?" Singo closed in with a sinister grin, his words carrying the temptingly dark tone of a devil's whisper. "Aaargh—!" "Stop stripping my gear!" "At least leave me my boxers, Sing-dog...!" Xiaye Qiuyu flushed scarlet and covered her eyes, though she kept peeking through the gaps between her fingers, her face growing redder by the second. Tiansheng Zhankuang scratched his bald head in embarrassment. "Singo's just like that. Don't take it personally." By the time Singo turned around, Mantou looked utterly hollowed out, having returned to his innocent, fresh-faced state from when he first started the game—clad in plain novice cloth robes, radiating the pure aura of an adorable newbie. Meanwhile, Singo led by example, having stripped himself clean of every single piece of gear as well. With a courteous, gentle smile, Singo said, "You two won't make me do the honors, will you?" Having witnessed Mantou's tragic fate through the cracks of her fingers, Xiaye Qiuyu reflexively wrapped her arms around herself, her cheeks faintly burning. She blurted out hurriedly, "Stay back! I'll take it off myself!" She was terrified that Singo might turn into some tentacled fiend and violate her decency. Tiansheng Zhankuang rubbed his head and cleanly peeled off his beast-hide tunic. A barbarian didn't really need gear anyway; all he needed was to pop Rage. *Clap!* Singo clapped his hands with a smile. "No objections from anyone, then! Time to grind! Our race to leave every other player in the dust starts right now!" "I'll take this gear to the exchange for the loan, and the moment we get the gold, I'll snatch up another Mysterious Invitation. Zhankuang, Qiuyu, Mantou—the three of you head to the plaza to take quests. The more Faction Contribution, the better, and keep an eye out for quests investigating the tieflings. We run these in parallel." Mantou lay collapsed on the floor in his simple cloth robes, his eyes completely glazed over. "Is this what the world of top pros is really like...?" "I object..." Yet Singo acted as though he hadn't heard a thing, bolting out the door with the bundle of gear that had cost Mantou his heart and soul. Tiansheng Zhankuang patted Mantou's shoulder with a broad, heavy hand. "Don't take it to heart, Mantou. Singo's always like this. We lose our minds over him all the time too. You'll get used to it." Xiaye Qiuyu stood nearby, looking at him with deep sympathy as she murmured quiet words of comfort. Mantou, however, was on the verge of tears. "Who gives a crap about what Sing-dog said! I'm crying over the gear I spent ten whole days grinding for—!" ... A dozen or so days later, rumors of the "Four Drudges" began circulating through the city. They were four illustrious, widely popular pro players, but bizarrely, every single one of them wore only the shabbiest novice cloth robes. Some players reasonably suspected they had been mugged and were saddled with crushing debts. These four "top dogs" were completely unpicky about quests, taking on any and all work—hauling bricks, mixing mortar, repairing stone walls, delivering letters, or digging in the mines. Even when faced with pure Faction Contribution quests that ordinary players avoided like the plague, they swarmed in with unbridled zeal. In a span of just ten-odd days, they had pushed their Faction Contribution close to five thousand, sending shockwaves through the forums and earning themselves the moniker of the "Four Drudges." "Achoo!" Inside the pitch-black mine shaft, Mantou wiped away his sweat, sneezing for reasons unknown. *What Four Drudges...?* *I am a man destined to become a dragon knight!* He thought fiercely to himself, his resolute eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness. But right behind him came the harsh bellow of a hobgoblin overseer, accompanied by the sharp crack of a leather whip. "What are you doing? Daydreaming? Get back to work!" "Oh, right on it!" Mantou swung his pickaxe once more, his motions growing ever more practiced.