Chapter 343 Are You Ready To Die
Although the Crimson Blood mission was good, William had not expected what happened. The teleportation portals of the City of Dawn were well connected to Red Fire Kingdom, Lion Kingdom, and Grand Duchies in the southern region. Hence, the players were not interested in Crimson Blood.
The City of Dawn had 500,000 players, of which 300,000 were Intermediate professionals, and more than 200,000 were beginners who were involved in the development of the city.
Of the 300,000 Intermediate professionals, only 100,000 were interested in Crimson Blood.
The remaining 200,000 made use of the teleportation portals to travel to other locations.
The players had recognized that the City of Dawn was rich and powerful. They wanted to make use of their affiliation to take up missions and adventures in other kingdoms and grand duchies.
They wanted to immerse themselves in the customs of various kingdoms. They wanted to appreciate the scenery that they had not seen before. It was what they desired.
Similarly, some players preferred the ocean and wanted to conquer it.
There was even a player with an ID 'The Strongest Little Mermen', who formed a guild for this purpose. He raised funds to buy a Grandmaster warship from William. He bought it just to live the life out at the seas…
The Stormy Island and the Great Mermen Island were the spots that the players frequented.
Even the East Sea Metropolis, which had no monsters, was a popular spot for the touring players.
As for Dawn College…
There were many shameless players who wanted to enroll there.
William could not refuse their applications because the Gods game had such a set of rules.
The players could go to school to obtain certain attributes. These attributes would reduce the experience points required for battle energy manuals and upgrading skill levels.
The colleges were only accessible to players in the middle and late stages of the game. At that time, the players could resort to schooling in order to reduce the experience points required for upgrading to the next level.
However, the City of Dawn already had two colleges.
Tens of thousands of players were interested in studying. Perhaps they had all been playing truants when they were young, so they had missed studying.
Of course, William would never reject these rich players who loved learning…
However, Dawn College had also promulgated various rules to prevent the players from affecting the learning of NPCs.
"It seems like the portal fares are not high enough," William muttered to himself.
In the great 20% sale two days ago, William had sold almost all the pieces of equipment that were considered obsolete by the NPCs. He had earned more than 5 million gold coins, and the treasury of the City of Dawn was fat again.
He had shaved all the player-lambs hairless. Some of them even started to bleed.
William decided he should slow down the process of shaving the player-lambs. Otherwise, he would be cutting into their flesh.
At that time, many players would quit the game.
After all, there was no other choice.
William was the real schemer in this game.
The game's mainframe was not being controlled, and William was an NPC with tremendous power. He would try his best to get the players to spend more money…
He was an outstanding NPC. The staff of the game company would be fond of him.
Hence, he had to wait at least two or three months after version 3.0. Then, he could exploit the players and increase the portal toll. It would reduce the number of portal uses, and he would make 100% profit of the magical crystals.
"Now, the competent players prefer adventuring. It's normal for them not to participate in the main plot mission. In my previous life, in version 4.0, I did not participate in any main plot mission.
"After all, freedom is the most interesting aspect of this game. The game missions will never place restrictions on the players' actions.
"When the City of Dawn, which was the players' faction, was threatened or attacked by foreign enemies, the players would become agitated and think of protecting their hometown."
William stroked his chin. "However, the 100,000 players can complete Crimson Blood. The small number of participants also reduces the number of rewards I have to give out.
"At that time, with the Red Fire Kingdom as our allies, we can share the gains of occupying Lan Yu Grand Duchy and Emerald Grand Duchy. It'll be highly profitable.
"However, the City of Dawn has to develop stronger. Otherwise, when the players start exploring other regions, they may foster the idea of changing factions!"
William sighed. The players were a group of creatures without loyalty. If they thought that their faction was not large, the reputation was not good, and the city was not powerful enough, they would have the desire to defect if they did not receive the respect from others.
Although the players would not immediately defect and attack the City of Dawn, it was still wise to avoid such an incident.
William believed that such a mass defection would not occur in a short time.
Perhaps, it would happen when the players attained the Advanced and Grandmaster levels.
William made a decision when he thought about it. "I want to be strong in order to control the situation. I don't intend to make the City of Dawn a beginner's village."
"What's Prince William doing today? I haven't seen him for hours." Angry Fatty was depressed. It had been a whole day, but Prince William had not brought him out to take some video shots.
"Perhaps, Prince William had another videographer?
"Md! It can't be tolerated. I'll find out which broadcaster has usurped my number one spot in Gods."
Changli Jiuge did not know what Fatty was thinking and sighed. "Beats me! We can't curry his favor even if we wanted to. It's sad."
"Where are you going?"
"The game version was just updated, and there are no pressing matters in the club. Let's hunt for monsters in the wild. The Orc tribe to the east of the city has not been cleared yet. It's a miracle. I'm curious as to how the Pale Orc Altaic can appease Prince William."
When they decided to venture out in the wild, an Elven warrior appeared before them and said, "Come with me. The Lord summons you."
Their eyes immediately lit up. Was that not the personal guard of Prince William? Speaking of the devil…
When they arrived at the conference hall, they found that they were not the only ones there. Chu Liuqiu, Xiao Ayin, Forever Alone, and Lucky Dream were also present.
Chu Liuqiu cast a glance at Changli Jiuge as he thought to himself, "Are you still a professional? Can you train with the rest of the members?"
Changli Jiuge responded with an eye gesture that said, "Hunting monsters in the wild is the right way to go. I'm usually excluded by the team in the arena and was told to hunt for monsters in the wild instead…"
Players who were prominent and those who were close to Prince William were being summoned.
The ten players looked at each other and were about to say something.
Then, William walked in with great strides.
"Our respect to Lord William!"
An Elven guard bowed his head and patted his chest to salute William.
Other players followed suit as it would help immerse in the game, just like the natives.
William surveyed the crowd and waved his hand. "Dispense with the formality."
Then he said, "The reason why I summoned you is that I intend to give you a mission. If you don't wish to accept it, you may go out now."
Nobody left! No matter what the mission was or how dangerous it was, it must be a Hidden Mission. That was no reason for them to decline.
William knew that they would not leave, so he spoke in a deep voice, "This is a very dangerous task. If you undertake it, there's a high chance of death. Of course, I'll not treat you shabbily."
Changli Jiuge nonchalantly waved his hand and said, "Your Highness, speak your mind, especially when it's sending us to our death…"
"…" The other nine players glanced at him in shock. Should he be so direct?
Chu Liuqiu said, "Yes, yes, Prince William! We don't mind dying multiple times."
"Yes, we, the chosen ones, are not afraid of death!" Forever Alone added.
William was touched. They were a group of boot-licking dogs, but he was fond of their fearless attitude.
Hence, he told them the mission.
[Prompt: You have received the hidden mission, Blood Moon Dark Witch of Kerenza Grand Duchy]
[Blood Moon Dark Witch: Hundreds of years ago, there was a highly-skilled dark witch in Kerenza Grand Duchy who had the power to destroy a country. She could inflict numerous curses and spread the plague of despair.
The terrifying dark witch had perished and vanished without a trail. But today, hundreds of years later, believers of the Blood Moon Dark Witch have appeared in Kerenza Grand Duchy. There are indications of her upcoming appearance.]
[Mission Introduction: The Dawn Mercenary Team has accepted Kerenza Grand Duchy's mission to exterminate the believers of the Blood Moon Dark Witch and kill the witch should she be resurrected.]
[Mission Level: S+]
[Mission Reward: Advanced Equipment]
[Mission Reward: 300,000-800,000 experience points]
[Mission Reward: Favorable affinity of the Dawn Mercenary Team???]
"Gosh, it's an S + mission difficulty. Is the mission so perverted?" Angry Fatty inhaled a gust of cool air as he wondered how many times they would have to die.
Changli Jiuge gave a wretched smile and said, "My favorite kind of mission…"
Everyone accepted the mission without any hesitation.
Because the reward often corresponded to the level of difficulty.
Anyway, it was a profitable mission for the players, and they would have the chance to own Advanced equipment.
The quality of the equipment was not clearly stated. It would depend on how they completed the mission and whether Prince William was pleased…
William nodded happily and said, "Very well, go back and make preparations. We'll leave tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Highness!" the ten players replied in unison. After having gone through three versions of the game, they were accustomed to the roles of the natives.
After the players left, Lautner came out from behind William and knitted his eyebrows. "That Blood Moon Dark Witch is very powerful. Why did you choose this group of mediocre chosen ones?"
William shrugged and said, "Yes, the Blood Moon Dark Witch is powerful, scheming, and she has a lot of believers who are not afraid to sacrifice themselves! In this case, it's better for the chosen ones to undertake the mission. Perhaps, you're interested? "
"Cough! I think it's a good idea to use the chosen ones. I'll leave now…" Lautner felt a chill in his heart. Since Princess Alice had returned to the City of Dawn, William seldom called him uncle now.
He always felt there was a conspiracy.
"Perhaps, William wanted me dead?
"D*mn!
"I shouldn't have shown my intentions the last time."