Although the three of them looked the same age physically, Lin Xian felt that the other person was a bit older than the two of them.
How should he put it…
There was a certain aura of having weathered the vicissitudes of life about him!
Garble Bro nodded.
“I have no objections.”
“My name is Ye Hui Fei. I came here because the introduction said this was a western fantasy game where I could learn magic!”
Ye Hui Fei introduced himself.
Lin Xian laughed heartily and introduced himself again.
“I’m a gaming blogger. My ID and in-game ID are both Ren Bu Xiu Ji. Feel free to follow me!”
Garble Bro nodded to show he understood, then paused.
“Speaking of magic, everyone listened to the opening story just now, right? What do you think of the game’s background and the faction NPCs?”
“I didn’t expect Garble Bro to be a story player?”
Lin Xian was a little surprised.
Judging by his ruthless, quiet demeanor, he thought the guy was the type to skip all the plot and chase a no-damage, one-life clear as a hardcore player.
Garble looked at the peeling walls of the Church, and after a while spoke.
“I’m just a bit curious, that’s all. After all, this game is really well-made. It’s like… another world.”
Ye Hui Fei agreed.
“I admit this—the detail in this game is really well done!”
“Every bit of damage in our Church is different, just like it’s been abandoned for years!”
Lin Xian lowered his head in thought.
This question successfully triggered his occupational disease as a gaming blogger.
The words Leaf Zhi said just now replayed in his mind like a movie.
“We players seem to be a group of Original Inhabitants who left and then returned to the Aeltia Continent.”
“The purpose is to stop an unspecified Prophecy?”
“The faction leader, Leaf Zhi, was the first vanguard to return, but his actions failed and the Prophecy unfolded as foretold.”
“The organization he founded to stop the Prophecy—the Watchers—ended up with only two members left, so we arrived as the second wave?”
A typical ‘players are saviors’ storyline, while laying the groundwork for future plot twists.
For example, what is the Prophecy?
The reason for the faction leader’s failure?
Even the history of the Watchers’ creation…
These could all become future main quests, filled with mysteries.
“But the remaining organization members are pretty strange,” Ye Hui Fei interjected.
“A light sphere with some connection to the Light God, a Knight who seems to be from the gods’ faction, and our faction leader is an undead?”
“It’s all so out of place!”
Lin Xian shushed.
“Careful, don’t let our faction leader hear you and think you’re badmouthing him!”
But there were indeed a lot of suspicious points.
They knew too little, not enough to analyze anything major.
The only clue that might be relevant was that they might soon experience a Monster Tide scenario?
But apart from that concept, they knew nothing.
Lin Xian took one last look at the dilapidated Church, then headed out with the others to start the mission.
Plot?
Leveling up and learning magic is more tempting!
Not long after the three left, Leaf Zhi, Edgar Renault, and Xiao Ming walked out from behind the statue.
Leaf Zhi looked satisfied at the spot where the three had just been.
“Very good. Things are finally on track!”
No wonder the gods always liked to be mysterious and keep people guessing.
Turns out it’s so satisfying to say half the answer and make others guess the rest!
The Game Panel was created with his Divine Spark powers, similar in principle to his fake System Status Panel.
It was like a floating notebook in front of the players’ chests.
The contents inside were personally typed in by him after receiving the registration information of the three!
After the three received the quest items, he hid in the shadows and remotely added three items to their Game Panels.
All to better fool the three!
Although Xiao Ming had lost most of the Light God’s authority, his Divine Power of Light still carried some of that old geezer’s masterful trickster qualities.
It was more prone to change than ordinary divine power.
As long as the three truly believed this was a Game Panel that could record player information…
It wouldn’t take long.
This “high-tech notebook” that automatically detected skills and inventory would actually become a real Game Panel!
This was the toxicity of Faith Power!
That’s why Leaf Zhi chose Xiao Ming as the medium akin to a game server.
Divine power extracted from him turned into the Game Panel, and naturally, Faith Power should flow back the same way.
A Divine Spark with self-awareness was precisely the new god Leaf Zhi wanted to nurture!
Edgar Renault frowned as he listened to the three shouting outside, apparently marveling at the scenery.
“Leaf, does your world not even have forests or abandoned towns?”
“That’s different.”
Leaf Zhi smiled.
“You can think of it as a hobby.”
“Some people aren’t interested in going outside to see the scenery, but in a game, even a chicken that can dance can make them gather around and watch for hours.”
“Some are even willing to do chores because of it.”
Edgar Renault looked serious.
“Completely incomprehensible values.”
After seeing real players in person, Edgar Renault’s confusion only increased.
“What’s so interesting about a dancing chicken?”
“And the experience points you added on the Game Panel.”
“It’s just a meaningless number, so why does it motivate everyone so much?”
Edgar Renault had clearly seen it.
Before Leaf Zhi announced the upgrade to Level 2, the three had already pressed the quest accept button.
The panel operations invisible to players were completely visible to Leaf Zhi and him.
“I even believe that if you raised the requirement to learn magic to Level 5, their motivation wouldn’t decrease much.”
Leaf Zhi shook his head.
“No, you’re wrong. Newbie rewards aren’t just a player benefit—they’re also an important way to retain players.”
“If you don’t let them experience the perks of magic, they absolutely won’t stick with it!”
The first magic spell was part of a plan Leaf Zhi had prepared long ago.
Learning magic wasn’t a simple thing; it was as difficult as advanced physics!
If he didn’t dangle a few more carrots…
Players would be screaming, ‘What a garbage game,’ and quit instantly.
Or they’d just lie down in the starter village, refusing to click the magic path.
Then the Fourth Calamity’s plans would collapse!
So.
Providing a good player experience was also one of Leaf Zhi’s main goals.
Edgar Renault countered.
“Do they really think learning magic is that simple?”
Even a child who just started school couldn’t be that naive!
Humans’ magical aptitude was inferior to that of the Winged or Dragons.
Only a one-in-a-thousand chance existed to possess even low-level magic aptitude.
Those who could truly walk the path of magic and comprehend its mysteries were an even rarer minority!
Magic had always been a privilege mastered by only the elite few.
Every human underwent a magical aptitude test at age six.
If one tested positive, it was akin to instantly leaping social classes, elevating their entire family to glory!
Such was the difficulty of learning magic.
Leaf Zhi coughed.
“Cough, more or less. After all, in our world, magic only appears in games and stories.”
“Games and stories serve the players, so of course, every player must be able to enjoy the thrill of magic.”
“So in stories or game plots, magic is basically something everyone can do, which naturally makes it seem easy to learn.”
Edgar Renault was silent for a long time, then said,
“Is your world so prosperous because there’s no magic, as you described it to me?”
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