Chapter 1147: Changes in the Situation
Gu Yu didn't want to cause trouble here. "It's New Year's, I can't be bothered to argue with them. If something gets broken, we'd have to pay for it."
Xu Huo wasn't planning to start a fight either, because the warning had already been delivered. With a player's hearing, they could definitely hear what he said.
The three of them entered the private room, and the first thing that greeted him was a faint, barely noticeable snort. It was obvious who it came from. Xu Huo looked at Zheng Liang, who was sitting in the corner with his arm in a sling, and politely asked, "Injured?"
"Thanks for your concern." Probably because someone had warned him beforehand, he was still relatively courteous.
Gu Yu then introduced the other two core members to Xu Huo. "Shan Feng, Yang Xixi. They both just advanced to D-rank, just like Xiao Wen."
Xu Huo shook hands with them. Wen Xuelin said from the side, "Brother Xu, we're all your fans. Everyone knows about your exploits. After the last Black Rain incident, did you go to Country Y?"
"Rumor has it that the safe zone Country Y just built collapsed like a house of cards. That's really satisfying. Let's see if they still dare to stick their noses where they don't belong!"
"Brother Xu, tell us about it! It must have been thrilling!"
"Actually, it was nothing special. I just caught them off guard," Xu Huo said. "Country Y doesn't have any effective means to detain players for now. Getting in and out was easy."
But Wen Xuelin's eyes were sparkling. "It's not as simple as you make it sound! You know, after you left, some people tried to imitate you and go to Country Y, but they failed to cause trouble and got caught instead. The country had to find a way to rescue them... You're too low-key. If it were me, I would have filmed a video or even done a live stream. It's a shame not to record such a big event!"
"Maybe next time," Xu Huo said.
"You just got back, so you probably don't know. Besides text-based instance guides, video-based clearance guides are also very popular now," Gu Yu changed the subject. "Some skilled players, when conditions allow, start recording their clearance process as soon as they enter an instance. After they succeed, they sell the videos. But these kinds of videos don't have verified clearance standards. Sometimes, even if you clear it, you might not know the reason, so the price isn't as high as the guides released by the Special Defense Department."
"A lot of players have made money from this," Wen Xuelin said, pulling up a ranking list and placing it in front of Xu Huo. "Brother Xu, look, these are the more famous ones."
Xu Huo glanced over it. Next to the nicknames of the players on the list were some tags, such as "Solo Clearance," "Cooperative Clearance," or "Violent Clearance."
"Is this the player's style?" he asked.
Wen Xuelin nodded repeatedly. "Not every player can get a high rating. Most people barely scrape by. But barely scraping by has its benefits too. By the time the instance ends, you usually know the reason. There aren't many who go it alone; most cooperate with other players who entered the instance."
"Most of those who can clear it on their own are pretty smart. But there are advantages to having more people too. Everyone can contribute a little and piece together the clues."
"Clearance performance depends on the individual. Some people have good traits, are good at noticing details, and so on. Those are all advantages for clearing."
"They don't just sell videos to make money; they can also take people into instances with them."
"The fees for the top few players on the list to take people along have been hyped up to millions of White Notes."
Wen Xuelin paused here. "If Brother Xu could take people through instances, the price would definitely be higher than that!"
"That's true," Zheng Liang, who had been mostly silent, finally spoke up. "Using someone else's clearance guide to level up is different from leveling up on your own. There's a gap between players of the same rank."
"But no one can rely on luck to get to the very end. Players who survive and level up smoothly aren't that bad either," Shan Feng said.
Xu Huo agreed.
"But times have really changed," Yang Xixi said. "A lot of players on the lists go into instances and kill indiscriminately, even ordinary people in the instance grounds. But after they come out, they don't have to take any responsibility. Instead, their crimes attract a large number of mindless followers."
That was the country's problem. Restraining players was the country's inescapable responsibility, and it also had a natural advantage. This was evident from the rapid rise of the Special Defense Department.
The Special Defense Department was no longer as weak as it was three months ago, when it didn't even have a few D-rank players. The resources and guides brought back by elite players had trained a large number of newcomers. With professional teams providing tactical guidance and other ability training, even players who leveled up using instance guides would eventually become the next batch of elite players. In this virtuous cycle, the Special Defense Department would only get stronger. The difficulty was just this transitional period before the gap widened.
But this transitional period wouldn't last too long either. It all depended on whether Minister Fan and Nie Xuan could act quickly enough. If they could strike down those troublemaking thorns with swift and powerful force, the situation would gradually become clear, unless extremely strong individual players, player organizations, or major external blows emerged from the civilian player base.
"Sometimes I wonder, what's the point of being a player?" Gu Yu swirled his glass. "They say it's to protect yourself and your family. It sounds right, but if the overall environment is like this, what can a few of us players do? Maybe the next time I go out, something will have changed at home."
Unlike Xu Huo, most players' families didn't have a safe zone to go to. Even the safe zones the government was urgently building were only open to ordinary citizens during major disasters.
The country and the Special Defense Department gave ordinary people a certain sense of security, but not much.
This led to a certain sense of fragmentation for players as they delved deeper into the game. On one hand, there was the self-inflation that came with great power. On the other hand, there was the doubled fear when facing situations that even their evolved selves couldn't resist.
For example, those players who "released themselves" in the game. It was hard to say if they had any plans for the future. The external environment didn't allow them to stop and think. When these two forces collided, the pressure would be released outward. This was not a good trend. When people couldn't see hope, they often became crazy. And if a group started to go crazy, it would lead to unpredictable and serious consequences.
Players were supposed to be restrained by the country and the Special Defense Department, but the ordinary people who followed the crowd might one day become the victims.
"...Even hiding in the deep mountains and forests isn't safe enough," Shan Feng said about safe hiding places. "Even if you're self-sufficient in all daily necessities, you can't predict that the place you live might become a random instance one day. Unless, like the Special Defense Department, you use professional detection instruments to avoid risks as much as possible."
Gu Yu was a bit dizzy after two glasses of wine. He held his head and said, "I feel like dying every time I think about having to go into an instance before the New Year is even over. When will this end? Can't the Special Defense Department step up and connect with the Game Government sooner? Then we'd have the qualifications to suspend our player status!"
(End of Chapter)