Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Apple walked at the front of the contingent. Behind him was a long trail of creatures of which there was no end.

There were more than a thousand gamers. News of the attack against the Ogres was posted quickly on the discussion forum.

During this period of time, there weren’t many activities for the gamers except daily learning and the carrying of bricks. The only entertainment they had was the new Instance Dungeon, where they were being tortured.

The problem was that only a quarter of the gamers were qualified to enter the new Instance Dungeon.

The passion of the gamers was ignited when they heard of the request to defeat the Ogres that had occupied the Orcs’ homeland.

Apple was very touched by the appearance of so many warriors. However, he had to solve the logistical problems of eating and sleeping.

According to norms, he should provide for food and lodging since they were helping him. He thought there would be at most 100 to 200 warriors, but now there were more than 1000 warriors. What was he to do?

Apple’s worries were unnecessary. When it was time to eat, Apple was worried about distributing insufficient food. But the Goblins, Gnomes, and Houndhead Men didn’t intend to stop and rest.

Apple had wanted to sit down to eat, but since nobody did that, he didn’t dare to stop. It would be embarrassing if he was the only one to stop and eat. Moreover, he didn’t bring sufficient food to share.

The large group marched in the tunnel while Beetlemons traversed in both directions. Some of the drivers were curious and asked them, “Which college are you from? Are you going on a graduation tour?”

Not having meals was only a small problem. After the gamers marched orderly for a few hours, things started to crop up.

Suddenly, a gamer ran across the street and was crushed by a Beetlemon. It was only a small issue as it was an accident.

However, when two groups of creatures started hacking each other, Apple started to panic. What was the situation? Were they not from the same Eternal Kingdom? Were they not helping to deal with the Ogres? Why did they kill each other?

Apple thought that the rest of the creatures would stop the fight, but he was wrong. Nobody stopped them. Instead, they laughed while watching. Someone even said, “I feel that Dragon Raja is slightly more powerful.”

“The Meat Vegetable Rice Alliance is pretty good too, but they have fewer members than Dragon Raja.”

“Why did they fight?”

“A devious girl tempted several of Dragon Raja’s members and caused a manager of Dragon Raja to fight with his member. The manager was dismissed by the Dragon Raja Chairman btkangren. The manager left with his loyalists in a fit of anger and exposed the evil deeds of the Dragon Raja Guild. That devious girl was a secret agent sent by the Meat Vegetable Rice Alliance Guild!”

“Are you sure? That’s exciting. Did the Meat Vegetable Rice Alliance Guild claim responsibility?”

“Why would they do that? The members of the two Guilds started quarreling, and it escalated into a full-scale battle.”

“Those gamers are pitiful. They will revive in Eternal Kingdom. There is no Teleport Portal for this mission. Will they be able to participate in this mission?”

“Those who are firm will follow the secret road signs to catch up. Those who aren’t firm won’t come back.”

Apple was feeling restless. He didn’t dare to ask, and he didn’t know what to do.

Fortunately, the battle stopped after a short while. After leaving 20 to 30 corpses, they cursed at each other and retreated.

A reason was that there were no revival points. The second reason was that the bulk of the gamers didn’t stop their marching. The fighting gamers had to stop their fighting to catch up with the contingent.

Apple felt sad. If they hadn’t wanted to help him, they wouldn’t have perished at such a young age. Apple felt that they had to give these warriors a grand burial.

Apple intended to suggest his burial plan and persuade them to bury the hatchet so that they could work together.

Before he had a chance to speak, a group of gamers salvaged the battlefield. They salvaged the clothing and equipment while leaving the corpses behind in the tunnel.

After, they chatted jovially and left.

Apple witnessed the entire process.

He felt a terrifying chill within. They were a bunch of strong-willed warriors who weren’t fearful of death. They didn’t even bury their dead. They only salvaged the equipment, perhaps to prepare for fighting the Ogres later.

No matter how bloody it was, they were all smiling merrily and looked happy. Everyone was in high morale. None of them were unwilling to fight, and none of them showed fear.

That was a powerful warrior!

That was what Apple thought.

…

At the Dungeon Lord Main Hall in Eternal Kingdom.

Sherlock looked at the images in the crystal ball. A group of gamers sat on the ground, eating. The gamers belonging to a Guild would bring a cauldron and fire-building material and would grab some clay from the roadside to cook.

Of course, there were poor gamers who ate the clay directly.

Sherlock had been observing the contingent for a long time.

“How many gamers are following those Orcs?” Sherlock asked Bru as he gazed at the images in the crystal ball.

“There are 831 gamers following the Orcs,” Bru quickly replied.

“The number of gamers who were killed in the fight, crushed by a Beetlemon, and perished due to other reasons, in addition to the gamers who went offline and didn’t want to participate in the expedition, is 335.”

Sherlock nodded and kept quiet. Bru asked curiously, “Lord Sherlock, why did you allow them to go on the expedition? You could have put up a fake Plot to placate this matter. Moreover, the Orcs aren’t paying any rewards, yet you allowed almost half of the gamers to help them. Is that a good idea?”

“That’s what I thought initially. However, while I can still control 2,000 gamers, when the Third Beta, Fourth Beta, and Fifth Beta Testing commences, it won’t be suitable to use this method to control them. The main thing is…” Sherlock pondered and said, “After playing many games, I feel that if there are too many restrictions, the game becomes trash.”

“Lord Sherlock… you are a professional and principled game producer!” Bru spoke emotionally, “I thought you were trying to cut costs and be lazy, but you’re trying to create a better gaming experience for the gamers. And you are also testing their independent behavioral model. I’m in awe!”

Though Bru was fawning over Sherlock, he was indifferent. He gazed at the crystal ball to observe the gamers’ behavior.

After ensuring that there were no mishaps, Sherlock let Bru observe the gamers and report to him if problems arose. Sherlock was going to do deep research by playing computer games.

As for Eggface, he was already thrown outside by Sherlock.

The journey undertaken by the gamers had only just started.