Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 8 The hope of the whole village

Don't flirt with NPCs, or you'll suffer misfortune.

This is the hard-won conclusion reached by three players, Wang Ergou, Han Tiaotiao (Han Yi), and the Jade Emperor, after harassing the NPCs inhumanely for a long time.

This made most players realize that they were much more polite to Baili Shuang when accepting and turning in quests. There were also fewer instances of players accepting quests from NPCs and leaving without a word, or rudely throwing the collected resources in front of Baili Shuang and coldly uttering the words "turn in the quest."

Although the long-term benefits of NPC favorability are not yet apparent, we are all veteran players and we all understand one thing—would a game designer create a completely useless stat?
Being cautious is never a bad thing. It may not necessarily bring any benefits, but it certainly won't leave you with an unremovable, semi-permanent debuff like those three unlucky guys.

This mentality of fawning over NPCs reached its peak when a female player with the ID "Pig Charges Forward" unexpectedly gained 5 points of favorability from Baili Shuang and obtained the hidden item "Senior Sister's Cultivation Manual (Xuan Yin Jue Chapter)".

After the yellow text appeared on the game's world channel, everyone noticed that Pig Charge had obtained a hidden gold item.

Although they didn't know what the item did, it didn't stop the players from collectively becoming envious after the pig rushed forward and copied the record of Baili Shuang increasing her favorability towards her to the world, and started a fancy groveling mode on the world channel.

"Sis! My dear sister! Tell me your secret! How did you manage to win over Senior Sister's favor? I'll give you two trees! I'll personally pull you to Senior Sister's side! Guaranteed to level you up instantly!"

"Junior sister! No, no, senior sister! We're all from the same sect! Please, give me a strategy guide!"

"Sister Pig! You are the most beautiful pig in the world! Tell me how you did it?"

"Shut up! How dare you talk like that, miss! What should we, your bunch of simps, call you? If you're willing to share your experience, we'll be your dogs from now on!"

"You're so greasy, bro!"

"If you're so capable, then don't listen!"

……

The fawning and flattery from the players startled Zhu Tu Mengjin. She secretly glanced at Baili Shuang, whose polite social smile was practically welded to her face, and guiltily moved several steps to the side before cautiously replying in the world chat: "I just saw that when no one was turning in quests, Senior Sister was sorting supplies, so I asked her if I needed help, and then she gave me some favorability points... She's so gentle! She even asked me what kind of cultivation technique the sect leader taught me, and after I told her, she gave me that item!"

No sooner had the message been sent than Pig Charge heard an excited voice from a player beside him: "Senior Sister! Do you need help? I got [Mega Strength]! Hahaha!"

"Thank you, junior brother, but it's not necessary."

Baili Shuang expressed her gratitude, but the second player to try it suffered a crushing defeat.

[Affection Hint]: [Baili Shuang's affection for you -1]

[WARNING]: [The Affection System is now available. Please be careful with your words and actions during gameplay. Lowering your Affection with NPCs will result in various debuffs.]

"Holy crap! That's not right! I actually lost some points!"

The player's lament in the world chat made all the eager players who rushed over pause in their tracks.

Pig Rushing Forward: "I don't know, that's just how I added it."

"Seriously? NPCs actually treat people differently based on their status?"

"Is it possible—and I mean possible—that this game claims the entire world evolves through AI? Could it be that the NPCs also have emotions, and in their eyes, the first person to help is genuine, while the second is just an opportunist?"

"No way? Your AI has feelings?"

"What do you mean, no? Doesn't your robot interact with you?"

"Can't afford a robot, poor guy with no experience, thanks!"

"That's not right either. AI can only imitate, how can it have emotions?"

"I don't know, I'm just guessing. Maybe the AI ​​runs so well that it's so detailed it's like it has emotions?"

"Hiss...maybe..."

While the world chat was buzzing with discussion, a stubborn player decided to give it a try, and then typed dejectedly: "Don't try it, guys. I lost 3 points of favorability. I think the guy upstairs is right. Maybe this NPC is just very detailed and has an emotional system embedded in it."

"This is way too hardcore!"

"But I think this design is great! You can trigger surprises unexpectedly while doing tasks, isn't that awesome?" "Or maybe it'll be a shock."

"Then don't be dramatic!"

"What do you mean? I'm helping the official team find bugs!"

"Tell me, how many times did you blaspheme that chicken god in the newbie village back then?"

……

While many players were exchanging barbs and witty remarks in the world chat, Wang Ergou, who had already used the [Bone-Breaking and Muscle-Regenerating Powder], quietly led Han Tiaotiao and the Jade Emperor to the vicinity of the previous mission point.

"You two, don't make a sound. Let's check the situation first. This BOSS is incredibly powerful; one tornado from him could cripple you!"

"Don't worry, Er Gou, this time each of us has four [Bone-Breaking and Muscle-Regenerating Powder], so even if you're half-crippled, you can recover!"

"That's right, didn't our senior sister say we could ask her for more if we didn't have enough?"

"Your Majesty, do you know why our affinity level is only -10, while yours is -15?"

"..."

"Because we only took the default two [Bone-Breaking and Muscle-Regenerating Powder], while you took ten."

"Then give them back to me if you dare!"

"No, brother, don't be so stingy. What I mean is, I've realized that you can't apply the common sense of other games to this game. You have to play it like a real world. Trying to take advantage of NPCs will only make you lose more benefits."

"Fine, fine, the lousy game planner is gone. I'll uninstall the game tonight!"

"Hehe, you'd be mad if you didn't uninstall it!"

……

The three chatted enthusiastically in the team channel, but in reality, they all had serious expressions and quietly moved to a bush several hundred meters away from the mission point.

"Is this a local earth god temple?"

"The land temple shouldn't be this small."

"Let's take a closer look. I remember there's a screenshot translation feature in the [Authentication] function. Shall we take a picture of that couplet or something?"

"Hey? Is there any?"

"Yes, you have to go through the game panel to access it; you can't use the skill directly."

"All right!"

Wang Ergou led the way, tiptoeing towards the small stone temple not far away. The team chat typed: "Being careful should be fine. Last time I accidentally stuck my hand inside the temple and triggered the boss, so this time it should be fine."

Before Han Tiaotiao and the Jade Emperor could even form a question mark on their foreheads, a sudden, pitch-black gust of wind howled and swept up Wang Ergou, tossing him out like trash to their astonished eyes.

A few seconds later, Wang Ergou's avatar in the group turned gray—meaning he was dead, and most likely killed by a fall.

After swirling around Wang Ergou, the whirlwind seemed to sense something else and veered towards the bushes where Han Tiaotiao and the Jade Emperor were hiding. Although it was just a pitch-black tornado, it somehow made people feel as if it were alive!
The two exchanged a glance instinctively, and then simultaneously took off running.

"what--"

The Jade Emperor, experiencing the feeling of being a flying man for the first time, shouted and activated [Divine Speed] on himself. Han Yi, who was running wildly, could only hear the miserable cry getting farther and farther away. After a while, he saw that he was the only one left alive in the team.

"Old Han, keep running! You're the hope of the whole village!"

Wang Ergou, who was waiting for the countdown to his resurrection in the dark room, sent a heartfelt voice message.

(End of this chapter)