Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 9 The Self-Cultivation of a Simp

The game "Ten Continents Chronicles" is a large-scale social MMORPG, not a hardcore Souls-like game where you have to complete it in one life, so you can revive.

However, the game's official statement claims that in order to provide a more immersive experience for players, many conditions and restrictions have been added to the resurrection process.

First, there will be a penalty period after death.

The officially announced penalty time is divided into three tiers: 10 minutes for those below the Foundation Establishment stage, 30 minutes for those between the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages, and 1 hour for those above the Golden Core stage. This tiered design, with its progressively increasing penalties, fully demonstrates the developers' inhumane approach. After all, players will never know that the real reason is that Fang Xianyu's time-space rewinding of the puppet requires a certain amount of time and energy.

Secondly, there is a penalty for items that are not put into your inventory after revival.

Fortunately, Wang Ergou and the Jade Emperor were newly created accounts, and they didn't have any game items or equipment that they were afraid of losing. They were still wearing the original light gray cotton shorts that came with them. They were sturdy and durable, and the only downside was that they were a bit ugly.

"This isn't a solution."

Wang Ergou and the Jade Emperor, who were locked in a dark room due to the death penalty, confidently started discussing in the team channel.

"This boss is impossible to defeat!"

“This isn’t a question of whether to fight or not,” Wang Ergou said solemnly. “This is a role-playing game, which means it has a storyline. The fact that we can’t just rush in like this proves that this is definitely not the right way to do it!”

"What should I do?"

"Didn't the NPC provide the information?"

"what?"

"Look at the quest log! The NPC explained the origin of Huang Gong Temple, saying it was 'worshipped by a village,' and later 'the villagers all fled here.' Isn't that obvious? We should go find that village first!"

"Where to find it?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" If it weren't for the fact that the so-called "dark room" only showed a black screen and the game panel, even the Jade Emperor would probably see Wang Ergou rolling his eyes: "You really are a newbie, haven't you ever played a virtual reality game before?"

The Jade Emperor said, "No, I was busy with the college entrance exam before. My dad only agreed to buy me a game console after I filled out my college application."

"Alright, then you'll come with me, I'll show you how to do it—"

"I think I've found the village."

Han Tiaotiao suddenly interrupted the two of them, her tone very serious.

He was standing in front of a village that had clearly been abandoned for a long time, surrounded by an eerie silence.

The village didn't look wealthy. Almost all the houses had thatched roofs, and most of the mud walls had collapsed. In the courtyard closest to Han Tiaotiao, there were even hoes and plows scattered around. The water vat in the corner was smashed to pieces by something, and it seemed that the family had left in a hurry.

He reported the situation to his teammates while checking each household one by one.

Almost everyone left in a hurry, leaving behind quite a few copper coins, not to mention some leftover food on the earthen stoves, the ingredients of which were no longer recognizable.

"Another possibility is that the BOSS killed all the villagers, which is why it looks like everyone suddenly disappeared. I'm very familiar with this kind of plot; games often use this method!"

Wang Ergou guessed.

The Jade Emperor questioned, "But didn't the eldest sister say that the people fled? She also said they settled in other places. Why don't we just find the people who used to live here and ask them?"

"Great suggestion, where can I find it?"

Han Tiaotiao suggested, "Let's try asking Senior Sister. I feel that the NPCs in this game are a bit too intelligent. Maybe Senior Sister knows something."

"Alright, we're about to respawn anyway. We'll just go ask them as soon as we leave the spawn point. You can just wait there!"

Ten minutes passed quickly. This time, Wang Ergou stopped his joking and instead put on an act beyond his usual level, looking distressed as he said to Baili Shuang, "Senior Sister, we were killed as soon as we got close to the Huang Gong Temple. It's so difficult. Didn't you say that the villagers of the village that worshipped the Huang Gong Temple moved elsewhere? Do you know where they moved to?"

“I’m not too sure about that,” Baili Shuang said, then hesitated for a moment before suggesting, “But they are just ordinary people, so they shouldn’t have gone too far. There’s a town a few dozen miles to the east called Taiping Town. You might be able to go there and ask around.”

"Thank you, Senior Sister. Let's go to Taiping Town and take a look!"

Wang Ergou was like a completely different person. His attitude had changed 180 degrees from before. He was as polite as a primary school student who had just taken the oath to join the Young Pioneers. The Jade Emperor's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Of course, hard work pays off. As soon as Baili Shuang politely said, "Thank you for your hard work, Junior Brother Wang," a goodwill indicator popped up in front of Wang Ergou's eyes:

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

[WARNING]: [The "Senior Sister's Annoyance" debuff on you has disappeared. For a better gaming experience, please be mindful of your words and actions.]

Wang Ergou's eyes lit up, and he immediately posted a screenshot of the notification screen to the team chat, excitedly boasting: "I finally won back the NPC's heart!!!"

"No, why?"

The Jade Emperor looked completely bewildered.

"Don't you understand? Politeness! Politeness! You have to be polite to NPCs! Just keep fawning! A simp will get everything in the end!"

"Understood!"

After the Jade Emperor's team finished speaking, they turned to Baili Shuang and gave her a very confident, bright smile, saying, "Senior Sister! You're so beautiful! You're simply the most beautiful girl in the world!"

Baili Shuang: "?"

[Affection Hint]: [Baili Shuang's affection for you -5]

[WARNING]: [Please be careful with your words and actions during the game. Lowering NPC favorability will result in various debuffs. You currently have the [Senior Sister's Dislike] debuff.]

[Senior Sister's Dislike]: [Daily task submission rewards for the Taiyin Sect have decreased by 30%]

The Jade Emperor couldn't hold back any longer: "I was wrong, Senior Sister! Please, please restore my favorability rating!!"

Wang Ergou, who immediately understood what was going on from the Jade Emperor's reaction, typed in the team chat: "Hilarious, how many points did you get deducted this time?"

"Five o'clock... and they even gave me a new debuff, reducing daily quest rewards by 30%! That's a whopping 30%!"

Wang Ergou couldn't help but feel no sympathy, and even a little schadenfreude: "6, serves you right for not speaking human language!"

The Jade Emperor was deeply puzzled: "No, are women's hearts really so hard to fathom? I was praising them sincerely!"

After remaining silent for a while, Han Tiaotiao, having finally grasped the gist of the situation, said, "It could also be because you acted too hypocritically and inexplicably."

Wang Ergou put his arm around the Jade Emperor's shoulder, pushing him along while casually comforting him: "Forget it, think positively. In a way, maybe this NPC even remembers you. You're the man the NPC cares about!"

"Would you like this good fortune?"

"You two, hurry up and stop joking around. What do we do now? I'm waiting for you two to come over."

"What are you waiting for? I'll share the map with you two, let's head straight to Taiping Town!"

……

(End of this chapter)