Warcraft: When NPCs Have Player Panels

In 2030, the ancient game "World of Warcraft" successfully made headlines and trended on major news outlets after updating its Plus 20.0 Classic server.

Blizzard is no longer teaching players how to play the game.

Class restrictions have been completely broken, allowing players to freely combine their class skills, dozens of talent trees, and racial special skills.

The incredibly powerful AI known as "Elune" has replaced the game's GMs and most programmers. All NPCs live freely within the game under Elune's intelligent control.

Ultra HD remaster, open world, more races, no longer mandatory PvP, no longer mandatory faction selection, Alliance and Horde can team up and communicate together, and all major cities are open to any player.

In particular, once the head-mounted and hibernation pod-style immersive games were launched, people who entered the game with their consciousness found that the game's realism was as high as 90%, and the subsequent global server immediately ignited the world.

Its typical fantasy medieval style, Toril mythology setting, and numerous rich and colorful main and side quests have made it very popular in this cyberpunk era. On the day of its release, the game maintained an astonishing record of hundreds of millions of people online at the same time.

A year after its release, the game did not fade into obscurity. Instead, it attracted more and more players from the 70s, 80s, and 90s generations, making it a household name and maintaining its popularity.

Many veteran players entered the game through hibernation pods, reliving their youth within the game world. They couldn't help but shed tears, shouting "I want to die in the game!" while simultaneously becoming special players engaged in various quests, collecting unique toys, and pursuing rare collectibles with a fervent passion.

This fervor gradually influenced the entire society, leading to even more controversy.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In Tirisfal Glades, the undead warrior collapsed in a gruesome pile of decaying leaves.

This time, he didn't rush to unleash his soul. Instead, he watched as his level, which had just reached ten, instantly dropped to nine.

To be precise, it's 80% of the experience at level nine.

Each death results in a 10% loss of experience points.

Squidward was a little indignant. He thought back to thirty years ago in World of Warcraft Classic, when he was the guild's main tank. How could he let a level 1 monster bully him like this?

This is no joke!

Moreover, after searching through all the Warcraft forums and news, I have never heard of any level 1 outdoor NPC that is so powerful!

He's level 10!

Unwilling to admit defeat, Squidward once again unleashed the corpses, determined to reclaim what he had lost from those Scarlet Crusaders' minions!

...

For the first time, William felt that being surrounded by holy light was so sacred and inviolable.

He realized for the first time that the holy light emanating from the stranger was because the stranger had leveled up.

Yes, at this moment he was blessed by the gods, he received the same blessing as those strangers.

Countless illusory lines tangled and intertwined before his eyes, eventually forming a giant square. Inside the square were several options, which could be clicked with a finger, offering a tangible, tactile experience, and allowing him to drag and slide them. But if he applied even the slightest pressure, the screen would shatter and disappear.

William understood these things; he had seen countless strangers stand motionless before him, gesturing with their fingers in the air.

"Could it be because of him?"

William looked down, and his previously stiff and expressionless face became much more lively. He looked down at the chinless ghost named Squidward.

William vaguely remembered that after his death, he saw some pale blue flames enter his body.

William couldn't resist and reached out to tap the attribute on the panel in front of him. The panel instantly provided a series of feedback.

Name: William

Faction: Scarlet Crusade

Race: human

Level: 2

Rank: Common

Occupation: Warrior

Reputation: Scarlet Crusade (Revered)

Faith: Holy Light

Power: 13

Stamina: 12

Agility: 9

Intelligence: 5

Spirit: 7

Skills: Shield Bash (Lv. Max), Shield Block (Lv. Max), Charge (Lv. Max), Heroic Strike (Lv. Max), Critical Strike (Passive, Lv. Max), Vital Strike (Passive, Lv. Max)

Health: 120

Mana/Rage: 100

Equipment: Worn-out broken blade, worn-out oak shield, worn-out Crusader leather armor, worn-out Crusader leather trousers, worn-out Crusader leather boots.

A flood of messages nearly caused William's brain to shut down. He took a moment to recover and quickly glanced at the rest. He discovered many more detailed sub-options, such as quests and currency, and buff/debuff status.

But at one particular anomaly, William stopped swiping his finger.

Consciousness Arousal Level: Low

Autonomous action authority: Low

Killing a stranger is marked with a special tag: 2

Soulfire: 2

...

"charge!!!"

Squidward had resurrected at some point. When he saw the crimson recruit standing there in a daze, he gritted his teeth and roared, his charge skill once again drawing a dazzling light as he rushed towards the crimson soldier.

Because the corpse-running mechanic in Warcraft hasn't changed, resurrected players are still at half health and half mana. But Octopus wasn't afraid, because he clearly saw the blood-red recruit's health bar above his head, which only had 120 points. And he was currently level nine, with 660 health points. Although he was wearing trash gear, without any mana or green items, 330 health points were still more than 120.

The advantage still lies with him.

What Squidward didn't notice was that there was a noticeable light blue buff under William's health bar. If he had looked closely, the system would have kindly told him what the buff was.

『觉醒:格挡机率提升50%、格挡值提升20点、反击机率提升50%、近战伤害增加50%。持续时间2小时。』

boom! boom! boom!

Once again, Squidward watched helplessly as all his attacks were blocked by the level 2 Blood Recruit. The tattered oak shield pounded loudly, but it was impossible to break through the shield's obstruction and kill the level 2 monster in front of him.

His basic attacks and his heroic strikes were all blocked.

In the end, he could only watch in despair as the old, broken blade, stained with his own black blood, plunged into his chest once more.

He simply couldn't understand why a level 2 jungle minion would have such an absurd shield block rate!

But he's clearly just a regular monster!

As he repeatedly missed his shots and parried and dodged weapon attacks, the blood-red recruit's hands rang out with the clanging sound of metal being forged...

As a result, these actions repeatedly triggered the Blood Recruit's Windfury Attack, and orange damage from the continuous attacks kept popping up above his head.

-22, -20, -26, -24...

Squidward, wielding a two-handed greatsword, was unable to withstand the attack and could only lie on the ground once again.

A pale blue flame of soul energy once again emerged from the undead warrior. After a brief flicker in the air, it once again chose to plunge into William's body.

As the third flame of the soul entered William's body, the dazzling golden light from before once again erupted from within him, radiating intense golden flames. Amidst the blazing holy flames, William couldn't help but raise his hands high.

The ignited golden holy light seemed to truly grant him boundless power.

William opened the panel.

Rating: 3

All other attributes have also been improved to some extent.

So that's how the strangers became stronger. The gods granted them the ability to gather this soul fire from Azeroth.

William realized why they were burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities.

He stood there, lost in thought, his mind wandering naturally as he stared blankly at the max-level skills on the attribute panel.

He recalled that in the year since the Strangers arrived in Azeroth, almost everyone who passed by him had killed him on his regular patrol route. In that year, he had died countless times and launched countless attacks against those Strangers.

Perhaps it was because he had died too many times, or because he had witnessed those strangers using their skills on him too many times, that he accumulated a great deal of combat experience in that year.

Therefore, after he suddenly had an epiphany, with the help of the virtual system's framework, these skills that did not exist before materialized into his own body.

William suddenly understood a lot.

His mind has never been so active and energetic as it is today.

"Therefore... the soul fire will appear on the corpse of the stranger."

"It can make you stronger, and prevent you from being slaughtered at will."

William silently noted... He was currently level 2, and to avoid being killed by the strangers passing by, it seemed he needed to kill even more strangers.

No, it's not like that.

The gods decreed that he could only retaliate against those strangers who wanted to kill him.

Then I'll wait here, and this stranger who wants to kill me will come here to collect his own corpse.

Unless he wants to be resurrected in a weakened state.

-----------------

Squidward, in spirit form, stood somewhat numbly beside the corpse.

He watched as the blood-red recruit stood rooted to the spot, his level rising from 1 to 5 despite his own fourteen consecutive deaths. Meanwhile, his own level had dropped to 8.

He couldn't understand it. Was he really getting old? So old that his brain couldn't keep up with his hand reflexes? Why were he constantly getting misses, dodges, and parries?

Not to mention that the recruit's tattered shield was almost broken, yet he still managed to block his own attacks from the left and right.

After dying, the resurrection process takes 2 minutes, giving Squidward more time to think.

Every time he revived, barely managing to stand up before he could even take a bite of bread to recover health, the blood-red recruit with fanatical and obsessive eyes would immediately charge at him with his shield raised. The broken blade's slashes and thrusts, the simple and brutal combos leaving no room for error, rendered his defenses meaningless, and he would fall to the ground again in an instant.

The somber tombstones kept respawning beneath my feet; the respawn point and the corpse were so close, yet they became the most difficult distance to cross.

The crimson recruit stood guard to the side, pacing back and forth, keeping a tight watch on the area. He wouldn't leave, wouldn't let his guard down; as soon as Squidward revived, he would be met with merciless slaughter.

Repeated deaths wear down Squidward's patience; the damage begins to feel like mere scratches, and he has no means of escape.

He even began to doubt whether his decades-long gaming career was an illusion.

On the lakeside, withered trees stood forlornly, and Squidward was trapped there, unable to move an inch. He sighed and opened the world chat.

Octopus: "Is anyone in Tirisfal Glades? I'm at XXX, XXX, can someone help me? I'm being camped by mobs."

The world chat is refreshing very quickly, given the sheer number of people online. People are constantly refreshing it...

Ugly and wanting plastic surgery: "Large account with a blood-red 5G port, supports escrow, dual-client trading..."

The tribe is full of pigs: "5v5 PvP, looking for a skilled healer."

Going to work is like going to a funeral: "Please, someone give me 1GB to buy a bag, I'm on Echo Island."

...

There were just too many people on the world chat channel, and he couldn't see any effective responses. Frustrated, Squidward had to type for help in the general chat channel. Compared to the world chat channel, the general chat channel only sends messages within the user's local area, so the messages refresh much slower.

Fifty rogues: "Brother, you're an 8th-level warrior, you can always run away, right?"

"I can't help you, I'm doing a quest and can't come." (He was urinating three feet into the wind.)

Yang Guo Xiaolongnu: "Mages are the bosses, warriors are just trash!"

Mu Defang said, "Wait a moment, I'm turning in the quest in Brill. Wait for me to come over."

...

There was a lot of rambling and incoherent talk, and Octopus Bro really didn't know how to explain to them that he had been camped by a level 5 Bloodstained recruit. He could only attribute it all to the fact that the minion controlled by the super-intelligent AI was too intelligent, and under the system's control, it completely predicted his predictions.

Dangdang Dangdang!

A distinctive drumbeat rang out, and Mu Defang initiated a team-up with Octopus.

"Where?"

"Oh, I see it, I'll be right there."

"Holy crap, bro, you really got your corpse guarded by a level 5 creep?" The priestess was an undead female priest, but when she saw a blood-red newbie standing alone around Octopus Brother's corpse, she couldn't help but complain.

William instinctively looked over, stopping the stranger from approaching. He didn't want to indiscriminately kill innocents like the stranger, striking back against anyone who attacked him. Before, he had no choice but to keep dying; now that he had a choice, he was even less willing to keep dying.

But for some reason, what he said turned out to be something else entirely.

"Infidels? Purify them!"

Squidward saw that the Crimson Recruit seemed to have been activated, and with two minutes left before his resurrection time, he hurriedly spoke up to stop the priest.

"Don't hit him! This guy is... well, a rare elite monster, I think. He's really tough!"

William raised his hands, threatening the priest to stop him from coming closer. However, the priest walked over nonchalantly, and William's hands instinctively made a gesture of shifting his stance.

A large shield symbol appeared overhead.

"Stop fighting! Stop fighting! Run! Disengage! Wait for me to resurrect!" Octopus hurriedly called out to stop the priest.

"What are you afraid of! Level 5 is nothing, I'm already level 9. I'm still a priest! Don't you know the value of a priest!" The priest waved the curved wooden stick in his hand, cast a transparent golden shield on himself, cast a heal spell, and then threw the wand with a golden tail of flame at William.

"Come on! Let me show you how a priest with big breasts levels up in the wild!"

William instinctively raised his shield to shield himself. As the priest hopped and skipped towards him, William charged forward with lightning speed, leaving a trail of dazzling silver light behind him. He slammed his shield into the priest, whose shield shattered like paper and vanished into thin air.

The next moment, a shield slammed into her mouth, shoving the words back in. The broken blade in his right hand plunged into her skull.

Fatal blow!

A critical strike!

From Squidward's perspective, the Crimson Recruit's charge, shield slam, shield bash, and fatal blow are executed flawlessly in one smooth motion.

A blood-red damage value of -420 appeared, instantly killing the priest.

"Damn! This monster does so much damage! Did the developers change the damage?!" Mu, unwilling to accept defeat, lay on the ground, leaving behind his last words.

Just like the octopus on the ground, after Mu died, a pale blue flame also floated out of his corpse, except this time he grabbed it and crushed it.

The flames traveled up his body and into his body.