T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World

Just as the pickled pepper fish head and stir-fried pork with chili peppers were served, Jiang Heyi's phone suddenly rang.

"Squid (Zhong Zemo), what's wrong?"

"You've been called out by a content creator on Bilibili. Go check it out on Bilibili right now."

Chapter 3: Team Assembling

Upon hearing the name "watermelon shumai," Jiang Heyi paused for a moment, then immediately understood what had happened.

After searching, he discovered that the other party was a female streamer with less than 10 followers in the gaming section of Bilibili.

Clicking on the most recent post, the image of Jiang Heyi's game character created in Proof of the Stars takes up the main page.

"【Proof of the Stars】, hang someone to avoid lightning."

Game ID: Cyber ​​Potato

"Savings: Being a verbally abusive, stress-inducing player, stealing equipment, or backstabbing teammates will result in entering a weakened state."

"The incident began when a temporary team was formed during the exploration of the map to ensure safety. The members were not familiar with each other, and during the encounter with special monsters, Cyber ​​Potato kept giving orders and instructions."

"They made a mistake themselves, but they put immense pressure on me and the mage, trying to shift the blame onto us."

"The three of us finally managed to defeat the monster together. Then the classic part happened. When we saw the rainbow drop, Cyber ​​Potato Bro couldn't move. He said that the distribution settings were wrong and hoped to discuss how to divide it. He pretended to be deaf and started to grab it. After being warned, he immediately ambushed and killed him. The shiny drop."

"I originally thought that the price of the device at 2099 would filter out a lot of people with poor manners, but I didn't expect to run into such an awful person in just two days. My good mood was completely ruined. Disgusting."

Jiang Heyi, who had extracted key information from the meticulously formatted text, ate a few mouthfuls of rice.

As he predicted, the comments section was filled with messages of comfort and support for "Cyber ​​Potato." Of course, these rational individuals usually start by "rectifying the gaming atmosphere."

However, many more rational people simply remained calm, observing the situation without offering any comment.

Those comments suggesting a reversal of the situation are met with a barrage of replies from fans and those eager for drama, which then escalate into a major debate.

Mmm~~~ What a show! This pickled pepper fish head is so fragrant, this stir-fried pork with chili peppers is perfect with rice, and even my soda tastes sweeter than usual.

After eating and drinking his fill, Jiang Heyi downloaded a file from the official website of the Stars of Proof, renamed it, and uploaded it to his cloud drive.

He glanced at the post that received new replies with every refresh, seemingly unconcerned, as if he wasn't the one being criticized.

After a set of aerobic exercises, seeing that he still had some time, he browsed various platforms and gaming groups for information about the Proof of the Stars.

The keywords were set to "nun" and "monster," and the page was left blank.

As he guessed, there are still not many valuable guides available. Information is a resource, and few people are willing to share it.

Most players are probably still wandering around safe cities right now, and there are very few people like him who are lucky enough to teleport to a very far place to explore the map.

Jiang Heyi switched to QQ and clicked into a gaming group called "[I've never felt happy playing games while sober]" without hesitation.

It's a group that's been around for almost 10 years, and the hundreds of members are still active. The group name keeps changing with the latest trends, so even if you haven't opened it for a long time, you can still tell what the group members are up to just by looking at the group name.

Besides Jiang Heyi and Zhong Zemo, many other lucky members of the group were able to be among the first to experience the Stars' Proof. Since the game's launch, they have been sharing their experiences and feelings about the game.

Combined with game videos exported from the official website, it will make those who have been waiting for various reasons or have bad luck in lotteries envious and jealous.

Strangely enough, the topics discussed in the group were also related to nuns, but it wasn't the information Jiang Heyi wanted...

"I just wanted a nun's habit, and before I could even take it off, I was arrested by the Judgment Knights and locked up for two hours. Cyber ​​people are in jail."

"Whether you want a nun's habit or something else, I don't know for now. I suggest you team up with that guy next door who grabs an NPC and calls them 'wife,' which makes the NPC hate him and refuse to interact with him."

"It feels like I'm not as good as him. I just borrowed a few potatoes from an NPC and got warned by the Judgment Knight. I subconsciously cursed the Judgment Knight, and I still got 2 hours of treatment."

"After playing for two days, I feel that the NPCs in Proof of the Stars are too realistic. They are not rigid at all, and their reactions are no different from those of ordinary people. Sometimes I mistakenly think that the player is playing a role. Has AI progressed to this level?"

"I suggest you treat these NPCs like real people. Putting them in a cyber prison for no reason is a terrible gaming experience."

"Can you torture NPCs with questions from idiot forums to confuse them and then take the opportunity to 'borrow' something from them?"

"You're a bit too stubborn to talk to."

Jiang Heyi was already used to the ridiculous antics of his fellow members in the silly group. Having chatted together for so many years, they knew each other quite well. Today you're being silly, tomorrow I'll be the straight man. Opening the group felt as relaxed and comfortable as coming home.

As they chatted and laughed, Jiang Heyi, yawning, took out his phone and checked the game entry time on the app, which was already close to 11 o'clock.

The information will be injected into the blue and white headband that the modelers jokingly call a "psychic skeleton," allowing players to log into the game at a set time after they fall asleep.

then……

"Whoosh~~~"

The feeling of falling made Jiang Heyi shudder.

No one remembers when they entered the dream. When they open their eyes, they are already in their home, which is located in the Proof of the Stars.

The line between illusion and reality has never been so blurred.

Beside the wooden house by the stream, a doll named Garlic Sprout, without facial features but with a human-shaped outline, bowed slightly to him.

"Welcome back, my master."

What are these stone tables and benches?

"These were gifts for unlocking your home; I have carefully placed them while you were away."

Jiang Heyi asked in surprise, "You were active even when I was offline?"

"If you can piece together a more complete version of me, Garlic Sprouts can do even more for you."

I understand, it's another round of feeding, but last night's feeding already drained Jiang Heyi's earnings from two days of gaming.

Every gain in the early stages of the game is precious, so when faced with Garlic Sprouts' hint, he could only promise to do it next time.

The immediate priority is to continue exploring the game and expanding the boundaries of the known map. Jiang Heyi's strong curiosity and adventurous spirit were greatly satisfied in Proof of the Stars, and the home can be used as a safe house for now.

Windpod City, a place filled with medieval, sword and magic elements, is one of the initial city-states that players can choose to enter the Proof of the Stars. It is located in the southernmost part of the Ana Empire, and is inhabited by a group of people, mainly forest elves, whom the Ana Empire people call the "Forest People", in the vast forests that border it.

As a trade hub connecting the north and south, the city-states were well-developed and the ethnic groups were highly integrated, so everything players needed, from materials to information, was readily available.

The prerequisite is that you have to have money.

At the Pilgrimage Square near the North Gate of Fengjia City, Jiang Heyi waited for Zhong Zemo to log on.

With nothing else to do, he began to admire the players who kept teleporting back from the open space of the pilgrimage plaza.

With such a high degree of freedom, the character customization stage of the game has naturally "trapped" many people.

Jiang Heyi simply created a human male character. To be on the safe side, he decided to make himself look like a person, just in case there was a cutscene that might not even exist.

Many players strive to make their characters as aesthetically pleasing as possible, so that people can't help but take a second look.

Some players choose to act as agents of the ancient gods on earth, which makes people... want to take a second look.

Of course, when they enter the game, subconsciously open the store, and find that there is no character model reset function for sale, and they have to find a way to recreate their character's appearance in the game, I wonder what they will think.

There are very few pay-to-win items in Proof of the Stars. The monthly card is the main expense for players. The price varies from country to country. Jiang Heyi only needs 21 yuan. Considering the experience he gets after entering the game, he feels that this price is equivalent to charity.

Messenger from the Stars: Your friend, "All Mankind Takes to the Skies," has entered the game.

A hazy halo rippled, and in an instant, a young man of the Forest Elf race with long golden hair and dressed in black and white appeared not far from Jiang Heyi.

Zhong Zemo chose the martial arts style in the game. Like Jiang Heyi, he is currently only level 4. It has taken him two days to complete the newbie equipment he was given.

"Sorry, it's a little late."

"It's okay, let's start the group."

"Wait, let's get one more person."

"Who?"

"Brother jailer."

Not long after, a young human with the ID "Jailer Appraisal Expert" above his head was teleported to the square.

He's a true heavyweight; he was the one who was discussing whether or not to steal the nun's uniform in the QQ group just now, and he was also the one who planned to torture the NPC with idiotic jokes. Compared to the two who followed the rules and experienced the game in a conventional way, the jailer guy stands out as someone who doesn't follow the usual path.

"Potato, I heard you got hung up." The jailer, who was using his staff as a crutch, asked curiously, "What's 'Rainbow Fall'?"

"I can choose my own avatar fragments, but I haven't even lit up a single avatar yet, and I don't know what avatars are. It's a game with a promising future."

Knowing the rarity of the avatar fragments, the jailer was shocked: "What kind of monster did you encounter? Are there any more near Windpod City?"

Jiang Heyi pulled up a map, and the yellowed scroll released a light screen. The area he had explored was surrounded by darkness. "It's not within the Wind Pod area."

"Then how did you get there?" Zhong Zemo hurriedly asked.

"To be honest, I don't know either. Maybe the two people who hung up on me triggered some special plot, or maybe they met some special conditions and were teleported unintentionally."

The city of Fengjia and the dominant empire of Anna, which controls this region, are still under exploration. A distant, unknown, and mysterious map has been revealed to the three of them.

"The fact that you were able to kill that lantern-carrying monster proves that the monsters there are just difficult to defeat, not impossible..."

The jailer knew what Zhong Zemo was thinking: "The problem is, how are we supposed to get there?"

"Wouldn't the Starry Sky Jade work?"

The Starry Sky Jade that Zhong Zemo mentioned is an item that every player can obtain after entering the game.

The item is described as "No matter where you are, the brilliance of the stars will guide you home."

There are two in total. One automatically marks the local altars and statues after arriving in a safe city-state. It can be reused, but you need to wait for the energy to be replenished. You can also use the corresponding items to speed up the recharging.

The other Starry Sky Jade, which had already cracked, could not automatically restore its energy.

Jiang Heyi consulted with the craftsmen of Fengjia City. Apart from a few cunning swindlers, most of the craftsmen admitted that repairing it was beyond their capabilities. Perhaps only the core city of Anna or the royal city had people with such skills.

The good news is that Jiang Heyi did indeed mark the location with the Starry Sky Jade; the bad news is that fully feeding it might be a bit of a hassle.

Although items that can power the Starry Sky Jade are sold in Windjade City, their prices are prohibitive.

In other games, the in-app purchase option would have popped up, leading to the "Take my money" stage, but Proof of the Stars doesn't offer this option.

Want to inject energy?

Figure it out yourself; that's your adventure and your life.

Some people attribute this to immersion, while others believe it to cerebral thrombosis.

As experienced gamers, the three of them didn't dislike the setting. They figured they might as well grind, since it wouldn't take up their waking hours.

The ratio of in-game time to real-world time in Proof of the Stars is 8:1, meaning that the 6 hours of playtime per day is equivalent to two days in the game.

After a long day at work, office workers with no personal or leisure time used to resort to revenge entertainment, staying up until midnight and yawning as they got up early, operating like gears in the concrete jungle.

Their hectic pace of life doesn't allow them the luxury of using their limited time to patiently savor masterpieces; fragmented entertainment is their only option.

Nowadays, dreams offer players unprecedented redundancy, and wasting time no longer feels so sinful or unsettling.

The moment the three of them entered a magic supplies shop and took out the Starry Sky Jade, the shopkeeper understood their purpose.

Zhong Zemo and the prison guard emptied their pockets of all the materials they could monetize and handed them all over to Jiang Heyi.

Faced with the ever-growing array of materials piled up on the trading panel, the shop assistant simply smiled and shook his head.

"We should get someone with good bargaining skills to negotiate the price here," the jailer thought to himself.

However, before he could even begin his performance, the shop assistant politely reminded him.

"Even if we stake everything, the magic stones we obtain will still not be enough to fill this precious jade. Respected guests, are you still sure you want to do this?"

Having gained a basic understanding of the enormous energy consumption involved, the three left the shop.

"You guys said, borrow some from the NPCs..."

Jiang Heyi immediately nipped the jailer's new idea in the bud: "Let me remind you, you just spent two hours in the Cyber ​​Prison yesterday. If you want to be arrested by those big guys from the Judgment Knights, go ahead."

"Then I'll get someone to join the team. There's strength in numbers."

Jiang Heyi did not reject the suggestion. Whether it was accumulating materials at this stage or exploring after being teleported to the destination, a well-configured team was needed.

But given the jailer's notoriously wild social style, he decided to ask what kind of person he was first.

"He's also someone from the group. He wasn't active for a while, but he started showing up again recently after he got the game qualification."

"Who?"

"Original flavor fries".

Of the hundreds of people in the group, Jiang Heyi could only remember the most witty and active ones. This was the norm in most groups; most people only spoke occasionally and usually just watched the show in silence.

Zhong Zemo suddenly clapped his hands: "Are you talking about the Deep Ones?"