Reincarnation NPC, but Arknights

"Damn it, I just lost some of the experience I gained."

"I just died a few hours ago, to test fall damage..."

"The punishment mechanism after death is a bit severe. Not only does resurrection take time, but there is also a debuff."

"You drop an item when you die, which is annoying..."

……

In short, this group of people both cherish their lives and don't value them, which is quite absurd.

However, what puzzled the people of Longmen the most was that after these people died, their bodies did not remain. Instead, after a period of time, they would simply turn into scattered specks of light and disappear into the air without leaving a trace, as if they had never existed.

Some observant police officers even noticed that the blood dripping from the wounds left by the players disappeared after a period of time.

All these strange phenomena have shrouded the players in mystery.

However, Bai Ye knew that this was just the beginning.

It wasn't until after the official launch that the various nations of Terra gradually discovered the players' strange and unique characteristics. It was also after a series of events, and through testing, observation, and communication, that the various political entities began to pay attention to the player community.

Bai Ye knew very well that this was only the beginning.

By a twist of fate, his accidental actions and various coincidences led players to participate in a group activity during the open beta. Although the number of participants was not large compared to the total number of players in the open beta, it still left a significant mark.

When Officer Chen Huijie returned to the entrance with the captured gang leader, she was surprised to find that the lower-level gang members, who had not been dealt with first due to manpower constraints, had all fallen into the clutches of the law.

Aside from a few unlucky guys who were accidentally killed by players.

The number of players has also decreased significantly. Some are sitting on the ground, some are cheering and celebrating in twos and threes, and most are not by Bai Ye's side, constantly squatting and standing up, or shaking the weapons in their hands.

Some people had a disagreement over the distribution of spoils and are now engaged in a sacred dark duel under the supervision of [I will always love Misaka Mikoto]!

The most outrageous thing was that a group of players were trying to rip off the clothes of gang thugs, and then they were chased away by the Royal Guard officers...

"Success?"

Bai Ye saw Chen Huijie approaching and went to greet her.

“This guy can really run fast. Luckily, there are Rhodes Island people at the exit.” Chen Huijie said, throwing the handcuffed bandit leader to the ground.

To be honest, this guy was really unlucky. A whole bunch of things that had nothing to do with him were blamed on him, which led to Chen Huijie and other police officers not holding back at all during the operation.

However, the leader had been running the factory for many years, and there were many arrangements inside, which caused the Guard Bureau some trouble.

Finally, he tried to escape through a secret passage, but was stopped by a flash of lightning from Razer.

"Sister Gui, how did you get hurt?"

Byakuya saw Hoshiguma being carried out by two police officers; she had injured one leg and couldn't put any weight on it.

"It's nothing, I got ambushed by an Originium explosive while passing through the secret passage." Hoshiguma smiled nonchalantly. For a demon like her with such extraordinary talent, such an injury was indeed a "minor injury."

Most of the other guards were also injured, and some were even carried out.

The atmosphere was somewhat somber. The Royal Guard officers didn't show much joy about the victory; instead, they were silently licking their wounds.

Perhaps the atmosphere was somewhat subdued, and the players gradually stopped making a fuss. People are capable of empathy to a certain extent, and they were able to understand the NPCs' disappointment and sadness.

The arrest of the culprit and the closure of the factory signify a significant milestone in the case. Officer Chen Huijie will next need to organize interrogations, investigate the remaining illegal drugs, and treat infected individuals.

"I'm going to be busy." Chen Huijie shrugged; it seemed her original vacation was ruined.

"Rhodes Island can then take over the issue of treating infected individuals."

Razer, supported by Franka, walked to Bai Ye's side.

She slumped against the fox, her face flushed with a suspicious blush.

However, she still tried her best to put on a serious expression when handing over her work, which, combined with her current somewhat disheveled appearance, was quite comical.

Chen Huijie looked at the smiling, satisfied Franka and the inexplicably indignant Razer with some doubt, but didn't say much. She simply told Rhodes Island to take over the infected affairs from now on.

A large portion of the infected individuals require treatment due to illicit drugs, and these cases can be handled by Rhodes Island. This was agreed upon before the operation began.

Bai Ye looked around and suddenly walked out of the factory.

Upon seeing this, the players exchanged glances and then followed suit.

“He’s quite popular…” Swire noticed this scene and found it a bit strange, as if these oddballs had a particularly good relationship with Bai Ye.

……

Bai Ye went out alone, naturally to make contact with the players.

After all, these guys were all excellent tools to him.

Players, however, identified Bai Ye as a key NPC and followed him around.

After all, in the usual setting, NPCs will definitely not leave immediately after the mission is over, and there will be follow-up dialogues or something.

As expected, Bai Ye began to speak: "Thank you for your hard work, kind citizens... Aba aba aba..."

As he spoke, he blinked, subtly raising his opinion of him slightly.

[Ding! Bai Ye's affection for you has increased by 1 point.]

The players were immediately moved to tears!

It's so hard to raise the NPC's favorability! After working so hard to conquer the city, I've finally managed to raise it a little bit.

Bai Ye didn't say anything more. In any case, apart from a few players who cared about the plot, most players wouldn't pay any attention to the dialogue.

Indeed, players' current mindset and thinking are still stuck in the fixed patterns of old-school online games. They're even a little unaccustomed to the lack of an option to skip dialogue. Only a few astute players treat this world as a real one, diligently learning about its background, interacting with various NPCs, and finding enjoyment in an immersive gaming experience.

Chapter 40 ends, but it is also the beginning.

Seeing the players' distracted expressions, Bai Ye knew he was about to deliver some substantial content.

Similar to how he dealt with the homebody cat before, he first said a bunch of nonsense, and then Bai Ye directly opened his personal shop. For the time being, he could only sell skills, for a simple reason: Bai Ye only had a few pieces of equipment, how could he possibly share with so many people? But he did have a lot of skills. The accumulation of six years in his previous life was far too easy for him to deal with these newbie players who had only been in the open beta for a day.

Just as he predicted, the players' eyes lit up when they saw the extensive skill list. (Bai Ye's own character card only lists the skills he uses and prioritizes for upgrading.)

Instantly, another cacophony of howls and screams erupted. Aside from a few players concerned with their image, most players looked at Bai Ye with a burning desire to pounce on him.

Skills are so hard to find.

This is especially true for players who only have one day of public beta testing.

Oh, if you accidentally do something stupid, you'll have to wait a long time to respawn after the screen goes gray, which is another waste of time...

Time is precious, and the ways to learn skills are few and difficult!

You can't just randomly pick someone on the street and expect them to teach you skills. There are martial arts schools, and they teach real skills, but they charge money. Where are players on the first day of the open beta going to get Lungmen Coins?

Some random gangs do have martial arts masters, but new players aren't even low-level minions, so why would they give you pointers?

Not to mention the even rarer Originium Arts, which do have systematic training programs and pathways, but both courses and books cost money.

As for those mysterious or hidden NPCs like those in novels? That's even harder. Some players have indeed searched all over the streets, only to find plenty of real beggars but nothing else...

Now that a living, breathing NPC who can teach skills is standing in front of them, how could players who have already tasted the bitterness of the game and the difficulty of leveling up and learning skills let Bai Ye go?

Actually, once players have money, there are many ways to learn, but unfortunately, a day is too short now, and there's not enough time to do anything you want.

As he reaped the profits from the players' newly acquired wealth, Bai Ye couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. After all, these were all rather inexperienced players!

You actually have someone showing off in front of him, boasting about how fast they learn skills and how talented they are, trying to attract the attention of Bai Ye, this special NPC.

Well, if it were an ordinary Terran native, they might really be surprised. But who is Bai Ye? He was a player in his previous life. He's just an NPC in this life, not some ignorant child.

Everyone knows that players can quickly master skills through experience and LMD, and can also directly use experience and LMD to level up. You think you can fool Master Bai with such a little trick? You're dreaming.

Bai Ye casually lowered the favorability rating of the pretentious guy, maintaining a friendly demeanor while ignoring the unfortunate fellow's wailing.

This time, Bai Ye really got rich. The surviving players all came to give him experience and LMD, which was much easier than grinding monsters in his previous life.

Suddenly, Bai Ye had an urge to go and find all 4000 players who participated in the public beta test.

However, it's just wishful thinking. He's currently "White Night, an important NPC in Arknights Online," and he's always the one who gets players to fawn over him. It would be beneath him to chase after players and fawn over them, and it wouldn't be good for his long-term plans.

Only by establishing a positive image, maintaining a persona, and attracting players to actively seek him out—making them both tools and easy targets for exploitation with good self-management skills—can a virtuous cycle be created. Greed for short-term gains is nothing more than draining the pond to catch all the fish.

Ahem, the NPCs aren't really exploiting players; they're providing high-quality services, enhancing the player experience, and reducing difficulty. Players should be thanking them!

It can only be said that a person often ends up becoming the very thing they hated most in the past.

……

Lost in thought, Bai Ye suddenly saw a female player with the ID "Xia" above her head come to him to learn skills.

Unlike other players, this player chose to learn archery skills instead of crossbow skills.

Bai Ye recognized him immediately; this player was actually an old friend from his past life…

【Xia】, the number one sniper in the "Chocolate and Vanilla" guild, a natural-born sharpshooter, and said to be a fan of retro archery in real life.

However, Bai Ye got to know her because of "the libertine's tea party".

In his previous life, Bai Ye, as a player who joined the game at launch, rose to the top tier starting from the third version, gradually becoming one of the top players. Players at this level were few and far between, and most were star players nurtured by guilds, shining brightly in the Kazimierz player arena. Lone wolves like him were extremely rare.

In the third version, he was invited to join the legendary non-guild small player group "The Tea Party of the Libertines," and was the only solo player among the invitees. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. His teamwork skills were too poor, his individual burst damage was too outstanding, and he was severely unbalanced, easily becoming disconnected from the team. Therefore, he was unable to participate in the group activities of the Tea Party.

The Libertines' Tea Party is an organization modeled after a novel in real life. Its purpose is simply for fun and challenge. It has no fixed location and only holds "tea parties" regularly.

In her past life, Bai Ye was an orphan, which made her somewhat withdrawn and socially awkward. She also preferred playing games alone.

Even though he didn't join the tea party, the guild leader didn't give up on him. He advised him to build good relationships with the players in the tea party so that even if he was just a lone wolf, he wouldn't be weak and alone.

And so, through the libertines' tea party, Bai Ye met a group of top players, including many guild leaders and star players. Bai Ye's previous power armor was obtained through a friend from the tea party.

……

But all of that is in the past. Now, he's practically a local of Terra, and has nothing to do with the tea party or the players anymore...

However, this doesn't stop Bai Ye from picking out some good ones from among the leeks and tools, and paying special attention to them.

The previous example of "Homebody Cat" is that she will be mentoring livestreamers in the future, and she'll be quite useful.

The guys at the tea party were also quite good; they included guild leaders and think tank commanders. Through them, it was like using a large field of players as bait.

While pondering, Bai Ye slightly adjusted his favorability rating towards Xia, then said a bunch of trashy things like "I have high hopes for you, you are very talented," and gave her the address of the Rhodes Island office.

In this way, I can say that I have compromised and reconciled with my past...

Chapter 41 Game Forum

The public beta test, which lasted for a whole day on Terra, finally came to an end the following day.

Bai Ye opened the game forum, and even though he couldn't log into the game, the forum was still very lively.

Public beta testers, fans who came after hearing about it, and onlookers enjoying the gossip... the online world is wonderfully diverse and full of wonders.

Bai Ye had thought that yesterday's player-led battle would be the hottest topic, but when he entered the forum, he found that the most popular thing was actually a promotional video.

[NPC Bai Ye: I have a dream]

Wow, this title is something else...

Bai Ye was dumbfounded. He subconsciously clicked on it and found that it was a video edited by a player.

"You've got something..."

The video was edited by a Bilibili up-loader who used many game videos recorded by players, clips from Zhai Mao's broadcasts, and promotional PVs released by the game's official team. He then added Bai Ye's original speech and background music, which surprisingly created an epic and magnificent feeling.

At the end of the video, Bai Ye hands out a business card with the address of the Rhodes Island office on it, along with the line Bai Ye reads: "This world needs more heroes. Will you come?"

【It’s on fire! 】

[Bai Ye only used three sentences to make me give up all my experience and LMD.]

Why can't I find this NPC?

I must join the White Night faction immediately.

Could someone please explain the basic concepts of Rhodes Island, Infected, and Originium?

Bai Ye stroked his chin, quite satisfied with the video: "The player is really talented... There are even such self-aware tool users, well done."

Of course, Bai Ye wouldn't believe all the guys in the comments section. Even though these players are saying they want to spread his message and join him, it's already quite remarkable that even 1/10 of the players in the game are coming to him.

Besides the video, players were also discussing yesterday's big battle. They didn't expect that a large-scale mission involving a large number of players could happen in just one day of the open beta.

In particular, when someone posted about the NPC Bai Ye teaching players skills after the quest was completed, it immediately made a lot of players who did not participate in the quest feel envious.