6

"What is this, Tame? Can you conquer NPCs? The crazy fact that you can conquer human NPC species is certainly surprising, but I've never heard of the Tame system before. It wasn't in the closed test. Maybe it hasn't been discovered yet, but at least Rare didn't know.

I have no idea what the system is like, but when there's an error notification from the system message, it means someone has taken an action related to Tame. If we think about it normally, it might be the result of Kelly's earlier statement.

When she said, 'I want you to be the boss,' it was actually an expression of the system's desire to be conquered by Rare. However, because Rare doesn't have Tame-related skills, its request was denied, and an error message appeared.

In the closed test, many testers tried various character builds, looking at skill combinations and skill tree growth, as well as uncovering the existence of many conditional skills and skill trees.

To try out various builds, testers had to create characters repeatedly, leading to what was called a 'marathon reset' becoming common.

Even then, I couldn't find the Tame skill. This could mean that during the closed test, the system wasn't there, or maybe it was, but could only be obtained with an unattainable early experience of 100 points, one of which.

If this system wasn't there during the closed test, it's possible that a player has mastered it through marathon resets or other methods. However, starting from now, the tutorial cannot be skipped.

To do a marathon reset, it takes a very long time. Because the tutorial takes about 1 hour, even if you want to try 5 character patterns, the time will definitely run out. Moreover, it's uncertain whether we will find new skills by trying around 5 character patterns.

And if the system was indeed there from the beginning but couldn't be achieved using 100 points.

At this stage, it's hard to imagine that there are players who have mastered the Tame skill. It's highly unlikely that a player would spend time and effort completing the tutorial, gathering experience, and then finding a way to obtain the Tame skill that may not even exist.

So, in both cases, the players who know about the existence of the Tame skill are very few, or maybe even none, and I might be one of them. Rare feels a little nervous.

I have no intention of outdoing other players or dominating in information battles.

However, the idea of having information that only I know feels very intriguing.

Regarding this issue, I decided not to consult with anyone and carefully check it myself. Although it cannot be guaranteed that there are no other qualified players receiving error messages, the likelihood is very low in this case.

It seems that Rare qualifies for error messages by gaining high trust from NPCs, but it's hard to believe that someone could build such a relationship from scratch in just five hours since the start of the game. 'Will this work...?' Kelly said anxiously.

"Darn. I forgot about the Tame goal I should have paid attention to." "No, of course, I don't mind becoming your boss. In fact, I really want to ask for your help. However, there are some things I need to think about, so forgive me if I ask you to be patient for a moment. Do you need food or drink? Oh yes, it seems you're still eating, right?"

After Rare said that, the four of them felt relieved and started warming up the cold food over the campfire.

Rare began to think about Tame-related skills, particularly the skill of "control" as mentioned in the system message.

The most likely one is the "training" skill tree. This involves controlling trained NPCs.

However, during the closed test, the "training" skill tree was not there.

There was only the "training" skill tree. And "training" is an active skill, with the effect of "if successful, can control the target's actions for a certain period." For example, in battles with monsters, this skill can be used to pit successfully trained monsters against each other, thus reducing their strength. However, this is not directly related to Tame. It's just a sneaky disruptive skill.

Moreover, if it's the same issue, "chaos" from "mental magic" can also be done. Although it cannot control the target's actions, when in chaos, the target will attack the nearest entity, so the result is similar. It's cheaper to activate.

If we're talking about "mental magic," skills like "charm" or "fear" have a higher success rate than "training." By using basic skills like "losing oneself" together, the success rate will be even higher. Moreover, by applying "dominance" to a target already in a charmed or frightened state -

Could the key lie in "mental magic"?

This is a possibility worth considering. "Domination" sounds very promising.

However, even though we can achieve "domination" in "mental magic," the total experience required, including prerequisite skills, is 150 points. This is far above the available initial experience. However, the possibility for "domination" to appear in the list of accessible skills exists.

Although spreading information to the public is prohibited during the closed test, there's a specific social media platform for testers provided by the administrators, where discussions about the game are unrestricted. It has become a popular place to share knowledge and experiences that cannot be discussed elsewhere.

Voluntary verification groups also publish their verification results, which can be a source of inspiration for other players.

With the addition of new players in verification, a positive spiral occurs.

By volunteers who have decided to spend the limited test period on verification alone, many discoveries of new skills that would be unlikely with ordinary combinations occur.

Although "domination" may not be achievable due to the required experience, if we achieve "charm" or "fear" and then "training," it should be attainable with the available initial experience. Because of the existence of "domination," it's hard to believe that no one has tried. However, Rare doesn't remember.

So, either we've been misguided, or perhaps "domination" is indeed necessary.

If the requirement is a specific action in the game or connection with a particular NPC, it will be difficult to identify. However, if attempting to acquire the relevant skill fails, we can try gaining more experience and trying again.

Because Kelly and her friends are equipped with sophisticated artificial intelligence, even if they cannot be tamed at the moment, they are likely to cooperate. Moreover, it seems Rare will be the boss of that thief gang.

Therefore, we should consider as much of the given information as possible. We want to try the most likely successful plan.

For now, I will refrain from exploring "mental magic" as one of the options and try another approach.

Although slightly different from the concept of "Tame," there is a similar but distinct skill called "summoning." The "summoning" skill tree only has the skill "summoning," similar to the "training" skill tree.

"Summoning" is a skill that summons monsters of a specific species randomly near the user, and they will return to their original location after ten minutes, the target's death, or the user's death.

According to the accessible guide by checking the details of obtainable skills, when "summoning" is activated, the target is forced to choose whether to respond to the summons. If the target refuses, then they will resist the "summoning." If successful, the "summoning" will fail.

Because the target of "summoning" is randomly chosen from species specified by the user, the success rate of resistance is heavily influenced by individual differences in ability attributes.

Thus, structurally, "summoning" becomes an unstable skill in its success rate. Testers consider it an entertaining skill.

The question is, why only random summons are possible?

The same can be said about "training," that having only one skill in one skill tree seems inefficient, and it's hard to believe that such a design was chosen without reason.

In the same skill tree with only one skill, there's the skill "Alchemy," which appears in the list of obtainable skills in the "Alchemy" skill tree after acquiring the "brewing" skill from the "brewing" skill tree. Naturally, the "Alchemy" skill itself is a completely useless effect, namely "Required to activate alchemy skills. Bonus for alchemy skill assessment," seemingly expecting the existence of hidden skills in the skill tree.

If "training" and "summoning" also have the same requirements, what is the key?

For now, we can assume that there is something at the end of the "training" and "summoning" skill trees, and we need to consider that something.

I will keep this approach as Possibility 2. This time, I will try an approach from the concept of "control" rather than the concept of "training."

When talking about "control," the closest concept in the initial skill list is "Undead." Generally, when hearing about undead magic, we imagine controlling the unfortunate souls of the dead.

However, like the two previous skills, "Undead" is also the only skill in the skill tree. Its effect is "turning corpses within medium range of oneself into undead, and controlling their actions for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the corpse will return to the ground and will not leave a corpse." At first glance, this skill may seem useful, but if the soul remains in the corpse, it will resist like in "summoning," and if not, the produced undead will be weak and destroyed with a single attack. It's a somewhat ambiguous skill.

This is the first time I feel that the associated skill trees have been gathered, and all are micro-skills that are somewhat ambiguous. This might be an excessive expectation.

In the cave, Kelly and her friends' food seems to be almost gone. They sometimes offer food to me, but I don't feel hungry... or my mind is more focused on other matters, so I politely decline.

Time is almost up. I need to conclude my thoughts now and start taking action.

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