Chapter 31: Veterans Guiding Newbies

"Holy shit! This sky! This lighting! And this wind! This can't really be the real world, can it?"

"I've been virtuous all my life, so I deserve to play a game like this!"

"Fucking amazing!! If anyone says this game is a scam from now on, I'll fight them!"

After walking out of the castle, the players were once again stunned by the scene before them, unable to stop themselves from exclaiming in admiration.

Leon stood silently nearby, listening.

Honestly, he was already numb to these kinds of compliments.

When the first five players praised the game, he still felt a bit happy and proud inside.

But now, after hearing so much, he felt nothing.

He even had the leisure to compare the intensity of the compliments between the two groups.

Hmm, the first five veteran players were still better at praising. The new batch of players had a weaker vocabulary.

Meanwhile, those five veteran players were standing at the castle gate, judging the newcomers.

"Tsk tsk tsk, look at how inexperienced they are. It's just a virtual reality game, no need to get so excited," Dylan said with a hint of disdain.

"Who was it again that pinched themselves as soon as they entered the game and even ate grass outside the castle? Your reaction was way more exaggerated than theirs," Ethan Carter immediately exposed Dylan's past behavior.

"I was testing the game's pain and taste systems, okay? These newbies just keep saying 'holy shit' and 'fucking amazing.' They're way worse than we were back then. They still need us veterans to guide them."

Dylan argued righteously, unaware that among the newcomers was a player even crazier than him—one who had gnawed on a table leg right after entering the game.

Ethan didn't bother arguing with him, but Dylan did have a point.

The reason these veteran players weren't farming and instead waited for the newcomers was precisely to guide these rookies.

Earlier that morning, right after logging in, Leon had assigned them a "veterans guiding newbies" mission.

They were to help the new players familiarize themselves with the territory and explain the various rules.

The more rookies they guided, the more Poké Dollars they would earn.

This excited the veteran players, who were still in debt.

This mission was perfect—not only could they show off in front of the rookies, but they could also earn money to pay off their debts.

So even though Dylan acted dismissive toward the newcomers, he actually wanted an excuse to guide more of them.

Ethan had already seen through his intentions and patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, stop pretending. I'll let you take one of my rookies."

"Really, my lord?"

"Really. I don't have any debts anyway, so you might as well earn more Poké Dollars to pay yours off."

"Thank you, my lord! Wait, don't you have two more rookies?"

Dylan eyed the other two newcomers greedily.

"Fuck off, pushing your luck, huh? I already promised Lin Murphy I'd personally guide him this morning. The other rookie is going to Leaf—he lost a lot of Poké Dollars from respawning."

"Fine, fine. You don't have to give me that rookie either. Let Leaf have them all. His debt is the biggest among us."

"Finally, you said something decent."

Ethan felt genuinely moved, as if his child had finally grown up.

"Don't forget to tell Leaf I was the one who gave them to him, okay? If he's touched, maybe he'll let me have his Heracross. Hehe~"

Damn, just when I thought you'd finally become a decent person, you're still scheming for someone else's Pokémon!

"Give me back my emotional moment, you bastard!"

After waiting for the newcomers to calm down, Leon handed them over to Ethan and the others.

The idea of veterans guiding newbies had been in his mind ever since he decided to summon new players.

Having veteran players guide rookies would actually work better than him doing it personally.

After all, he was just an NPC in the game. There were many things he couldn't say directly.

Even logging out had to be phrased as "returning to the divine realm," making it far less convenient than direct communication between players.

Moreover, with players handling the guidance, he wouldn't have to exhaust himself.

Back when he was personally guiding the first five veteran players, he had been mentally strained the entire time, afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Even then, Ethan's questions had almost made him slip up. It was nothing like the ease he felt now.

After watching the players leave, Leon lazily yawned.

"Ha... I was too excited last night and barely slept. Time to go back and take a nap."

"So? Was I lying? Isn't this game insane?" Ethan said proudly to Lin Murphy.

"Insane! This game isn't just insane—it's mind-blowing!" Lin Murphy gave a thumbs-up.

"By the way, are there always this many NPCs in the game?"

They were currently walking down the town's streets, surrounded by bustling crowds. Lin Murphy was shocked.

Most games would be lucky to have a few dozen NPCs, but in this game, he had already seen over a hundred.

And they had only walked down two streets. If that was the case, did this town have thousands of NPCs?

"Why are you surprised about the number of NPCs? You're missing the point. Try observing their behavior."

Lin Murphy focused on the NPCs around them, carefully studying their every move.

Soon, he noticed something special about them.

"Holy shit! None of these NPCs are following fixed scripts. Are all their actions randomized? How much programming would that take?"

"Too small. Think bigger. From what I know, these NPCs are all AIs, no different from real people!"

"Seriously? Thousands of AIs? This game is that extravagant?"

"Of course. They've already developed a full virtual reality game. What's a few AIs to them?"

Ethan repeated the argument Dylan had once used on him. Admittedly, it worked well—Lin Murphy was convinced.

But unlike before, this wasn't just speculation. He had gotten confirmation.

As for the source? None other than Ash, the game's designer.

When Ethan sent Ash his recommendations for new players, he also shared some of his theories about the game.

Ash confirmed some of them, like the fact that the NPCs were all AIs.

This excited Ethan, who repeatedly promised never to reveal that Ash had leaked information to him.

That was why he didn't tell Lin Murphy his exact source.

"Anyway, just treat the NPCs like real people. Don't act like you would in other games, where you ignore them."

"I don't do that. I respect NPCs in other games too."

"Bullshit. Remember that city-building game you played? To make the hospital earn more money, you connected the sewage pipes to the drinking water pipes and poisoned an entire city of NPCs!"

"Ugh, that was just for video content."

Lin Murphy scratched his head awkwardly.

"Just make sure you treat the NPCs well, especially Lord Leon. There's no downside to sucking up to him."

"Of course I know to suck up to him. He has the power to ban accounts."

"It's more than that. He's the main character of this game. The story progresses based on his actions. So don't ever piss him off, or you'll have a hard time later."

Ethan spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Damn, this NPC is that important? How do you even know this?"

"Don't worry about how I know. Just do it. I wouldn't steer you wrong."

This was another theory Ash had confirmed, so Ethan couldn't reveal his source.

"Alright, I'll take you to the Mission Hall first. There's a perfect mission for you there."

Ethan brought Lin Murphy to the Mission Hall and pointed at one on the board.

"You like management and construction games, right? This mission is perfect for you."

Lin Murphy read the mission description, then his eye started twitching.

"You call building houses 'management and construction'?"

(End of Chapter)