“It’s the Shentian Guild members.”
“As expected of the players from the number one guild. Even their entrance is different from ours.”
“They look so cool.”
Whispers spread among the players.
Even in the guild members who had reached the 800th floor, Little Overlord’s fiery red hair stood out.
He walked slightly behind Nian Suihan, with an arrogant and superior attitude.
The players unconsciously stepped back, making way for the Shentian Guild.
Nian Suihan had a smile on his face, looking harmless and more approachable than the grandpa next door, but no one dared to provoke him.
Because of the Shentian Guild’s appearance, the lobby fell into a brief silence.
The Shentian Guild stopped in the middle of the lobby, and perhaps intentionally, they were right next to Bai Lixin and his group.
Nian Suihan waved with a smile, “What a coincidence, President Bai Lixin, we meet again. We really are fated.”
Bai Lixin: “I don’t hope for such fate.”
Nian Suihan: “Haha, President Bai Lixin is still as humorous as ever.”
During the ten-minute countdown, Bai Lixin quietly observed the members of the Shentian Guild.
This was his first time seeing all the members of the Shentian Guild together. Among the crowd, he recognized a few familiar faces—there was the girl who sought revenge for her boyfriend and the man with glasses who competed with him for the token during the “Nationwide Battle”, along with several other players.
Aside from them, there were a few other players he had met in previous copies.
When he looked at Little Overlord, Little Overlord gave him an ambiguous smile.
Like a shark spotting a long-lost delicious prey, sharp and blatant.
He was confident, as if he knew exactly what was going to happen next.
As the ten-minute countdown ended, three players were just stepping out of the elevator.
As the system announced the time was up, they watched helplessly as the heads of those three players separated from their bodies.
Their heads bounced twice on the ground and rolled to the center of the lobby, their faces frozen in terror.
[Ding! The ten-minute countdown has ended. A total of 549 players failed to reach the game lobby in time. The decapitation punishment has been completed.]
[There are 284,573 players in the game lobby. Welcome, players.]
Someone in the crowd muttered, “It’s not like we wanted to come here. What’s with the welcome?”
[…The Horror Game will now commence the second Nationwide Battle Event. This game is called ‘The Queen’s Defense Battle’.]
[The 280,000 players will be randomly assigned to different factions. In each faction, a ‘Queen Card’ will be randomly generated. The Queen Card contains a large amount of points as a reward. The player who obtains the Queen Card will become the ‘Queen’ of that faction, the highest symbol of authority in that faction. Aside from the Queen, all other members of the faction will be foot soldiers, each with a random identity card.]
[Killing the Queen of another faction will earn you the high-point reward from the Queen Card.]
[Friendly reminder: Protecting the Queen is the mission of the foot soldiers. If the Queen dies, the foot soldiers will be buried with her.]
At this point, the scene erupted into chaos.
[Due to the large number of players, the number of factions will also be increased accordingly.]
[As the number of players decreases, the number of factions will also decrease accordingly.]
The players erupted in another wave of exclamations.
[Friendly reminder: Factions are not inherently hostile. Factions can form alliances on their own.]
[Every 6 hours, there will be a reset time. Your ally from one moment could become your enemy in the next. Please pay attention to the game arrangements during the game.]
[The points in the Queen Card cannot be used by the Queen herself. When the game ends, the surviving faction will share the points in the Queen Card equally.]
[The points earned in this game will have a new name, called ‘Honor Coins’. Players can use Honor Coins to redeem corresponding props in the Honor Mall.]
[Friendly reminder: The props in the Honor Mall are more advanced than those in the Points Mall. Players can open the system panel to check for themselves.]
[To enhance the gaming experience for all players, the system will lift the floor barriers, allowing players to move freely between floors.]
[At the same time, the system will open copy channels, and NPCs from other copies will join the game, adding more fun to this Nationwide Battle Event.]
[The identity rules are as follows:]
[1. Foot soldiers have low status. They cannot kill other foot soldiers or their own Queen.]
[2. Foot soldiers are loyal to their master. They can kill copy NPCs and the Queens of other factions. Since killing a Queen is considered an act of great rebellion, foot soldiers’ attributes will be reduced by 50% when killing the Queen of another faction without their own Queen present. When a foot soldier kills another faction’s Queen while their own Queen is present, their attributes will increase by 50%.]
[3. The Queen has absolute authority and power among humans. They can kill anyone, including their own foot soldiers and the foot soldiers and Queens of other factions. At the same time, the Queen will gain a 30% attribute boost when killing members of opposing factions.]
[4. Copy NPCs are hostile and will kill anyone.]
[5. The Queen is as weak as a chicken and cannot kill copy NPCs. When encountering copy NPCs, the Queen will need the protection of foot soldiers or must quickly avoid danger.]
[The Queen’s Defense Battle will last for 7 days. Please enjoy this delightful game.]
While the system explained the game rules in detail, the players were in an uproar.
“Are you kidding me? Adding fun? Enjoying the game? Is this game crazy?”
“I might as well have died in the copy just now! You could’ve just killed me right away. Now, you want me to play a game before I die? Seriously, f*ck you!”
“In fact, there’s a sure-win strategy for this game. As long as every faction stays put, after six hours, each faction can continuously gain points. We just need to protect our faction’s queen from being killed by the copy monsters.”
“Your idea sounds great, but what if some players don’t follow it? With over 200,000 people, it’s impossible for everyone to adhere to this sure-win strategy.”
“But what if it works? We’re all players, after all. Players help players!”
[Ding! The Nationwide Battle is about to begin. In three minutes, the first faction allocation will take place. Players can use this time to hide.]
Above the game lobby, a bright red countdown timer suddenly appeared.
The crimson numbers ticked away rapidly, as if counting down the players’ lives.
The crowd of players scattered, frantically running towards the elevators.
[Ding! Friendly reminder: During the game, players cannot return to their dormitories.]
As the time ticked down, black vortexes began appearing one after another beside the red countdown timer.
Familiar and unfamiliar terrifying monsters emerged from these vortexes.
They hovered above the game lobby’s ceiling, gazing down at the players below, who had formed into a swarm like ants.
Those who initially wanted to stay in the lobby to see what would happen no longer dared to linger and all rushed toward the elevators.
Sun Ning: “We should hurry up and leave too. Let’s go to the commercial street. The terrain there is complex, which makes it easier to hide and move around.”
As they retreated, Bai Lixin glanced back at the lobby. The three hundred or so members of the Shentian Guild remained still, their expressions calm.
Bai Lixin’s gaze met Little Overlord’s in mid-air. Little Overlord silently mouthed a few words to him.
— “Run away, Your Majesty the Queen.”
The commercial street was on the 450th floor, and apparently, many players had the same idea as Sun Ning. The area was crowded.
All the shop doors were open, but the NPC attendants were nowhere to be found.
There was also a red countdown timer and black vortexes on this floor, and many monsters had already emerged from the vortexes, standing motionless in mid-air like bizarre exhibits in a showcase.
Only now did the players realize that there were monsters on every floor, not just in the game lobby.
But there was no time to move to another location, so the players had to grit their teeth and find a place to hide.
Bai Lixin’s team was too large, so they split into groups of ten to avoid danger.
Bai Lixin stayed with Xia Chi and eight other players from the Core Fire Guild.
They hid in a bar, which had many private rooms and partitions, making it a good place to hide.
While waiting for the game to start, Bai Lixin opened the system panel and began reviewing the identity rules that the system had just released.
In the [Queen’s Defense Battle], there were five possible identities:
Soldiers from the same faction.
The Queen of the same faction.
Foot Soldiers from other factions.
The Queen of other factions.
Copy NPCs.
Among these five identities, only the copy NPCs were unrestricted, while the other four identities constrained each other.
Soldiers from the same faction could kill monsters and queens from other factions, but their attributes would decrease by 50% when killing a queen, and if their own queen was present, their attributes would increase by 50%.
This rise and fall created a 100% difference.
Soldiers couldn’t kill other soldiers, whether from their own faction or another.
However, the queen could, but she couldn’t kill copy NPCs.
Soldiers from the same faction needed the queen to boost their attributes, and the queen needed the soldiers to protect her from the copy NPCs’ attacks.
Based on the current rules, the more soldiers and queens gathered in the same faction, the safer they would be.
To ensure they weren’t killed by copy NPCs, [queens] would certainly try to find their own faction’s soldiers. Similarly, the soldiers would do their best to locate their queen to avoid being collateral damage.
But with nearly 300,000 players spread across 999 floors, how easy could that be?
[The game countdown ends. The Queen’s Defense Battle officially begins!]
[First, the factions will be allocated. Based on the current number of players, there are 100 factions. Each faction has a different color and emblem, and it will appear above the players’ heads for easy identification.]
As the system’s voice faded, Bai Lixin saw a yellow sun emblem appear above Xia Chi’s head.
At the same time, Bai Lixin heard the system’s voice in his mind.
[Ding! Player automatically joins the [Azure Lion] faction.]
In his mind, a blue lion emblem floated above him.
The ten of them looked at each other, but only two had the same emblem.
[Faction allocation complete. Now distributing [Queen Cards]. Players who receive [Queen Cards] will automatically gain the [Queen] identity. The queen’s emblem is a golden crown, displayed alongside the faction emblem.]
As expected, another [Ding] rang out in Bai Lixin’s mind.
[Congratulations, player, for obtaining the [Queen Card]. For the sake of your people and your empire’s mission, do your best to survive!]
