Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 179 - 174 Inference (Extra - , Vote Request 3)

Chapter 179: Chapter 174 Inference (Extra Chapter, Vote Request 3)

After leaving the game, Chu Ge immediately pulled the other three people into a chat group.

The name of the chat group was "Starting with a Bowl" Instance Strategy Squad."

"How is everyone’s progress? Talk about the situations you encountered while playing other identities?"

Soon, everyone began to share their own experiences.

If talking about material conditions, Lu Heng, who played the identity of a beggar, was obviously the worst off, realistically cosplaying as the lowest class of tenant farmers, starting from childhood herding cattle for landlords, then suffering labor conscription and famine.

He suffered a lot, but didn’t have much clue on how to clear the instance.

Lu Heng speculated that possibly joining the Rebel Army would be considered an end, but in all of last night’s gameplay, no elements related to the Rebel Army appeared.

There was no letter from fellow villagers, nor any news of the Rebel Army’s uprising; he didn’t even have the chance to rebel.

Moving to Yun Ying, who was playing as a member of the Rebel Army, the situation was a bit better.

Although the weapons and equipment were still quite primitive, at least she no longer had worries about food and clothing.

The battles experienced by the Rebel Army initially didn’t seem to have too high difficulty, with Yun Ying’s skills, the victories even seemed too simple and easy.

However, she too had no idea about the conditions needed to clear the instance.

Next was Zhao Haiping, who was to play Emperor Taizu of Sheng personally leading the campaign against the Northern Barbarians.

But so far, Zhao Haiping had only tried the scenario where the emperor did not lead the campaign personally; he was still unclear about the specific events he would encounter if the emperor did lead.

Lastly, it was Chu Ge.

He played the aged Emperor Taizu of Sheng, spending his days reviewing memorials. He didn’t know what the state of Emperor Taizu was like back then, but reviewing memorials every day was almost driving him mad.

Some critical cases would randomly appear among these memorials, and how these cases were dealt with directly affected the future of the Great Sheng Dynasty.

The only key case he had dealt with so far was the North-South List case, and after going around in circles, Chu Ge could only handle it in the manner of Emperor Taizu, dealing with the related personnel severely and strictly.

But as for what kind of cases he might encounter next, he had no idea.

After everyone shared their experiences, Lu Heng felt somewhat overwhelmed.

"I feel like I’ve been majorly duped! All the identities you are playing, whether it’s Rebel Army, general, or emperor, are either a test of skills, commanding, or governance. And here I am, purely being tested on suffering!

"You probably can’t imagine what it feels like to wake up every day in a sour-smelling thatched cottage, and then go out to pick up cow dung... and also see the miserable sight of people eating Goddess Earth...

"It’s too miserable!"

Chu Ge cleared his throat, "But you can consider it from another angle.

"Playing a beggar certainly entails the most suffering, that’s true, but from what we see, playing a beggar also holds a very high threshold of endurance.

"In the end, our four identity plays are to receive an overall score. The other identities will definitely have quite dynamic indicators.

"For example, being part of the Rebel Army definitely involves how many rebels you’ve rallied, how many enemies defeated, and how much territory you’ve captured; as a general, it’s certainly about how many Northern Barbarians you’ve defeated and how many correct command decisions you’ve made; and as an emperor, it’s about how many critical cases you’ve uncovered, how well they were handled, and by how many years you’ve extended the reign of the Great Sheng Dynasty."

"Only beggars should be free from these dynamic indicators and live steadily; their score should be high.

"So, this identity of yours is really important and likely to have a bitter start but sweet end. It’s tough at the beginning, but once you get used to it, clearing the instance should be relatively easy."

Lu Heng said, "Oh... is that so? Alright then, I’ll keep looking into it."

Huo Yun Ying asked, "So how do you think I should play this Rebel Army identity?"

Chu Ge replied, "Don’t rush, I am about to analyze them one by one.

"Based on everyone’s experiences, I can roughly guess the main objective of clearing this instance.

"Of course, my guess might not be accurate, it’s just a kind of betting, everyone should pay some attention and look up some historical materials. You might find them useful in the next two days.

"Emperor Taizu of Sheng’s universally acknowledged greatest achievements can be summarized in four sentences: expelling the barbarians, rebuilding Huaxia, establishing standards and providing relief to the people.

"If we break down these four sentences, it involved successfully driving the Northern Barbarians back to the Desert North; reuniting the then fragmented Huaxia, re-establishing a sense of identity among regions like the north and south, Yan, Yun, and River West which had been separate for hundreds of years; setting up a range of new systems that laid a solid foundation for the future of the Great Sheng Dynasty, and providing relief to the common peasants struggling in hardship so they could have better lives.

"So, analyzing the four identities within this instance, it’s not hard to conclude: this instance intends to let players experience again the greatest challenges Emperor Taizu faced at different stages of his life.

"The point about expelling the barbarians surely corresponds to the ’Commander’ identity, where players recreate his glorious campaigns; while rebuilding Huaxia, establishing standards, and providing relief to the people are more likely tied to the ’Emperor’ identity, putting many decisions into memorials for players to analyze and decide."

Huo Yun Ying asked, "What about the identities of the beggar and the Rebel Army?"

Chu Ge continued, "The challenge of the ’Beggar’ identity is related to providing relief to the people. It’s not solely a reflection of Emperor Taizu’s hardships during his youth.

"Since Emperor Taizu made many decisions considering both the perspectives of the emperor and the peasants, the experiences encountered in the beggar identity would inevitably influence his decisions.

"As for the ’Rebel Army’ identity, it should also be related both to expelling the barbarians and providing relief to the people. In the role of the Rebel Army, Emperor Taizu’s military and administrative skills were continuously increasing, and he saw more of the hardships of the people."

Lu Heng realized, "I see, I get it now.

"So, these four identities represent four extremely important stages in Emperor Taizu’s life, each facing different challenges; on the other hand, they are interconnected, where early experiences influence later decisions."

Chu Ge sent a "thumbs up" emoji: "Exactly."

Zhao Haiping asked, "So what exactly should we focus our efforts on?"

Chu Ge analyzed, "Let’s discuss it one by one.

"My role as the emperor is quite clear, I should identify and resolve potential issues within the limited time of Emperor Taizu’s later years.

"Identifying individual cases and handling them properly to potentially extend the reign of the Great Sheng Dynasty.

"As for Hai Ping playing the Commander, he certainly needs to win battles against the Northern Barbarians’ army as much as possible, securing at least a few decades of peace for the Great Sheng Dynasty.

"My guess is that the focus here might not be on military command but rather on decision-making, strategic vision, and overall coordination.

"After all, in such large-scale warfare, specific implementation should be carried out by the subordinate generals. And it’s unlikely for players to develop as comprehensive a strategy as the real Emperor Taizu in history.

"As for Yun Ying playing the Rebel Army, and Lu Heng playing the beggar...

"I suspect that these might likely represent two other game modes.

"The Rebel Army might be a development mode, while the beggar could be a highly random mode."