Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 37 - 33 Vastness of Righteous Qi

Chapter 37: Chapter 33 Vastness of Righteous Qi

When he said these words, Chu Ge had already prepared himself for the instance to fail.

Indeed, his words carried the intent of confronting the emperor to vent his frustrations.

To be honest, ever since he started this scholarly instance, Chu Ge, as a player, had truly harbored a stomach full of fire.

As a loyal official seeing power-hungry courtiers dominate and an incompetent emperor reign, I risked my life to offer my counsel. Wasn’t it all for your empire, Your Majesty?

What was I even hoping to achieve?

And yet, there was both a court caning and imprisonment. Without even a royal physician, I had to scrape my own bones with a broken porcelain bowl to treat my wounds, while you all, who were good for nothing, kept trying every way possible to refute me with twisted logic.

Either by trying to tarnish my reputation, proving I was just seeking "personal fame," or persuading me to become corrupt and enjoy the banquets like everyone else.

In this world, is being a good person, a good official really that difficult?

Those in power constantly talk about their difficulties, with an emperor above and factions below to please; and the emperor complains about his difficulties, wary of both the honest and corrupt officials. Why not admit that this mess ultimately stems from your boundless greed?

Yes, everyone has difficulties, but are honest officials and common people not struggling too?

Although Chu Ge was a history student and had read too much about these damned historical incidents, which should have rendered him indifferent, having experienced Yang Yan’s life firsthand, he still wanted to scream: This world is truly a pile of stinking dog shit!

Therefore, the words he had said to Emperor Weizhao were not entirely for the purpose of clearing the instance.

A large part of it was to release his emotions!

He just wanted to ruthlessly scold this utterly clueless emperor.

Although this expression of emotion was still within the framework of that era, and the choice of words was still relatively refined, the phrasing could be considered extremely harsh.

If Emperor Weizhao flew into a rage and had him killed, the instance might still end in failure.

But Chu Ge was prepared for failure and was ready to try again.

After all, first to enjoy the verbal satisfaction, this kind of emperor, if not scolded, should be saved for later?

Unfortunately, this was a scholar instance, not an assassin instance.

Otherwise, he would have long pulled out a sword from the dark jade qilin and stabbed him dead!

Sure enough, Emperor Weizhao’s face turned from blue to purple with rage, and even under the dim light in the torture chamber, his changing complexion was quite apparent.

But Emperor Weizhao could not come up with any rebuttal and could only twitch the veins on his face, angrily shouting, "Rebellious, rebellious! Rebe..."

He was mid-sentence when suddenly his body softened and he almost fell off the chair.

The eunuchs and guards waiting outside rushed in all at once, throwing the torture chamber into chaos.

Chu Ge was still tied up, chuckling in his heart.

Serves you right!

If only I could move, I’d really like to give you a couple more kicks!

But looking at the situation now, having nearly caused the emperor to faint from anger, it seemed unlikely that the instance could be cleared.

No matter, since I’ve had my rant, we can always start over.

However, just as Chu Ge was preparing to start over, an unfamiliar interface appeared in his field of vision.

"SCHOLAR’S TRIAL: STAND FOR THE PEOPLE"

"CLEAR!"

"Clearance evaluation: After this simple trial, you must understand the seemingly simple five words ’stand for the people’s life’ require resolute belief."

"SCHOLAR identity unlocked!"

"Exclusive SCHOLAR Talent ’Righteous Aura’: When you are in a state of clear conscience, the righteous aura in your heart can more easily influence others, even a simple phrase can have a strong positive effect on others."

"Note: The exclusive talent activates automatically after choosing the identity and can be enhanced as the identity level progresses. Please consider the combination with other talents to maximize effectiveness."

Chu Ge was somewhat confused, "Hmm? I cleared it?

"Clearing it like this?

"No, it should be said ’only this way can it be cleared,’ this is the encouraged method to clear the game by the game!"

When Chu Ge first saw the clearance interface, he was a bit surprised, as he had thought the instance was going to fail.

"The core of ’Dark Sand,’ the game, lies in role-playing, which means to portray various historical figures and complete their designated missions.

In the instance for the scholar, the protagonist is Yang Yan, whose mission is to remonstrate and impeach the powerful minister Wang Chong and to advise Emperor Weizhao.

However, the words Chu Ge finally said to Emperor Weizhao had clearly exceeded the character setting of Yang Yan.

In fact, all famous scholars and loyal officials of ancient times had their historical limitations. Take Yang Yan, for example, though he remonstrated and advised Emperor Weizhao, he was indeed sincerely devoted to Emperor Weizhao, even including a line in his swan song poem that reads ’The Heaven-sent monarch is wise and clear.’

It meant that Emperor Weizhao was wise but momentarily confused or deceived by the powerful minister Wang Chong. My remonstration was to remind his Majesty and fulfill my duty as a subject. As long as his Majesty recognized the mistakes and corrected them, that would be most commendable.

Under the historical background of that time, his actions were, of course, impeccable and even seen as a moral exemplar for scholars.

But from modern Chu Ge’s perspective, it’s somewhat difficult to accept.

Because Emperor Weizhao was clearly an incompetent emperor. Though not to the extent of indulging in decadence and leaving his people in abject suffering, his arbitrary actions certainly harmed many of the common folk.

Those victims of locust plagues or droughts, who couldn’t fill their bellies, and those whose relief grain was exchanged by the Wang Faction for chaff and forage—ultimately, weren’t they all killed by this incompetent emperor?

If this emperor hadn’t indulged Wang Chong due to his personal desires, how could there have been the reckless actions of the Wang Faction?

Thus, Chu Ge did not harbor the loyalist ideals towards Emperor Weizhao like Yang Yan did. He had only one idea, to curse the emperor thoroughly!

Although he had deliberately restrained himself in the instance to play the part of Yang Yan, this behavior still exceeded the character scope of Yang Yan.

Even so, ’Dark Sand’ still deemed him successful.

Chu Ge pondered thoughtfully, ’It seems the designers of ’Dark Sand’ actually support my view?

’I am indeed playing a historical figure and cannot completely detach from the context of that era or apply modern ethical standards and ways of acting to historical figures.

’However, I don’t need to be so rigid in my portrayal, I can even engage in some creative freedom to address some limitations of historical figures, as long as it aligns with the spirit promoted by the game.

’In the scholar instance, the keyword is ’advocate for the people,’ not ’loyal to the monarch.’ This means I can be weaker in my loyalty to the monarch, but I must be strong in advocating for the people.

’Conversely, if I remain completely loyal to the monarch but neglect the suffering of the common people, then this trial would still be deemed a failure.

’So it seems... is all role-playing based on this standard?

’In this game, all events and interactions start from the perspective of the common people.

’In the assassin trial, Nie Rang’s assassination of Emperor Yanling is for the common people; in the warrior trial, the nameless Deputy General assists General Geng Zhong in defending the frontier city against the Beidi, also for the sake of the common people.

’As for the Ranger trial, although there is little information available, killing tyrants also serves the common people.

’Ah... this point is crucial, formulating a standard for role-playing will definitely help in clearing future instances.’

Chu Ge felt that he was slowly grasping the nuances of this mysterious game and was gradually understanding its underlying meanings.

The goal of this game seems not merely to reenact historical figures but also serves some deeper purposes.

However, because players currently are only exposed to the beginner’s trials, they might not even encounter one percent of the game’s content, so these ideas are still speculative and cannot be definitively confirmed.

But even so, this is enough to guide players in their approach to the game.

Chu Ge didn’t overthink it and directly chose the identity of a scholar.

From his perspective, each of the four different professions has its unique features. If viewed through the lens of traditional RPG classifications, the warrior is like a standard warrior, while the scholar is more like a support role, with skills clearly acting as buffs.

However, in this game, the four identities represent not just professions but also influence the character’s identity you play after entering the game.

Chu Ge knew he lacked talent in combat; the other three professions were not quite suitable for him. He chose the scholar, a support role, solving puzzles and buffing teammates suited him more.

’I wonder how the trials of the assassin and the ranger are progressing.

’But given the current progress of players, clearing them should be a matter of the next few days.

’Once all trial instance videos are out, they can publish a strategy guide to summarize them, which will help in pioneering future instances.

’So what should I do in the meantime?

’Maybe, go check out the Ranger instance? The backgrounds of the assassin and warrior instances are already thoroughly clear, only the Ranger instance remains uncertain with many details missing.’

Chu Ge made up his mind and decided to take another look at the Ranger instance.

He wasn’t particularly interested in the Ranger profession and didn’t think he could clear it, but understanding the background of the Ranger instance would help him analyze ’Dark Sand.’

Moreover, although he was best at puzzle and simulation management games, and somewhat impaired in action games, this didn’t stop his love for playing.

That is what is commonly known as being bad yet addictive.

He had wracked his brains to clear the scholar instance to prove himself; having done that, he could now enjoy the game like any other player."