Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 411 - 244 Second Stage_2

Chapter 411: Chapter 244 Second Stage_2

The literary players shared key points on governance, such as when to watch out for the emperor’s escape, when to help Li Boxi organize the capital’s defense, and what the best responses were when the emperor posed questions, and so on.

Among the numerous walkthroughs, aside from individual profession strategies, there also appeared walkthroughs involving cooperation between multiple identities.

Take, for example, the walkthrough by Chu Ge and Li Hongyun.

Players were surprised to discover that assassins and literary figures could actually collaborate to kill the emperor?

Though it ended with the deaths of both participants, managing to complete the instance in this way was also a kind of skipping class, in a sense!

Of course, this method required quite a bit of preparation and a certain level of skill and luck. But regardless, from signaling in the tavern to carrying out assassination orders, Chu Ge and Li Hongyun had tried and established a very effective path to clear the instance—one that other players could follow after.

Even two players who were completely strangers could attempt to clear the instance in this manner.

There were, naturally, other methods of cooperation between different identities.

For example, some players discovered that literary players could apply to the emperor to become envoys for peace negotiations, and during the journey to the Jin soldiers’ large camp around Taiyuan, they could make a brief stop in Pingding County.

And if a literary player spoke up, an assassin player could accompany them as a member of the entourage.

On their way to the Peace Army, they could also pass through the small village where the Ranger player resided.

With this setup, there were many possible actions.

For instance, a literary player could first signal the assassin player, then together proceed to Taiyuan City as envoys for peace negotiations.

This mission of negotiation was essentially meaningless. The Qi Dynasty’s condition had changed from ceding three towns like before to Jin Country to paying a ransom and annual tribute instead.

Such terms were practically a joke, characteristic of Emperor Yingzong of Qi’s foolish actions. For the Jin people, the reason for demanding the inclusion of Taiyuan among the three strategic military towns was to better use them as springboards for attacking Qi in the future. With the imminent fall of Taiyuan and the three towns within easy reach, would they lose their minds and give them up?

Therefore, this peace negotiation was a complete loss of national dignity and would easily infuriate the Jin people, possessing absolutely no chance of success—it was the epitome of a brainless move.

But by taking on this peace negotiation mission, players could do many things.

While passing through the small village, they could first help the Ranger player deal with invading Jin soldiers to protect the villagers;

Then, when heading to the Peace Army, they could use their status as imperial envoys to compliment the general, elevating the status of player soldiers, or even have the player soldiers escort them to the Jin Camp;

Upon arriving at the Jin Camp, literary players and assassin players could even attempt to assassinate high-ranking Jin officers.

Of course, the success rate of assassinating these Jin high-ups would be extremely low, but it was still an option, regardless.

Players found that the challenge seemed very difficult at first mainly because everyone was fighting independently, and their initial statuses were too low, meaning it was hard to make an impact in the grand upheaval sweeping the land.

But once players began to establish connections and cooperate with each other, the level of challenge started to plummet drastically.

While it was still difficult to prevent the Jingping Incident, completing the instance’s mission was no longer so far out of reach.

And a few players who had already cleared the first stage were filled with anticipation for the second stage of the instance that was about to begin.

...

p.m.

Zhao Haiping entered the game world of "Dark Sand" once again.

He had previously used his soldier identity to clear the first stage’s challenge in the final moments of the first night.

It must be said that since there weren’t many ready-made strategies for players helping each other at that time, Zhao Haiping was mostly struggling on his own.

And still managing to clear the first stage under such circumstances showed he truly was among the very top tier of players.

Naturally, the most difficulty Zhao Haiping faced was in the Peace Army’s defense battle.

In this battle, the Jin army swept in like a tide, shaking the small city to its core.

To hold out as long as possible and meet the game’s requirements, Zhao Haiping made numerous attempts.

For instance: descending the city wall with the elite of the Qi Army to launch a surprise attack on the Jin soldiers’ camp;

Perhaps leading even more cavalry, with a bit in their mouths and their hooves wrapped in cloth, they would take the winding mountain roads around Pingding County to the rear of the Jin soldiers about to launch an attack, and raid the Jin encampments.

Or perhaps, on the city walls, using flawless archery to repel the attacks of the Jin soldiers time after time.

It might also be possible that when the Jin soldiers breached the city, he was the first among his comrades, driving the Jin soldiers back out with his spear and saber in hand and stabilizing the defense line.

Failure upon failure, each time inching closer to success.

In history, General Han Fuyue had only one chance, and the answer he gave was that the county town with fewer than three thousand people had inflicted over ten thousand casualties on the elite Jin forces.

Though the details have long been submerged in the annals of history, this battle must have been unimaginably brutal.

And after countless deaths and reincarnations, Zhao Haiping had finally reached the pinnacle of what a foot soldier could achieve in this instance.

After completing the first stage, Zhao Haiping had finally arrived at the second stage of this instance.

Before him, there were three other identities.

These three identity cards were clearly above the original four basic identities.

The characters on the cards wore luxurious attire, suggesting high status.

And what was more interesting was that below these cards were the difficulty level and a line of system prompts,

"Different identities have different unlock and clear conditions. The difficulty assessment is a comprehensive evaluation based on the situation faced by the character and the end goal for clearing."

The first card depicted a general full of vigor.

Below the card, the difficulty was written as: Grade A-.

The second card depicted a cultured scholar.

Below the card, the difficulty level was written as: Grade B+.

The third card showed a profligate son in the garb of a prince, obviously holding the highest status.

Below the card, the difficulty was written as: Grade A+.

Zhao Haiping couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

"These three identities...

"The first one, could it possibly be General Han Fuyue? But players may not necessarily play as the actual General Han, but instead, like General Han, climb from a minor soldier step by step to the top.

"The second identity looks like a high-ranking official. If this identity must be higher than the Imperial Censor from the first stage, then he must be a high official in the court, a First-grade or Second-grade official, and possibly even a Chancellor.

"The third identity, seems like a prince? Could it be one of Emperor Qihui’s sons, or in fact, Prince Nine, that infuriating Prince Kang who framed General Han Fuyue?

"These three identities have different levels of difficulty.

"The prince holds the highest difficulty, followed by the general, with the civil official having the lowest difficulty.

"Actually, if you think about it, if I were really playing as Prince Kang, the difficulty should be very low since all he had to do was fully support General Han Fuyue and he could win effortlessly.

"But clearly, in this trial, it’s not enough for Prince Kang to simply give brainless support to General Han Fuyue; he must face many challenges, and that’s why the system has rated it as the highest difficulty, Grade A+.

"Hmm...

"The Hero Spirit summoning function mentioned in the previous announcement has also been unlocked. That is to say, I can summon a Hero Spirit for guidance during the challenge, or I could even let him possess me and handle some of the more troublesome matters.

"Of course, once I delegate control, whatever happens is out of my hands..."

After his analysis, Zhao Haiping ultimately decided to first try taking on the role of "General."

After all, this was his specialty, and he felt quite proficient at it.

Then, he selected a talent related to marching and fighting, swiftly beginning the second stage of the trial.