Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 63 - 59: Historical Analysis!

Chapter 63: Chapter 59: Historical Analysis!

He was back at square one again.

Hai Ping just wanted to yell out loud, "Damn it, refund!"

For a moment, the atmosphere peaked, and Hai Ping truly believed that in the next second, a fire would ignite outside to capture all these Eastern Barbarian bandits.

Then he realized he had thought too much.

This instance obviously couldn’t be cleared so easily.

But this endeavor wasn’t a total waste, since Hai Ping had at least gathered more information and had some idea on how to clear this Trial Illusion instance.

More importantly, he had unlocked a new identity!

Besides the original three basic identities, he had also unlocked the identity of Su Xianjun, although each role-play would consume 50 identity points.

Hai Ping checked his identity points, only 66 left.

"Previously it was 76, and last time in the Trial Illusion not a single bandit was killed, meaning death deducted 10 points.

"Killing an ordinary bandit scores about 5 to 10 points.

"That means... each time, I need to kill at least one to two bandits to ensure a net increase in identity points, and playing a key character costs 50 identity points per time, which is quite expensive...

"But that’s not a huge problem, after all, I can think of ways to farm points while sharpening my combat skills.

"The key issue is, about playing Su Xianjun, I’m really not confident...

"Going on stage to perform ’Peach Blossom Fan’, even with my talents as a Regressionist to help, I can’t even bear to imagine that scene...

"Now the general flow of the instance seems clear, it’s about finding a way to help Su Xianjun complete the mission to incinerate the theater and capture all these bandits.

"But easier said than done, achieving this goal seems to require many conditions...

"Such a complicated instance really doesn’t suit someone like me who only has an IQ of 9."

Hai Ping was still struggling to sort out the flow of the instance when suddenly, his vision began to be enveloped by clouds, and he gradually felt like he was about to wake up.

"Is today’s fun over already?"

Hai Ping was still a bit unwilling to let it go.

The scale of the Trial Illusion instance had increased, which extended the time for each experience. Though he had already spent a long time inside the instance, it still felt utterly insufficient.

But there was no choice, the happy times are always fleeting. He could only wait until tomorrow night to seek revenge on that Wandering Warrior.

...

After waking up in reality, Hai Ping washed up and immediately opened the forum to check.

Sure enough, the forum quickly refreshed with new posts, all discussing this new instance.

Players had now formed a habit of posting right away after exiting an instance to share their experiences with others.

After all, there was a saying, "The early bird gets the worm," and those who discussed the content of the instance first were also more likely to gain popularity.

Many players had explored the instance tirelessly all night just to show off on the forum in front of everyone.

Hai Ping went downstairs for breakfast, and after refreshing the forum once more, he quickly saw a lot of discussions about the new instance; even Chuge had posted, and some other players well-versed in history also shared their opinions.

Regarding the historical model of this instance, there was hardly any doubt among them.

"This new instance’s historical model is probably from the late Great Sheng Dynasty with the invasions of the bandits. This small county town is called Chongyuan County, and the County Magistrate is named Tang Yizhang. Here’s what the historical records say:

"Tang Yizhang, ... recommended as the County Magistrate of Chongyuan County by Scholar’s nomination, devoted and just in governance. ... Before the earth fortress was completed, bandits invaded; he personally led the military and civilians in defense, spearheaded street fights, and slew several bandits with his own hands before succumbing to severe wounds, and the county fell. ... Among the thieves, there were gifted poets, like frustrated scholars out of favor, who joined the enemy as spies and guides, one of them inscribed a poem on the courtyard wall: ’Mists at dawn open and close ...’ All the local militia were righteously furious, shouting, ’If we do not kill these bandits, how can we avenge Lord Tang?’ They fought a fiery battle, bathed in blood, annihilated nearly a hundred thieves, and recaptured the county. ... Posthumously honored as ’Min Zhong,’ a tomb was erected, a temple built, and a stele raised in his memory."

"These plot elements should be familiar to everyone from the instance, right?

"Clearly, the situation with County Magistrate Tang was designed as a plot twist, as the disparity in strength between us and the enemy made it quite unlikely to win at the start. As for that poet in the opera house, records of him do exist even in the historical books.

"The goal of this instance should be, presumably, to organize the local volunteers to fight a bloody battle against the Eastern Barbarian bandits and recover the county seat, capturing all the thieves in one fell swoop.

"However, concerning the other significant characters in this instance, including two owners of the opera house, Su Xianjun and Yang Xinyan, and the representative of the local militia, Gao Ze, no records can be found.

"Wang Jinhui can be found somewhat in historical materials. He was a well-known scholar at the time, the author of the ’Yunjiang Collection.’ He met with bandits and died for his country while visiting his relatives back in Chongyuan County.

"Only a single poem from the ’Yunjiang Collection’ has survived to this day:

"Evening rain falls on a humble abode, no one to inquire of joys and sorrows;

"Years hastily pass, leaving sorrows spanning thousands of miles;

"A trace of frost emerges on temples, no regrets for the youth spent wandering;

"The soul departs with no place of return, yet is not willing to forget Shenzhou.

"While this poem may not be lauded for its literary excellence, it undoubtedly expresses profound patriotic emotions. Combined with his encounters with Eastern Barbarian bandits and sacrifice for his country, the prevailing view remains to regard him as a patriotic poet, though whether he was specifically involved in this instance remains debatable."

"It must be said, there are many experts among the players; in less than an hour, the original texts related to this instance were completely unearthed.

"Zhao Haiping seriously suspects that some players didn’t even wait for the game time to end before they quit proactively to research the historical materials, all to be the first to post online.

"In any case, these materials are indeed helpful, but they are still far from enough to solve the instance.

"Previous trial instances were similar; some had detailed historical records, like the Assassin’s trial; others had no records at all, and players had to guess, like the Ranger’s trial.

"The new instance clearly follows the same style; there are definitely historical records, but not complete ones.

"They are somewhat helpful, but relying on copying the historical records to pass the instance isn’t viable.

"Moreover, this time the official instance also introduces new mechanisms: choice of identity and correction of character.

"The basic framework of the instance is set, and most players’ experience process is similar to Zhao Haiping’s—initially trying to help County Magistrate Tang repel the Eastern Barbarian bandits. After failing, they realize that the opera house might be an essential subplot and hence experience it, mostly encountering the same failure.

"Of course, some players did not enter the opera house but instead tried to find Gao Ze and gather the local militia within the county, only to busy themselves in vain.

"Although players’ experiences are broadly similar, how to precisely pass the instance next is subject to wide-ranging opinions and difficult to agree upon.

"A Ranger player posted saying, ’I analyze that there are two objectives for the upcoming game; one is to catch the traitor, and the other is to find out which character was tampered with, to correct and fix their portrayal as quickly as possible through role-playing!

"As for the matter of character tampering, I haven’t activated these special identities yet, so I won’t comment on that. Let me focus on catching the traitor.

"I seriously suspect that in addition to the scholar, the apparent traitor, there might be more hidden traitors within the instance!

"The reason is simple; my process differs from everyone else’s—I fought with the city wall all night, practically circling the entire wall several times. I found that the break in the wall wasn’t particularly noticeable, and because the city wall was under repair, there were many more conspicuous gaps.

"However, this particular gap was the weakest point of our defenses.

"The bandits just happened to attack through this gap, which is too much of a coincidence! If only they had chosen another direction, perhaps County Magistrate Tang would have managed to organize men to intercept them before they breached the city, potentially rewriting the entire storyline.

"Considering historical records mention many large families and wealthy merchants colluding with the Eastern Barbarian bandits, even scheming to harm those fighting against the bandits, it’s not unusual to suspect someone in this small county was bought by the Eastern Barbarian bandits.

"As for what everyone mentioned about Su Xianjun’s failed plan to set fire to the opera house, it’s very likely traitors interfered.

"So I believe we should first concentrate our efforts on finding all the traitors! Only by purging these traitors can we greatly increase our chances of success.

"Otherwise, no matter how perfect the plan, once it’s sabotaged by a traitor, all our previous efforts will be wasted."

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