Monsters Are Coming
Chapter 62 - 61 NPC Favorability_2

Chapter 62: Chapter 61 NPC Favorability_2

Now, he is still a Reserve Soldier and cannot be equipped with Space Items.

Even if he is promoted to an Official Soldier of the Reverse Tide Army, it would require a large amount of War Merit to be equipped with Space Items.

Such precious things, and yet this group who call themselves the Player Clan each possess one.

But upon further consideration, Duan Xing couldn’t help but shake his head internally.

Space Items all have a physical medium, and he had previously killed many members of the Player Clan. When they died, they disintegrated into black mist and did not drop any items, which does not match the characteristics of Space Items.

Could it be their unique physical structure, possessing internal spaces for storing items?

Duan Xing then thought of another possibility.

There is a racial force within the Reverse Tide Army named "Sky Clan", whose members have a special racial skill - after reaching adulthood, their stomachs undergo a miraculous change, forming a space where items can be stored.

He believes that members of the Player Clan most likely also possess a similar ability, by altering their bodily structure, forming a small space within their bodies for storing items.

But this explanation, upon careful thought, still does not clarify why there are no item drops when they dissipate into black mist after death.

Facing the food offered by Li Zheng and others, Duan Xing did not refuse and took it with his hand.

He planned to have a good chat with this group of Player Clan members next, to probe into the internal situation of their race and the origins of their special abilities.

Sitting down, Duan Xing forcefully twisted open the can lid and after a light taste of the food, couldn’t help but frown.

This food didn’t contain even a trace of energy, purely satisfying hunger, utterly worthless, less effective than directly absorbing the Heaven and Earth Energy to replenish bodily consumption.

Nevertheless, in order to gather information, he continued eating in small bites, looking for an opportunity to initiate conversation.

During this time, Li Zheng and others also sat down in front of Duan Xing, watching him eat, automatically imagining a floating text notification above the head of God of Wealth:

Favorability +1

Favorability +1

After a good start, they just needed to wait until the Favorability reached the threshold to reap the reward from God of Wealth.

In the subsequent conversation, Duan Xing asked about the origins of the Player Clan.

Although he had already questioned Zhou Xiao, he still planned to delve deeper.

Faced with the inquiry, Li Zheng’s thoughts were completely different from Zhou Xiao’s.

Zhou Xiao’s philosophy was to say whatever he knew, not concealing anything, without considering the potential impact.

But Li Zheng was different.

As an experienced player, he knew that the NPCs in the game world are actually intelligent AIs created by the Moon Eclipse Clan, implanted with memories corresponding to the game world background at birth, unaware they are NPCs thinking they are living beings, unaware of the true purpose of their existence meant to create game content for players.

Therefore, plainly explaining that he is a player is essentially breaking the game rules, providing NPCs with incomprehensible content.

In Li Zheng’s view, such behavior is quite disgraceful, and in severe cases, the NPCs who learn the truth might be reclaimed by the Moon Eclipse Clan for re-initialization to prevent doubts about their self-positioning and emergence of extraneous thoughts.

As a player, Li Zheng felt he should engage NPCs within the background role meant for players.

This is also a way to enhance his own immersion in the game.

Therefore, when introducing the Player Clan, he referred to the Guidance background for his description.

Stating that once he was a member of the Player Clan who worshiped Emperor Zhao, fallen into slumber after the advent of the Black Tide, and only recently awakened, aiming to rekindle the Emperor’s Fire and reclaim the territories devoured by the Black Tide.

During this, Li Zheng also introduced the land under their feet.

Stating this area belongs to the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, once the burial ground of Emperor Zhao, and now at the outskirts of Monster World.

However, unlike Zhou Xiao, Li Zheng did not mention Imperial Tomb Village.

Because Newbie Village is the Resurrection Point for players, which in Li Zheng’s view is clearly difficult for NPCs to comprehend.

This communication went smoothly, without content being blocked or muted.

After collecting this information, Duan Xing increasingly felt the urge to persuade the Player Clan to his side.

But the problem was, the Player Clan, being an ancient race from the Ancient Times and worshipers of the old Creator God, Emperor Zhao, seemed obsolete in their thoughts and apparently unwilling to join the Reverse Tide Army.

After talking for a long time and realizing Duan Xing hadn’t brought up the idea of giving out red packets, Li Zheng became a bit impatient.

Being a member of the Working Party, he viewed time as money and could no longer afford to waste it like this.

"God of Wealth, there is a saying in our Player Clan: ’A gift in return,’ which means that it’s polite to give a gift in return after receiving one from a friend."

Hearing this, Duan Xing was momentarily stunned, then looked down at the empty food can he had in his hand.

The meaning of Li Zheng was clear, he obviously hoped to receive some gifts in return.

Thinking of the lifesaving grace of the Player Clan, Duan Xing didn’t quibble over the value of the food, and after a brief consideration, he took out a purple crystal stone from his arm guard and handed it to Li Zheng:

"This is a Purple Soul Crystal Stone, my return gift."

Taking the Purple Soul Crystal Stone, Li Zheng’s eyes lit up with a smile upon seeing that the analysis information displayed it as a level 7 Spirit Ore.

After chatting for a while, there was finally a gain; indeed, it was necessary to brush up favorability first before moving on to the red packet phase.

But after receiving the crystal stone, he couldn’t help but ask:

"God of Wealth, do you possibly also have Body Refining Skills to give?"

Hearing this, a vein twitched on Duan Xing’s forehead. He realized that the news of previously giving Body Refining Skills to the Player Clan had obviously spread within the player community.

Asking for Body Refining Skills was their main purpose for approaching this time.

"No, I only carried one set of Body Refining Skills with me." Duan Xing firmly shook his head in refusal.

Duan Xing’s response left Li Zheng and others somewhat disappointed, and their team voice channel analyzed:

"Brother Li, it might be because our favorability isn’t enough, or the God of Wealth’s inventory hasn’t refreshed the Body Refining Skills. Let’s come back next time."

"Too bad, we finally met the God of Wealth, and didn’t expect that the stock of Body Refining Skills was already cleared out. We can only wait for the next refresh."

"Trading a food can costing 1 sacrificial power for a level 7 ore, we’ve already made a big profit, bros don’t be so greedy, it’s time to retreat."

...

And with that, the discussion ended, and Li Zheng and others stood up to leave.

What Duan Xing didn’t know was, due to his friendly actions towards the Player Clan, continuous harassment followed.

Not long after Li Zheng left, he posted a strategy thread in the forum.

[The Correct Way to Open the God of Wealth, Hidden Attributes in the Game: NPC Intimacy.]

Poster: Game Working Party.

Content:

In the forum, I’ve learned a lot from strategies posted by various brothers, and today, I finally have something practical to give back.

Straight to the point, recently everyone has been searching for the God of Wealth, thinking that finding the God of Wealth will lead to receiving gifts, but this idea is actually wrong, because I discovered there is a hidden attribute in the game: favorability.

The three characters of favorability probably need no explanation by me, brothers who have played games understand.

In other games, NPC intimacy can be straightforwardly obtained by viewing the attribute panel, and reaching a certain level of intimacy with NPCs can provide convenient services, or purchase permissions for discounted or special products.

But the friendship in this game is a hidden attribute, although it cannot be seen from the attribute panel or other places, it does indeed exist....

...

The strategy post shared by Li Zheng narrated how he gifted the God of Wealth and received a red packet gift in return.

A level 7 quality Spirit Ore.

This post quickly climbed in popularity on the forum, many players replied thanking him and stating that they learned the correct way to utilize the God of Wealth.

Li Zheng’s success reinforced players’ impression of Duan Xing.

Thinking the God of Wealth was a special mechanism in the game where encountering him could lead to making a small fortune, and if lucky, the God of Wealth’s space bag had just refreshed the Body Refining Skills, one could make a killer profit.

This sparked a craze of trading junk for treasures.

All players wanted to exchange cheap items bought through the mall for high-value Body Refining Skills or high-quality Spirit Ores from the God of Wealth.

Meanwhile, unknowing Duan Xing was considering whether to further investigate the Player Clan.

For instance, finding their clan land, covertly observing and collecting information.

If in the future there was a chance to return to his homeland, then he would report the information on the Player Clan and try to persuade the Player Clan to join the Reverse Tide Army, becoming one of the racial forces serving the Reverse Tide Army.

Little did he know, a wave of "favorability harassment" was about to come.