My Players Are So Fierce

“Ding!”

The veteran player Meow King was posing as an Oak Knight should, riding his demon-hunting steed in a proper manner, leading his companions in pursuit of a fleeing pack of gnolls.

With a replica sacred blade at his waist, he swung the witch’s staff in his hand, throwing out a thorn entanglement to trip up the gnoll’s earth wolf. He was quite eager to move in for the kill, but unexpectedly, a light sound popped up on his player interface.

Looking down, he saw that the quest had updated:

【Main quest updated! The gnoll threat in the Count of Kadman’s territory has been reduced below the safety threshold. Phase 1 of the ‘Gnoll Plague’ operation has successfully concluded, and Phase 2 is now officially underway! The hunting area has expanded from the Count of Kadman’s territory to the entire Transia region!

Note!

As the plot progresses in this phase, the time-limited team dungeon 《Decisive Battle at Anderma Hills》 will be unlocked, along with the new optional faction ‘Seicob Winged Cavalry’ and a mysterious force.

For specific details, please refer to the update thread on the 《Reality Realm》 official forum.】

“Damn! This blasted game always sneaks in updates!”

Meow King cursed loudly.

But in fact, he had already sensed that the war against the gnolls was likely about to reach a turning point. The reason was very simple: he and his brothers had been hunting gnolls in the Baron of Leim’s territory for some time, but both the quantity and quality of the enemies had decreased severely.

When the event first started, riding on horseback for 30 minutes would lead to at least two gnoll lairs. But now, with the help of Tobacco Mulberry’s eagle eye technique, they could only take down a few dozen gnolls a day.

This harvest was a cliff-like drop.

But thinking about it, it made sense. The gnoll storyline had been going on for 15 days now, and given the players’ enthusiasm for killing monsters, the wild creatures in just the Count of Kadman’s territory were really not enough. The gnolls killed by players, if laid head to tail, could probably circle the count’s territory several times.

Just look at the top 10 on the score leaderboard, which of those godly players hasn’t scored over 1,200 points? The leaders, Brother Mao and Sister Pomegranate, have even reached the shocking score of 1,600.

In this game that emphasizes realism, no matter how fast gnolls can reproduce, they can’t withstand such frenzied slaughter from you killers.

“Surround them! Surround them, capture those three elite kobolds and send them to the Fight Club.”

Meow King shouted from his warhorse to the 20 People’s Army recruits following behind. These native NPCs obediently spurred their horses forward, taking charge of the gnolls and kobolds who were already frightened, trembling, and surrendering on the spot.

Because the benefits of simply killing monsters had sharply decreased, Meow King and his team were forced to take on a daily “train recruits” quest from Maxim while out hunting gnolls.

They could bring 20 recruits each time, and each quest lasted 14 hours, which perfectly matched the total daily game time for players.

To have the recruits keep up with their pace and receive enough combat scenarios and a series of tactical arrangements, completing one quest would earn 10 gold coins from Maxim.

But that’s if the recruits don’t die!

If unfortunately, one or two recruits die midway, the players would have to pay Maxim compensation for the fallen soldiers’ funeral expenses.

The profit wasn’t much, and there were risks, so casual players generally wouldn’t take it. But Meow King’s group didn’t mind, as they valued the reputation with the Kadman People’s Army more, and they weren’t particularly short on money.

In this game that emphasizes realism, reputation was quite easy to gain up to the “respected” level, but progressing beyond that required slowly grinding over time.

Fortunately, the NPCs in this game were also quite intelligent and didn’t require players to babysit them the whole time. As long as they weren’t too wild during the quest, this daily task was hard to fail.

“Look, look! The forum posts all say that the next step of the great gnoll hunt is indeed in Anderma Hills. We’re finally going to deal with that gnoll warlord who’s been eyeing us covetously!”

Little Hand, riding his horse close to Meow King, excitedly said to his cousin:

“Brother, quick, look at the post! The NPC hiring you’ve been dreaming of is finally opening up! Once we get through this storyline, as long as our reputation is high enough, we can sign employment contracts with the People’s Army.”

“Oh?”

Meow King, who had been complaining about the game’s sneak updates, immediately became interested.

He jumped off his warhorse, tossed the reins to Little Hand, and leaned against a tree. While taking a drink from his water skin, he opened the in-game forum.

The pinned hot post of the day was about the game update announcement, still an online update notice for a minor version:

【《Reality Realm》 Alpha 2.1 Closed Beta Version Online Update Announcement:

I’d like to give you a very formal and efficient version explanation, but I’ve been working overtime for several days straight, and a few guys from the development team seem to have caught the flu recently. We’ve started isolating at work, so we’re currently short-staffed. Therefore, let’s get straight to the point.

Alpha 2.1 version update contents are as follows:

1. New player-interactive factions added to test the in-game reputation system

1.1 Faction Update – Blood Rat Gang:

An underground gang led by ‘Razor’ Dorothy. They were lucky enough to escape the catastrophe that befell Kadman City, but were unlucky enough to fall into the hands of the Plague Rat King. Thanks to Lord Murphy and his warriors’ battle in the sewers, the Blood Rat Gang was saved from annihilation.

To repay the warriors’ kindness, and to contribute their strength to the establishment of Crimson Citadel, Miss Dorothy has decided to step forward and become an idol… oops, I misspoke. Sorry.

Anyway, Dorothy has joined the Blood Vulture Clan as Lady Adele’s descendant, and her gang has officially taken over the operation of the Fight Club under Maxim’s appointment.

This faction’s features: Walk in the shadows, teach thief, pickpocket, Rogue, grave robber, and locksmith profession skills, and possess the unique mechanism ‘Wanted’. Every week, the Blood Rat Gang will release a new wanted list. Players who complete wanted tasks will receive reputation, money, or material rewards.

Rumor has it that Miss Dorothy was a globe-trotting adventurer before entering this line of work, so she knows many rumors about secret treasures spread across the continent.

P.S.:

Due to AI upgrades and the popularization of the Mind Microphone plugin, Lady Adele has finally figured out what her nickname ‘E-sister’ means. So, please try to avoid mentioning this unfortunate name in front of her.

The development team reserves the right of final interpretation for any personal reputation and material losses caused by such provocative behavior.

1.2 New Faction – Seicob Winged Cavalry:

The intelligence unlock progress for this faction is not ideal. Currently, what we know is that the winged cavalry from the Count of Seicob’s territory has always been a legend of bravery on the land of Transia.

These heavy shock cavalrymen were once the nightmare of all enemies who wanted to set foot on this land. But unknown to the little players, these valiant winged cavalrymen have already had contact with the wise and martial Lord Murphy. Perhaps they will soon make their debut in the story of Transia!

Faction features: Waiting for players to discover and promote intelligence unlock.

1.3 New Faction – Unknown:

A mysterious unknown faction is growing silently like a shadow in the night. While most people are still unaware, a new character will enter the otherworld life of the warriors.

I know you’re all curious, but don’t rush.

Some of you have not only seen and known about them, but are even secretly promoting the rebirth of this new faction.

Note!

The birth process of this faction will reveal a heavyweight gameplay in the 《Reality Realm》 game system. But who will have the honor to personally raise the curtain on all of this?

Ha, let’s wait and see.

2. Reputation system improvement – new function 【Employment Contract】 coming soon

Thanks to the progress of testers in the story mode, the strength of the Count of Kadman’s territory has begun to quietly recover. Although the people on this land are barbaric and ignorant, they at least understand gratitude.

After the ‘Gnoll Plague’ storyline ends, the Crimson Citadel administration and the Blood Vulture Clan will issue ‘Employment Contracts’ to players who have reached a certain level of reputation.

Through this officially certified contract, players will be able to hire a certain number of native warriors from the Kadman People’s Army, Blood Vulture Clan, and Adventurer’s Guild to fight for them for a specific period of time.

The number, strength, and duration of natives that players can hire are all related to the player’s reputation with that faction.

However, due to the game’s focus on 100% realism, in this mode, once a native suffers serious injury or death, the player must pay a certain amount of compensation to the respective faction.

Note!

The development team has simplified the super complex AI deep learning function, so players have a certain chance of hiring natives with quite quirky personalities.

Please treat them well, otherwise, the ‘Transia Human Rights Protection Organization’ will demand fines from you!

Note!

Please negotiate the payment with the hired person before signing the contract. If labor disputes arise, double fines will be imposed according to the Transia Administrative Office’s ruling.

3. Manufacturing industry function preliminary testing completed, shop system coming soon, stay tuned

After the ‘Gnoll Plague’ storyline ends, Crimson Citadel officials will begin selling a series of properties in the area designated as the ‘trade zone’ of the city. After obtaining the deed, players can personalize their rooms and open corresponding shops.

It should be noted that this function is currently only open to players whose manufacturing skills have reached the ‘expert level’. The Bataxin Chamber of Commerce, led by Knight Palen Fedo, will provide a certain amount of financial support for each shop.

But they need to see returns before deciding whether to increase investment.

The ‘order task’ system, a special gameplay for manufacturing players, will also be further enhanced.

After the ‘Gnoll Plague’ storyline ends, manufacturing players will be able to issue order tasks to natives with Computation Beads and pay them a certain reward.

Note that these commercial activities will be recorded and a certain percentage of business tax will be collected by the administrative tax officer at the end of the month.

For this gameplay, the development team needs to additionally remind that the first batch of ‘tax officers’ will also be played by players with administrative professions!

Therefore, little players who want to evade taxes, please begin your performance.

4. Optimized more realistic physics engine, added more interactive intelligent NPCs and random events

Fixed a small number of bugs.】

“It’s all updates related to the reputation system. Looks like the development team is very satisfied with the current combat system. There are also benefits for the manufacturing industry, but unfortunately, that’s not relevant to us. However, this Seicob Winged Cavalry and the mysterious faction are quite intriguing.”

Meow King finished his water and complained to the few brothers gathered around:

“This damn game is good in every aspect, but it just loves to hide things.

Many things have to be unraveled by players themselves in the storyline. For example, the content related to that mysterious faction is described in a vague and obscure manner, hinting between the lines that some players among us have already gotten ahead of us.

Sigh, I originally thought I was quite clever, but after entering this damn game, I’ve been hitting walls and falling behind others in various ways.

It’s really frustrating.”

“Ha, don’t belittle yourself, Meow,”

More Than Three to Five Pecks very optimistically patted the boss’s shoulder and said:

“Didn’t you also see the prospects of that Black Disaster and start hoarding stuff? Although I won’t deny that you’re a fool, you’re actually quite amazing already.”

“Get lost! Do you even know how to comfort people?”

Meow King kicked Three to Five Pecks away in extreme displeasure. He was about to ask someone about the situation when he unexpectedly saw a call for help message scroll by in the world channel.

Lumina Yanghen: 【At the border of Kadman River and Anderma Hills! Coordinates XXX:XXX, brothers nearby come quickly! We’ve cornered an elite squad of Wolfsbane vampires, but they outnumber us and are strong fighters!

We can’t hold out for long, we’ve already had casualties!

Urgently need support!】

Lumina Yanghen: 【Forgot to mention, they have ‘special drops’! Come solo the BOSS, farm equipment like crazy!】

As soon as the words “special drops” refreshed in the world channel, it immediately made everyone in Meow King’s group light up.

“Tobacco Mulberry! Are we far from where Silver Moon’s team was ambushed?”

Meow King shouted to the team’s new scout, who was already starting to cast eagle eye spells towards the specific location. Riding on his horse without turning his head, he said:

“Very close! At top speed on the demon-hunting steeds, it’ll take 10 minutes at most! But I can’t see them, the enemy probably has a Spirit Mage doing interference.

Damn!

I knew this beginner skill wouldn’t be much use, and it looks like they’re indeed tough nuts to crack.

Are we charging in or not?”

“Of course we’re charging in, it’s special drops!”

Little Hand was the first to mount his horse, with Curved Brother close behind carrying his gun. He said loudly:

“The girls’ team has been sneaking around lately, Brother Stick is busy with his large troop formations, Soldier Strike is busy farming points, and the student party has been in Bataxin all this time. Nobody has had time to do hidden storylines privately. I now suspect that mysterious faction is related to the girls’ team!”

“We’ll talk about that later! We’re all brothers and sisters playing the game together, if the enemy bullies one of us, they’re bullying all of us!

Charge!

Let’s teach those bastards a lesson!”

Meow King mounted his horse and, using his identity as an Avalon believer, employed the “Beast Tongue” talent to pat his warhorse, explaining the situation to it.

So without him actively controlling the horse, the demon-hunting steed let out a roar and charged forward.

——

Meow King and his group were already rushing over, but they weren’t the first to arrive.

The girls’ team had lost their weakest member, Lady Aqua, and their tank Orchid, leaving only three people struggling to hold on. Just then, amidst the sound of hoofbeats, five tough guys from the Soldier Strike team had already charged into the battlefield.

Because Brother Mao had to ensure his score advantage on the leaderboard, they had planned to enter Anderma Hills to continue farming points as soon as they saw the main quest update. As luck would have it, they happened to run into the girls’ team’s call for help.

The group currently hunting these girls was none other than the Wolfsbane vanguard that had retreated from the secret waterway.

They were all elites and not at all afraid of close combat. Moreover, they were very strategic, almost instantly taking out the weakest but most troublesome Lady Aqua in the first encounter. This fully proved how dangerous the healer class could be when initiating a battle in a realistic game.

“Bang”

Brother Mao, charging on horseback, swung his greatsword and clashed head-on with a Wolfsbane swordsman. This charged attack, which could easily crush a gnoll barbarian, only made the vampire opposite him step back a few paces.

This scene immediately made Brother Mao realize that these opponents were tough!

“Spread out! Don’t engage in hard combat!”

He shouted to his brothers.

But the warning came a bit late.

West Valley Wolf’s Prowl had just raised his hunting crossbow when he was swarmed by 7 Astral Wolves summoned by the opponent, knocked off his horse, and then stabbed several times by a Wolfsbane hunter with a sword cane before dying on the spot.

This terrifying combat power made the Soldier Strike team realize they couldn’t match up. They immediately changed tactics and began extreme kiting while calling for help in the world channel. Many solo players and small teams were rushing towards their location.

If they could just hold on!

Victory would certainly be theirs!

“Run! Run!”

Little Ashina, wielding her cool Iron Warden while fending off a Wolfsbane warrior, shouted in her communication channel to the unfortunate Hog who was hiding:

“Our people are coming soon, don’t come out or you might get killed as a wild monster. Hide far away! You still have a quest on you!”

“Awooo”

The cunning but unlucky Hog, who had been inadvertently caught up in this battle, didn’t hesitate. It dragged a fallen, dying female Wolfsbane warrior, jumped on its messy-haired earth wolf, and charged out. As for whether these Wolfsbane vampires could make it back alive, it couldn’t care less.

After all, its mission as the high-level Blood Vulture agent “Pangolin” to guide the way was already complete. The rest could be left to Lord Murphy’s warriors to deal with.

Seeing these arrogant Wolfsbane vampires in trouble, Hog grinned happily on its messy-haired earth wolf.

Hehe, you bullied me, didn’t you? Serve you right!

Ah, Lord Murphy’s warriors are truly good people. I must repay them properly when I have the chance.