Ashen Dragon - Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Chapter 68: Beta Testing (Part 2)

Barto City, player spawn point.

In five years, this once barren land had undergone tremendous change, becoming a bustling small town.

Now, Barto City spanned several square kilometers, with over five hundred inhabitants. Shops, taverns, blacksmiths, and tailor shops had sprung up, with Tieflings taking on different roles. Though these buildings were quite rudimentary, resembling wooden and stone camps, they still reminded the residents of their past life in Northwind Castle, giving them a glimmer of hope for the future.

At the center of town stood a massive stone statue–the Red Dragon, the master of this place.

What set this town apart from ordinary ones was the coexistence of monsters and humanoids. You could see Great Goblin garrisons patrolling, Wyverns resting in the square, and even Ogres ordering meals for ten in the tavern.

Despite inevitable conflicts and frictions, under Mezulash’s supervision, Barto City managed to maintain basic order.

But the order he struggled to maintain might be shattered today.

“Everyone, remember, don’t listen to anything they say,”

“Anyone who dares to attack, kill on the spot.”

Mezulash led dozens of guards to the cave, looking solemn and prepared for the worst.

Based on the master’s description, these strange-behaving “Starfallen” were no easy group, but they seemed to be a power that could be leveraged.

…

Mantou saw a flash of white light before regaining consciousness in a cave. Underfoot was hard rock, with flickering candlelight on the walls, and light at the far end of the cave.

He tried moving his limbs, pinching his cheek, feeling no delay or unfamiliarity, almost identical to reality. This amazed him.

“WTF? This feels so real?”

“You guys might not get it from the videos, but my current feeling is–this freaking feels like the real world.”

Mantou walked out of the cave with great anticipation. In the small square outside the cave entrance, hundreds of players had already gathered.

They had all sorts of nicknames floating above their heads. “Just Eating Mantou” seemed quite normal compared to ones like “Uncle Ji,” “Manure Sea Maggot,” “The Sky Has Wells Naturally Empty,” “Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior.” But everyone was well-used to such names.

“No newbie missions, huh.”

“But this tactile experience is amazing. I gotta pull my classmates into this.”

“What can we do now?”

“Search my ID for study materials, over a thousand GB of fully immersive videos, all kinds of knowledge available~”

“WTF, is that Cereal Bro?”

“Get lost, I aspire to become an Archmage, don’t distract me with beauty.”

“Heathen, taste my sword!”

The players noisily discussed in the square, curiously looking at everything around them. After all, the fully immersive quality of Erezer was unmatched, offering 100% realistic tactile experience that fascinated the players.

“As usual, let’s first–WTF, what’s that!”

“Can this be shown?”

Mantou was about to check his panel when he noticed a nearby player with the ID “Wings of Freedom” starting to strip off his simple cloth clothes, getting stark naked while his lower body was covered in a dazzling Holy Light.

“Finally, I’m free–”

The guy stood naked, spreading his arms in a pose reminiscent of Rose at the bow of the Titanic, his Holy Light blinding the surrounding players.

“Dude, are you serious?”

“You know this game uses face recognition, right.”

“Huh?”

Mantou gave a good-natured reminder and then walked away, leaving the guy to cry out in regret.

“Sure enough, there are still many who skip reading the player agreement and jump straight into the game. They end up paying for their recklessness.”

“Mantou said with a sigh.

Entertainment value achieved?

But soon, the players’ attention was drawn by the approaching line of Tieflings, no longer focusing on the “Holy Light Bro.”

“These must be our guide NPCs, but I noticed that this game has a favorability system, so be careful with your words,”

Mantou explained quietly.

A player with the ID “Swashbuckler” loudly suggested, “What are those red-skinned NPCs with horns, demons? Can we attack them?”

“Wanna try attacking them?”

Instantly, dozens of Tieflings turned their angry gazes towards him. If not for their leader’s orders, they might have chopped him into mince meat.

“No, no, just kidding.”

“Haha, I was just joking, why so serious?”

Swashbuckler laughed awkwardly, his panel showing a full screen of Favorability -50.

“See, I told you not to speak recklessly. But this game’s AI is really smart, it can even recognize players’ words.”

Mantou looked gleefully at “Swashbuckler” and continued explaining.

He knew that guy, a famous fully immersive risky player. His notable act was stealing chickens from villagers in “Ancient Scrolls 10” and getting hunted by thousands.

As expected, it wasn’t over yet.

Swashbuckler slipped to the back of the crowd while the Tieflings weren’t looking, throwing a small stone at the leading Tiefling’s head.

“Whoosh–”

The stone drew a beautiful arc in the air, caught effortlessly by Mezulash without even turning.

However, the next moment, another stone hit his armor, making a clear “clang.”

For a moment, the air nearly froze as everyone stared in shock.

Finally, the long-silent Damacus cautiously asked, “Captain… what should we do?”

Even the usually composed Mezulash seemed a bit flustered.

Mezulash had seen everything, he could barely tolerate people undressing in the square, but never someone risking life to throw random stones at him.

“Attacking the army… kill!”

He crushed the stone in his hand, his tone unexpectedly gritted with anger.

The Tieflings, who had long endured Swashbuckler, finally found an outlet, drawing their bows and shooting arrows with all their might.

In no time, he was filled with arrows.

Swashbuckler raised his arrow-filled arm and, with the last of his strength, said, “Though I die… I remain… Swashbuckler!”

Finishing his lines, he then satisfactorily passed away.

However, instead of being intimidated by Mezulash’s strict enforcement, the players burst into laughter.

“There are still many good NPCs in this world.”

“RIP Swashbuckler.”

“I must sneak into his house and max out his pain threshold one day.”

Mantou laughed so hard he teared up: “Hahaha, this guy is something else, pulling off a ‘Borrowing Arrows with Thatched Boats,’ turning himself into a porcupine!”

The Tiefling Guards, seeing these human-like figures laughing and joking without any respect, were filled with fury.

But Mezulash, watching the laughing crowd, crossed his arms thoughtfully.

“It seems these… Starfallen cannot be judged by common sense,” he thought.