Bonus for 1000 PS
...
Stand proud.
~
...
In the Main World, Carl followed Hasumi through a teleportation circle at the Academy and arrived at the large map for the next version, the City of Glory.
When Carl stepped into this major city, one of the highest-ranking cities in the Holy Nation, he was still stunned by its grandeur, despite having seen countless urban wonders across various gas.
At the center of the city stood a tower that pierced the sky, serving as the city's central axis. Sacred city walls separated the Upper District from the Lower District.
Every building was as exquisite as a ticulously polished and carved work of art, yet all of them blended perfectly into the city's sacred aesthetic.
What impressed Carl the most was the city's interconnected structure.
Countless passages, zzanines, and hidden paths linked the Upper and Lower Districts, creating a massive space for exploration.
"Perfect, it really is a magnificent sight!"
Like a tourist, Carl could not stop taking photos with the Academy Terminal's cara function the mont he entered the City of Glory.
"To think it has been remodeled into sothing this grand? I ca here once when I was young, and it feels like a completely different city."
Hasumi was also shocked by the magnificence of the City of Glory.
"After all, a city in a ga that players are ant to visit and a city where actual residents live are two different concepts. The parts most likely to earn praise from players are the grand landmarks and striking map features."
Carl did not hold back his praise, because the City of Glory was indeed exceptionally well made.
The ga's architecture and aesthetic style were top-tier. Any random shot taken with the cara could produce a world-class scenery screenshot.
Carl could already imagine how much hair the ga's environnt artists must have lost to create this City of Glory.
From this perspective, the foundation accumulated by the Oath project over its many years of developnt had not been completely exhausted yet.
It all depended on whether the production capacity for future version updates could keep up.
At the very least, Carl had no complaints about Oath's art.
Carl could also see that within this ga's project team, there were still many developers who truly loved the ga.
Unfortunately, from the boss down to middle managent, there were always so villains causing trouble.
Carl pulled Hasumi along and searched through the streets and alleys of the City of Glory.
As expected, he found many Contract Stone chests tucked away in the corners of the streets.
From this, it seed the core gaplay loop of Oath Version 1.2's open-world map was still finding Contract Stone chests.
It had simply added a few more mini-gas.
But this was Oath's underlying gaplay logic.
Even if they wanted to change it, they probably could not.
Carl continued leading Hasumi around and discovered that all the NPCs in this city were actors, not original residents.
By actors, he ant that, like the gacha characters, these NPCs knew the players were coming and were performing according to a script.
The difference between them and the gacha characters was that they were supporting characters, or even just background extras.
As for the city's original residents, they had likely been relocated long ago.
After all, who knew what kind of impact those ignorant original residents might have on the player experience?
"The privilege of interacting with the Savior is very precious to us."
Hasumi found it strange that Carl did not know this, but she still enthusiastically explained it to him.
The residents here had all been specifically screened.
"Because the Savior can cure the Calamity Virus within us, most of the residents here are mildly infected with the Calamity Virus."
"The purpose is for them to relieve their own symptoms through contact with the Saviors."
Reasonable.
"So how do you people usually spend your paid Contract Stones?"
As a minor noble from the countryside, it was reasonable for Carl to ask this.
"No need to worry about that. Follow , Lord Carl."
Hasumi kindly led Carl to the city's Trade Guild.
This was where players exchanged various miscellaneous materials.
Even the crucial Synthesis Bench facility was located here.
When Carl arrived, he happened to run into the Saintess.
Standing beside her were a mature, gentle-looking female character and a stern, sugaki-looking knight in armor.
These two should be the new limited characters for the upcoming banner, both teammates designed for the Saintess.
The Saintess had been chatting happily with these two old acquaintances from the Holy Nation.
But upon seeing Carl arrive, she jolted as if she had just run into her worst nightmare.
"You... why are you here?!"
Judging by the Saintess's reaction, she was truly afraid of Carl.
The psychological shadow Carl had left on her before was simply too great.
It was no exaggeration to say that, if not for Kuro's help, her life might truly have been over.
The Saintess's current attitude toward Carl was that, if there were no one around to accompany her, she might simply take a long detour around him.
"Buying things. Aren't you here to spend money too?"
Toward the Saintess, Carl's attitude was simple.
There was not much to say to soone with only half a year left to live.
Even as a form of end-of-life care, he could show her a little pity.
"I... didn't co here for personal reasons."
Perhaps because she was on her own turf, or because she had two people backing her up, the Saintess still managed to show off to Carl with an extrely smug posture.
"Because in the next version, after the Saviors arrive in the City of Glory, they will have a luxurious residence. We all have the chance to give the Saviors housewarming gifts."
"I finally have the chance to choose a collection of precious gifts for the Saviors, so of course I have to prepare thoroughly!"
"Oh."
Carl actually wanted to ask, "Will the players really be happy receiving your gifts?"
But the Saintess probably would not understand his question, so he only gave a superficial reply.
As a result, the Saintess grew even more worked up.
Likely noticing the look in Carl's eyes, a look filled with pity, as if he were looking at a dead person, she added another comnt.
"Let tell you a secret. My fate is different from Hasumi's. My true strength has not been fully unleashed yet. Only when my sister visits will my power reach its peak."
The strength and future potential of the Saintess as a character lay in the fact that she was a special unit who unlocked unique buffs based on the Holy Nation characters in the party.
From Carl's gacha-planning intuition, once another incredibly powerful Holy Nation Support was added, the Saintess would reach her strongest form under the buffs of two Support characters.
From this perspective, Oath's planners really knew how to sell characters.
It seed there was a reason the officials were protecting the Saintess so fiercely.
She was the absolute heroine of the Version 1.X cycle.
Presumably, there was another incredibly powerful limited five-star Holy Nation Support in a later version.
They simply had not announced her yet, in order to sell the young Holy Nation knight with an Abnormal role first.
"Then I hope your later story content doesn't run into any more trouble."
After offering a blessing that was not quite a blessing, Carl walked to the window of the Free Exchange and picked up the shopping list to check its contents.
The rchant running this Free Exchange was an administrator acting on behalf of so of Elysium's duties, similar to Almisse the Reaper.
Although paid Contract Stones in the world of Elysium were not like Sacred Contract Stones, which could directly enhance personal strength, they still had many uses.
Their most direct use was as a catalyst for all things, acting as a universal growth agent.
Not only could they speed up crop growth, but they could also accelerate the generation of minerals like iron and copper ore.
"What items do you need to purchase?"
The rchant responded chanically.
A massive list of items instantly appeared before Carl, with the supplying chambers of comrce and workshops noted behind each item.
It seed this rchant was only an interdiary.
The ones producing these items were the millions of ordinary NPCs in the world of Elysium.
This purchase interface was likely only visible to NPCs like Carl.
Players, at most, could only see recovery items and food required in Oath.
After Carl bought a bunch of ho furnishings according to his needs, along with so fairly cheap and strange little trinkets, the guild also supported Carl's request to package the purchased goods and send them to Netherworld Village with one click.
While Carl was shopping, the Saintess had actually been peeking from the side.
Finally, after realizing that Carl had bought a bunch of cheap decorations, she did not say anything, but she could no longer suppress the smile on her face.
The Saintess was probably thinking, "Can that pile of junk you're giving the Saviors compare to the precious national-level gifts from the Holy Nation that I'm giving them? I've definitely won!"
"These resources should last for a while. Let's go, Hasumi."
Carl did not spend Hasumi's money on this trip.
Instead, he spent all the one hundred thousand or so paid Contract Stones in his own account.
The purchasing power of paid Contract Stones was quite strong.
The number of trendy little ornants Carl bought should satisfy the players' looting needs for several days, right?
After all, buying one piece allowed it to be projected into the worldlines of all players.
Although the data volu of the items would decrease infinitely during the projection process, their appearance and tactile feel to the players would not change at all.
As Carl led Hasumi out the door, he noticed that Hasumi had been very quiet for a while.
Her gaze was fixed on a little girl standing outside the guild.
When Carl looked at the girl, he found that she was the type of NPC designed specifically to evoke pity from players.
Her na was "Anan."
However, what made Carl freeze in place, just like Hasumi, was that he instantly felt a terrifying aura coming from this little girl.
After Carl took out the Academy Terminal to check the data volu of the little girl in front of him...
"????????"
What do you an her combat power is a question mark?
"Would you like to buy a flower?"
The little girl nad Anan seed a bit impatient after being stared at by Carl and Hasumi.
Holding a flower, she walked up to Carl and asked.
(To be continued.)
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)
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