...
Sotis it takes a real man to be best girl.
~Gigguk
...
"The Netherworld Ban? Isn't that just a textbook corporate lockout strategy? They can try to control , but can they control what the players actually want to play?" Carl said.
"You... your thods are truly underhanded."
Anan could already imagine the future, where she led the Abyssal Knights to crack down on Netherworld Village, only to discover that every single player in her own unit was secretly on Carl's side.
"That said, I'm technically half your enemy. Is it really okay to tell sothing this important in advance?"
"Anonymous alt profiles are only ant to protect player information. Besides, everyone will know about the system the mont it launches," Carl said, reaching his hand out toward Anan.
"So I'll be direct. I've had my eye on you... no, on the entire Abyssal Knights, for a long ti. Even as a side gig, would you be interested in joining Netherworld Village?"
Carl truly wanted the high-Data-Volu powerhouses of the Abyssal Knights, led by Anan, to join him.
If these elite knights, who could crush ordinary players when they got serious, fell into Carl's hands, just imagine how many interesting boss encounters he could create.
Of course, he also needed a gaplay and combat system engaging enough to keep players hooked.
"If you're short on staff, I have a group here... Can you arrange jobs for them that would bring joy to the Saviors?"
Anan smoothly dodged Carl's invitation and brought up the reason she had co.
"Are they refugees?" Carl asked, though he did not pay much attention to the developnt of the City of Glory.
The NPCs infected with the plague in the City of Glory were actually refugees sent there by the Theocracy and the Empire to receive treatnt.
So higher-status refugees, like Anan, could be assigned roles as side-quest NPCs. Many ordinary refugees, anwhile, did not even qualify as background characters, let alone appear in the ga.
They could only wait in the shadows of the City of Glory, queuing for the Saintess to grant them relief, which ant the antidote.
"Most of them are. But their leader is quite special. You should recognize her. Co out," Anan said, gesturing toward a tower on one side of the city wall.
A cloaked figure slowly walked up to Carl. When she removed her cloak, Carl was indeed stunned for a second or two.
"Greetings, Lord Carl Agata. My na is Sophia. In your terms, I suppose I would be Second-Generation Sophia?"
The girl before him was indeed Sophia, the poster heroine from the previous ga. At the very least, she had Sophia's appearance.
"Second-Generation Sophia has been retired too?" Carl recalled that in Elysium, highly popular NPCs would be directly replaced with new versions once they were beyond saving.
"Not yet. How should I explain this?"
Second-Generation Sophia paused for a mont to organize her thoughts.
"I am a portion of the original Sophia's personality and mories that were separated from her. In terms you would understand, I am a Sophia who belongs exclusively to one player."
Such a thing was possible? Carl did not find it that strange.
The world of Elysium gas was essentially a real data world filled with magic and various transcendent powers. Who knew how many hidden chanics existed beneath the surface?
"So whose Sophia are you?"
Several player nas flashed through Carl's mind. To achieve such a hidden feat, and even summon a character from the previous ga to their side, the player had to be formidable.
"I belong to the Guild Leader of the Do Alliance, young mistress Vengeful Blood," she said softly, without concealing anything.
"Young... mistress?" Carl's attention was instantly drawn to the way she addressed her master.
Sophia quickly corrected herself.
"I an Lord Vengeful Blood."
"A player's real-world gender doesn't matter to . So... what do you want from ?" Carl stopped focusing on Vengeful Blood's real gender.
However, judging from this Sophia's existence, there was a reason behind the Do Alliance players' extrely min-maxed playstyle.
To put it more directly, they might be the ones who truly understood the Elysium series inside and out.
Although the power of players in Oath ca entirely from the gacha pool, it was still a real world where magic and alchemy existed.
Players could absolutely collude with powerful NPCs to obtain benefits the official developers never intended them to have.
Soone like Vengeful Blood, after experiencing the pain of losing First-Generation Sophia, had likely used so thod to separate the mories and personality traits that belonged to her from Second-Generation Sophia, then brought them into Oath.
From that perspective, this person was quite impressive.
"I hope you can give a job! A job where I can continue creating value and fun for players!" This Sophia voiced the desire she had kept in her heart.
An NPC with a poster-heroine persona like Sophia was naturally unable to sit idle.
But in Oath, she had no value.
Before answering Sophia's request, Carl first asked Anan a question.
"Are the other NPCs who want jobs here refugees from the City of Glory, or..."
"They're ordinary refugees. They haven't been assigned side quests or background identities. Most of them are just waiting around the City of Glory for the Saintess to heal them," Anan honestly admitted, revealing the grim situation in the City of Glory.
"Then I'm afraid I don't have many jobs for ordinary humans here."
To be honest, once Carl opened the system that allowed players to build their own territories, he would definitely need a large number of NPCs to move in.
But what ca after they moved in? How should the gaplay be designed?
Most players who had played city-building sims had basically one phrase for the NPCs living in their cities.
Demand machines.
The reason was simple. To keep players engaged in a city-builder, the residents would constantly make requests.
Things like, there is not enough water at the village entrance, so go dig a well. Or, there is not enough power in the northern district, so go build a generator.
Carl did not want to design Descent into Netherworld Village's construction gaplay into a resident complaint simulator.
At the very least, Carl wanted the "villager collection" gaplay to bring players enough fun.
And where would that fun co from? By making the villagers unique, with more varied attributes and appearances.
"But I can provide... monsters, spirits, uh, basically, there are plenty of job opportunities for companions with unique appearances."
As Carl spoke, he used his illusion ability to create the image of a cute bipedal cat.
"Lord Carl, I'm not sure what you an by showing this cat..." Sophia looked at the cat and had a bad feeling.
"Transform into this," Carl said, pointing directly at Sophia.
"I know NPC models can be changed at any ti. Whether through shapeshifting potions or direct model edits, it's nothing unusual for us."
"So if you want to work for , transform into this!" Carl said, pulling out a shapeshifting potion and handing it to Sophia.
This potion was sold directly in Elysium, similar to a Phantasia potion that allowed players to redefine their appearance.
"I... I understand."
Sophia drank the shapeshifting potion Carl handed her. After a puff of smoke, she turned into a Silly Cat that only reached a person's thigh.
"Very good. I'll add you as an optional companion in Descent into Netherworld Village. When Vengeful Blood plays Villager Mode, you can adventure with her in this form," Carl said.
"Lord Vengeful Blood has been obsessed with climbing the Battle of Champions rankings. Will she really play Villager Mode?"
Sophia, or rather, Miss Silly Cat now, looked at her hands, which had turned into cat paws, and felt extrely uncomfortable.
"She will. It's only a matter of ti."
Carl took a mont to check a livestream related to the Do Alliance. Vengeful Blood had successfully promoted to Champion Rank and was about to begin her brutal solo-queue journey.
Just then, a brief alarm sounded in the City of Glory, and Carl opened Oath's official website.
An announcent that could only be described as the Netherworld Ban had gone live.
In the announcent, any player entering the City of Glory in Villager Mode was classified as an invader. It also hinted that if the situation beca especially severe, unpleasant consequences could follow, such as bans for cheating.
At the sa ti the announcent went live, Carl simultaneously launched the anonymous alt profile feature.
(To be continued.)
Can anyone guess where we are heading with the transformations xD?
◇ 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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