Not too long later, Gabriel called. Renan accepted, adjusting his headset.
"Recording in 3... 2... 1... What’s up, everyone! Gabriel here with THE most requested interview of the day, maybe the year! I’ve got Lumi himself here to talk about his absolutely INSANE guide that’s breaking the forums. Lumi, thanks for joining !"
"Happy to be here." Renan replied, now Lumi, keeping his voice calm and friendly. His face wasn’t going to be public, though his voice now was.
"So let’s start with the obvious question, how? How did you compile 200 pages of information about a ga that literally launched today?"
Renan had prepared for this. "Almost entirely off the help of the community itself. Many people added after I got a global announcent dedicated to . I got most of my information through them. Thank you all. Apart from that, extensive testing, careful note taking, and honestly? A bit of obsession. When I realized how deep Masteria’s systems were, I knew players would need comprehensive information. The ga doesn’t hold your hand."
Gabriel continued. "Speaking of that, let’s talk about your emphasis on NPC interaction. You dedicate 25 pages to it! Not to ntion sprinkling it everywhere else. Why is that so important?"
"Because they’re the most perfectly coded characters I’ve seen." Renan explained carefully. "Every character in Masteria has mory, personality, preferences. The world is reactive in ways we’ve never seen before. Let’s put it this way. If an NPC is indistinguishable from a real person, what’s the difference? There really isn’t a difference in how you treat them."
"That’s incredible. Now, for newer players just starting out, what’s your number one tip?"
"Slow down." Renan said imdiately. "I know everyone wants to rush ahead, but I’ve found that aspects other than just grinding are crucial. Make friends. Not just other players, but NPCs. Join factions. Learn new things. And you’ll find yourself not just enjoying the ga more, but truthfully, you might just progress faster that way."
Gabriel moved on. "Love that. Now, you’ve accomplished several server firsts already. What’s next for Lumi? What are your goals?"
Renan paused, as if considering. Though he already knew. "Building a community, honestly. I’m considering founding a guild. Killing monsters and bosses is one thing, but I want a whole community. An orderly place where we can work together. And I can already tell you, being a good person towards the NPCs will be a strict requirent. I want my guild to be capable of working with major factions, and any guild mbers who endanger our NPC reputation will be kicked out."
"A guild?! That’s huge news! Any other details you can share?"
"Not much else to say, honestly. It’s still in the works, after all." Renan smiled, though Gabriel couldn’t see it. "But I will say this. Unless sothing goes catastrophically wrong, I will found it within a month."
Gabriel had his reply. "Speaking of different approaches, let’s talk about your combat section. You emphasize a formulaic approach to things..."
The interview continued onwards for a while, until it got to a certain point.
"So Lumi," Gabriel said, "any words for players just starting their journey?"
"Rember that you’re visitors in Masteria." Renan said seriously. "Act like it. Show respect, be curious, help others. Both players and NPCs. The ga rewards kindness in ways you won’t expect."
He paused, and added on, "I know I know." He gave a good natured laugh. "Many of you think I’m being silly. The moral police. A busybody. Let assure you all, that is not the case. Like all of you, I’ve fucked around in gas too. I’ve built death camps in a roller coaster ga. I’ve publicly tortured villagers in sandbox gas. I’ve purposely created economic and cultural disparity in civ gas to watch people suffer and kill each other."
After a short wait to let the words sink in, he decided it wasn’t enough, and he kept adding on. "I rember in one ga, I sold the sa orphan girl to slavers five separate tis. Why? Because the ga let . Because it was funny. Because she was ’just code.’"
"But this isn’t this type of ga." He continued, shifting his language to appeal to sothing beyond re morality which many players won’t care for. "You’ll ruin your save. Many of you perhaps haven’t realized sothing. You can’t create another account. It’s tied to you as a person. You can’t make a new character. You don’t have other save slots. You can’t even edit your appearance after you make your character."
He took yet another pause to let the words sink in. "Therefore, your choices are truly permanent. You can’t even just buy another copy. So people have already ruined their saves trying to roleplay a villain. Now they are wanted criminals with no backing who can’t escape the curse of being instakilled any ti an NPC recognizes them."
Then he added, though he was lying, sothing more. "In fact, that’s the one thing I don’t like about this ga. It was so damn expensive! You’re telling you can’t just make a new character?" He gave a sigh. "Well, whatever. As long as the ga is that way, be careful guys, don’t get softlocked out of your account."
The interview went on for another thirty minutes. Gabriel asked about the various classes, grinding spots, and economic predictions. Renan answered carefully, providing valuable information while maintaining the persona of a skilled and well connected player rather than soone with impossible knowledge.
"Incredible. Lumi, thank you so much for your ti. Guys, I’ll have this interview up within the hour. Like, subscribe, and definitely check out Lumi’s guide, link in the description!"
They said their goodbyes and disconnected. Renan checked the ti. So late. His body ached from sitting too long, his eyes burned from tiredness. But there was still work to do.
He quickly typed up another post, this ti about his exclusive class.
"Hero of Light."
To follow in the path the Hero of Light once did. It sounded grand and powerful, like a secret class that would net one an advantage over others.
It wasn’t. It wasn’t any stronger, or any weaker than other classes. When writing about it, he emphasized this to minimize the risk that any hardcore player might abruptly try to class change.
It wasn’t as if RMT was banned, so he blatantly posted the ad now that he was popular, that the only way to get the class was to buy a token from him and then go to rath, alongside where and when he would be available, to be updated daily.
Did he feel guilty? Not really. Because money was freedom. Freedom to keep playing this "ga" for eight hours a day without family stopping him. Freedom to buy items or gold from other players, or to recruit and command them. All this to save the world.
He then contacted Lucas, who he had quickly been developing a rapport with in the sidelines just as he also spoke with dozens more, to manage this, leaving Renan to do his work in peace.
His notifications kept piling up. He had more ssages, more awards, more forum threads dissecting every word of his guide.
But Renan couldn’t enjoy it. Not really. Every second spent basking in success was a second not spent preparing for what was coming.
Lena...
She made him feel confused.
Why do I feel guilty for being with her? I feel guilty for... enjoying myself? Not being stressed? Not losing my mind?
She has objectively helped . She saved hours in getting to level twenty. Being a ’young adventurous couple’ on the airship got enough points to get a permanent stat boost. And yet...
He stood, joints popping from sitting too long. He prepared himself for sleep as soon as he could, after all, every second conserved was a resource available for Masteria.
He threw himself directly onto bed, just naked.
He checked his phone one last ti. The forum post had over fifty thousand views. Gabriel’s channel was already promoting the upcoming interview. Lucas had connected with Gabriel and they were discussing sothing about "revolutionary economic modeling."
Good. Pieces moving into place.
His family had barely seen him today. Tomorrow wouldn’t be different. He’d grab food, exchange pleasantries, and dive back into Masteria. They’d understand eventually. Or they wouldn’t. Either way, he had to continue.
He’d love to spend a bit longer with them, but he couldn’t. Every mont mattered. Every second spent on personal pleasure was a second not spent getting stronger, building alliances, and preventing catastrophe.
Tomorrow he’d log back in. Continue grinding. Build more connections. Plant more seeds that would bloom into advantages later. Every action calculated, every word asured, every relationship cultivated for maximum impact.
The guide was just the beginning. Countless other things, the dangerous secrets, the tiline manipulation, the prevention of key events, breaking free of the system, all of which lay ahead.
His eyes closed. Six hours of sleep, then back to work.
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