Gamers of the Underworld

Sherlock’s announcement and Peasant’s post created a huge discussion in the forum like a stone cast into the lake.

An hour ago, the gamers had digested Peasant’s post on the Merchant Band, and now the official website had published an activity notice. The gamers’ imagination ran wild, and various posts appeared on the forum:

[Speculating whether the Peasant is a lackey of the official game!]

[I boldly predict that there will be an account transaction channel for the first activity of the Beta Testing!]

[Prices of the materials will skyrocket! Those who used up the materials to improve equipment will regret it!]

[Shock! Why is the Open Beta delayed?]

Beside these analysis and some superficial and nonsensical posts, there were many practical strategy guides. BurningChestHair published a post [Strategy guide for a minimum five-person team to kill a lone Spider]. This was the first detailed post on combat strategy by a Beta Gamer. NotWearingPants concentrated on the figures and settings strategy guide. For example, he calculated the required time to carry bricks in order to buy equipment in the shortest time. He also analyzed the prices and market economy of the items. In the end, he published tens of posts, and each had over ten thousand replies.

Sherlock had read the posts and did not agree with NotWearingPants’ figures, but he was impressed by BurningChestHair’s post on detailed teamwork and the Spider’s weak points.

Reading forum posts could be addictive. Sherlock had intended to publish a few announcements and take a look at the gamers’ comments and suggestions. Then, as he browsed through the forum, he discovered that the gamers were geniuses. He became engrossed in the excitement. He loved it!

While Sherlock was addicted to the discussion forum, the Beta Gamers had completed Simba and Moroes’ Rest Chambers. The fourth expedition into the Spiders’ Lair had returned to the Dungeon. This expedition was larger than the previous one. Those who dared to face the Spiders had joined the expedition. As most of them were experienced, they had come back quickly, and there was twice as much loot as the previous time. However, the number of gamers’ corpses had also increased.

The gamers dragged their comrades’ corpses and the Spider carcasses as they marched merrily into the Dungeon. They were extremely pleased with their loot. It was not the first time Moroes saw the gamers being nonchalant about death. He was always envious of them. Which warrior wouldn’t want to have their fearlessness? No matter how dangerous it was, they were fearless!

To obtain the same benefits of the Goblins, Moroes had to prove himself and obtain the Dungeon Lord’s approval!

The first thing the gamers did was to auction the loot. As before, the profits were split equally among the expedition members. They had seen Sherlock’s notice on the Merchant Band, so the auction price of the Spider’s loot became higher. The gamers were starting to stockpile materials in anticipation of the Merchant Band’s arrival.

The gamers also brought back Killer Vines. The fourth expedition group had breached the Spiders’ Lair entrance and had gone inside. If not, they would not have been able to obtain the Killer Vines. Killer Vines were much easier to kill since their mobility and attack strength were inferior to the Spiders.

Sherlock helped them heal their injuries and revived the corpses. After observing their auction, he went back to settling the Dungeon’s affairs. He was extremely busy planning for the Dungeon, assigning the gamers’ missions and rewards and at times, being Moroes and Simba’s psychiatrists. They had a heavy workload and lived with the otherworld’s gamers in the same Dungeon. It was normal to be stressed.

More importantly, Sherlock had to browse the discussion forum to keep track of the otherword’s public opinion and trends. He also had to gather feedback on improving the Dungeon.

Sherlock was thinking too much. He used to be carefree, but after recruiting Moroes, the gamers’ capability had improved by leaps and bounds, especially after the third successful expedition. Their strategy of forming small teams to deal with the Spiders had become widespread. They had become better at handling the Spiders, and their combat skills were now very seasoned. They were fearless in battle, and after confirming their battle plans, they would execute them with a self-sacrificing attitude. That kind of fearlessness could not be found on the Surface and Underworld. The Spiritual Monsters were also fearless, but their intellect and teamwork were inferior to the otherworld’s gamers.

Sherlock was not bragging. He was stating the truth.

Sherlock was pleased. His otherworld servants saved him money. They were diligent, fearless, curious, easy to manage and did not have lots of requirements. They could be revived unlimited times! He was the only Dungeon Lord to have such servants. However, there were problems.

Sherlock’s leisure time dwindled!

When Sherlock was planning the future development of the Dungeon…

“Dungeon Lord! Please help revive a gamer!”

When Sherlock was counseling the troubled Simba who was being harassed by the gamers at night…

“Dungeon Lord! Please help revive a gamer!”

When Sherlock was browsing the discussion forum…

“Dungeon Lord! Please help to heal a gamer!”

When Sherlock was…

“Dungeon Lord! Please help revive a gamer!”

“Dungeon Lord! Please help to heal a gamer!”

“Dungeon Lord! I’m exchanging my Reputation Points!”

“Dungeon Lord…”

Sherlock could not take it anymore. With the increasing incursions into the Spiders’ Lair, the casualties skyrocketed. Sherlock was the only person with healing and revival ability, so the heavy responsibility was on him.

Previously there were few expeditions into the Spiders’ Lair. At most, they would form large groups to venture, and Sherlock would heal the injured once every two days. As the gamers’ combat skills and experience increased, they formed smaller groups to explore the lair. Sherlock had to heal or revive the gamers every few hours.

Sherlock did not understand why the group size dwindled. Logically speaking, the larger the group, the safer it was. Did they not rely on their superior numbers to defeat the Spiders? After observing how they formed groups to hunt, Sherlock finally understood the reason for creating smaller groups.

First: Small groups could avoid those rich gamers who used their Renminbi to exchange for bronze coins to buy materials. The normal gamers could not compare to the rich gamers. With a smaller group, they had the chance to buy the materials, stockpile or sell for a higher price.

Second: Smaller groups were more agile. Some gamers could be hunting for the entire day or disband their group after a few hours. The expedition timing was easier to coordinate with smaller groups than for large groups.

Third: There were more ways of distributing loot. Sherlock witnessed a group of five gamers using stone dice to distribute their loot. This was called the Group Distribution Method. Using auction to distribute loot was called the Auction Distribution Method. When they were recruiting group members in the Training Ground, they would specify their distribution method, the recruitment count and requirements.

The Training Ground had become the gamers’ multi-purpose location for chatting, forming groups and socializing. Sherlock observed that after the gamers had “awakened” (come online), they would carry bricks to increase their Reputation and bronze coins. Then, they would go to the Training Ground to listen to news, check for good deals and assess whether there were suitable expedition groups to join. Even when they “slept” (went off-line), they would be close to the Training Ground.

As the gamers became more familiar with the Spiders’ Lair entrance terrain and strategies, the smaller sized groups became popular, but they were limited to the entrance area. Exploring deeper into the lair required more gamers since there were more Spiders in the interior.

Sherlock’s workload increased exponentially, and he was exhausted. He pondered whether he should employ a healing and revival Magician.

When the Merchant Band came, he could ask the Merchant Leader if there were suitable candidates.

Bru said to Sherlock, “Dungeon Lord, there’s a group of people approaching us. I feel that they could be the Winterfell Merchant Band.”