Volume 2 Chapter 10: Breaking into the Imperial Mausoleum (1)
"Blood Sky, your reputation meets the criteria for establishing a gang. I allow you to form a gang. However, in order to prove that you have enough ability, you must complete a task."
The NPC said so. I understand this. Before officially establishing a gang, you have to complete a system task, just like a novice has to complete a task before changing his job. Usually it requires obtaining a certain task item or killing a specific monster.
"Please give me your instructions, sir!"
In Fantasy, there is a semantic analysis function. As long as it is a "normal" way of expression, no matter which specific words you say, the NPC can understand and continue the conversation. For example, I can also say "Please tell me what the task is", "Okay, I accept the task", etc. Just looking at this NPC wearing ancient official clothing, I unconsciously speak in classical Chinese.
"You can go to the Emperor's Mausoleum and obtain the Saint Emperor's military seal. With it, you can start a gang and establish a faction, and become famous all over the world!"
The Emperor's Mausoleum! Holy crap, I hit the jackpot!
In Fantasy, although there is no clear classification of system tasks, they can be roughly divided into four types: regular tasks, conditional tasks, hidden tasks and random tasks. Regular tasks are the commissioned tasks announced by the system every day, which can be accepted by everyone. Many NPCs can get this kind of task just by talking to them, such as helping a blacksmith to dig a specific piece of ore, helping a pharmacy to find a specific medicinal material, etc. After completion, you can get a certain amount of money or reputation rewards; conditional tasks are the prerequisites that you must complete to achieve certain goals, such as job transfer tasks, or my current gang building task; hidden tasks are when you meet certain very special conditions (such as the task of Evening Star and the task of obtaining my second job), which may trigger the occurrence of the game plot; random tasks are accidental situations, which are determined by the system's random number calculations and are non-repeatable. It is a matter of luck. It may be a very simple task but you may get a magic weapon reward!
In addition to system tasks, there may also be player-commissioned tasks in the middle and late stages, such as a player offering a bounty to hunt down someone.
In terms of mission difficulty, the official has not given a standard, but the old birds in our internal test have made a rough division based on the classification method of super bosses. Entering the Emperor's Mausoleum... In my estimation, it is at the level of a D-level mission!
Of course, completing a task is different from beating a boss. It not only depends on the player's level attributes, but also on wisdom, strategy, luck, and the coordination of various professions. All aspects of factors must be taken into consideration. It is not impossible for low-level players to complete high-difficulty tasks, but... with our level, is it possible to survive if we break into the Emperor's Mausoleum?
During the internal test, many players also established gangs. The conditions and tasks for establishing a gang are not fixed. Generally, the system randomly selects from dozens of specified tasks, which are usually F or E level difficulties. Moreover, players who can establish a gang are basically above level 40 and have at least dozens of companions, so they can easily complete these tasks. The probability of encountering a D-level task... is probably less than one in a thousand? Did the difficulty of the game increase after the public beta?
But I had no choice but to take on this task, because if I gave up, I would not be able to apply to form a gang again within a month!
"Sir, I am willing to try my best."
"Okay, then I will wait for good news."
Everyone walked out of the Ministry of Revenue in a depressed mood, their original enthusiasm was completely dampened. Alas, breaking into the imperial mausoleum is basically a way to die! Forget it, we can only think about the benefits. Generally speaking, the more difficult the task is, the higher the reward will be. Maybe after completing this task, we can get a lot of system preferential policies when establishing a gang? Moreover, there is no time limit for the completion of this task. If it doesn't work, we can first level up a little bit...
Back in the private room of Taibai Restaurant, everyone was talking about it, but no one could figure it out. I thought about it for a while and said, "Everyone, don't worry. It's not an easy task to break into the Imperial Mausoleum, and it will take a lot of time. The Imperial Mausoleum is a huge maze. I estimate that it will take more than ten hours to cross the maze. In any case, it's too late today, and our current strength is still a little weak. So, let's stop here today, and everyone can go play after dinner. Starting tomorrow, everyone must also level up and try to reach level 30 or above as soon as possible. As for the detailed planning of breaking into the Imperial Mausoleum, I will find a way and notify you when the plan is ready. The action is scheduled to start from next weekend. Everyone should prepare in advance so that you don't have time to go online by then. We may fight continuously for a long time, OK?"
After a quick meal to celebrate the success of today's challenge to the F-level Boss, everyone said they wanted to level up and not participate in today's system auction, and all left in groups. I stayed in the room for a while, trying hard to recall the information about the Emperor's Mausoleum that I learned from the internal test.
In fact, I went to the Emperor's Mausoleum once during the internal test, but because I was alone, I couldn't go deep into it, so I just walked around the periphery of the maze and left. However, I also heard about the general situation of the Emperor's Mausoleum from other players.
This so-called Emperor's Mausoleum should be based on the legend about the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of ancient China, right? It is a huge underground palace... The outer periphery is an oval-shaped giant maze, which is large in scale, winding and deep. Just finding the right way through the maze is a big problem, not to mention that there are countless traps and armored guards in the maze. If you are not a very strong team, you can't rush through it. And the center of the imperial mausoleum is said to be made of mercury for rivers and lakes, and gems for the sun, moon and stars. It is a magnificent and extremely luxurious underground palace. Of course, there are also powerful guards to protect the coffin that contains the body of the Holy Emperor. The military seal is probably the burial object of the Holy Emperor, right? Damn, the more I think about it, the more difficult it is. It might be a C-level task!
Oh, maze, maze... What I hate most is maze, so I rarely play stand-alone RPG games!
By the way, the best person to explore the maze is the thief! The thief's level 30 skill "Mechanics" is just right for breaking traps, and the skill "Scout" learned at level 33 is even more useful. It can sense the environment, terrain, monsters, etc. within a certain distance around it, even if there are obstacles blocking the line of sight! And the thief I know in this game... seems to be the only one, Wanxing, but fortunately she is a very high level one!
I immediately called Wanxing: "Hello, Wanxing, are you online?"
"Hmm? Sky? What's going on? I'm leveling up!"
Hey, it's great that you're willing to work hard to level up!
"Evening Star, this is what I am doing. I may need your help with something. Can you reach level 33 by Friday? If it is difficult, I will help you."
"Haha, you, the top expert, also need my help? Ha, you promised to help me three times but you haven't fulfilled any of them, and you came to me first ... Well, level 33, do I need the 'Scout' skill? It should be no problem, I have someone to lead me now, I will come to you when Sister Fang is offline, I estimate that I can level up one level a day. Hehe, that's great, two experts take turns to help me level up, maybe I can rush to the leaderboard! But first, tell me, what is it, can I help?"
"Oh, that's it..." I told Wanxing roughly about my plan to set up a gang, but I received the mission of breaking into the imperial tomb. Wanxing said excitedly: "Great, great! It's really interesting, breaking into the imperial tomb... Tomb exploration, just think about it and you know it must be fun, I will definitely help you with this! Well, I won't say more, I have to hurry up and level up, time is very tight!"
Huh... I let out a long sigh. With Wanxing's help, the trouble will be much less.
But there is still a problem... The trip to the Imperial Mausoleum will definitely take a lot of time. It is said that the players who broke into the underground palace in the internal test took nearly two days to get out of the maze. Even if we plan carefully, prepare well, and match the professions reasonably, we can spend less time, but the supplies carried in everyone's backpack are definitely not enough, and the equipment will definitely not last that long. It is impossible to ride a horse in the Imperial Mausoleum maze, otherwise I can invite a few knights to join the action, and the mount backpack can solve the supply problem.
The equipment problem is easy to solve. First, we have extra equipment, so we can bring some spare equipment. Second, Bu San will soon reach level 30. After level 30, he will be promoted to a blacksmith. Although he can't repair gold and dark gold equipment, he can still repair attribute equipment. When the time comes, we will also bring Bu San, but we have to pay more attention to his safety.
Medicines are a problem... Actually, there is a solution. Just bring a pharmacist with you. Don't bring too many finished potions in your backpack. Bring more ingredients for refining medicine. Usually, the materials take up 1 grid of space and 10 points of weight on average, which is enough to make a potion with more than 10 grids of space and 300 points of weight (of course, the main ingredient of potions is not medicine, but water)! Let the pharmacist make potions whenever needed, right?
But none of my friends are pharmacists! Alas, I can only ask the profiteer to think of a solution. He has a wide network of contacts and may be able to hire a pharmacist to help. Well, it seems that after the gang is established, we must also focus on recruiting professional talents in various fields!
Basically, that’s all we have to do with manpower. Although we can also hire more players to help, the mission this time may require a very high degree of coordination. It’s better for our own small group to be familiar with each other and perform at a higher combat efficiency!
In addition, I, an old beta tester, will also go to the website to check information these days... Alas, after all, the beta test lasted only three months, and I can't know every detail of the game clearly. The Emperor's Mausoleum is a mysterious place that few people go to, so there is too little information available! I hope to dig out some valuable strategy articles from the Internet...
Wanxing didn't contact me again that night, probably because "Sister Fang" was online for a long time on Sunday , and I played with her until she went offline to rest. I told the profiteer that I needed him to help me invite a pharmacist, and the profiteer agreed and said he would contact one of his friends later.
On June 18, I stepped up my leveling. Sometimes, the presence of two super-high-level members in the team is very important. A blood bull can withstand the boss's attack, and other team members can play a greater combat efficiency. The effect is not comparable to 1+1=2. Alas, it's a pity that I added points to strength in the first two upgrades. Now the attack is terrifyingly high, but the blood and defense are not necessarily higher than those of the same-level blood bull warrior players who specialize in physical fitness.
In the morning, Wanxing also came to me to help her level up, saying that Sister Fang would be online in the afternoon. Before noon, this girl had reached level 30. I asked her to practice more skills in mechanical engineering and save the skill points from these upgrades. I would decide whether to allocate them to mechanical engineering or scout skills when the situation changes.
I had good luck today and everything went well. In the afternoon, the profiteer contacted me and said that he had found a pharmacist and asked me to meet him.
Arriving at Taibai Restaurant, the profiteer led a man towards me. This man was tall and thin, and judging from his face, he was about 27 or 28 years old, with a pale complexion and a sickly look. The profiteer introduced me, "This friend is Zhou Zhenghuan, you can call him Lao Zhou. He is definitely an excellent pharmacist."
Zhou Zhenghuan? It sounds like a real name! It's rare to play online games without using a nickname, but these people are usually honest people.
I extended my hand and said, "Hello, my name is Bloody Sky, and my familiar friends all call me Blood. Nice to meet you."
The two sides shook hands, and Zhou Zhenghuan said, "Hello, it's an honor to meet you, the number one master of Fantasy."
"You're too kind. I'm just lucky. By the way, you should have heard what the profiteer said. Can you help us with this?"
"No problem. The profiteer has already negotiated the terms with me. However, I can't get that much material. You have to figure it out on your own."
Materials? Bu San should have collected quite a lot. Not all the materials collected from monsters and bosses are materials for casting equipment. There are also many medicinal herbs. There are still five days left. Pay attention to collecting them and let the profiteers buy some from the players. That should be enough.
"Well, we'll take care of this. However, Mr. Zhou, this operation may take a long time, perhaps two days or longer. Can you spare so ?"
"Sure, I have plenty of time."
"Then it's settled, starting from Friday night. Um, by the way, what's your level?" Since it was our first meeting, I was embarrassed to stare at him, as that would be very impolite.
"I'm only level 26, but I'm confident in my alchemy skills."
26? For a professional skill player, it is not bad. A pharmacist at level 20 can refine life water, and at level 25 can refine magic water. Since he said he is confident in his skills, he should be able to make strong life and medium magic water. However, it is still too dangerous for a pharmacist of this level to enter the Emperor's Mausoleum. If we don't protect him well, he will die easily. Besides, if he can be promoted to level 30 and become a pharmacist, he can refine auxiliary medicines such as gold healing medicine and antidote, which will be much more convenient for us.
"Haha, Mr. Zhou will definitely be of great help to us. However, it would be even better if we could reach level 30 before Friday. After all, the Emperor's Mausoleum is a very dangerous place."
"I understand. Do your best!"
It's a pity that I can't promise to help him level up or something. After all, bringing Wanxing along will slow down the process a lot. And if I bring Zhou Zhenghuan along at the same time, the effect will not be as good as if he practices skills and gains experience by himself!
We agreed to contact each other again on Thursday, and he said goodbye. I always felt that Zhou Zhenghuan's tone was very strange. It was more like an employment relationship than a friend of the profiteer who came to help. However, I was planning to recruit pharmacists, so I asked the profiteer who he was.
The profiteer said with some emotion: "He is a friend of my friend. He was not an online game player, but he fell seriously ill not long ago and has been lying in bed all day. He lost his job and livelihood. Social security alone is not enough to pay for medical expenses. My friend persuaded him to play Fantasy, which can not only relieve boredom and distract from the pain of illness, but also earn an income. So he chose to be a pharmacist. This is probably what bothers him. But he is a good person. Since he has agreed on the reward with me, he will definitely go all out for this operation."
"Oh? Then how much did you pay?"
The profiteer said calmly, "Whether he succeeds or fails, I will pay him 5,000 gold coins. If he succeeds, I will give him a portion of the profits based on the size of his harvest. I don't think you will object."
Haha, it seems that the profiteer is also a kind person. With 5,000 gold coins, he can easily hire three pharmacists by posting an advertisement in the system. However, for a team, one pharmacist is enough. This profession cannot increase combat effectiveness if there are too many people.
Well, since this is Mr. Zhou’s basic situation, it shouldn’t be difficult to attract him to join the gang we are about to establish by paying a certain amount of money, right?
Woo…
I was really busy preparing for the Imperial Mausoleum. Now the manpower problem has been basically solved, but there is still a lot of work to do... Oh, there is another task for the profiteer. Although Bu San can be brought with him to repair the equipment, the gold and dark gold equipment Bu San is still unable to repair at his current level, and this kind of equipment is precisely an important auxiliary to maximize combat effectiveness, so I asked the profiteer to buy some gold and dark gold equipment of level 30 or so from the players that are suitable for us (many players can kill the bosses that drop equipment of this level now, and we may not be able to find the bosses by ourselves), and use them as backup. Alas, for this action, no matter how much it costs, it doesn't matter. Who said that building a gang is so attractive?
