---Viktor's POV---
The unusual events in the Great Oak Forest were well known to the nearby city-states.
Only a fool of an adventurer would choose to explore there at a time like this. If any unexpected accidents occurred, or if the tide came early, their lives would be lost here!
I exhaled deeply, watching as my quill left tiny blotches of ink on the parchment.
"I can only go out and try my luck again."
Perhaps the recent state of the Great Oak Forest made it the perfect place to dispose of bodies? Wasn't Alyanne sent here under similar circumstances?
I jotted down the plan on the parchment, simultaneously sketching out a task system for the players. My goal was to prevent the second batch of players from continuing to obsess over the activity that gave the most experience: chopping down trees.
Once a simple rest area was built, it would be best to assign some players to farming. Maybe they could cultivate a batch of short-season crops before winter arrived...
"And today's hidden quest... its results are pretty good!" I muttered to myself. "I need to ensure Edgar and Luminaris also make use of the opportunities to issue quests."
Quests that required dialogue to trigger would definitely feel more engaging than those that were just listed in the quest log. The players' enthusiasm for exploring Aeltia was soaring, and I couldn't possibly keep them confined to Honeyvale forever. Doing so would lead to a quick loss of players.
But as for real monsters, the players weren't strong enough to handle them yet.
I stroked my chin in thought. "Should I go out and catch a couple of red-scaled worms to satisfy the players' urge to fight?"
Whether they could defeat them or not, the creatures could at least serve as a carrot to dangle in front of them.
I carefully noted down each of these points. Staring at the page full of notes and unfinished tasks, I felt a slight headache coming on.
"Being both a game designer and a faction leader is no easy job..."
I had to consider the current state of the town and guide the players to help rebuild it. At the same time, I had to ensure the gameplay remained engaging. Menial labor couldn't stay fun forever.
After wrapping this up, I stepped outside and stood before the Flesh Rebirth Array.
I allocated 66 divine energy points to craft bodies for six soon-to-arrive new players. The magic and transmutation base provided by the two-headed howling wolf king were more than sufficient for creating six player bodies.
Soon, the array began to emit a faint white glow. In one day, six bodies would be successfully created.
The night was long. Many decisions would have to wait until daylight to be carried out.
For now, I stepped out to bask in the moonlight for some healing while browsing Earth's internet. Thanks to NeverShowOff's promotional video, Chronicles of Aeltia official website's attention had been skyrocketing lately.
Though the video's clicks were only in the dozens or hundreds—an amount that would barely cover domain rental costs on other game sites—it was already enough for Chronicles of Aeltia.
Regardless of the number of new player sign-ups, I could only offer 10 slots.
I immediately checked the website's backend. Good. The number of applicants was still stable at 20. No change from the last time I checked.
"Idiots—uh, why hasn't the number of sign-ups moved?"
On Earth, it had only been a dozen or so hours since NeverShowOff released the promotional video. Could the video's promotional effect already have worn off?
A quick check revealed the truth. Not only had the promotional effect faded, but the entire video was gone!
I stared at the screen in silence, then at the backend feedback report: [The target video is suspected of fraud and was locked.]
I'd anticipated that NeverShowOff's promotional video might face obstacles, but I hadn't expected them to come so fast. It was practically a natural disaster.
In less than a day, the video was taken down!
Honestly, NeverShowOff, as a seasoned gaming blogger, had done an excellent job with the editing. He had managed to use just two promotional images from the official website to vividly describe the environment of Aeltia. It was clear that a lot of effort had gone into it.
The takedown was truly a pity.
I shook my head. "Sigh, setbacks are just part of growth."
There was nothing I could do about it, so I decisively put the matter out of my mind.
Next.
I prepared to upload some new images to the official website, creating some hype. For instance, today's two-headed howling wolf would make for excellent monster compendium material. I also planned to enhance Aeltia's background lore and bestiary to help new players understand the setting.
But what I didn't expect was...
During the short time I had been procrastinating, three players had already updated this section on the forum!
[Test Server Version Hidden Update! Dev Daddy Quietly Stuns Everyone!]
"So fast?" I exclaimed in surprise. "Don't they eat after logging off?"
They'd been in the game for 12 hours, which meant they'd gone six hours without eating in real life. Clearly, I still underestimated hardcore gamers. Who cares about eating? Sharing gaming experiences and creating guides was far more important!
I winced at the forum post's cheeky title.
Still, I continued reading.
The title, as snarky as it was, was clearly written by ProGamer_Daddy.
---Third POV---
[Before playing Chronicles of Aeltia, I never imagined that a single version update could include this much content.]
[First-hand experience: The game has an extremely high degree of freedom, and all player actions influence the main storyline and even gameplay modules.]
[Yes, you heard that right—gameplay itself can be triggered and updated by players!]
[Aside from the updates announced in the patch notes (currency and events), new story exploration mechanics and a boss dungeon preview have also been added.]
[Here's my personal walkthrough for everyone, step by step.]
[When I logged in this morning, I noticed that the NPC responsible for task rewards was on leave. PS: He didn't even leave a shadow clone behind, what a fail!]
[Although Viktor (the faction leader) seems approachable, he's way too shrewd! He doesn't allow any padding in the task rewards!]
[On the bright side, this shows that NPC activity areas have been greatly expanded after the update. They're becoming more and more lifelike—the kind of realism that avoids the uncanny valley (this point is super important, more on that later).]
[Then, at in-game noon, the NPC on leave returned—with the first monster I'd seen in the game: the Two-Headed Howling Wolf King.]
[Wow, that thing was gross. Even uglier than the stone monster briefly glimpsed in the trailer!]
[In my opinion, "Corpse-Eating Two-Headed Wolf" would've been a more fitting name. Luckily, the official website doesn't have its picture. Trust me, you wouldn't want to see it!]
[Here is a hand-drawn picture of the Two-Headed Howling Wolf.]
Because of length constraints, ProGamer_Daddy's post was split here.
The next part was filled with comments from other users.
[Garble:] Abstract art
[SoySauceLeader:] The drawing skills are... hard to describe
[BananaYouKiddingMe:] Is this thread some kind of roleplay? Is everyone just messing with an idiot?
Although only players who signed up for the beta test can post on the official forum, not everyone who signed up actually believed in or was excited about playing Chronicles of Aeltia.
There were plenty of spectators just there for the show.
Clearly, BananaYouKiddingMe was one of them.
He paid the 99 yuan with the mindset of exposing a scam and enjoying the drama.
For such stubborn skeptics, words alone wouldn't suffice.
So ProGamer_Daddy didn't even bother to explain.
He only replied briefly under comments from friends in his fan group.
[MemeKnight]: Having bad drawing skills isn't a problem. Polluting everyone's eyes with it is!
[ProGamer_Daddy]: Get lost! Cloud gamers who didn't get beta access aren't qualified to understand my artistry!
[MemeKnight]: #￥%…!
Viktor scrolled further and finally found a few relatively serious comments.
[ImmuneToBeauty]: Wait, so you can bargain with NPCs when turning in quests? And each NPC has different standards? What is this, a farmers' market?
[ChestBurster]: Shows how little you know. A promo video claimed the game achieves 100% realism, where even every tree is unique. Of course, quest rewards would vary
[BobBobby]: Yeah, they even said the NPC's intelligence rivals real people! Take it as a joke, though
[ChestBurster]: By the way, OP, you really need to work on your art skills. If you didn't say it was a two-headed wolf, I would've thought it was some cursed meatball from a horror story
[BobBobby]: Exactly! It looks more like something out of a zombie or horror film than a magical creature from a fantasy world!
It was clear that out of the 20 paid players, only a few beta testers and their friends or family actually believed in the game's existence.
Viktor, however, felt calm.
Everything took time.
Explaining things with words couldn't compare to letting them experience the game for themselves.
Once the second wave of players joined, the forum's atmosphere should shift.
But while ProGamer_Daddy might have terrible drawing skills, he truly captured the essence of the two-headed howling wolf—ugliness.
He had a natural talent for creating "soulful" art.
Viktor continued reading.
---
ProGamer_Daddy selectively ignored the critiques of his art and pressed on with his post:
[The key point is that through the wolf and the following events, I asked the NPC some questions and uncovered an entire series of monster lore!]
[Over 600 years ago, for some reason, the gods of Aeltia collectively lost their minds and united to kill the Goddess of Wisdom, Elona. This sparked a divine war, ending in their total annihilation.]
[It was an incredibly bloody scene. The corpses of the gods fell all over the continent, and ordinary animals that consumed them evolved into monsters with immense power!]
[In the game's backstory, monsters became far stronger than other species and have occupied over half of Aeltia's territory in the past 600 years!]
[The various races, beaten into submission, went from trying to reclaim lost lands to simply struggling to survive, competing to see who could last the longest!]
Viktor's face darkened. "Who told him the gods' corpses were scattered all over the continent?"
It sounded like a blood rain from the heavens and a continental buffet of divine flesh.
He could guarantee that if the gods' deaths had been this undignified, the size of today's churches would be at least 10% smaller.
But alas, the gods had died too "divinely," allowing the churches to flourish for 600 years, still able to suppress anti-divine organizations.
Perhaps the explosive lore caught people's attention, as nearly half of the reservation players jumped into the thread.
[Garble]: Why does this differ from what I heard from Viktor?
[ProGamer_Daddy]: Ahem, artistic liberties, artistic liberties
[SoySauceLeader]: Are the gods in Chronicles of Aeltia all brain-dead? Were they just tired of living?
[Pretender]: Agreed. It's my first time hearing about a war with no winners. And it's a war between gods!
[BananaYouKiddingMe]: Just from this backstory, you can tell it's a trash game
[LootGoblin]: I bet the backstory is good, and you'll say ProGamer_Daddy's imagination is even better.
[MemeKnight]: Wait a second, @Pretender, didn't you leave the group saying you didn't believe the game was real? So why are you here reserving a spot now?
[ImmuneToBeauty]: It took monsters 600 years to occupy half the land? These monsters sound weak!
[ChestBurster]: Exactly. With such slow progress, they still managed to beat the various races into hiding? If they'd cooperated even a little, the monsters wouldn't have stood a chance!
ProGamer_Daddy saw these comments and commented:
[Hey, don't rush to conclusions! This is just the backstory. There's always room to expand it. I heard Aeltia has a lot of intelligent species. Monsters managing to take half the land is already impressive! 1 > all combined!]
[Individual monsters are disasters in their own right. If they occupied 80% of the land, we wouldn't even have a game to play!]
[The monsters' combat strength is undeniable, but the focus is on their weaknesses.]
[First, they can't move freely. Their strength is closely tied to their nests, which is why their expansion is slow.]
[Second, their lives are tied to their intelligence. To become monsters, they must lose their minds and rely on consuming intelligent creatures to survive. If they're unlucky and are born far from intelligent species, they die quickly!]
Even so, the cloud players were unimpressed, each latching onto strange details.
[ImmuneToBeauty]: Wait, so monsters have no brains?!
[BobBobby]: Corrupted bodies, no brains, and they eat intelligent beings… Sounds like zombies to me!
[MemeKnight]: Correction: they're more like ghouls
[ProGamer_Daddy]: Can you people focus on the key points already?!
The same group that doubted the monsters' slow expansion now didn't care about their limitations!
Viktor found himself oddly amused.
ProGamer_Daddy often bombarded him with far more ridiculous questions than these comments.
The rest of the post discussed theories about the evening iron mine monster and hidden quest triggers.
Viktor had already overheard three players discussing it in the game.
Seeing no new information, he skimmed through it, marked the post as a "Featured Post," and added an admin note:
[Congratulations to beta tester ProGamer_Daddy on their post 'Subtle Brilliance' becoming the forum's first Featured Post!]
[Let's celebrate!]
[Additionally, the forum's submission review system is now live!]
[Approved high-quality featured posts will be included in the in-game encyclopedia, with contributors credited in the records.]
[Thank you for your participation and support!]