Chapter 51: Discussion Regarding Monsters' Image
Editor: Atlas Studios
"A few million?" Xiao Yu's heart thumped after hearing that, as his goal for playing the game in the beginning was to earn a few million dollars. However, such a dream was completely crushed after his Demonic Blaze Overlord character was killed. How was it possible for him not to be moved after hearing what Dakar Rhoder had said?
However, he did not show what he thought on his face, as he was not a person that would just trust what others said.
He purposely pretended to doubt Dakar Rhode and goaded him by saying, "You must be bluffing."
Dakar Rhode smiled and was not goaded at all. "Of course not. In reality, even if I don't tell you now, you'll find out quickly, so it's fine to tell you. Have you heard about the expansion pack?"
Xiao Yu nodded. Not long ago, the Firmament game company had released news that the next expansion pack would be implemented.
However, the weird thing was that there was no explanation or information regarding the details of the expansion pack. What was the new expansion pack about, who was the villain, and who was the Adventurers going to fight against? Was it the Devils? Undeads? Evil dragons? Or aliens? There was no description at all, but just a very generic sentence: "You shall decide the future".
Most players thought that such a sentence meant that it would be the players that would vote for the biggest villain. However, there was no relevant advertising or voting options, which made the players puzzled. Now, after listening to what Dakar Rhode had said, it seemed that it was not that simple.
Dakar Rhode said, "Of course, it's not that simple. Our studio has someone in the Firmament company, so we have heard some news. What it means by letting the players themselves decide… it's really up to the players' decision. Naturally, it does not mean the Adventurer players, but the Monster players. Soon, the Firmament company will announce a plan and release an activity in the game. The contents of the activity will be 'All Monster Mode players have the chance to become the final Boss of the next expansion pack'.
"The deadline of this activity is a year, when the new expansion pack drops. In that period of time, every Monster Mode player can sign up to participate. There are three conditions to be able to join the activity.
"Firstly, one must be a Big Boss Mode character and reach level 60.
"Secondly, one must be in control of a Monster Force. Because if one has to go against the whole world, he cannot be alone, so he has to have a group of underlings.
"Thirdly, have one's background story and relevant mission plot.
"As long as one meets the three conditions, they can join the selection of the expansion pack Boss. The specific method to decide is through one's strength, one's Reputation in the game, and the voting of Adventurer players.
"This activity shall pick three overall Bosses that will be the team dungeon Bosses of the early, middle, and late stage of the expansion pack respectively. They will also be the core enemies of the whole expansion pack plot, and the plot of the expansion pack will basically develop around those three super villains.
"Those three will also obtain the grand prizes. First place will receive $30,000,000, second will receive $20,000,000, and third $10,000,000.
"There are also awards for nominations for 20 people. Each will receive $2,000,000, thus the final prize pool will be as high as $100,000,000."
"OMG! That much!" Even though Xiao Yu had prepared himself mentally, he was also astonished. The game company was so generous. Although that $100,000,000 prize pool sounded astounding, it really was not much for the game company that earned lots of money every day. Therefore, Xiao Yu did not find it unbelievable but was only slightly shocked at the company's creativity.
"This is the reason why we are investing. Even just a nomination award is enough for us to earn big bucks. Don't just see the nomination award as $2,000,000. The profits that could be obtained are well above just that. Just imagine, those Bosses that are nominated will definitely have a place in the game, be it ruling over a land or dungeon, fighting against Adventurers. The area where they rule over will definitely not be small, and if one is able to manage it properly, it's not impossible to earn up to tens or hundreds of millions.
"However, it will not be simple to do that, as this piece of news is not some top secret information. Many studios have caught wind of it. Thus, in the past month, quite the number of studios have started entering the monster world. That Twilight Studio beforehand is one of them."
Xiao Yu asked, "You've given many reasons for recruiting me, but you still have not told me the reason for me to join you. There's so many Monster Forces in this game, so why must I join you?"
Dakar Rhode was not angry at Xiao Yu's question at all. "Good question. Why am I so confident that I can obtain the nomination prize? It's very simple. That's because we have a perfect plan. You must find it weird that we remain in West Wild. Actually, it's to increase our presence. Although the highest grade Boss in our studio is only level 25, his influence among Adventurer players is extremely high. The reason is simple: because West Wild is extremely close to Storm City and is also very suitable for level 15-25 players to level up, the development of this area is already extremely complete. I specially hired a few web novelists to help me write a few types of classic mission plots.
"Most of the unique, top-grade pieces of equipment are created in my foundry, so the mission rewards are quite good.
"Also, the number of dungeons here is the highest. The whole West Wild has 13 dungeons from easy to hard difficulty, and to maintain the diversified development of monsters, I purposely kept and supported a few Monster Forces, like Gnolls, Ogres, and Kobolds. I even strictly ordered my underlings to not attack the Alliance Watch Towers in West Wild to let Adventurer players have enough places to conveniently farm monsters and replenish their supplies. Or else, with our Shadow Brotherhood's strength, we would have already unified the whole West Wild.
"Therefore, the whole West Wild became a place extremely suitable for players to raise their levels. The number of Adventurers here could definitely be in the top 10 in the whole Aizelasi adventure map.
"Meanwhile, after those Adventurers experience the adventures here in West Wild, they will definitely be familiar with the title of my Shadow King. It could be said that I will naturally have the advantage in the Boss activity of the expansion pack."
When telling Xiao Yu about his plan and gains, Dakar Rhode was constantly paying attention to Xiao Yu's expression. Xiao Yu's expression changed from astonishment to admiration, from admiration to exclamation, but then it changed from exclamation to a faint smile.
"You don't seem to agree with me."
Xiao Yu thought to himself that it was indeed convenient to talk to clever people and nodded. "That's right. What you say makes sense and your plan is also very effective, but you have a deadly flaw."
Beforehand, he was surprised to hear Dakar Rhode's magnificent plan, but in the end, he noticed a huge problem that instantly calmed him down from being shocked. He was a Skeleton Level Boss before, so he was very clear about the images of monsters in the Adventurers' mind.
"Oh? And what is it?" asked Dakar Rhode
"You indeed have left a deep impression on the Adventurer players, but that image is… you're a Bandit head in West Wild and are deeply rooted here, ruling over this whole place. However, that's it, you are just the leader of a Monster Force in this area. Compared to those Liches, evil dragons, Ancient Gods, those evil villains with grand images, you're just a Bandit head in West Wild. How is it possible for you to become the super villain in the expansion pack?
"If they were not familiar with you, then it would be simple. You could make up some astonishing story plot. However, the problem is that you have already introduced everything about yourself to the Adventurers and did not maintain any sense of mystery. Thus, unless you accomplish an astonishing deed or complete an amazing plot achievement, you will not be able to compete with those fearsome villains. Just the nomination award will be your limit; wanting to become top three is just impossible."
Xiao Yu shook his head after finishing. The image of the monster was extremely important. Just taking his Goblin Boss identity as an example, it was unheard of for any game to have a final Boss be a Goblin. Thus, from the start, Xiao Yu did not plan to play this character to the end.
Although the image of a Human Bandit was only slightly better than a Goblin, it was only that little bit—it was still not enough to become the final villain. One could be the lackey of the villain at most.
Dakar Rhode, however, smiled. "Hehe, you have realized my flaw. Indeed, it looks like I have found the correct person. Not bad. As the leader of the Human Bandits, my image is indeed not good enough to be the villain. However, you also said that as long as I complete some astonishing achievement, I could reverse such a situation. Therefore, I have already thought of a magnificent plan to realize that. Come, I'll show you something, and you can decide if you want to join us after seeing it."
-- Gift
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