There were plenty of rat tails to be looted. Many of the spiders in the labyrinth had also fallen asleep after overeating, making it ideal to hunt them now.
Roan also didn’t expect there to be buffoons to eye those worthless magic crystals when there were so much more better things to do.
‘It’s like taking off your pants to fart. They are wasting their effort on unnecessary places.’
He was planning to wait for more players to enter the ga before introducing death penalties, but thanks to those two fools, he had no choice but to bring his plan forward.
Watching as the two players with nas that killed his appetite walked away, Roan asked with a sigh, “Youyou, can’t you pick players with higher aptitude for the closed beta? I’m not saying that only pros deserve to play gas, but we should at least blacklist the overly adventurous till the ga chanics are perfected.”
Youyou hesitantly replied, “I’m afraid that’s not possible. I can take back closed beta accounts, but I can’t hand accounts to specific players.”
‘Seems like the closed beta access rights have to be randomly issued. Is this one of the Calamity system’s base code, so it can’t be overwritten?’
Roan could only look on the bright side and think of the ‘overly adventurous players’ as ga testers to root out bugs for him.
…
anwhile, the release of version a.02 made 《Calamity Online》’s forum bustle with life as if there was a celebration.
When the monsters were attacking the city earlier, a couple of players made use of the respawn delay to post real-ti battle updates on the forum.
A rat stampede!
A boss who was the size of a little hill!
And the cool spellcasting special effects too… Even though an NPC doing the spellcasting, it still contributed to the gaming experience!
In a single day, they verified two things.
One, the ga’s server was more amazing than they had imagined. Not only were the locations and events seamlessly linked together, but its physics engine allowed realistic destruction of the terrain too!
Two, the ga was not just a monotonous farming and mining ga!
Just the dense cluster of events in the beginner village showed just how conscientious the developers were! Other gas definitely didn’t have such a level of production.
The players on the forum felt itchy hands seeing how much the closed beta players were enjoying themselves. If they could, they would charge into the ga right away, pick up a dragonslaying blade, and conquer the world!
“I strongly request the developers to allow screenshots and videos!”
“I demand the developnt team to delete all closed beta data!”
“AHHHHH!!! I’m going to die without Calamity Online!”
“Holy shit, another update?!”
“I’m stunned! What’s with this developnt speed?!”
“Good news, brothers! The developers are releasing more closed beta slots!”
“Bad news—there are only 400 slots. (Laughs)”
“Second bad news—there are over 10,000 people on the waiting list now. (Guffaws)”
“@%#$！”
“I’m going to kill all of you! (Angry)”
Zhao Jinyan stared at the forum page in shock. He was not shocked by the netizens’ etiquette on the forum but…
“Damn… I got it?!”
He had long downloaded the demo. With a frantically beating heart, he quickly put on the goggles and keyed in his userna and password.
He waited for a good five minutes or so before hearing a dissonant nose.
Bi!
He found himself faced not with the opening sequence he had heard so much about from existing closed beta players but a static screen instead.
“Fuck!”
He took off the goggles and angrily hurled it on the ground. The secondhand VR gear he had bought from Taobao for fifty bucks had hung on him!
‘What lousy gear is this?!’
…
While Zhao Jinyan was busy arguing with black-hearted rchants, the players on 《Calamity Online》’s forum finally began a proper discussion about the a.02 update. R
Villagegramps: “This looks like a huge update, and it is indeed a huge update! Putting aside the death penalty, we are getting social functions and in-ga stores!”
Dogshit: “Gramps, it looks like you have said a lot, and you have indeed said a lot.”
Villagegramps: “Screw you! I’m summarizing the update details for our newbies, can’t you tell?!”
Dogshit: “Okay, okay. Chill. The more desperately you try to explain, the more awkward it gets. (Laughs)”
Villagegramps: “@#%$！”
Peerlessbear: “We finally have a place to spend hell coins. Hooray!”
Explodingknowledge: “But what’s the shopkeeper role? And it’s salary is just hell coins?”
Autumnleaf: “You think the developers will give you real money instead of hell coins? Is that possible? (Side glance)”
Explodingknowledge: “Our guide bro is here!”
FlowermonkLinDaiyu: “Guidebro, help us break down what’s going on! This is such a major update. Does it ans the ga is going to be officially released very soon?”
Autumnleaf: “Idk, I’m not part of the developnt team. Besides, even though this update is pretty big, the implented things are pretty routine. I an, which ga doesn’t have death penalties, a social system, and in-ga stores?”
Dirtypants: “Ah, you’re right!”
Noface: “Whew, that’s a close shave! I nearly got scamd by the dog developers!”
Goblinchief: “Fake update! Boo, I demand a refund!”
Minowarrior: “Bro, your userna is pretty interesting! Shall we play together?”
Autumnleaf: “Cough… It was rude of to say that. While these are common features, we shouldn’t forget that Calamity Online is unique, open world exploration ga developed by an indie studio… I’m going to start flattering, so don’t be in a rush to whack , dog developer!”
Autumnleaf: “This update might not be a lot, but we can get a glimpse of the developer’s ambition if we read between the lines. For instance, it is stated that different races have different death penalties. They are already laying the groundwork for the implentation of other races.”
Orcknight: “Succubus! SUCCUBUSSSS!! (Shrieks)”
Autumnleaf: “That’s right. I’m guessing there will be so kind of chanism in the future that allows players to spend contribution points to upgrade into orcs and succubuses.”
Fecespool: “Why contribution points?! Why not hell coins or magic crystals?”
Autumnleaf: “Magic crystals? Back to the point, the death penalty deducts contribution points, so it makes sense for changing races to require contribution points too. Hell coins are too susceptible to inflation. I would link such an important system to it if I’m the developer.”
Autumnleaf: “Also, I can feel that the developer is carefully regulating the distribution of contribution points, which suggests it might have a huge impact on the ga’s balance. The biggest thing that will shake up the ga balance I can think of right now is race change. Obviously, high demons are going to be much stronger than low-rank demons.”
Dogshit: “Amazing analysis! I submit to you!”
Explodingknowledge: “You dare claim you aren’t an internal staff! I bet you’re a shill! (Angry)”
Autumnleaf: “…”
Goblinchief: “Bro, give a closed beta slot! I’ll let you have your way with when I beco a succubus! QAQ”
Autumnnleaf: “Scram!”
Villagegramps: “Hahahaha!”
“…”
anwhile, in the inn beside Northpeak Shaft’s entrance, Roan sat beneath a decrepit stable, peeping on the discussions on the official forum page through a mirror while barbecuing rat tail skewers.
He was averse to eating ratman flesh, but he had heard that rat tail was a herbal dicine.
Anyway, he decided to stow away his at jerky, which had a longer expiration date, and survive on the players’ tribute for the next few days.
“Not bad. He has so substance to him.”
Roan repeatedly murmured “Roasted duck” under his breath as he mustered his courage to a bite off his rat tail skewer. It was surprisingly not awful. Now that he was chewing it, it did bear so resemblance to duck at.
‘A pity I don’t have cumin and MSG. It’ll get too gay if I eat too much.’
He suddenly rembered Thunderbuzz City was located next to the sea. There should be a coastline if he ventured southward.
‘I might be able to refine MSG if I can get so seaweed there.’
He had no idea how MSG was made, but he had an army of players to fall back on!
The more he thought about it, the more plausible he thought it was. At the sa ti, he was also surprised that his transmigrator senior hadn’t considered this possibility.
“I guess there’s a limit to what one can do by oneself. Even gods are susceptible to mistakes…”
Youyou: “Demon King?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just thinking that it’s good to have these rascals with us. Hahaha!”
Entertained by the netizens’ humorous discussion, Roan guffawed like a true demon king.
“Speaking of which, Youyou, why don’t you try a bite too?”
Youyou fearfully took two steps back in the mirror. “Uhh, I-I think I’ll pass… It’s not like I can eat in my current state anyway.”
“Is that so?” Roan wiped the grease off his lips. “What a pity. It’s surprisingly tasty, you know?”
All of a sudden, Bant, who was lying by the corner with his head dangling in an uncomfortable position, suddenly opened his pale eyes and growled.
“What’s wrong, Bant? Are you surprised by my culinary skills? Or do you sll a living being?” Roan asked with a cheery smile, but his eyes turned cold as he instinctively grabbed his wand.
He and Jack had agreed to trade their goods tomorrow evening, when the sun was going down. There was still an entire day to go before that.
“What’s wrong, Demon King?”
“I don’t know. It might be an assassin.”
‘That person’s aura is very faint. Likely an expert capable of concealing their aura. Furthermore, that fellow is agile enough to avoid the alert magic formations I constructed around the inn!’
‘As I thought, it’s still too dangerous to stay out here.’
Roan quietly rose to his feet.
He darted to the corner, pretending that he urgently needed the toilet. At the sa ti, he secretly ordered Bant to rein in his aura and wait for the target to appear before making a move.
Then, he grabbed a mirror piece and told Youyou to reflect the scene for him.
Shortly after Roan left, the figure hidden in the shadows darted out and scurried to the campfire.
‘Is that fellow planning to lace the food with poison? That’s a good plan, but I have a counter.’
The agile figure grabbed a rat tail skewer from the campfire and wolfed it down.
Looking at the cat ears swaying in the mirror, Roan was stunned.
‘Is that… a demonoid?! This fellow is from the underworld too?!’
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