Gamers of the Underworld (Web Novel)
chapter-6

The posting [Beta Gamer’s great revelation: the most complete and cutting edge “Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom” Strategy Guide!] was published two hours after Sherlock announced the opening of the new area. The post was published less than half an hour ago and attracted about a thousand replies. The page views increased at an insane rate. Besides Sherlock’s announcement, it was the most popular post.

From the title, it was created from one of the hundred servants who were summoned to the Dungeon. Sherlock was concerned about his servants’ views of the Dungeon as they were members of the Dungeon. In the future, the Dungeon would have more inhabitants. As the Dungeon was just starting up, Sherlock felt he should get more feedback on the Dungeon.

Sherlock clicked on the posting.

[Beta Gamer’s great revelation: the most complete and cutting edge “Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom” Strategy Guide!]

“Greetings, I am Beta Gamer NotWearingPants. That is correct; I am the one at the B Platform recording professional videos on Strategy Guides! I have been fortunate to obtain “Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom” Beta Tester status. This is the first global game that deviates from the traditional gaming console. Instead, this online game uses gaming capsule and Virtual Reality technology! I was like the common crowd and thought that the gaming capsule and Virtual Reality were gimmicks. This morning at nine o’clock, I lay down in the gaming capsule and entered the “Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom.” I feel I have to apologize to the producer of this game. Sorry!

There is one hundred percent restoration and freedom. This is not a gimmick. It is the real deal! I do not know which game engine is used. Upon consideration that it is a Virtual Reality online game, I am afraid the game technology cannot be called “game engine.” Perhaps we have entered the “Age of Empires” time period when we insert cables into the backs of our heads! That is correct; this game is as real as a second world! Besides articulating every joint, we can breathe and interact with any object. We even have the sensation of pain! Of course, we can adjust the pain intensity from 0 to 100%. I suggest normal gamers adjust it to zero while hardcore gamers may challenge the pain intensity at one hundred percent! (I killed myself by bashing the wall and tested the revival mechanism. This is my earnest suggestion!)

Enough said, this is the most complete and cutting-edge Strategy Guide!

The game background is a medieval world of swords and magic. Our initial starting point was at the Eternal Kingdom Dungeon.

When the game started, we appeared at the Dungeon Core Main Hall. Before appearing, we could mold our face to our liking. As we could only choose the Goblin race, no matter how we customized our appearance, we do not look appealing. I suggest you do not waste too much time in this segment. Wait for the game to be updated with more races.

There are two game NPCs. I am not sure whether they are functional or storyline NPCs or both.

One of them is the Dungeon Blacksmith Simba, who is a black dwarf with a hot temper. Though we can interact freely with the Blacksmith Shop’s objects, I suggest that you do not touch the items inside because the NPC will beat you up! Currently, there are no weapons or armor for sale, but food is available for sale. You need food in the game. If you do not eat, you will feel hunger. The feeling is so authentic that your body will exhibit weakness. To buy food, you require bronze coins, and to obtain bronze coins, you have to finish the missions that appear before you. You only have to accept the missions. (Picture)

The second NPC is the Dungeon Lord: Devil Lord Sherlock! (Picture)

According to my experience, the Devil Lord Sherlock is the one who we pledged our allegiance to. His status is similar to the “World of Warcraft” faction leader. He is the only one who allocates missions and rewards us for completed tasks. There is another functional facility called the Dungeon Core. At times, Lord Sherlock (aka Sherlie) is not in the Dungeon. We can submit our missions and obtain rewards at the Dungeon Core, which is called Bru. As I have not communicated with Bru, I do not know if Bru is an NPC or just a mission tablet.

As the game is in Beta Testing, there were only two NPCs. Some of you may think that it is too little, but considering that the Virtual Reality is 100% close to life, the development lag in other areas is understandable. It is much more meaningful to let us gamers participate and help improve such an online game.

Next, I am explaining the game settings.

There were no official details on the game settings, only game background and Dungeon introduction. All the game settings were carefully discovered, profoundly summarized and boldly speculated by me.

First point: This game does not have Health and Mana bars, Attribute Points or Character Panel. I am not sure if the Character Panel will be shown after engaging in battle. When the new area is opened tomorrow, I will explore it and then give an accurate description.

Of course, you can give yourself names, but the name can only contain letters; no symbols or punctuation marks. It appears in green above the head.

Second point: Battling in this game is different from the traditional combat system. There are no permanent professions, no character level differences, no experience bars, and no skill points. But in this sword and magic world, we should be able to use bronze coins or other methods to learn skills or strengthen ourselves. Learning skills depends on our choice and is not decided by profession. Perhaps a Goblin like me can wield a magical staff and longsword, just like combat magician Gandalf.

Some people might not be used to this, but I feel that this is a good point of this game. The selling point is based one hundred percent on reality and freedom; hence, the future combat skill development is controlled by us. We can choose the skills based on our preference and capability which mimics reality.

As for the details, we have to wait for the game to release information gradually.

Third point: Mission system. I thought the mission system was the same as other games where predetermined missions are triggered by certain conditions. In the Beta Testing, I discovered that this is not the case. The game is like a real-time computer that decides which missions to give out based on the Dungeon development. If there is a demand for more ores, there will be more mining missions. If there is a demand for transportation, more missions for carrying ore will be allocated. When a demand is satisfied, there will not be similar missions given. People do not have to worry that there are no missions as the Dungeon has just started development. Thus, there are many missions. I have already played for more than ten hours. Besides spending time on studying the settings, most of my time was spent mining and carrying ores — I’ll call this “carrying bricks”!

In the beginning, I felt that the repeating missions were too routine and robotic. Even when I was given a lot of bronze coins as reward, I didn’t want to do it. I would rather smash against the wall and die or rush into the furnace and be burnt to death. But now… it’s different!

That is correct. The reality and authentic feel makes the routine carrying of bricks extremely fun!

Fourth point: Currency. Currently, all gamers have only seen bronze coins. I do not know if there are silver and gold coins above the bronze coins. I think there are, because I saw Sherlie sort his money bag. There were golden and shiny objects inside that looked like gold coins. Besides using bronze coins to buy food from Simba, there is nothing else to buy. However, once the Dungeon is developed, there will be other merchandise such as weapons, armor, and healing salves. As the game development progresses, more details will be revealed to gamers.

Fifth point: As it is an online game with a high degree of freedom, comparing it to sandbox mode is unavoidable. In the game, you are allowed to move things that you can carry and change their location permanently. You can also use the pickaxe to mine in the areas demarcated by the Dungeon Lord and change the look of the environment. I tried mining outside the area demarcated by the Dungeon Lord and I failed. There is a hidden setting that makes it difficult for the gamer to violate the direct orders of the Dungeon Lord. When we faced the Dungeon Lord, we felt a dominant authority and subservience was irresistible. Perhaps it was due to our Goblin status. Once there are newer and higher level races, perhaps the situation will change.

Sixth point: Regarding Revival. Death is unavoidable in online games. Gamers are very concerned about the death penalty. Today, I tried it out in the Beta Testing. That is correct. I was that bold gamer who committed suicide by smashing against the wall. I felt 100% throbbing pain. Even now, my head is throbbing with pain. The game’s sensation of pain is too real. After death, gamers will be forced to appear at the Game Preparation Realm. Once the body is healed, then the gamer can revive. While waiting for revival, the gamer can only browse the official website or discussion forum.

Seventh point: Whether Beta Tester status can be sold, bought or shared. Rich gamers do not have to think about it. There were no methods to charge one’s account and there’s no marketplace. The Beta Tester status cannot be sold, bought or shared because the game required a game capsule to play. The game capsule is bound to the gamer after the contract is signed. Only the gamer with the contract can use the game capsule. Those who are thinking of buying Beta Tester status or sharing the game capsule should give up.

When I committed suicide by smashing into the wall the only penalty was waiting. There was another gamer who dashed into the Blacksmith Shop’s furnace and was burnt to ash. The in-game character was completely destroyed, and he had to create another account.

The death penalty and the after-death body conditions are related. If the body can be healed, there will not be special penalty. If the body cannot be healed — for example, burnt to ash — then the gamer will need to create a new character. The gamer must ensure that the body is intact when dying. If the gamer is outside the Dungeon, please keep a companion close by to bring your corpse back to the Eternal Kingdom in the event that you perish. Besides Sherlie, no one else can heal bodies. The gamers do not have such skills.

Death has its own risks and penalties. Please cherish your lives!

This is a lot of information. Note that I am merely recording down my thoughts. If there are missing parts, do fill in the blanks yourselves. It is getting late now and dawn is coming. I will be getting some rest. The livestream at B platform will stop since I need to play “Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom.” I am going offline now and will take a look at the comments later in the day. The new area will open in the morning at seven and I would like to be the first one to explore. Goodnight!”

Sherlock finished reading the contents of this post in one go. He had some impression of NotWearingPants and was curious and bewildered by the gamer’s feedback. Though the gamers were hardworking and did not require salary, he was bewildered by their thoughts. He could only attribute his lack of understanding to the differences in culture.

[Are you sure this NPC photograph is not a Cosplay photograph?]

[Why are the graphics so real?]

[Why did I not get Beta Tester status?!]

[I can’t bear to wait! Hope the game goes into open testing soon!]

Some of the remarks below were doubtful and full of surprise. Others wanted QQ or Wechat contacts while some wanted Beta Tester’s accounts at all costs even if they had to spend all their wealth just to work for Sherlock. The replies reached thousands in number.

Though Sherlock read the replies and comments patiently, the increase in replies was faster than his reading speed. After reading five hundred threads and noticing that there were still a hundred unread pages of threads, Sherlock decided to give up.

Sherlock found the gamers’ comments in the discussion forum to be very interesting, but he had a lot of work to do in the Dungeon. For example, he needed to make the necessary arrangements for Blacksmith Simba to create metal tools, weapons and armor!