Villain Cultivator (Web Novel)
chapter-142

Chapter 142 – What's Next?

Ding

This is the only beginning. Please complete the last tutorial quest.

There is no time limit. However, Your Sponsor suggests that you should finish the quest as soon as possible.

"What? I can't take it easy after all this shit!?"

Ding

The 10th tutorial quest is a demonstration of how tough a protagonist can be with the easiest difficulty. At the same time, it serves as an example of how you can overcome the heavenly luck and their unfair plot armors.

As you have experienced it, protagonists usually have absurd luck, strength, and resources at the start of their journeys. If you leave them alone, they will grow indefinitely until they reach the peak of that universe's strength cap.

However, it's possible for you, an outsider of their stories, to interfere with their fates. You can steal their plot armors, such as event rewards, strong allies, mentors, heavenly weapons, artifacts, fortuitous encounters, techniques, and even their lovers.

With enough preparation, you can defeat any protagonist, as long as their plot armors are weaker than your overall power.

Cao Mao clicked his tongue as he had already figured out this piece of information. Moreover, the system should have told him when he had first arrived in this world.

"I know that already. Tell me anything I don't know. Why do you want me to keep completing quests!?"

Ding

There is more than one protagonist in this world.

The message reminded him of cold harsh reality. Cao Mao already had gone through an ordeal and preparations, intentionally and unintentionally, to the point that he didn't want to fight a protagonist like Xie Tian again. Now, it told Cao Mao that he might have to fight more protagonists.

In the campaign mode, you can choose your sides. You can hunt protagonists, antagonists, neutral characters, side bosses, and hidden bosses in this mode. Clearing a campaign will unlock more system features and items in the system shops, and you will obtain a massive reward.

However, a few of the available targets have already been spawned into this world. They will not simply wait for their death. As time passes, they will also get stronger.

Cao Mao understood now why the system said he should finish the 9th tutorial quest as soon as possible even though there was no time limit. The longer Cao Mao dragged his feet, the others would get too strong, and it might be impossible for him to hunt them.

"What if I don't take quests at all?"

After you've finished the 9th tutorial quest, you'll be blessed with a one-year protection period. During this time, Your Sponsor will help you ward off all troublemakers and let you enjoy the rightfully earned a peaceful life. However, once the period is over, you'll be a force to take at least one campaign questline.

Here is an example of the campaign information you'll receive before you can pick your target.

A large system panel appeared before Cao Mao. The blue screen showed a portrait of Xie Tian.

Name: Xie Tian

Role: Protagonist

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Story Type: Lucky Local Cultivator

Traits: Bold, Ruthless, Prone to Anger, Lone Wolf, Fast Learner

Sponsor: None

Starting Cheat Factors

Lucky Scavenger

Fire Dragon Bloodline

Difficulty: Level 1

Overall Strength

Level 1 Foundation

Level 2 Growth Speed

Level 1 Plot Armor

Level 2 Luck

Analysis

Xie Tian is a simple lone-wolf protagonist with a dragon bloodline. His advantage in fire manipulation techniques and his vitality enables him to defeat tougher foes with a few level differences in strength. As long as he can defeat side characters and powerhouse villains, he can snowball the story with more cheat items and cultivation resources.

Xie Tian's main strength lies in his growth rate and luck. He often finds relics of ancient murals in an adventure. He also gets bonus chances of acquiring rare resources after he defeats side villains with a stronger cultivation strength. Whenever he defeats the main antagonist, he will get more plot armor resources to boost his power. With more items, he can grow faster than everybody in his peers.

The greatest weakness of Xie Tian is his luck-reliance and his dependence on the villain mobs. By taking out his potential resources, anyone can defeat this protagonist with enough preparations.

Xie Tian's plot armor is the weakest among other protagonists since this character is designed to be used and discarded as a tutorial quest guardian. His plot armors are the protection from the friendly seniors, the incompetency of powerhouse villains, his fortuitous encounters, and the looted items from villains' dead bodies. Because of his lone-wolf nature, he often goes on an adventure alone. That was the time when he is most vulnerable to ambushes.

Cao Mao dropped his jaw. He wished the system had told him this information earlier. Learning about Xie Tian at this point was useless now.

Simply put, Xie Tian was the type who got stronger the more he ran into trouble. It was a braindead protagonist that relied on the forced plot and luck.

This is an example of a campaign mode character. Upon selection, you can see every detail of your target beforehand. This is to balance the odds between you and your target, who will always have the upper hands at the beginning of all campaigns.

"How come you never told me this!?"

Xie Tian is the weakest protagonist among all native characters. Had your system given you the info, you could have broken the purpose of this tutorial.

"..."

The system was right in a sense. Had Cao Mao learned about Xie Tian's existence when he first arrived in this world, he could have killed the protagonist within the first week without doing it himself.

Continuing what I've left off, more protagonists, neutral characters, and antagonists will be available in detail. Each of them has a different time limit, bounty rewards, and penalties, depending on the difficulties.

By hunting protagonists, your alignment will shift toward the antagonists' side, making it easier for you to cooperate with fellow villains. By successfully kill a protagonist, you can steal their heavenly fortune and fate power, boosting your chance to acquire more cheat items and abilities.

Moreover, your fellow villains will usually work with you, and you can get resources easier than other types of bounties. If you're confident in your political skills and wits to outdo the other villains' backstab schemes, it is advised to take the villain route.

As for the cons, more protagonists and their friends will notice your presence and deeds as time passes. If you kill too many protagonists, some of them might proactively hunt you while you're taking another campaign!

Second choice, by hunting neutral characters, you can maintain the balance of your alignment without penalty. This is the best option when you don't want to be noticed since neutral characters are mostly low-profile. Unless you kill a big-shot, no antagonist or protagonist will be aware of your deed.

Lastly, by hunting the antagonists, your alignment will shift toward the protagonists' side. You can obtain a lot of cultivation resources by destroying antagonists' organizations. Other protagonists will be your most reliable friends, and their plot armors will work in your favor. This type of campaign is suitable for getting rid of annoying villains you don't like, but you won't get any reward from the system other than a few cultivation resources.

Penalties for hunting antagonists are the hostility from fellow villains. As their organizations are mostly powerhouses and major clans, their ally clans and friends will remember you after you trigger the seed of hatred, and they will form an eternal grudge with you the same way they treated the protagonists.

Choosing sides and alignments will be important from now on. Please think carefully before you choose a new hunt campaign.

Preferably, it is recommended that you choose the antagonist's side since Your Sponsor will give you more rewards for completion. Also, most protagonists don't have a strong background, so you don't have to worry about repercussions from major sects.

"So, you'll force me to pick the villain side anyway."

It is only a recommendation. The final choice is yours.

"..."

Cao Mao had a wry smile on his face. His future seemed complicated and troublesome.

Since worrying about the future was unproductive, Cao Mao dismissed the system menus and concentrated on the present. For now, he had to deal with a protagonist's dead body.