I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 15 The planner is really my own father!

The dust kicked up by the troop transport convoy gradually dissipated, leaving behind Nguyen Van Bo and his ninety-nine "subordinates." He looked at the group of men before him. The ten older ones were alright, having at least experienced one battle, but the ninety newer ones were completely out of the loop. Some were still curiously touching the mud walls of the trenches, while others were trying to strike up a conversation with the people next to them. The scene was somewhat chaotic for a moment.

Commanding a group of players?
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Ruan Wenbo's forehead. This was practically the most impossible task in the world. Players were known for their free-spiritedness and rebelliousness; getting them to obey another player was no less difficult than getting Eugene to learn advanced mathematics.

Just as he was feeling extremely anxious, thinking about how to start the conversation in a way that would intimidate the group, a pale blue virtual screen automatically popped up in front of him.

[The main mission has been triggered]

[Mission Objective: Lead the remaining 99 players to hold the current position for at least one day (24 hours).]

[Failure penalty: none]

[Task progress: 10/86400]

At the same time, a surprised commotion arose from the crowd.

Ruthless Assassin rushed up to Ruan Wenbo, his face beaming with excitement: "Boss! Boss! My system panel has notified me that I've triggered a main quest. It says to hold the position for at least one day under the leadership of the new company commander, Dr. Soft!"

As soon as he finished speaking, other players echoed him, saying that they had received the same quest prompt.

A warm feeling welled up in Ruan Wenbo's heart, and he almost wanted to kowtow to the game planner on the spot.

Planner, you're like my own father!

If Bit were standing right in front of him, Ruan Wenbo would probably rush up without hesitation, hug him, and give him a couple of big kisses. With the system mission backing him up, and him adding his own bit of bullying from the sidelines, the difficulty of this command instantly dropped from hell mode to beginner tutorial!
The system panel notification also made Ruan Wenbo realize that now was not the time for sentimentality. He quickly calmed down, brought up his personal panel, and wanted to see what specific updates were included in this second closed beta test compared to the last one.

The UI maintains a minimalist style, without any fancy decorations, making it immediately apparent to Ruan Wenbo that it differs from the previous version.

[Game Nickname: Soft Doctor]

[Position: Provisional Company Commander, 13th Company, 102nd Regiment, Petitia Astral Army]

[Faction Merit: Average (3/1000)]

[Legend Status: Nobody knows (0)]

[Skills: Proficiency in Chainsaw Sword (x/x) (Temporary), Basic Shooting (13/100), Basic Melee (7/100)]

[Body Data: Skull Strength - 10.3/10.5 (Current/Maximum), Chest Resistance - 10.1/10.5 (Current/Maximum), Liver Function - 9.6/10.5 (Current/Maximum)...]

Instead of figuring it out on his own, Ruan Wenbo tentatively used his mind to click on each line of text. Sure enough, the thoughtful planner had added detailed annotations to each attribute.

[Game Nickname] Needless to say, it's his in-game ID.

【Position】 can be understood as authority.

The explanation of [Faction Merit] is crucial: it serves as both the "experience points" necessary for promotion and the "currency" circulating within the faction. Promotion unlocks the ability to exchange for more and better equipment and resources, which requires merit. It's worth noting that merit is not consumed after reaching the maximum accumulation and promotion. Merit is consumed in only two ways: by exchanging items in the shop on the panel, and by being reset to zero upon death.

This requires players to make reasonable plans and find a balance between "accumulating merit points to improve their privileges" and "consuming merit points to exchange for equipment to ensure their survivability." After all, if a person dies, accumulating a lot of merit points is all for naught.

The final note in the annotations also included a small print: Unless your superior is willing to approve the transfer of a newcomer to the estate of another deceased person.

Upon seeing this, Ruan Wenbo's heart skipped a beat. Although the developers had expressed their support during the initial closed beta test, writing it directly in the game's comments was still beyond his expectations. He suddenly realized just how immense the authority and control his position as "temporary platoon leader" represented over other players was! Whether or not the hard-earned faction merits of other players could be inherited after they died was entirely up to him!

It seems that even without the help of system tasks, as long as he is not out of his mind, he can make good use of this power to unite other players around him and defend the position together.

As for the "Legendary Status," the description was vague, only stating that it reflected a player's reputation within the Empire, with its specific function unknown. Ruan Wenbo didn't care much about it; for him, a mere temporary company commander on a remote planet, it was far too distant a concept.

The skill bar is also easy to understand. Ruan Wenbo took a closer look at his "Mastery of Chainsaw Sword". The annotation shows that the reason why this skill is in an unquantifiable state of (x/x) is entirely due to the special effect of the chainsaw sword in his hand called "Aliens Must Die", and has nothing to do with his muscle memory and combat skills.

The final [Body Data] is even more interesting. The annotations state that "Maximum Strength" refers to the character's base stats after death and resurrection. This stat can be permanently increased through genetic modification surgery, high-intensity physical training, and even subspace energy erosion, and it is extremely difficult to decrease it. "Current Strength," on the other hand, is the character's current physical condition. This stat is much easier to decrease; fatigue, injury, hunger, disease, and other common conditions can all cause temporary reductions.

Upon seeing this, Ruan Wenbo's thoughts drifted away. He thought to himself, according to this setting, for a warp-powered being like the Primarch, if they wanted to increase their power ceiling, they probably only needed to shake their body and roar, "Power, I command you to come forth!" and their stats would skyrocket like they'd activated the Kaioken technique... except for Guilliman.

Just as Ruan Wenbo was studying the panel, a loud voice suddenly rang out from the group of new players, carrying a hint of doubt and relief: "Hey? Look, the main quest failed, but the penalty is 'none'? Is this game that lenient? I thought failing would result in a deduction of merit points or even account deletion."

This statement immediately caught the attention of other new players. They all checked their quest panels and found that it was indeed true.

"Really? There's no penalty for failure."

"What's there to be afraid of? At worst, we just can't hold it, but we won't suffer any losses."

"Haha, this plan is quite humane."

The atmosphere of the discussion immediately became more relaxed, and some players even showed expressions of "I see," as if the pressure of the task had suddenly decreased.

However, at that moment, a faint voice rang out from the crowd, not loud, but clearly heard by everyone: "I say... is it possible that the so-called 'no punishment' is because the system doesn't need to set any additional punishments at all?"

The voice paused, then continued, "Losing the position usually means the annihilation of our defending force. We will all die, and death itself is the greatest punishment—all our merits will be wiped out. At the same time, our interim company commander will be dismissed for mission failure. At that point, he will naturally be unable to approve our inheritance of anyone's merits. Isn't this the most severe punishment?"

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over the heads of the players who had just been discussing things enthusiastically, and the noisy atmosphere immediately froze.

Everyone fell silent. They pondered the words carefully and found them to be perfectly eloquent and logically flawless. Indeed, they were already dead; what punishment was there? Death in a game wasn't just a matter of respawning after a countdown; it meant losing all their assets.

A few seconds later, an even more enthusiastic response erupted from the new player group, but this time, the direction was completely different.

"Holy crap, the expert's analysis makes perfect sense!"

"Company Commander! Dr. Software! Don't just stand there, get in charge!"

"Yes, yes, we're all newbies! How do we play this game? Please teach us!"

"Company commander, please give the order! We promise to obey your command!"

The new players immediately expressed their opinions, their eyes filled with expectation and trust as they looked at Ruan Wenbo, as if he were the only sun that could lead them out of the newbie village.

Ruan Wenbo was also awakened by those words. He glanced approvingly in the direction from which the voice came and silently memorized the ID of the player who spoke—[JK].

Hmm, JK... It's not unusual for male gamers in China to use female names. But this person is very clear-headed and is a talent worth paying attention to.

(End of this chapter)