T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World

Time jumped again, this time skipping seven days in one go.

There were not many changes within the territory, the only difference being that Caen's 50-man guard was finally assembled.

The adventurers initially had no intention of contacting him after hearing of his reputation, but they were persuaded by Caen to visit him somewhat awkwardly.

awkward?

It's good that it's awkward! It shows that these adventurers still have a conscience and are moral people deep down.

Normally, everyone calls Zhong Zemo either "Inkfish" or by his full name. During the simulation, with the help of his bed, everyone turned into "Tyrant".

Those who can find this lord pleasing to the eye are probably the most extraordinary of all.

Zhong Zemo found the slightly reluctant expressions on these people's faces increasingly pleasing to the eye.

Even if you don't dislike him, he still won't want you.

After distributing the reward money, Zhong Zemo gave Caen another sum of start-up capital, this time asking him to recruit 100 people.

"This……"

Caen swallowed hard.

"Do we really have to go with Black Frost..."

"That's why I'm speaking to you privately. I hope you can find out through the adventurers' channels why Blackfrost's caravan crashed and where the cargo went."

"If you feel that the offer I'm making is insufficient for you to serve me, then just pretend I didn't mention it."

Without hesitation, Caen took a deep breath and gave his assurance in a firm and resolute voice.

Caen's repeated keeping of his promises and prompt payment gradually swayed him toward the territory's side.

As he left, he asked a question that left him both amused and exasperated.

"Your Lordship, was it all an act before?"

Zhong Zemo replied mysteriously, "I can't say, and you'd better not ask."

The perfectly timed bitterness on his face made Caen feel enlightened.

What a charade!

What kind of potential threat compels a noble lord to pretend to be a tyrannical and ruthless villain who preys on people?

Thinking of this, Caen felt a surge of fighting spirit to confront him.

The boundary between the virtual and real worlds began to massively purchase magic crystals using the lord's inventory funds.

Aside from the rewards paid to the adventurers, I spent it all. It wasn't their money anyway, so I didn't care.

Get ready, Zhong Zemo quickly turned the clock hands, not stopping unless a mandatory event was triggered.

The first mandatory event occurred exactly one month into the operation of the territory.

Black Frost sent another letter demanding that Silent Territory hand over the lost goods within a specified timeframe.

From initial suspicion to current conviction, Black Frost's letters are devoid of any of the polite formalities between nobles, leaving only cold threats.

Black Frost most likely secretly dispatched a large number of messengers to quietly collect information without violating imperial laws and showing respect to the empire, and concluded that the culprit was Zhong Zemo.

Kaen has helped assemble a team of 200 adventurers and has spread his information far and wide, but he still cannot find the stolen goods from Black Frost.

Like begets like, and even a mouse's child knows how to dig a hole. If Caen, who has been in the adventurer's circle for many years and has a wealth of information channels, is completely clueless, then... where does Black Frost get its information from?

Time jumped again, this time stopping at the 7th day before the two-month deadline.

Just as things were starting to flow again, a deafening roar came from outside the castle.

"The attack has begun! It has begun!"

"Magician, infuse the magic crystal with energy."

"Summoners, airdrop your summoned creatures! Don't let them attack the barrier together!"

Everyone rushed onto the balcony.

A semi-circular curtain of azure light enveloped the lord's castle.

Outside the barrier, dense magic rained down, and the magical shield rippled with countless waves, blurring everyone's vision and distorting everything around them.

Jiang Heyi could vaguely see that a raging fire had broken out in the residential area of ​​the territory below the mountain.

Caen roamed and worked tirelessly along every heavily fortified defensive line.

Upon seeing Zhong Zemo appear, he rushed over and said in a low voice, "Lord, please be prepared to flee at any time."

"The enemy has as many as 11 seventh-tier mages. This number... even with the continuous infusion of magic crystals, it will be difficult to sustain."

"How long can this drag on at most?"

"Seven days is the limit."

"Then let's stall!"

When Zhong Zemo woke up, he already knew that it was Hei Shuang's doing, and he also knew the key that could lead the player to become Louis XVI.

The adventurers recruited by Caen proved to be reliable; even when Blackfrost invaded their territory, they all chose to stay.

They'll get things done for money; they have such high professional ethics!

"The key points we've extracted from this playthrough require Caen's help; he can cover for us," Fries shouted at the top of his lungs.

Without doing so, the sound couldn't be transmitted. Black Frost's magical attack was fierce, and the barrier and the ground shook, as if an earth dragon were turning over.

For seven consecutive days, only two saw Blackfrost's mage offensive slow down.

They hadn't expected that the boundary between the virtual and real worlds could fill several warehouses with magic crystals within their territory.

The mages guarding the magic circle burned crystals without spending a penny to maintain it, yet the nearly one hundred mages of Black Frost made little progress.

Time ticked by, and facing the impenetrable walls of the Vatican, the Black Frost magician couldn't help but curse and grumble from outside the barrier.

In the final moments, Zhong Zemo flipped through the documents that had appeared on the desktop during the time acceleration.

The countdown has ended, and the first playthrough is complete.

Time stands still, and the world turns black and white again.

The evening dew drifted down, and the light screen in my hand rapidly enlarged, projecting a fluctuating number—the score for this cycle of the boundary between reality and illusion.

3780/10000.

"Below average," Xi Lu said. "We're still a long way from the promotion standard."

Chapter 350 The Dead Are More Useful Than the Living

The first round of simulation has ended. The real time is 4:23.

Orange Tea touched her head, somewhat dazed: "It feels so strange, like multiple layers of a dream, and yet only so much time has passed."

Everyone's private messages kept popping up.

The simulation begins, isolating the player from the outside world; the player cannot receive information from the outside.

Jiang Heyi glanced at it; the familiar person was still on the third floor of the card room.

As expected, a strategy guide is a strategy guide, but actual combat is actual combat.

French Fries checked the leaderboard, and the virtual-real boundary is still ranked first.

Whether it's the Three Kingdoms or them, basically all the powerful guilds have reached the third level and suffered repeatedly, with no clear winner.

The jailer only mentioned the game type for the fourth floor, and everyone started opening bottles of champagne.

Lafrecia: "The 4th floor is actually a simulation management game, haha, there's no level suppression anymore."

Why are you so skilled at this: "Anything is fine, I really don't want to play the word game anymore. This monster is too disgusting. I don't even want to think about how many people it could kill if it appeared on the floor that requires a certain number of attempts."

Kangfuxin Liquid Progeny: "I don't think it's an easy level, otherwise the potato's data on the leaderboard would have changed."

After learning more details, the group fell silent.

It's a simulation management game, but not entirely.

"It sounds like a major plot point in the main world, where you never know which choice will affect the final outcome."

"But if Potato and the others pass the test, then we can copy their homework, right?"

"Wake up, I don't think the authorities will allow this. There will definitely be differences between the simulations."

After a short rest, we'll prepare to re-enter the fourth level at the boundary between the real and virtual worlds.

“Watch out for your guild stronghold,” Scarlet Music Box suddenly messaged. “My and Canned Food’s foreign fans are warning you that some people are planning to take advantage of your raid to gather enough people to completely destroy the stronghold.”

Jiang Heyi's relaxed nerves tensed up in a second.

"who?"

“They’re from all sorts of countries, but judging from the numbers, there are quite a few from a certain country that smells like kimchi,” said Crimson Music Box. “I guess they’re trying to distract you and slow down your progress.”

The real and virtual worlds are at odds, not quite understanding why South Korea accounts for a large proportion of this matter.

Unable to figure it out, he decided to stop worrying about it and returned to the guild headquarters to provide Ksha with a warning.

During the conversation, Kesha looked around as if searching for something.

"what happened?"

Kesha hugged its restless tail, feeling a little disappointed.

"No, I was wondering why Potato didn't come back."

French Fries rubbed his temples, and his heart, which hadn't stirred with strange emotions for a long time, seemed to be scratched by two hands.

"If it weren't for the smooth progress of Mint's storyline..." she thought smugly to herself.

Everyone assembled, and the second round of simulation began.

After observing the environment, everyone found that the furnishings and decorations remained unchanged, and the information provided to the players was still the same as in the first playthrough, with no hidden pitfalls.

The jailer looked around and, unable to suppress a laugh, asked, "Who will be the tyrant?"

Zhong Zemo, who has a strong sense of morality, decided to take it slow.

Jiang Heyi wore a meaningful smile.

After finishing his first playthrough, he came up with a very interesting way to play, which was worth a try.

"Everyone, what the Tetra Prime just said has inspired me."

All eyes immediately fell on Jiang Heyi.

"The emphasis on the fact that only one lord can exist at a time prompts us to think a little wider: what would happen if the current lord died?"

His words instantly broke the mold of everyone's long-held gaming style, returning them to the ranks of savage and evil players.

“If the lord dies suddenly, the territory should be passed on to the lord’s sons.” French Fries murmured as he pondered. “If there are no sons, then a substitute lord needs to be chosen and the empire will decide.”

Instantly, everyone's eyes lit up.

Jiang Heyi laughed: "You all woke up at the crack of dawn."

Orange Tea was still a little confused. She touched her cheek and asked, "What does this have to do with us?"

"In our first playthrough, our biggest predicament was that we were lords with negative reputations due to external threats."

"No matter what we do, the people of the territory will think it's a move to win people's hearts with war imminent, and they won't buy it at all, which will prevent all plans from being carried out and only earn the loyalty of Caen and others."

Orange Tea finally understood: "I get it! When a person dies, the debt is settled. The lord died at the beginning of the game, but the acting lord is still the lord. If he implements the reforms, people will welcome him wholeheartedly!"

The four primitives clapped: "That's right, dead people are more useful than living people. This perfectly breaks away from the negative image set at the beginning of the game."

The jailer shrugged: "But what should we do? Pick someone to commit suicide and use up our challenge attempts?"

Even Orange Tea, whose understanding of the game was not as good as his, gave him a speechless look.

"Who told you to fake your death instead of actually dying!"

"How... how can I fake my death? Everyone in this castle will recognize who the lord is at the start of the game, they will definitely check."

Jiang Heyi explained his plan to everyone.

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!" The jailer clapped his hands. "Now it's up to everyone's acting skills, and whether the NPCs get into character."

The jailer, finding it quite amusing, volunteered to be the lord of death.