The Boss Behind The Game

The day after the announcement of the Potion Master Trial, a strange atmosphere surfaced around the Mansion of the Dead.

It seemed like each and every one of the players was carrying a set of thick books and lowering their heads as they diligently studied the pages with solemn expressions. Their eyes seemed to be blazing with determination, desperately wanting to reach for the sky.

Even the interactions between the players had strangely altered.

Passerby A: "Brother, where are we going to level up today?"

Passerby B: "I'm not going, stop disturbing me while I'm studying!"

Passerby A: "Brother, I discovered an island at the Void Ocean today, there might be treasures there!"

Passerby B: "I'm not going, stop disturbing me while I'm studying!"

Passerby A: "Brother, we haven't cleared the Instance Dungeon today, let's head out now!"

Passerby B: "I'm not going, stop disturbing me while I'm studying!"

...

An even more laughable fact was that some of these players extremely abhorred studying when they were students in the past. However, all of them had transformed into studious and diligent little darlings, merely to advance into a Potion Master. They would even occasionally gather in groups to discuss the contents of the potion crafting books.

According to a certain player, if he had studied so diligently in school, he could have entered Harvard with ease.

The players had no option but to dip their heads in their new textbooks and study seriously since the officials were so uncompromising. After all, there was no shortcut to achieve it. If they really wanted to become a Potion Master, they could merely study industriously and nothing else.

Thus, a huge number of players had given up on their daily activities such as killing monsters, collecting spiritual materials, and fishing. They had completely dedicated their hearts and minds to studying, diving deep into the sea of knowledge.

A player even recorded these happenings and edited them into a video, before uploading it to the country's most popular video game website, which garnered great attention from other netizens who fervently discussed it online.

[There's no future in playing games. Look at us, high-quality players from Battle Online. We only love studying here. (bold emoji)]

In the video, the figures of the players could be seen reading studiously in every corner of the Mansion of the Dead. Some of them were even clustered in groups and arguing their heads off until their faces were flushed with anger, simply because they had conflicting views on the book contents. It was as though these players were a faculty of academics.

Players who had never played Battle Online were understandably flabbergasted by this unusual sight.

Sword_Dance_In_Red_Dust: "I've always heard that Battle Online was very evil, but I'm completely impressed this time. Studying in a video game, isn't it simply seeking pain? (laughing with tears emoji)"

MC_Player: "Shudders. Is this game so scary? How did it make all these passionate players study so obediently?"

Lazy_Cancer_Patient: "Splutter! I was drinking water when I watched the video, so I couldn't help but spat out a mouthful of liquid! Isn't this too amazing? During their school days, these stupid students with poor results abandoned their education because they were addicted to video games. This is really my first time seeing all these video game addicts so immersed in studying. As expected, Battle Online players defy all our common sense. (kneeling emoji)"

Terrain_Changing_Mighty_Sword: "Can we say that Battle Online is forcing the standard of domestic video game players to change? Hahaha!"

Spring_Water_Commander: "This rocks! How did Battle Online manage this feat? My curiosity is killing me…"

Crayon_Shinchan replied to Spring_Water_Commander: "Hi, just a Battle Online player passing by in the comments. Don't speculate or doubt us, we're merely trying to enrich our knowledge and polish our virtues. (laughing emoji)"

...

Compared to the avid discussion happening in the external forums, the exchange in the Battle Online forum was even more heated.

This time, the contents no longer consisted of a miscellaneous collection of meaningless ramblings about the game contents, but was completely covered with posts about questions or opinions from the players regarding the potion textbooks.

With nearly 30,000,000 players competing for just 10,000 spots, the acceptance rate was even lower than applying to be a government agent.

However, this didn't discourage the players. In fact, all of them wanted to have it a go because everyone was equal. They were all starting from zero without any basic fundamental knowledge about it.

However, these complex and difficult potion crafting books tormented the players terribly. Many players would have hit a dead end if they didn't discuss the content with one another.

Thus, everyone was united in their feelings toward the Battle Online devs - they wanted to kill all of them!

The players simply couldn't comprehend what the expectations the Battle Online team had when they cherry-picked these three complicated encyclopedias to torture them. While perusing the boring pages and pages of words, the players became so drowsy that their souls had left their bodies.

One thought lingered in every player's minds. If they have so much leisure time, why don't they invent some game settings that can help the players improve?

A fact that pained them even more was that the content of these books was quite reasonable and logical. Actually, some players with medical knowledge found that much of the information in the books could be applied in real life.

Even though they couldn't find spiritual materials in real life, they could relate to some of the viewpoints in the books.

Thus, all of the players came to the conclusion that the devs of Battle Online were all terrifying monsters.

It was because the knowledge and information that appeared in the game spanned across different fields, from the previous battle skills that could be applied in real life to the situation now. Time and time again, the developers of this game implemented settings that were curiously realistic.

Hence, the players gave the devs of Battle Online a nickname, the Wicked Mob. It meant that each and every one in the dev team was wickedly intelligent.

The players were painfully helpless in the face of the Wicked Mob, hence they could only be forced to study diligently.

Undoubtedly, a group of players had also become truly engrossed in studying during these three days.

At first, they forced themselves to read the pages, because they didn't believe that these books would be too difficult for them.

However, they were utterly mistaken. Even though there were only three books, the contents were so vast and all-encompassing that the players felt they couldn't finish them entirely even in a few months' time.

These passionate players became truly immersed in the process. By following the instructions in the books and using the spiritual materials in the game, they even slowly started to practice crafting potions.

However, the results were a complete mess. Without extensive experience or necessary knowledge, it would be impossible to successfully craft potions with mere luck.

Needless to say, overexcited people like these had always existed throughout history. While most of the players gave up on further experimenting, a few adamant players continued to make multiple attempts.

On the third day, some players managed to craft an elixir from fire, causing a shockwave of surprises in the Battle Online community.

[First Grade Green Elixir (Low-quality)]:

Elixir Details: Beginner's level elixir. It has too many impurities, so there is a risk when consuming it.

Elixir Special Effect: 30% probability of permanently increasing strength attribute by one point, with a 70% chance of being poisoned and losing 5 health points every second. The maximum amount of strength attributes that can be increased by this elixir is 10 points. After that, the player would be immune to the elixir and it will have no effect anymore.

Potion Master Mark: Feng Xiaoqi (Player)

The emergence of the elixir sent the entire gaming community into a frenzied furor.

It was because they discovered that the elixir crafted by a Potion Master actually had a permanent effect.

No matter what, this meant that the future of a Potion Master was limitless!

Elixirs with the ability to permanently increase attributes were priceless. Furthermore, as the Potion Master's level increased, they would surely be able to craft elixirs with stronger and more powerful effects.

The appearance of this elixir even stunned the players that were leveling up by farming monsters as they doubted the future of a Potion Master.

Instantly, they moaned and groaned in exasperation, lamenting the fact that they had missed such a golden opportunity to become more powerful.

Hence, a huge congregation of players hastily swarmed the Mansion of the Dead at the last minute, trying to join the group of players studying to change their fate.

The sounds of people studying echoed endlessly in the Mansion in the Dead, never ceasing even in the night.

Leveling up, Instance Dungeons, and exploration… none of these were of any importance to them anymore.

At that moment, all the players wanted to do was study, not even the Heavens could stop them!