The Boss Behind The Game

With that, the Potion Master Trial officially ended.

After that, the players had an unlikely newfound hobby - studying.

The players knew the great value of becoming a Potion Master. It was a job that could turn the poor players' lives completely upside-down.

Many major guilds were fervently recruiting Potion Masters by offering sky-high pay and premium treatment. Many players were green with envy when they saw these lavish conditions provided.

Changing one's fate by studying was indeed a bona fide reality in Battle Online.

In order to achieve the qualifications of a Potion Master in the next trial, many players would bury their heads in the three required books and diligently study them for days even weeks on end.

Studying for happiness had become a widespread motto among the players.

...

One day, the players encountered a peculiar occurrence when they went online to log in to Battle Online.

They couldn't log in at all!

The players were in a daze, as they simply couldn't enter the game, no matter how many times they tried the icon. The screen remained stuck at the character selection and would not progress any further.

Furthermore, it was not a unique experience. Every other player had also met with this troubling issue.

In an instant, the Battle Online forum was bombarded by furious players as they restlessly asked what was happening.

Confusingly, the officials who were usually very proactive suddenly became unresponsive and silent, despite the barrage of questions hurled at them.

Was the game hacked? Did the system crash? Had Battle Online finally gone bankrupt since it didn't earn enough profit?

Endless speculations filled the forum, but the players grew increasingly worried as they pondered more about it. Everyone almost broke down psychologically from the harrowing thought of losing the game.

They gamers were used to the alternate reality of their in-game life. When they couldn't log in at all, they were exceedingly distraught, as though they'd lost an important piece of themselves.

Without wasting any more time, each of the players sprang into action and began searching for news about Battle Online's company in the outside world. Some players even prepared to set up a crowdfunding page to help salvage the company.

All the players were united as one in this uncertain time, faced with the unsettling probability that the game may forever disappear. Everyone hurriedly exhausted all means in real life to inquire about the game's circumstance, while some newspaper company directors even posted on the front page to ask the public what had happened to the Battle Online company.

Wu Guoyi, astonished by the news, hastily dialed Lu Wu to find out if there were any problems with the company.

Obviously perplexed by the overwhelming reaction from the masses, Lu Wu merely said something ridiculous when he took the call.

"Happy April Fool's Day!"

Wu Guoyi's racing heart finally calmed down when he heard that it was merely a prank. However, he still made the middle-finger gesture at Lu Wu through the phone to express his intense contempt at this childish stunt.

After a few hours of frenzied uproar in the forums, a post from the officials finally put everyone at ease.

[You can still enter the game! Today is April Fool's Day, please look at the bottom right corner of the log-in screen!]

In the post, a picture that was magnified three or four times was displayed. On the corner of the image, the option to log in was written in a deceivingly minuscule text.

When everyone found out the reason, the wildfire of rage swept across the gamer community.

Knight_Of_The_Abyss (Europe): "I almost donated my annual salary to the game because I thought the company was going under. I'm going to leave a bad review! (angry emoji)"

Watermelon_Taro: "I'm depressed, I'm depressed. The usually serious officials actually pulled a terrible prank on us. If today wasn't April Fool's Day, I'd smash everyone in the Wicked Mob for being so naughty! (murderous eyes emoji)"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "This impressive feat. Come, come, come. Wicked Mob members, please surrender yourselves here. My hammer would like to have a word with you!"

Crayon_Shinchan: "You robbed my three precious hours of studying time! Don't you all from the Wicked Mob know that studying gives me joy? I strongly insist on compensating me for my lost time, you need to at least pay me 10,000 soul coins! (laughing emoji)"

Invincible_Loneliness: "I was so scared. Fuck you! Screw you devs from the Wicked Mob!"

...

Everyone finally heaved a sigh of relief when they found out that it was a consequence of the officials' wicked hoax.

This incident also made the players realize the significance of Battle Online in their hearts. They dearly wished that the game would persist for posterity, hence the post to suggest the opening of top-up path sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

This time, they stood on the apex of morality, seeming extremely adamant and confident. They acted as though the opening of the top-up path was for the smooth operation of the game, and not for their selfish gains to become stronger.

Of course, their nonsensical request was immediately ignored by Lu Wu.

What money for the top-up path? The only good thing you can do for me is to make more soul coins for me! The top-up path is a temptation from the devil, I'll never implement it!

After discovering the tricky method to log in to the game, countless players excitedly clicked on the icon to enter their beloved game.

Yet, another occurrence left them gaping in astonishment after that.

[You are suspected of using hacks, such as bots... since this is your first offense, your personnel channel and equipment menu will be cleared as a punishment.]

A murderous rage was instantly ignited in the players who saw the message.

Everyone outside the Mansion of the Dead was wearing the beginner's equipment from the time when they first started playing the game. Evidently, no one was spared from the thievery.

The fruits of their months of labor, such as different types of high-level equipment, vanished into thin air in an instant as though their accounts were completely looted.

Even though they knew that the officials were pulling their legs again, the players could only grit their teeth and endure the mockery.

When they finally earned some money, they opened the shop to buy a set of proper equipment to wear.

To their dismay, the screen showed that their current soul coin amount was zero!

Then, a game notification appeared again.

[Game Notification: Sorry, your account was looted by a hacker and all your soul coins are lost!]

This phenomenon threw the entire forum into chaos again.

One of the players even found the customer service number from the official webpage and wanted to provide some feedback on that recurring issue by messaging them.

However, the chat with customer service left him in utter shock. When he uploaded the screenshot of the exchange onto the forum, all the other players who saw it were torn between disbelief and amusement.

Naughty_Shrimp: "Customer service lady, I strongly request the officials end the April Fool's Day joke right away. Please send this feedback to the game devs, please. Help us out here, thanks!"

Customer Service Attendant: "No!"

Naughty_Shrimp: "Miss, must you be so stubborn?"

Customer Service Attendant: "Yeah!"

Naughty_Shrimp: "I'm reporting you to the higher-ups!"

Customer Service Attendant: "Are you an idiot? You don't have their numbers anyway and there are no ways for you to report me on the official website. Who are you reporting me to? (roll eyes emoji)"

Naughty_Shrimp: "You… you are behaving too foolishly!"

Customer Service Attendant: "Apparently, I just unlocked the forum title limit, do you want to have a taste of something harsher? (laughing emoji)"

Naughty_Shrimp: "Holy shit, please forgive me, please!"

In retaliation to the ruthless officials, the players began to act cute and beg, screaming that they didn't want the April Fool's event to go on any longer. They merely wished to have their equipment and soul coins back.

However, the outcry quickly subsided.

The players realized that even without the powerful equipment, their skills and levels were still intact.

They had merely lost the outer appearance of donning the equipment, but their attributes remained unchanged. It was as though their equipment had turned invisible.

After reaching the conclusion, the players tried to open the shop and opened a few healing potions, testing to see if they actually still had their soul coins despite the zero number displayed on the screen.

It turned out that the purchase actually went through.

Their soul coins had merely turned invisible.

The players collectively uploaded the photo of Tong Gua showing the middle-finger gesture in the forum in response to the officials' immature joke.

Needless to say, other than pranking them, Lu Wu would naturally give the players some April Fool's benefits as well.

When it turned 8pm at night, another server announcement appeared.

[Server Announcement: Happy April Fool's Day! From now to midnight, other than the one-time-use items, everything else in the shop will be free! However, the items must be returned afterwards! (Items bought during this duration cannot be discarded, but trading is allowed!)]

The sudden benefits implemented by the officials instantly quelled the burning anger broiling in the players' hearts.

They were clearly in seventh heaven after reading the announcement. They kept praising the Online Battle officials in the forum for putting the players first and lauded them as the leading example of the gaming industry. In mere seconds, it seemed as though they had forgotten how furious and livid they were in the morning.

After the event began, all the players were absolutely thrilled at the prospect of spending unlimited soul coins in the shop.

Everyone immediately purchased the strongest equipment from the shop and wore the dazzlingly impressive armor on their bodies.

They would wear one and buy three more sets of outfits, while wielding a weapon and buying ten more to keep in the inventory.

They fervently took screenshots to keep as memories, so that they could show off to the future newcomers that they had been wealthy and had tons of powerful equipment before.

Even the usually unattainable items, due to their exorbitant price, were instantly affordable for everyone. The entire Beiqi sky was filled with flying silhouettes of the players, roaming free in the air while flapping their newly purchased wings.

All kinds of wild and humorous antics were born from this event.

Some would sell ten purple pieces of equipment for one soul coin, and would even throw in more free gifts if the buyer purchased more. They were so generous, they might as well have sold the items by weight. The players even held a flying competition. The participants would need to fly from the Mansion of the Dead to the Liuli Coast and the fastest flyer would receive 1,000 pieces of purple equipment.

In short, the April Fool's event allowed players to go overboard with their ridiculous horseplay.

Only when the clock struck twelve at midnight, the frenetic celebration would come to an end.

However, the players had not had enough of it. They thronged the forums, begging the officials to hold these events more frequently. After all, four hours of manic skylarking seemed a little too short.

Then, the officials made another announcement again.

[Official Announcement: The event for all players to activate a random limited hidden character class is now here!]

No doubt, the players were beside themselves with excitement when they saw the announcement. Compared to the items in the shop, hidden character classes and inherited character classes were the rarest things the players truly desired.

With hearts throbbing in anticipation, the players swiftly clicked on the announcement post.

However, only a maddening sentence was written in it...

"April fools!"