Chapter 3

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp, as an excellent, wise, never-true-to-his-word, million-follower veteran game reviewer, was rather surprised to be selected for the closed beta of Otherworld 6.

After all, he already had several games lined up for review—two of them paid promotions. He really didn’t have the time to wrestle to the death with a game that possessed such catastrophically distorted aesthetics.

But when he saw the forum post, his blood suddenly ran hot—especially with so many people insisting the character models looked amazing. The more they said it, the more his rebellious streak flared right up.

I refuse to believe it. I’ve got to see what kind of monstrosity this trash game has turned into!

Yet the moment he submitted his application, he regretted it.  Luckily, his application was written very hastily. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t have been selected.

And yet… he was.

If he hadn’t applied at all, that would be one thing. But now, being told he was one out of hundreds chosen felt like unexpectedly winning a modest prize—it was suddenly much harder to give up.

So Mr. Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp decided to trust them one more time. He confirmed his address and waited for the game pod to arrive.

A little seed of anticipation had been planted in his heart.

What if, just this once, the dog planner isn't lying?

He remained full of hope right up until he lay down inside the pod.

Until he entered the game.

Staring at the familiar character creation interface before him, the tiny spark of hope that had just ignited was instantly extinguished.

The same familiar layout. The suffocating color palette. The bizarre art style…

There wasn’t the slightest difference from the previous generation!

The dog planner must have just copy-pasted the old version!

Fine. Let them wait.

Once the beta ended, he’d never touch it again. At least he’d have plenty of material for a roast video. Not a total loss.

Thus, Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp began skillfully clicking through a string of agreements according to the prompts.

Agree. Next. Agree. Next…

But as he clicked, he noticed one agreement was different from the others.

The text above was in a language he had never seen before, with Chinese translations alongside it. At the bottom, next to an elegant, flowing signature, was a familiar name.

Rosa Stuart.

The NPC Grand Duchess featured in the promotional video.

Why on earth did signing a contract with an NPC suddenly become a thing?

Curious, Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp actually read it carefully for once. He soon realized that rather than a typical game agreement, it resembled an oath of fealty.

No arbitrary harm to civilians.
No violation of the city-state’s laws.
No wanton destruction of public property…

And the final, most important clause—

“Swear eternal loyalty to Duchess Rosa.”

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp: Is this a contract selling myself into servitude?

He was momentarily stunned, but as a seasoned gamer, he quickly found a reasonable explanation.

The starting novice village was probably located within the Duchess’s territory. His in-game identity would be one of her subjects. Future quests, leveling, class advancement—all of it would likely revolve around her. Swearing loyalty made sense in that context.

Of course, whether he agreed or not didn’t matter. Without accepting the contract, he couldn’t enter the game.

Reality told him it was best to click “Agree” without thinking.

After accepting everything, it was time for character customization and naming.

Since he had no intention of staying long—he’d leave after the beta—he shaped his face carelessly. His name remained “Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp.” As for race… there was only Human. No other options.

Then he waited to choose a class.

Instead, there was a flash of white light—

—and he entered the game.

…Huh?

He had braced himself for a baptism of gaudy, brightly colored “boiled-egg” character models.

What greeted him instead left him utterly stunned.

Barren land.
A desolate town.
And in the distance, a castle.

He glanced around and saw a group of NPCs watching him curiously—some dressed as ordinary residents, others as town guards.

Without exception, they looked strikingly real. Every detail was perfectly rendered.

Though their clothing was somewhat shabby, compared to the horror-movie-level absurd models from before, this was practically perfection.

So… so real…

The dog planner finally became a decent human being!

Seeing the guards holding weapons and wearing expressionless faces, the level-zero newbie Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp wisely chose not to provoke them.

Scanning the area, he quickly spotted another player.

Players were easy to identify: neatly dressed, decent-looking, and with a nickname floating above their heads.

He jogged over and read the name.

Cold Blade.

Champion of multiple tournaments. The same guy who once beat him so badly in a PvP match he couldn’t recognize his own mother.

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp shuddered. Damn. Running into a big shot right at the start.

Though Cold Blade usually focused on real-time strategy games and was known for his formidable combat strength, it was rare to see him in a game whose very name that practically reeked of construction gameplay.

As he was thinking this, Cold Blade looked up and waved.

“Hello.”

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp froze.

He was certain this wasn’t a language he knew. The pronunciation resembled Duchess Rosa’s in the video, yet he understood it perfectly.

He tentatively replied, “Hello…”

He had intended to speak Chinese, but what came out was the same unfamiliar language.

Only then did he notice that Cold Blade’s nickname wasn’t in Chinese either—it twisted and curved in strange characters—yet he could read it effortlessly.

What kind of black technology was this? What kind of outrageous operation?!

Seeing his shock, Cold Blade knew he had noticed the language feature.

But Cold Blade simply liked playing games; he had no interest in probing their secrets. As long as it was fun, that was enough. The real-time translation feature was convenient. How it worked didn’t concern him.

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp quickly recovered, excitedly muttering to himself, reveling in the sudden joy of mastering a new language.

Once he calmed down, Cold Blade stepped forward, and the two opened their status panels together.

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp: “Looks no different from the previous generation… I mean the stats panel.”

Cold Blade: “Mm.”

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp: “Wasn’t this supposed to be a construction-type game? Why is there a health bar? And not a single normal skill slot. I swear they just copied it straight from the last game.”

Cold Blade: “Mm.”

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp: “…Bro, can you say something else? Even just a squeak would do.”

Cold Blade: “Squeak.”

Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp: “…”

That meme is ancient… Is this the sense of humor of a big shot?

He felt tired. He didn’t want to talk anymore.

Just then, several more figures appeared on the streets of Mangas City.

There were men and women among them. Each face looked far more refined than those of Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp and Cold Blade—clearly, they had spent their extra time carefully customizing their appearances.

The citizens of Mangas City stared wide-eyed at them, yet none stepped forward.

Because just yesterday, the great Lord Rosa had issued an announcement: she would use magic to summon brave warriors to help build Mangas City.

Most people here had never seen magic—aside from when magical beasts attacked—but that was different from a mage’s spellcasting.

Mangas City was poor and plagued by disaster.  Even the Church didn't send anyone here.

So when Rosa said these people appearing out of thin air were brought by magic, they naturally believed it.

If the Lord said it, it must be true.

And when the tenth warrior arrived, curiosity on their faces turned into astonishment.

No other reason—

This warrior looked… exceptionally peculiar.

High-jutting shoulders. Long, thin limbs. Hair in a bizarre color.

Standing closest, Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp was so startled he nearly crashed into Cold Blade’s arms. He sucked in a breath. “Bro, how did you shape that face? Going for intimidation effect?”

The player named Green Grassland looked like he was about to cry. “I got too immersed in character creation and accidentally hit ‘Random.’ This is the result.”

There was nothing to be done. The others patted his shoulder in sympathy.

Only Hot-tempered Pipi Shrimp muttered quietly, “Maybe this is the game’s original aesthetic preference…”

Soon enough, Green Grassland stopped dwelling on his appearance.

Even if it burned the eyes, it burned other people’s eyes. Not his own.

After introductions, the players began marveling at the game’s realism.

Even with the sandstorms and shabbiness, the immersive feeling far surpassed other games that boasted about realism.

One player snuck over and poked a guard—only to be struck on the head with the guard’s sword hilt.

Afterward, a resident nervously said, “Guard sir, the Lord said that as long as these warriors don’t break the law, there’s no need to interfere…”

Before he finished speaking, the player—forehead already red—ran back excitedly shouting, “The pain feedback is super realistic! That hurt like hell!”

Resident: …

Did that blow knock the warrior stupid?

At that moment, Aurora rode forward.

The captain of the guard had long red hair, wore armor, and carried a longsword on her back. She scrutinized the players who had appeared out of nowhere.

Rosa had not explained the matter of the System to Aurora, so she regarded them simply as invited warriors.

In Aurora’s eyes, however, they hardly qualified as true warriors.

Aside from one oddly shaped specimen (Green Grassland: I’ll cry, you know!), the rest were merely good-looking. Judging by their physiques, each was thinner than the last.

They likely couldn’t even withstand a single strike from her.

As Aurora examined the players, the players examined her.

They gathered together, discussing freely:

“I thought only the Lord in the promo video looked this detailed. Didn’t expect random NPCs to be this pretty.”

“Her equipment looks pretty good too…”

“Don’t get any crooked ideas. Didn’t you see the contract? Touch NPCs at will and your account gets deleted.”

“Even if you had the chance, you think you could beat her? Look at those muscles… All of us level-zero newbies tied together wouldn’t be enough for her.”

Aurora couldn’t hear what they were saying—only that they were noisy. When Rosa stepped onto the balcony, Aurora immediately called out sharply, “Welcome the Lord! Silence!”

The crowd bowed in respect.

The players chattered.

Aurora’s brows knit tightly.

At that moment, every player received a system notification:

[Warning: Captain Aurora’s Favorability toward you has decreased.]

…Obedient.jpg.

The previously noisy players fell silent instantly.

Anyone selected for the closed beta had some gaming experience.

Favorability wasn’t limited to romance games. In many titles, it was a critical metric. Players would undertake seemingly meaningless tasks simply to raise an NPC’s Favorability.

Because only when Favorability was high enough could hidden quests be triggered.

And the harder a quest was to trigger, the greater the reward tended to be.

So before understanding the situation fully, they had no intention of offending this female captain.

Meanwhile, Rosa surveyed them with her azure eyes.

She wore a magnificent gown. Her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders. A gentle smile rested on her lips.

The steward Morris stood beside her, holding a crystal ball, expression mild and respectful.

Once silence fell, Rosa smiled and spoke:

“Welcome, my warriors. As you can see, Mangas City requires your aid. Here, you may fully display your talents and embrace your dreams. As Lord of Mangas City, I promise you generous rewards. I look forward to your help in forging a brilliant future for Mangas City!”

As her words ended, brilliant light flared behind her.

Already stunningly beautiful, Rosa now seemed bathed in holy radiance. Each word she spoke carried a persuasive magic.

The citizens of Mangas City felt their hearts surge with emotion, shouting the name of Duchess Rosa.

The guards placed a hand upon their shoulders and bowed.

Even the players felt a trace of awe. Thus, when a loyalty quest appeared on their panels, they were struck with sudden inspiration and, as if of one mind, recited the words displayed:

“Loyal to Duchess Rosa, defend the glory of the Stuart family!”

Aurora arched a brow. Though they were skinny as refugees, at least they were loyal.

Inside the crystal ball, the System stared at Rosa in confusion.

Others couldn’t see it, but from its vantage point, it had a clear view of what Morris had just done behind her back.

First, he used the most basic Light magic to create the holy radiance effect.

Then he tugged a rope, turning the windmill in the corner of the balcony. A gentle breeze arose, making everything appear sacred and beautiful.

…As if.

System: “Didn’t you already insert the loyalty contract into the game agreement they signed?” Doing it again now seemed redundant according to system protocol.

Rosa maintained her smile and said softly, “Ritual, Mr. System. One must pay attention to ritual.”

“What does that mean?”

She raised her hand, excusing them from their bows, voice lowering further.

“Nobility is about turning all redundant and boring matters into ritual—and taking pleasure in it.”

System: …

NPCs these days are so hard to understand.

Then Rosa raised her voice again.

“I have a task to entrust to you, brave warriors. I hope you will complete it as soon as possible.”

She placed her hand upon the crystal ball.

The next second, every player received a quest notification:

[Novice Quest: Mine Stone, Build City Wall. No time limit. Reward: Reward: A certain amount of experience and gold coins.]

 

Author’s Note:
Player: It hurts so much! I’m so happy!
Resident: … Looking at an idiot.jpg

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