Chapter 1265: 407. All Are Tricks
“Shh, quiet, quiet, Boss Jin is starting the trial. Everyone, don’t disturb him.”
Cucumber Slice raised both hands and pressed them down to signal his teammates to quiet down.
The clamor at the scene quickly subsided, and everyone turned their attention to Golden Dragon in the Sky.
Cucumber Slice gave Strawberry Juice a knowing look and used the private chat feature to silently type and ask:
“Is the video recording feature on?”
“It’s on, Captain!” Strawberry Juice’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and she nodded vigorously.
...
This group of casual players, who relied on exploring storylines and uncovering hidden tasks for a living, rarely had patrons funding them. They could only earn advertising fees from game tutorials and storyline rush-through videos posted on player forums.
Although Golden Dragon in the Sky’s generous sponsorship had since relieved the squad members of significant financial stress in their daily life and work, it was clear that Cucumber Slice had no intention of abandoning the fan community they had painstakingly built up.
He communicated the key points of video editing to Strawberry Juice using the private chat feature.
A casual glance revealed to Cucumber Slice that “Frequent Bitter Gourd Juice Drinker” had gone offline, as indicated by the grayed-out friend icon.
From the time Bitter Gourd Juice used a bomb to die back to the safe zone, to his logging off, Cucumber Slice hadn’t sent him any messages.
After some thought, Cucumber Slice decided not to make Bitter Gourd Juice’s betrayal of the team public.
On one hand, Boss Jin handled things prudently and would likely pay Bitter Gourd Juice to keep quiet.
On the other hand, managing a storyline exploration team was not easy. Cucumber Slice didn’t want to attract criticism or spark unwanted negative publicity because of Bitter Gourd Juice’s betrayal.
However, one must guard against others.
Bitter Gourd Juice, who had joined the team only about half a year ago, left the deepest impression on Cucumber Slice with his massive debts from buying a house, a car, and getting married.
Since such a person would seek personal gain by leaking news first, Cucumber Slice had to be wary of him betraying his teammates again.
“Let’s do this then, Strawberry Juice. Go ahead and revoke Bitter Gourd Juice’s permissions from the backend, then when you have time, modify our past team-building videos and photos to edit out Bitter Gourd Juice,” Cucumber Slice said thoughtfully.
“Last, prepare a public relations statement. If any negative publicity appears on the forums, release the statement immediately to prevent the adverse effects from spreading.”
Strawberry Juice first nodded, then blinked and asked:
“Is the situation that serious? Could Bitter Gourd Juice really twist the facts and slander us?”
“Well… Better safe than sorry. You can’t expect someone who betrayed the team to be trustworthy and kind, now can you?”
Cucumber Slice rubbed his forehead and heaved a deep sigh:
“It’s all my fault for misjudging him. If I hadn’t seen Bitter Gourd Juice in reality, hair turning white from the stress of debts, I wouldn’t have thought to give him a part-time opportunity with us to make some extra money. Ah, in the end, it’s my responsibility.”
“Don’t say that, Captain,” Strawberry Juice consoled:
“No one expected Bitter Gourd Juice to be so despicable…”
The one-minute trial time quickly came to an end.
Golden Dragon in the Sky’s body shuddered, his eyes shifting from vacant to fearful, as though something terrifying had appeared before him.
After recognizing his surroundings, the fear in his eyes quickly dissipated, his gaze became unfocused, but he seemed composed.
“Phew—”
Golden Dragon in the Sky let out a long breath:
“That illusion trial was too realistic, I almost thought I was going to be trapped there forever.” noveldrama
“Boss, what was the illusion like?” Golden Dragon in the Sky’s bodyguard asked.
“Don’t remember much, I only recall entering a dark space full of stalagmites and many things slithering like black pythons among them,” Golden Dragon in the Sky said as he wiped the sweat beads from his forehead.
“Those black pythons could see clearly in the dark. The moment they found me, they all pounced on me. Luckily I retained my class and level in the illusion, or I would have been done for there.”
Cucumber Slice analyzed:
“Sounds like, rather than a regular trial, it was more like you got your own mini-instance.”
Everyone nodded, thinking the analysis made sense.
Golden Dragon in the Sky wasn’t currently focused on analyzing the trial content, that was Cucumber Slice and his team’s forte.
Golden Dragon in the Sky was wholly intent on the task reward.
By now, the Guardian Rune Array designed to protect the players had been dispelled by Noland Lee.
Golden Dragon in the Sky walked unhindered towards the High Platform and called loudly:
“Respected and mighty entity, I wish to receive my trial task reward!”
During Golden Dragon in the Sky’s illusion trial, Noland Lee had carefully considered the issue of task rewards.
The annual expansion was titled “Heart of Magic,” so naturally, the reward for the first chapter of the storyline task had to be related to magic.
However, giving players things like Magic Array Blueprints right away seemed like a waste to Noland Lee.
No, he felt it important that players experience how “magic isn’t easily obtained.”
So, Noland Lee internally decided to follow Ulnas Circle’s process for wizard training to create an on-the-spot wizard advancement system tailored to the needs of the players.
Expecting players to memorize basic magic knowledge and then take exams in an orderly fashion was unlikely.
Players preferred grinding monsters, running instances, PvP-ing, participating in battles, and fishing for rewards.