Since they had agreed to form an alliance, they must have settled on a meeting place before entering the game.
For example, the place Ethan agreed upon with his two former allies was St. Belle's Cathedral in King's Landing.
But because his allies withdrew from the game, he changed his starting point to the Riverlands.
Now that he had no allies, other players weren't necessarily in the same situation. They would definitely head to the Crossroads Inn or Shataya's Tavern to meet up iconic locations, just like the original plan!
Driven by this 'first blood' mission, wouldn't those promised allies become easy targets for hunting?
It was true that some players would become cautious after seeing this mission and might avoid the meeting altogether. But humanity never lacks adventurers.
When there's a 20% profit, people are eager to act; at 50%, they're willing to take risks; for a 100% profit, they will trample on all human laws; and if there's a 300% profit, they'll commit any crime, even risk hanging.
And what is the profit of this mission?
Putting aside attribute points and skill points, the money alone three thousand gold dragons is a fortune. With that and two S level NPCs, a player could easily form a small army of hundreds.
In a game where the vast majority of players can't get resources from the system, what would it mean to be the first to acquire such a massive amount?
He might become impossible to surpass in the next few years, maybe even escape the assassination threats tied to the rankings and gain the freedom to develop as he wishes.
There's no reason players wouldn't take that risk.
"But the second problem still isn't resolved!" Ethan quickly calmed himself down. "See through how do players see through other players' disguises?"
First, let's assume that two allies who had made prior arrangements meet at the designated place. But with a first blood mission hanging over them, they couldn't possibly use the pre arranged secret code to verify each other's identities boldly, right?
They would have to test one another while hiding themselves carefully.
But how could a wary player figure things out so easily? These are elite players who've survived countless qualifiers how would they expose flaws that easily?
From a planning perspective, if the game was designed this way, it meant that the planners believed players could definitely see through each other. In other words, there's something that all of us don't know or have ignored. There's a loophole.
Ethan suddenly thought of the background story. According to Annie, the purpose of the background story was to help players disguise themselves.
But obviously, the planner didn't want players to disguise themselves well. On the contrary, they wanted players to see through each other and start fighting.
That kind of design is inherently contradictory.
Unless… there's something wrong with the background story?
Ethan quickly closed his eyes, opened the auxiliary system, and entered the information column to reread his background story in detail.
Soon, he did find something odd.
He didn't have a surname.
Originally, as a commoner from the Vale, he wouldn't have had one. But in the story that followed, he'd been knighted, which meant he had the right to adopt a surname.
But still, no surname. That was unusual.
However, it was only a small issue not an easily noticeable flaw. And it was likely unique to players who started as hired knights, not something that applied to everyone.
"Yes, all players. If we want to detect flaws reliably, then the flaw has to be shared by all players or at least by most of them. So what's the common trait among us?"
What do players have in common something so obvious that it can be used to spot each other?
It can't be that they like to jump around when they walk, right? This is the real world! Who dances and hops around for fun? That would be exhausting!
Ethan thought hard, pacing back and forth across the room.
Suddenly, his eyes landed on the set of equipment piled in the corner.
A half hand sword, a nose guard, a gorget, an old piece of mail, a pair of mail gloves, and a pair of greaves.
In a flash, the character creation preview interface appeared in his mind again.
"Shit! The starting equipment! It's the starting equipment!"
Each profession starts with fixed gear, and more than 90% of players probably chose one of the five classes Ethan had listed.
This meant that, apart from the face, everything else about the players' appearances right now would exactly match the preview seen in the final character creation interface!
Among them, the traveling merchants were the most conspicuous. Their set included four servants, four old draft horses, two carts, and seven mules. It was practically a billboard (though they'd surely realize their exposure and make changes).
Second were the mercenary knights, oddly well equipped with gear typical of wealthy knights but lacking even a single squire.
Of course, the Wrecked Sailor and the Brotherhood Hunter weren't much better. These two classes were relatively uncommon, and one used a throwing axe while the other carried a yew longbow both easily spotted.
As for stealth, the wandering mercenary probably had the best chance. After all, Westeros taverns were full of mercenaries, and that class started with a set of old leather armor, a short sword, and a dagger virtually indistinguishable from local adventurers.
But aside from wandering mercenaries, once other classes appeared at the meeting spot agreed upon by players, someone would likely have that immediate gut reaction Have I seen this guy somewhere before?
This was the true purpose of the background story!
The planner deliberately made character creation so complex to create numerous differences while luring players into overlooking the similarities tied to class.
They instructed the Annie to interpret the background story as "helping players disguise themselves with memories," to mislead and convince them they wouldn't be easily recognized.
When the human brain receives information, it tends to cling to the first version presented, rarely questioning the opposite possibility.
Even Ethan himself had initially overlooked the obvious flaw of the starting equipment!
Since the organizers couldn't interfere once the game started, the planners used this method to arrange for early conflict and make the game more exciting!
Who would've thought that in this hundred player game, the first enemy players face wouldn't be each other but a trap carefully set in advance!
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