Chapter 112: Something's Wrong—Are the Players About to Defect?
Newbie Village for Ninjas.
An endless blood-red wasteland stretched into the horizon, littered with crumbling ruins and ancient castles built from piles of bones.
Each castle housed the most terrifying creatures of the wasteland: vampires.
Dressed in black robes embroidered with violet cloud patterns, hundreds of players from the Dawn Organization were relentlessly bombarding one massive castle with skills.
A dazzling sea of energy rained down upon a single figure.
Wearing a tattered black-and-red suit, the figure's shredded clothes hung limply from his shoulders. Behind him, blood-red bat-like wings, each over ten meters long, flapped fiercely. With every swing, they conjured waves of blood magic that blocked the Dawn players' onslaught.
"Immobilization Squad! Don't hold back—use the recovery potions and keep the skills coming!"
Wearing a paper flower on her head, Konan barked out crisp commands, leading the hunt for the polluted source with precise timing.
"Understood! For the Dawn!"
The Immobilization Squad—fifty players strong—were all Level 15 Rune Mages.
Each one had mastered only four immobilization skills, trained extensively by the Dawn Organization to specialize in capturing polluted beings.
Aside from the Immobilization Squad, there were also the Tank Squad, the Resistance Squad, and the Combat Squad.
Two hundred Dawn players in total, all equipped with team-oriented skills. Though weak in solo combat, when combined, their coordinated power became overwhelming.
"Combat Squad! Try to sever the vampire baron's wings!"
Konan's gaze was sharp as she floated midair, wings of paper charms fanning out from her back.
She waved her arms, scattering sheets of glowing, seal-infused paper across the battlefield.
When they landed on the Dawn players, the papers emitted green-blue light, forming ethereal armor that boosted defense.
When they struck the vampire baron, they erupted into searing flames or crackling lightning, making him shriek in pain.
"Immobilization Squad, whatever happens—don't let him escape!"
With the real shinobi world thrown into chaos and war erupting among the Five Great Ninja Villages,
Konan had seized the opportunity to lead the Dawn Organization into the blood-red wasteland to hunt a final pollution source—a vampire baron under the command of the Bloodborne Castle: [Klar].
Compared to the wandering ghost mage Sarina, Klar was far more difficult to deal with.
Not because he was stronger,
but because he was slippery—like a loach in the mud. He possessed a unique ability that allowed him to teleport between any of the bone-built castles scattered across the wasteland.
The players who had previously hunted the ghost mage had, by now, upgraded their gear significantly—no more "peashooters."
If Klar's HP dropped into the danger zone, he would activate his teleportation and vanish into a random castle.
"If we let this vampire baron escape, the only way to get him would be to destroy every ancient castle in the wasteland one by one. With our manpower, the Dawn Organization can't do that."
Konan downed an energy potion and continued casting seal magic.
Destroyed castles would eventually reform, reconstructed by blood magic over time.
If they didn't finish Klar now—before the other factions caught wind of the hunt—they'd soon be fighting against players from the Five Great Nations, the nobles, and the merchant guilds.
"Apostates of another world… perhaps we can strike a deal."
As his left wing was severed, the vampire baron Klar felt a surge of fear beneath his rage.
His wings were the source of his blood magic. With one gone, his casting power and defenses plummeted.
"Spare me… and I will grant you this medal. With it, you will earn the friendship of Klar."
As he spoke,
two brutal slashes pierced his right leg, forcing his massive body to collapse to his knees.
[Knight's Medal of Bloodborne Castle]
Type: Pollutant
Effect: Use to gain 200 Corruption Reward Points.
Note: Identification badge of the corruption forces. Grants access to their items and shops.
"Corruption reward points?"
This was the first time Konan had seen such a thing. Did it mean access to items outside the game shop?
...
Beyond the screen,
a white-haired loli lay sprawled on a plush sofa, panic written all over her face. "Master, this is bad! That sneaky Bloodborne Castle is trying to poach our players!"
This was exactly how it always happened.
The world's will would painstakingly cultivate powerful champions, only for the corrupted forces to offer olive branches and turn them against their own world.
The ghost mage they'd previously hunted had merely been a wandering wraith from the underworld—without ties to any corrupted faction.
But the vampire baron was different. He belonged to Bloodborne Castle, and that medal was a high-grade tool specifically designed to corrupt world wills.
Her worst fears were coming true.
Alfred, who had been quietly watching, finally looked up—
only to see Fang Yi's calm expression. This made her panic even more. "Master, this is serious! So many world wills have fallen because the corruption factions lured away their champions. Once that happens, they can't resist the infection and are destroyed!"
If the players turned, the Samsara Game would become a hollow shell.
"Don't panic."
Fang Yi patted her head and chuckled. "It's just one corruption medal. You're that scared? Even if the players accept it—so what?"
Seeing her frightened face, he sneered. "I've anticipated this from the very beginning. A world capable of destroying countless others wouldn't be run by fools."
"Especially after you mentioned how reincarnators have betrayed their world in the past—I've been ready."
His calm confidence was oddly infectious. Alfred slowly began to steady her nerves. "Then what should we do? Cut off all player interaction with the corrupted world?"
Fang Yi flicked her on the head. "That's the dumbest idea. Even if you block it now, as the player base grows, they'll be hunting corruption sources nonstop. Constant exposure makes a complete lockdown impossible—not to mention how many reward points it would cost to maintain."
Alfred mumbled, "But if we don't block it, the players will defect…"
"Then let them defect."
Fang Yi grinned wickedly. "Don't forget—the players aren't using their real bodies in-game. They're inhabiting artificial vessels I created using my own essence."
"All of their enhancements are branded into the Newbie Village. Every time they log in, it's like divine descent in a fantasy world or spiritual possession in a cultivation world—they channel their branded power into the avatar."
"So even if a player defects, without my permission, all they're taking is a soulless artificial body."
Alfred blinked in confusion. After a moment, it clicked.
The original essence gathered from hunting pollution sources was converted into upgrades and gear—all created by Fang Yi. Though players used them, they couldn't take them out of the Samsara Game without his approval.
To put it simply,
all items in the game were licensed for use only. Ownership remained with the Samsara Game.
Was that fair?
Players risked their lives hunting pollution, scraped together every reward point to buy gear—and in the end, they didn't even own it?
Even Fang Yi, the architect behind this system, admitted it was a bit unreasonable. It was the very definition of a tyrannical clause.
"Sigh… but to protect the world, to resist the corruption and the endless tide of infected realms…"
"We'll just have to let the players suffer for now."
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