"This feels a little unfair~"
"So defeated Players have their Power merge with their bodies instead of being tied to a Character Card, but active Players still have to rely on the external aid of their cards?"
"Shouldn't active Players get some kind of compensation for that?"
This thought suddenly occurred to Lince as he scrolled through videos on his way back to his apartment after breakfast.
However, Lince dismissed the thought a moment later.
At the end of the day, the compensation for defeated Players was also external Power, as everything was strictly controlled by the True Game.
Besides, if an active Player failed later on, the compensation they would receive would obviously be greater than that of a Player eliminated on the second day.
With that thought, Lince's mood instantly brightened.
If anyone knew what Lince was thinking right now, they would probably want to punch him.
After all, Lince was now considered a 'High-End Player' on the Human Alliance internet, yet here he was, worrying about the small potatoes given to defeated Players. What would other Players think?
Lince, however, was feeling quite good—he was even in high spirits.
After all, he had successfully survived the 300-day simulation, and his gains were immense.
Now, all he had to do was log on and take stock of his rewards from this simulation.
However, Lince's mindset had completely stabilized by now, and he wasn't in a rush to log on immediately.
After all, whether he played earlier or later, it was still eight hours. As long as he got his eight hours in before midnight, it was fine.
So, for the moment, Lince was still enthusiastically scrolling through videos.
However, just as he was about to head upstairs, he seemed to remember something and immediately logged into the True Game's exclusive player forum.
He was now a little curious how many Players were left in the small player group he had joined yesterday.
But before entering the group, he saw an eye-catching post on the player forum.
[Following an emergency tally of the Day 2 player video collection by the Human Alliance Countermeasures Bureau, only 8,623 active Players remain!]
The title was short, but the news was huge!
'Were that many people really eliminated this time?'
'Over thirty-two thousand two-day Players, and now there are only just over eighty-six hundred left?'
Lince stared at the post, momentarily stunned.
'Isn't this elimination rate a bit too high?'
Lince thought about it carefully. Not every Player's situation in this game was as difficult as his own.
After all, his Rock Dragon Giant Lizard's territory was on the border between the Demon Beast Mountain Range and the Human Countries. A place like that was destined for turmoil; it was only natural that many incidents would occur.
But what about the other Players?
Lince believed that many Players could have safely survived the nearly one year of game time, as long as they just laid low.
After all, no large-scale racial wars had broken out across the Oakland Continent yet.
'Under these circumstances, how could so many Players still die during the 300-day simulation?'
'If a massive racial war had broken out on the Oakland Continent, how many more Players would have died?'
Yesterday, Lince had learned from some videos analyzing the game's background world that the first batch of one hundred thousand beta Players had, in all likelihood, all Descended into the same world or planet.
It was just that the background world was vast, a Middle Ages World no less, and most Players started with low-status identities, so they couldn't grasp the full picture of the world at first.
That was why many people initially believed that Players didn't start in the same world.
Now, however, it was almost certain.
There was a greater than ninety-five percent probability that the first batch of one hundred thousand Players were 'gaming' in the context of the same world.
In an entire world, a fantasy Middle Ages World at that, the 'Descent' of one hundred thousand Players of various Races would barely make a ripple.
But some Players just had to try some crazy stunts, which was why so many were eliminated during the first 100-day simulation.
But this second 300-day simulation happened after Players understood the game's special nature, and it also took place after a game update that synchronized their characters with the Players' personalities.
For so many Players to be eliminated under these conditions, Lince had reason to suspect it was most likely the result of rules set by the True Game to increase its 'playability' or 'difficulty'.
'Or perhaps... were the Players being targeted by the 'World Will' of the Oklar Continent, the world behind the game?'
'After all, since a True Game exists, it wouldn't be a stretch to think the game's background world has a World Will—one that might even reject the Descent of Players, right?'
Nearly three-quarters of the two-day Players had been eliminated in one go. Lince was at a loss for words.
But inexplicably, Lince also felt a slight sense of crisis.
Because of this, a clear, small goal—or rather, an ambition—immediately formed in Lince's mind.
'Never mind all that. I won't waste time thinking about why Players are being eliminated so quickly!'
'In any case, my immediate goal is to lay low and make it into the top one thousand!'
'I'll become a true High-End Player in the eyes of the second batch of beta Players—maybe even a 'powerhouse'.'
The elimination of so many two-day Players naturally caused a huge uproar on the game forums.
Players spouting all sorts of conspiracy theories and worrying about the True Game's ultimate purpose were everywhere.
Lince, however, paid it no mind.
After all, whatever the reason for the True Game's existence, only by becoming strong would he be qualified to learn the truth—to be one of the diners at the table, not a snack on the menu.
So, Lince didn't spend any more time on the forum debates and quickly clicked into his small group chat.
He took a look, and...
Holy cow, the small group of 37 Players still had thirty-one members?!
What kind of Chosen Group was this?!
Nearly three-quarters of all Players had been eliminated, but his little group had only lost six members?!
Forget Lince's astonishment.
At that moment, some of the people in the small group were already bragging and chatting smugly!
Brother Cheng Takes Off: "Haha, brothers and sisters, our group is incredible! We must have been blessed by the True Game's luck mechanic! With such a high elimination rate, our group only lost six unlucky souls. Maybe a 'Top 1000' chosen one will emerge from our group! And that chosen one might just be yours truly!"
Not the Tea Monarch: "Ghost Fire Minister, cut the crap. You have the nerve to be so smug while hiding out in the Great Tomb? Surviving the 300-day simulation by playing dead doesn't make you a powerhouse. A chosen one? More like the chosen skeleton, or maybe the chosen corpse."
Insomnia and Rain: "Right? If we're talking about powerhouses, who can compare to that Dragon Lizard bro from last night! Tier Three! And he's got that prophet-style farming build going. He has nearly a thousand followers now, and he even picked up a Tier Two 'husky' this time! Who could possibly be more of a powerhouse than him?"
Sweet Little Cookie: "I agree with Sister Yu! I saw that video yesterday, it was so satisfying to watch! When that Dragon Lizard bro logs on, isn't he going to be buried in system rewards? I even predict he'll reach Tier Four soon! Hmm... let me be bold: that Dragon Lizard bro will hit Tier Four in tomorrow's simulation!"
Little Ordinary Person: "The Dragon Lizard? Give me a break! With his location, it's only a matter of time before he's finished. Besides, he's not the only Tier Three powerhouse out there. From what I know, some Elf girl over in the Elf Empire got acknowledged by the World Tree. She's the one riding high right now."
Watashi wa: "I think 'Little Ordinary Person' is being a bit emotional. Yeah, the Dragon Lizard dude's location sucks, but doesn't the whole setup seem familiar to you guys? It's the classic protagonist-of-a-novel script! But, to be objective, there are a lot of Tier Three Players now—about one hundred and twenty or so. Those lucky few are the High-End Players with the best chance of making it through the first beta test."
"..."
Lince felt a sense of exasperation as he read through the group chat.
'How did I suddenly become the main topic of their conversation?'
'Besides, that Tier Two Magical Beast I subdued was clearly a Forest Wolf, okay? What's all this about a husky?'
'It was fine when he didn't picture the Forest Wolf next to a husky, but now that he was, Lince could barely keep a straight face. There was no denying it; the coat and general appearance of the Forest Wolf his Rock Dragon Giant Lizard had subdued really did look a bit like a husky.'
'This is ridiculous!'
Moreover, Lince noticed that one Player who had been quite active and energetic in the chat last time was missing.
'Was Powerful Kobold really eliminated? That's tragic. Don't tell me a mine collapsed on him while he was digging?!'
'A few seconds of silence for him.'