Then his mind stirred slightly. Who said this whole thing had to be fake? Everything Liu Fei just mentioned, he could actually make happen.
All he had to do was casually pull some looted beastman and dwarf armor and weapons from Dawn City's storage, more than enough to satisfy the players.
As for hidden professions? That wasn't out of reach either. Emi was a Shadow High Priest, if the player was a priest, he could easily transfer them into a new class.
Come to think of it, this man-made 'epic' quest really could become reality. He could fully turn this fabricated mission into the real thing.
As the mastermind behind this so-called epic quest, these dumb players who couldn't walk away from shiny loot and Gold Pucks would do whatever he wanted.
And as for the cost? With his wealth and resources, Li De didn't care at all. If he could obtain the recipe for alchemical bombs, or even better, capture goblins, it would be worth paying ten times the price.
This was a military-grade operation that could massively enhance the foundation of Dawn City's armed forces. If the goal was achieved, the payoff wouldn't be any less than the mithril vein.
With a slap on the table, he made his decision.
"No, Director Liu. This is an epic quest, and all the rewards you mentioned are real."
Liu Fei looked momentarily dumbfounded. Why didn't you say so earlier?
But seeing that Li De didn't explain further, he didn't dare question it either. If the boss makes a 'mistake,' then it's just a test of subordinates' competence.
"Then I'll proceed according to this plan. I'll discuss the details with you later."
Three hours later.
Glory's official game forum.
A seemingly low-key post appeared, bragging about receiving an epic quest in Green City.
Less than two hours later, the post's authenticity was confirmed, and then the player base went absolutely crazy.
As long as players accepted the quest, they would receive at least one Gold Puck as a guaranteed reward upon completion.
They could also choose one piece from a set of Rare★ Armor or Rare★ Weapons. If they completed the quest with high progress, there was even a chance to change class to a hidden profession and learn rare high-level skills from an NPC.
This flood of rewards left players who'd been grinding through months of hell in total shock.
Was this the dawn of a golden age for players?
Had the damn devs finally grown a conscience and opened a backdoor for them?
Were they hallucinating?
The downtrodden player base could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Players in Green City scrambled to verify the quest's legitimacy at top speed, and indeed, the task appeared in their character panels.
At that point, several other posts quietly surfaced on the forums. Most speculated that the developers had finally taken pity on players and started handing out real benefits, which explained the extravagant rewards.
Those not wanting to miss out had better hurry, once the 'Beastman Invasion' event passed, everything would be gone.
These posts even provided a brief primer on goblins and alchemical bombs, casually mentioning that Risel City might not last much longer.
The summary? This was a welfare-style quest created by the devs to help players level faster. The NPC was generous and clueless, and there was a time limit. If you didn't join now, you wouldn't make it.
With this wave of information, many players who could possibly reach Green City suddenly panicked.
The game was damn hard. After all the suffering, to stumble upon such a limited-time quest with insanely rich rewards, they'd be fools not to get involved.
In a short span of two in-game days, over a thousand players poured into Green City and Risel City…
A full-scale operation targeting Risel City had begun.
---
Hun Yuan, Thunderhands, and Cheng Kun, three players, managed to successfully receive the so-called 'epic quest.'
Of course, the quest displayed on their character panels was simply to investigate intel on Risel City, goblins, and alchemical bombs. There was no 'epic' prefix on it.
But that didn't dampen their enthusiasm at all, because the rewards were just too enticing!
The top-tier reward listed was: for every living goblin brought out of Risel City, one Gold Puck would be awarded. For 100 goblins, there was a bonus of 200 Gold Pucks. Every additional 100 goblins brought out would net another 200 Gold Pucks.
If a player could find the alchemical bomb recipe, the reward was even more outrageous, not only would they unlock a hidden profession, but they'd also be allowed to learn five rare skills of their choice, earn 500 Gold Pucks, and receive a full set of Perfect-grade equipment.
The moment those absurd rewards came out of the NPC's mouth, they were practically suffocating.
Damn it! After playing this game for so long, they finally saw a massive reward. Screw you, game devs!
No player could resist such lavish incentives.
Hun Yuan, Thunderhands, and Cheng Kun were still relatively calm, after all, they had Dark Pact backing them and weren't exactly in need.
But other suffering, broke-ass players were downright losing their minds with excitement.
This game was too brutal. Even after three or four months, some people still hadn't even succeeded in changing classes. To finally find such an opportunity, how could they not be ecstatic?
"Be alert when we go in. Don't get discovered by the NPC too easily," Hun Yuan said with a stern expression as he looked at the two dozen or so players around him.
"Yes, Boss Hun Yuan!"
"Relax, I'm the Golden-Furred Rat, who could ever spot me?!"
"…"
Hearing the responses, Hun Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
With their super boss Stanley absent for now, he was finally starting to feel a little of the pride that came with being a player.
At least he didn't have to worry about that high-IQ NPC constantly urging them to set up a Dark Pact branch on Earth every day.
Every time he thought of that, Hun Yuan felt a surge of sorrow, after playing games for so many years, to be toyed with so miserably by an NPC... it was unbearable.
But... the big boss's thigh was just too thick, and hugging it was too sweet.
At present, Immortal Souls had grown into a small team of twenty players.
Hun Yuan and his third and fourth brothers had jointly taken over leadership of the group.
Even though they were still only Level 3, thanks to their performance over the past few weeks, especially with Hun Yuan's respectable intellect, they had gained genuine respect from within Dark Pact.