Chapter Nineteen: A New Scam 9
The group of players, no longer complaining of hardship or fatigue, were now shouting excitedly at Ren Zha in the sky.
They had originally intended to remain calm.
But Lao Hei was giving them far too much. 1
At the same time, the flame of faith within everyone present had quietly surged, even emanating a faint golden light from their bodies!
All one hundred new and old players had become general believers, and some, like Zai Wan Duo D, Huo Er Gai, Boss XX, and Da Lian Mao, were even moving directly from deep believers to true believers!
Although in their hearts they believed in the real game company, the real game company itself was an incarnation of Ren Zha, essentially the same. 3
The faith power the players provided to Ren Zha was several times greater than before!
While the group was jumping around excitedly, Ren Zha had quietly disappeared, returning to the Heavenly Temple to begin researching a way to reach Lost Eden.
Although he had obtained the relevant methods from the Kobold God and even gained a wealth of knowledge by crushing his divine soul, Ren Zha still decided to be cautious.
After all, this was the realm of gods; anything could happen.
The notice board next to the totem pole glowed again, displaying a new message.
Players immediately crowded around, eager to see what new announcement *Gods and Demons Battlefield* had released.
"Dear players, *Gods and Demons Battlefield* is currently in a critical phase of its closed beta test. The newly opened item duplication function requires more testing data. Therefore, we hope that all players can cooperate with the game development team and bring in more powerful items during tomorrow's new item duplication cycle. To thank all players for their strong support, the player who brings in the most powerful item will receive a generous reward."4
The words "powerful" were all enlarged and bolded, gleaming gold, extremely eye-catching, the implication couldn't be clearer—it was practically a direct invitation to let duplicate weapons in.6
Seeing this announcement, a group of players immediately showed expressions of understanding. * **Love Tiger Oil:** "Does this even need an announcement? I'd have to go get it anyway. My uncle does blasting work at the mine; I'm going to scan detonators and explosives with him tomorrow."
* **Training Ticket:** "Same here, same here. My brother's a bank security guard, you know what I mean."
* **Disconnected After Prostitution:** "Haha, what's that compared to Big Face Cat? He's got so many weapons! I wish he could get more."
* **Hearing the players' words and feeling their expectant gazes, Big Face Cat quickly patted his chest and said:**
* **Leave it to me! To be honest, my distant uncle runs a weapon shop in DC, the underground kind. It's daytime here now, I'll go scan the equipment at his shop later! Getting everyone a gun shouldn't be a problem."
* **Saying this, he immediately logged off.**
"Teacher Cat is so awesome!"
"Wow, I originally thought this was a medieval magic game, but the art style has changed a bit too quickly... Is this the point of closed beta?"
"Log off, time to wash my feet." 19
More players logged off, and the remaining players chattered amongst themselves, feeling as if the entire Divine Realm had become even more expansive.
Boss XX: "Speaking of which, I made over 20,000 today, which is half a year's income for me. This money is making me a little uneasy... It's too easy... What if I get addicted?"
Shan Jiachan: "To be honest, I also feel a bit strange. What kind of game pays this much? This is real money! It's making me uneasy. Do you think this is some kind of new scam?" 1
"Why?"
Hearing Shan Jiachan's words, all the players present gathered around.
To be honest, this was also the first time they had ever made so much money playing a game, and they felt the same way.
After all, humans are inherently suspicious creatures.
Shan Jiachan's expression turned serious, and he said earnestly:
"I think this might be a new type of scam. It involves constantly giving money to make people do the same thing day after day. By the time they realize it, a long time has passed..."1
Huorai: "I know the kind of scam you're talking about, it's called 'working.'"19
ZaiwanduoD: "If this is a scam, I hope it keeps scamming me forever. If I had to put a time limit on this deception, I hope it lasts until I die."2
A group of people immediately burst into laughter, filling the Divine Realm with a joyful atmosphere.3
It was already late at night, and most players were exhausted. They greeted each other and logged off.
Only a few night owls were still exploring, mainly hoping to find more artifact fragments.
It seems like this is all money!
It might have unexpected effects during the public beta.
In his rented room, Chen Yu, who was playing "Chop-D" (a virtual reality game), woke up from his virtual reality gaming pod. He first ordered a deluxe seafood takeout, then washed his face in his pajamas before strolling back to his computer.
He checked his bank account's transfer records; the real transfers made him smile slightly.
In just a few days, he'd earned over 30,000 yuan.
His initial choice to play this game was incredibly wise.
As a game content creator with strong professional ethics, Chen Yu knew he couldn't let this money go to waste; he had to write another post to promote "Gods and Demons Battlefield."
Moreover, given the game's realism and fun factor, even without money, he would still be a dedicated promoter for "Gods and Demons Battlefield," tirelessly doing pre-launch publicity.
His keyboard flew across the keyboard, and soon, a post titled "A New Type of Irresistible Scam? Re-exploring
Because the previous two posts had both become viral hits, this one was proactively featured and pinned by the website.
Many offline players were already discussing *Gods and Demons Battlefield* on the forum, but Chen Yu's post immediately became a hot topic, attracting discussion from almost half the forum.
In his post, Chen Yu recounted in detail how he found an artifact fragment after a jungle raid, triggering a cutscene, and the latest news about the God War.
He vividly described the newly added "scan and copy" gameplay, the thrill of crushing kobolds with a bulldozer in the game, and the excitement of real gunfights.
Finally, he emphasized the "honest gold coins" reward players received.
Especially the fact that each player received 10,000 yuan in cash after winning the God War.
"Currently, the world of Gods and Demons Battlefield appears extremely vast. The Dark and Earth God, whom players ally with—Old Black—is just one of many deities. There are numerous other gods as well. The player's mission is to assist Old Black in expanding the divine realm, winning divine wars, and ultimately becoming a supreme god or similar being.
Regarding the game company's practice of directly rewarding players with large sums of cash during the closed beta phase, we beta testers have discussed this extensively. Our conclusion is that this is likely a marketing tactic employed by the game company to promote Gods and Demons Battlefield.
However, regardless of the reason, this is beneficial to us players..." It's all benefits and no drawbacks; after all, they're so rich and have money to burn.
Here, I also want to thank the game company for their generous rewards to the players. I'm already grateful to be able to play such a fun game, and I didn't expect to get paid too! I'm almost embarrassed.
They really gave so much.
Here, I also urge *Gods and Demons Battlefield* to quickly open up more closed beta slots so that more players can experience the joy of *Gods and Demons Battlefield*.
Finally, it's still—I'm fucking blown away!
The comments below the post stretched out in rows, hundreds of pages in the blink of an eye. After reading Chen Yu's account, everyone was wailing and howling, more heartbroken than if they'd lost tens of thousands of yuan.
Not finding it is the same as losing it, isn't it?
"Showing off wealth, this is blatant showing off! Does having money really bring happiness? I've never experienced this kind of happiness..."
"Ahhh, why, why did I think it was just a crappy browser game and not click the beta invitation!"
"Same here, I want to go back and strangle myself."
"Please, real game companies, open new beta invitations as soon as possible!"
"I really want to play, I really want to play..."
"Buying a 'Gods and Demons Battlefield' game account, 30,000 RMB! High price! Sell now!"
"The mobile game I'm playing suddenly doesn't seem so appealing anymore..."
"If it were me, I'd copy a computer and log into the game to play."
"Upstairs, if it were me, I'd copy a computer and log into the game to play online with you."
...
In the Divine Realm, while Ren Zha was researching the location of Lost Eden, most players had already logged off to rest.
In the northwestern region of the Divine Realm, even further from the Black-Scaled Giant Lizard's lair, three players—Huo'er Gai, Lan Bai De Tian, and Zui Ai Qian Qian—armed with kitchen knives and pistols, were exploring.
The Black-Scaled Giant Lizard's lair was now behind them; they had walked a kilometer or two westward.
"Huo'er Gai, if we really can't find anything, let's split up and do a thorough search. I think this area might hold some promise," Lan Bai De Tian said, shining his flashlight ahead.
The three of them had come out together to search for artifact fragments, but after searching for a long time, they hadn't found even a trace of them. They had thoroughly searched the Black-Scaled Giant Lizard's lair, but found nothing. So they set off westward to search.
Unexpectedly, this area was all dense forest and thickets, making it incredibly difficult to traverse.
Worker nodded:
"Okay, if we encounter danger, we can just commit suicide and return to the city. We'll search a bit more, and if we still can't find anything, we'll log off and rest."
Most Beloved Qianqian:
"It's alright, we're all single anyway, otherwise we'd just stay up all night."
The three of them smiled at each other and took a step forward. Suddenly, they felt a tightening around their ankles, as if they were being caught by something.
The next instant, a tremendous force came from their ankles, and all three of them were simultaneously pulled up by a rope hidden in the bushes, hanging upside down from a tree!
Then, a rustling sound came from the surrounding bushes, and a group of small figures emerged and appeared in front of them!