Snap.
Ian's mind flashed back to the receptionist's warning before he entered the game:
"This time, the competition is intense from start to finish... We are providing extremely limited resources, and players will have to take massive risks to get them. In fact, a large chunk of players won't get any resources from the System and will be too busy running for their lives..."
"She was hinting at the insane difficulty of the Main Missions!" Ian slapped his forehead. "That's why she said a large chunk of players wouldn't get resources from the System. Because the missions are impossible for a beginner!"
"If we can't earn points through missions," Ian thought, a chill running down his spine, "then to avoid being in the bottom three and getting assassinated by the System, our only option is... hunting other players?"
The pressure suddenly felt like a physical weight on his shoulders. Not daring to waste another second, he scrolled down.
He remembered hearing two notification chimes earlier. That meant the Bounty Missions had updated alongside the Main Mission.
> BOUNTY MISSION 1: FIRST BLOOD
> Objective: Complete the first kill of another player.
> Reward: 3,000 Gold Dragons (2,500 provided as gold bars), 3 Attribute Points, 3 Skill Points, 2 Selectable S-Class NPCs (within the region).
> Note: Once completed, this mission's completion will be announced to all other players with a 24-hour delay.
"???"
Ian stopped breathing for a second. That reward was insane.
3,000 Gold Dragons? Two S-Class NPCs?
This was exactly what the receptionist meant by "extremely limited resources that require massive risk."
Since the Main Missions were practically impossible early on, whoever secured "First Blood" would skyrocket ahead of everyone else. Their development speed would leave the other 99 players in the dust.
In a game like this, failing to get resources from the System was fatal. Unlike solo-isekai stories where a modern person could use their book knowledge to get rich and famous easily, this was a 100-player battle royale.
Everyone here knew the plot inside out. If a player suddenly appeared in a scene where they didn't belong in the original story, every other player watching that scene would instantly identify them.
Without enough power to back it up, getting identified was suicide.
For example, every player had probably considered rushing to join Daenerys Targaryen right at the start. Hitching a ride on the "Mother of Dragons" express train seemed like an easy win.
But that was a pipe dream.
Because out of 100 players, probably 50 had the same idea. The moment anyone popped up near Daenerys, they'd expose themselves to the 49 other players watching her.
Unless that player was already powerful enough to survive assassination attempts, they wouldn't last a chapter.
And even if they wanted to risk it, they couldn't.
A level 1 player with a generic background had zero chance of getting close to Daenerys.
Why?
In the original timeline, only Jorah Mormont and Barristan Selmy—two Westerosi—successfully reached Daenerys in the early-to-mid stages. Was it because only they wanted to? No!
Once news spread that Khal Drogo was marrying Daenerys, adventurers, mercenaries, bastards, and second sons from all over Westeros would have swarmed to Pentos like vultures, hoping to ride the coattails of the Beggar King who now had a Dothraki army.
But in the books, none of them appeared. Why?
Because Illyrio Mopatis, the Magister of Pentos and patron of the Targaryens, filtered them out. Maybe he feared assassins, or maybe he just thought they were useless. Either way, he blocked almost everyone who tried to approach Viserys.
From start to finish, only Jorah Mormont (introduced by Illyrio's old friend, Varys) and Barristan Selmy (a world-famous knight) were granted an audience.
Without a solid reputation or value to offer, approaching Daenerys was a fantasy.
That was exactly why Ian hadn't chosen to spawn in Essos.
"Uh... getting sidetracked," Ian shook his head, refocusing on the First Blood mission. "I have a question."
"Go ahead," Annie replied instantly. Her best quality was her instant replies—just like his first girlfriend.
"First, this is a realistic world, right?"
"Correct."
"So players don't have health bars over their heads, and NPCs don't have nameplates?"
"Correct."
"And the organizers gave every player a legitimate backstory and implanted memories to help them blend in, right?"
"Correct."
"Then how the hell are we supposed to find other players?" Ian spread his hands. "Leaving aside the fact that 100 people are scattered randomly across a continent the size of South America... that's like a pinch of salt in the ocean. Even if we bump into each other, how would we know?"
"Sure, I can guess that most players picked one of the top 5 professions. Other players will guess that too. But that doesn't help with hunting. Do you know how many Hedge Knights and Sellswords are in Westeros? Tens of thousands! Trying to hunt players based on 'he looks like a mercenary' is idiotic."
"A player would only be exposed once they've become famous enough to disrupt the canon plot. By then, it's mid-game. That contradicts the 'intense competition from the very start' description."
"So, what am I missing?"
"I cannot answer questions beyond my authorization," Annie replied mechanically.
Ian didn't really expect an answer. He was asking himself. There was a method to find players—one that existed but he hadn't figured out yet.
Finding players required two things: Meeting them, and Identifying them.
Westeros was huge. Even if all 100 players were dropped into King's Landing (population 500,000), bumping into one would be hard.
Unless the search area was narrowed down. Like, if they were all in the same tavern...
"Holy shit! Allies!" Ian shouted, slapping his thigh. "The people who pre-arranged alliances! They agreed on specific meeting spots!"
Since his own allies had quit, he had completely overlooked the alliance factor.
How do you find a player in the early game?
Normally, you can't.
But what if you had agreed to meet them at a specific inn on a specific date before the game even started?