---Viktor's POV---
"What information?" Just as he asked, ProGamer_Daddy smacked his head. "Oh, it's about that inner circle we can't get into!"
I didn't reply but nodded in confirmation.
Hearing this, Hedgehog also caught on. The smile on his face vanished, and he crossed his arms, falling into deep thought.
"That circle is indeed strange. Even Garble couldn't sneak in while invisible. It seems like it can isolate viruses too?"
"Screening, isolating outsiders, monitoring threats, purifying bodies…" ProGamer_Daddy listed the functions one by one, clicking his tongue in amazement. "So many features at once? That's insane! How is it that the goblin shaman seems more competent than Viktor?"
"… Next time you badmouth someone, at least check your surroundings first."
"Ahem, I wasn't paying attention just now." ProGamer_Daddy awkwardly looked away, realizing he had accidentally blurted out what was on his mind.
I shook my head helplessly and put away the revised map on the table. "That glowing circle isn't as powerful as you imagine. Its function is probably similar to the illusion formation outside the giant pit."
Hedgehog gently countered, "Lord Viktor, there's no shame in admitting defeat."
It was hard to imagine how my fellow townsman could endure this group of chaotic players without choking ten times a day. How did Edgar even handle quest handoffs with them back then?
Initially, I had planned to solve the communication issues between Alyanne and the players after everything was settled. Now, it seemed better not to subject that innocent ice dragon to such torment.
Still, some explanations had to come from me.
I gazed at the night sky.
"The reason that glowing circle can detect your movements is that its creator is inside. And it doesn't have any virus purification abilities. It's simply that the goblins are ruthless. The circle only allows exits, not entries."
Didn't this temporarily halt the spread of the rash disease outside the circle? The only infected elite goblin was the one who foolishly left the safe zone.
Hedgehog was surprised, "Goblins understand this stuff?"
"Of course not." ProGamer_Daddy rolled his dead-fish eyes. "But there's a snitch inside who does!"
"Must've been LootGoblin, scared for his life, secretly telling the shaman."
Hedgehog suddenly understood. "No wonder that guy got promoted so fast! Being a double agent sure is sweet!"
"Actually, I had NeverShowOff contact him and tell him to do it," I said calmly.
"Huh?" The two turned to me in unison. "Why?"
"To help him gain the goblin shaman's trust and get the authority to shut down the formation from the inside."
Considering the loose organization of the goblins, this kind of access wasn't hard to obtain for LootGoblin now.
Seeing their puzzled expressions, I elaborated further, "Although both formations have the same origin, the caster is inside, so we can't use the old method to break in."
It was like a pre-set program versus one actively controlled by an operator. The illusion formation outside the giant pit blocks everyone. Anyone could crack it, and anyone could pass through once it was broken. The inner-circle formation, however, could be adjusted by the goblin shaman to change access conditions and gather precise information.
Breaking it from the outside was highly complicated.
The best approach was internal sabotage, which also saved a lot of illusion-breaking potions.
"So, the illusion formation can only be cracked with potions when the caster isn't present?" Hedgehog summarized.
"Sounds like a promising underworld profession…" ProGamer_Daddy looked up, his eyes sparkling with yearning. "Can we switch to it when we hit Level 10?"
"No," I denied flatly. "You'll learn about the job transfer rules once you're Level 10."
Stop treating me like a walking encyclopedia, asking about everything: What is this? Can we learn it? How do we learn it?
If they kept it up, I might start charging for conversations.
"An alchemist's potential is equally high. You can't crack the inner-circle illusion purely because we currently lack the necessary potion ingredients."
To counter an illusion formation guarded by a high-level mage, the lowest-tier illusion-breaking potions just won't cut it.
"Ohhh," Hedgehog looked disappointed. "A money-burning profession? Never mind, then."
"So." I propped myself up from the table. "Please deliver this task to LootGoblin. Tell him to locate the formation's core and destroy it. As for its location… that'll depend on his ability to extract information from the goblin shaman."
Hearing this, ProGamer_Daddy let out a long sigh of relief. "Well, no worries there. That guy may suck at everything else, but his smooth talk is top-notch!"
"That's for the best," I said with a smile.
Then, I distributed Hedgehog's reward for passing along the message.
ProGamer_Daddy protested, "I've been standing here this whole time. Don't I get a participation award?"
"Haven't you made enough magic coins working in the factory?" Hedgehog squinted at him.
"That's different!" ProGamer_Daddy countered. "I was here setting the mood. That's a contribution!"
A silver arc streaked across the sky. My system panel lit up with a barrage of messages. I had no time to keep arguing with the players and casually tossed them a coin to amuse themselves.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
The two roleplaying fanatics instantly snapped out of character.
"Wait!" Hedgehog raised a hand dramatically. "I still have one question!"
"Ask." Just let me go...
"So, here's the thing…"
Recently, many players have been experiencing issues where their game interface wouldn't open, or they'd disconnect suddenly. Because the game was so realistic, some almost thought they'd fallen into another world.
Normally, this would be a game issue.
But the game's official team had gone completely silent these past few days, ignoring player concerns.
Recalling how LootGoblin got exposed for using fake registration info, Hedgehog figured NPCs might be able to relay messages to the developers.
So, with a "why not try" mindset, he brought it up.
"That's about it," Hedgehog said, taking a sip of water before continuing.
"We've noticed a pattern: this disconnection issue only happens outside Honeyvale. The farther away you are, the more likely it occurs!"
While he was speaking, I opened the game's official website.
Sure enough, as the forum admin, I saw countless posts from familiar player IDs complaining.
I fell silent.
The downside of being a one-person game developer… These past few days, I had been too busy rushing illusion-breaking potion production—making bottles, gathering materials, dividing batches… I had no energy left to manage the forums.
After all, this wasn't a real game. There were no bugs, so server maintenance wasn't a thing.
But now… This pseudo-game world had genuinely glitched!
Out of sight of the players, I had a variety of virtual panels displayed in front of me. Countless streams of data flashed across my vision. My eyes grew solemn as I examined the data before me.
So that's how it is… I instantly put away all the panels and murmured softly, feeling a mix of surprise and inevitability.
The game panel… turned out it was subscription-based???
100 divine power couldn't buy it outright!
It required periodic refills of divine power, or its influence would rapidly diminish.
Originally capable of supporting players within a 10-kilometer radius to stay active without going offline, it would gradually shrink to 8 kilometers, then 7 kilometers. Magnetic fields that previously didn't affect me might even cause me to lose track of player coordinates.
I glanced at the requirements for replenishing divine power.
It was 100 divine power per month. I was momentarily stunned.
Had it already been a month?
Hm... It had indeed been one month since the game's "launch." Thinking about the changes in Honeyvale Town, it felt reasonable, maybe even too short.
I raised my head again to look at the two players.
"Alright, I've identified the issue, and I'll address it shortly. We've been away from Aeltia for too long. Returning won't be easy, and accidents are bound to happen along the way. Don't panic."
The two players leaned their heads together.
"Is this the official explanation for the bug?"
"So finding NPCs really works! But there's no compensation for discovering bugs?"
"Duh, the test server is meant for finding bugs. The main thing is that Chronicles of Aeltia is so polished that there's only been one major bug so far."
In any case, as long as the players could convince themselves, that was enough. Under the players' chatter, I gradually walked away.
---
Whoosh!
Several glowing blue panels appeared in front of me. My mental tendrils manipulated them constantly. Characters surfaced and disappeared on the panels.
By dawn, I had finalized the latest version of the mission plan.
I slumped into my chair, utterly drained, pretending to be dead.
"This is definitely the final version… No more changes…" It was unclear whether I was comforting myself or just talking to the air.
Why did unexpected events always disrupt my plans right after I thought everything was settled?
I had initially planned to deal with the goblin nest in three days. But the game panel issue had forcibly changed my mind. Dealing with the goblin nest would only address the immediate threat to the Honeyvale Town area.
However, the players' activity range was still strictly limited by the game panel's signal. They could only operate within a 10-kilometer radius of Luminaris.
I came up with two possible solutions:
Infuse Luminaris with more divine power to expand the game panel's influence.
Or split one influence range into multiple areas.
Like signal towers, the game panel's coverage could be divided into multiple circles. As long as players were within one of these circles, they could freely stay active and online.
The second solution offered greater flexibility, avoided wasting unnecessary resources, and was clearly better.
Moreover, it wasn't impossible to achieve.
Servers and base stations could have main and sub-stations.
If Luminaris could function like the main station, additional "signal towers" could serve as sub-stations.
The only issue was… To ensure the signal towers weren't destroyed, the territory needed to expand!
With my skeletal finger pointing to the marked ruins on the map.
"This area must fall within The Watchers' sphere of influence."
Clearing out the goblins inside wouldn't automatically mean the ruins were ours. The goblins were never the real threat.
The land of the Great Oak Forest had long been carved up by magical creatures. Even its outskirts, frequented by adventurers, were no exception. To truly claim the ruins, the magical creatures backing the goblins had to be dealt with.
"This means the large-scale offensive must be timed for six days from now... We must let the goblin shaman summon the magical creatures before we wipe them all out in one fell swoop."
The blue flames in my eye sockets burned brightly.
This move would undoubtedly cause a bigger commotion than originally anticipated and might even alarm magical creatures deeper in the forest.
It would complicate future plans for exploring the Sea of Mist.
Expanding the territory would bring more resources. The players' potential was immense. I believed they would yield greater rewards than risks.
"This is it!" I made up my mind. "Unless I suffer another catastrophic blow, I'm not changing this plan!"
---Third POV---
And yet… Viktor still had to change his plans, because the goblins advanced their sacrificial ritual. The large-scale offensive was still set for three days later.
But much happened in the meantime.
Determined to deal with the magical creatures backing the goblins, he didn't want players wasting too much time on the goblins themselves. So, he deliberately added several rare potions and magic scrolls to the game store.
At the players' current level, these items were practically cheats.
It made his metaphorical wallet ache for days. But he had no choice. The more goblins left alive, the greater the commotion when the magical creatures arrived.
Once the illusion array was activated, and other magical creatures heard the noise, they might show up to join the fray.
Besides, leaving the ruins to someone else would be a waste.
But this decision backed the goblin shaman into a corner. Their tribe captured intelligent beings for survival and procreation.
With their numbers dwindling, who cared about the originally agreed-upon date? The shaman decided to conduct the ritual the next day, sacrificing the captives they'd caught to gain the magical creatures' protection. When the great goblins reached this decision, LootGoblin was present.
As soon as the meeting ended, the news reached Viktor's ears.
He had no choice but to revise his plan again and start inventorying gunpowder at the weapons factory.
---
LootGoblin strutted confidently into the dungeon under the respectful gazes of the guards.
The dungeon lay underground.
Moisture trickled through the cracks, pooling into small puddles along the corridors.
Drip… Drip…
He passed many cells before stopping at the innermost one. Under the orange glow of torchlight at the door, a red-bearded dwarf lay inside. He pulled out a key, unlocked the door, and plopped down onto a pile of hay.
The dwarf, resting with his eyes closed, didn't even flinch.
"Back again? Got any meat this time?"
LootGoblin raised an eyebrow and snapped irritably, "You'd be lucky to get extra rations, and you're asking for meat?"
He pulled some firewood and potatoes from his game inventory. Finding a relatively dry spot in the dungeon, he started a fire.
Fifteen minutes later, four roasted potatoes were ready.
LootGoblin then tossed two toward the dwarf.
"Here, dinner for tonight!"