Chapter 113: Rude Players
Even so, Afu couldn't help voicing her concern. "But the Corrupted Worlds have destroyed countless planes and realms—Hell, the Underworld, Bloodborne Castle, the Goblin Abyss, the Devil's Realm, the Fallen Heavens, Yincao Hell… Those worlds are incredibly rich. They could easily lure the players to defect."
She had noticed something lately: players could unleash astonishing power when motivated by profit.
No knightly spirit, no martial code of honor. The moment a Corrupted Creature appeared, they hunted it like mad dogs. You couldn't find any qualities of a traditional hero within them.
So what if the Corrupted Worlds offered a better deal? The players might abandon the Samsara Game in an instant.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"The richer the Corrupted Worlds are, the more excited the players will be!"
Fang Yi grinned like a sly fox spotting a fat hen. With a casual wave of his hand, the game store's dazzling exchange list opened up.
The one and only Rinnegan in the ninja world—available for redemption if the prerequisites were met and enough reward points gathered.
The Mangekyō Sharingan, capable of shifting the tide of battle—120,000 points.
The Nika Fruit from the pirate world, the mysterious fruit that could summon the Drums of Liberation—claimable if conditions were fulfilled.
Lost Magic and Celestial Spirit Magic from the Fairy Tail world… enough to push an ordinary person to the peak of power.
...
Countless rewards, too many to count, left Afu staring in confusion.
"What's all this about?" she asked, puzzled by the item list.
Fang Yi smiled. "After I unlocked the Soulmount Ridge, I discovered something very interesting. It turns out Sarina, the entity ruling over Soulmount Ridge, had been engaging with Hell-aligned Corrupted Forces—constant rituals and offerings, all to break her own level cap."
She had golden potential, yet for countless years remained stuck at Level 20, unable to break through.
Was it due to lack of talent? Insufficient resources?
No.
It was due to the rules of the Corrupted World. Though these worlds harvested immense Origin Power by destroying others, all of it was funneled to the elite Corrupted Forces at the top. Entities like Sarina—low-tier Corrupted Sources—never even got to sip the soup.
To get stronger, she had to beg for rewards from those above.
By strictly controlling the flow of power-enhancing items, the ruling elite preserved their hierarchy.
Afu tilted her head. "Is that… wrong?"
"Of course not."
Fang Yi nodded. "Cultivation requires spiritual roots. Martial paths need a strong foundation. Magic and Qi demand talent. Even in pirate worlds, some people are practically unkillable while others die falling down stairs. These power ceilings exist to preserve order and reduce internal conflict."
"But..."
"The Samsara Game has no such limit. Even if your soul potential is terrible, as long as you keep hunting Corrupted Creatures, you can change your fate and make up for your flaws."
"Every bit of effort earns rewards. With every kill, players can literally see their reward points grow, feel themselves inching closer to altering their destiny."
"They don't need to kneel before anyone. They don't have to beg for handouts. Every step they take is their own."
"Once they've experienced what it feels like to take fate into their own hands, how can they ever return to a life of groveling—of depending on the whims of someone else?"
"Who would want that?"
"The richer the Corrupted Worlds are, the more reward points players can reap from hunting them. That only makes players see those worlds as enemies to be crushed."
"I've said this before—people willing to sacrifice themselves to save the world are outliers. You can count them on one hand. Most lives that oppose corruption do so not out of selflessness, but because they're afraid to die, because they have weaknesses, because they have desires..."
"The Samsara Game doesn't need them to be knights or martyrs. We just need them to fight—for themselves, for their obsessions, for their desires."
For themselves?
Afu suddenly began to understand why so many World Wills had claimed that humans were too emotional, too hard to control.
Because those failed World Wills never realized—true selflessness is incredibly rare.
Just like her master said,
people might unite when their lives are on the line. But once the Corrupted World throws out an offer, someone will always take it.
Fang Yi sneered. "Even if players defect to the [Corruption Faction], their avatars are still governed by the Samsara Game's rules. That means they get no reward points for killing other players."
"And Corrupted Creatures still drop reward points!"
"So with rules like these in place, do you really think players can resist that temptation forever?"
They'd be like starving wolves inside a pen full of sheep. Even if they belonged to the enemy, they'd feast in secret.
In the end,
these players wouldn't threaten Fang Yi at all. Instead, they'd quietly hollow out the Corrupted World like parasites.
Afu's jaw dropped, her tiny pink tongue peeking out.
For so long, the Corrupted Worlds and their spawn had been the ultimate terror—spoken of only in dread.
And yet now… she felt something strange.
Pity.
She was watching her master completely outmaneuver the enemy—and she felt sympathy for the evil Corrupted Creatures?
Ridiculous. It must be her kindness getting the better of her. Surely it wasn't that her master was more evil than the corruption itself…
...
"You despicable players! You take my Knight's Medal and still try to kill me?!"
Klar's crimson eyes bulged in rage, blood-tears flowing freely.
His body was in ruins.
His severed bat wings had already been collected by the Dawn Organization's support team, leaving him no chance to regenerate.
His limbs were broken. His body was pinned to the ground by the Immobilization Squad's glowing rune chains.
"His wings are gold-tier?!"
"Sarina's heart was gold-tier too! We were just too low-leveled when we hunted her. She blew herself up before we could harvest it!"
The logistics team stared greedily at the wings, eyes wide.
One-of-a-kind.
After the Blood Wasteland was cleared, even if Klar reappeared as a dungeon boss, his loot would be downgraded to silver-tier like Sarina's heart.
"Pollution is a cancer to all worlds—why show mercy to a tumor?"
Konan felt no guilt as she unleashed her killing blow.
Her paper wings flared, casting a storm of explosive runes onto Klar's gigantic body. Moments later, a wave of roaring flame erupted.
With his wings gone, Klar had lost his blood magic defense. The flames critically struck him, burning him alive.
[Announcement]: Congratulations to the players for successfully hunting [Vampire Baron Klar]. Player [Paper Flower] dealt over 20% solo damage and is awarded [Resurrection Coin] ×1.
The [Bloodcastle] dungeon is now unlocked. Players level 15 and above may enter. Dungeon rewards include Klar-exclusive loot: gear, skills, materials, etc.
In 48 hours, the Game Merchant will auction mining rights within the [Blood Wasteland]. All materials gathered during the rental period belong to the players.
Having cleared two starter maps, the game will update in one week, revealing information about the new maps.
...
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