Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

When the first new player's figure materialized in the resurrection square of Guangning City, the first thing he did was reach out and carefully, with a sense of pilgrimage, touch the dilapidated arrow tower beside him.

What my fingertips touched was a cold, rough surface.

It wasn't a vibration simulated by data, nor a mimicry of high-tech materials; it was just stone! The kind of stone that had withstood centuries of wind and sand, carrying the dust of history—a genuine stone. He stroked it, and could even feel the soil particles embedded in the cracks.

"Holy crap..."

The player let out a vague exclamation, then pressed himself against the brick. Feeling the coolness of the bricks on his cheek, he muttered, "It's real! It's all real! This isn't holography, this is time travel!" He took a deep breath; the air was damp from melting snow, smelled of earth, and carried the faint wisps of smoke from distant charcoal fires. The feeling was too real, far surpassing any imagination he had of any "game."

He was surrounded by thousands, and the number of his "companions" was increasing at an alarming rate.

"Stop pushing! Stop pushing! Someone stepped on my face!"

"Holy crap, how did I respawn in mid-air? Help! I'm going to fall to my death... Oh, it's okay, I respawned, it was actually quite fun."

"This air! Can you smell it, brothers? It smells like gunpowder and earth! A million times better than those fake ancient streets that only sell grilled squid!"

The initial crowding and chaos were quickly replaced by an indescribable fervor in the face of such 100% realism. They touched the chisel marks on the city walls, felt the biting wind blowing from the crenellations, and some even lay down, grabbing handfuls of soil and stuffing them into their mouths, then solemnly telling those around them, "Salty, a bit rusty, composition confirmed, it's pure, unpolluted ancient soil!"

After the initial shock, the instinct ingrained in every player's DNA was activated—to find quests!

"NPC! Where is the NPC with the exclamation mark above their head?"

"Over there! That old man in official robes! And that muscular hunk! Charge!"

Like a group of sharks that have smelled blood, thousands of players instantly locked onto their target.

Wang Erniu had just finished inspecting the city's defenses and was preparing to return to his barracks to clean his precious ring-pommel sword. The stench of blood on his body had not yet dissipated, and the murderous aura emanating from him, as if he had crawled out of a pile of corpses, was enough to keep ordinary soldiers from approaching within three steps of him.

But today, that method didn't work.

"—That's him! The minotaur instructor from the official website's CG!"

"Brother Erniu! I'm your fan! Please sign my autograph! Just sign it on my underwear!"

"Instructor! Take me as your apprentice! I want to learn your domineering and deadly techniques!"

"Um... NPC sir, could you tell me where I pick up the beginner quests?"

In an instant, Wang Erniu felt as if he had fallen into a vortex of strangely dressed madmen. He was surrounded by a cacophony of voices from all sides, and countless hands reached out, some trying to touch his muscles, some trying to touch his knife, and even more shockingly, a girl wearing a pink cat-shaped backpack was holding up a strange, glowing cube and slapping it hard against his face.

"Get the hell out of the way! What are you pushing for!"

Wang Erniu mustered his strength and let out a roar. Normally, this roar would have been enough to make all the soldiers on the city wall tremble.

However, the crowd only swayed symbolically before gathering around in an even tighter formation.

"Wow! This NPC's AI is so intelligent! It can even swear!"

"That voice, I love it! Bro, give us another one!"

The veins on Wang Erniu's forehead bulged, and his large, round eyes were filled with confusion and anger. Where did these people come from? Aren't they afraid of him? What kind of nonsense are they spouting?

The golden exclamation mark above his head, which had been perfectly clear and indicated that the quest was available, flickered violently a few times under the surging crowd, and then went out completely with a "sizzle".

On the other hand, Li Xunyi's experience was even worse.

The 58-year-old Confucian scholar was pacing in the square in front of the Confucian Temple, holding a copy of Mencius, pondering how to educate people and reshape the rites and music of Guangning. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a group of men and women who were "immoral".

"Sir! Sir! Confucius said, 'To learn and at due times to practice what one has learned,' what's the next line? Is there a prize for answering correctly?"

"Sir, I see you have extraordinary talent; you must be a hidden master! I'll sell you this 'Nine Yang Divine Skill' manual for ten copper coins, and we can be friends!"

"The sage said! The sage said! Stop with the talk! Give me a task, old man!"

Li Xunyi was so frightened by the scene that he retreated repeatedly. His thin face, which always carried a worry, turned bright red, and the monocle on his nose was askew. He wanted to rebuke them, to cite classical texts to condemn their rudeness, but his voice was drowned out by a tidal wave of "mission" requests.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Do not crowd! What kind of behavior is this! It's an insult to civility! An insult to civility!"

The small golden exclamation mark above his head, too, was extinguished under the relentless barrage of spittle and the sea of ​​people.

The player quest system is down.

When players discovered that no matter how much they harassed these two core NPCs, they couldn't trigger any quests, their pent-up energy began to search for a new breakthrough.

"I can't get any missions, what should I do?"

"What's there to be afraid of! This game offers so much freedom, let's find our own fun!"

One player raised his arm and called out, and instantly a large number of people responded.

"Brothers! You've all seen the official CG, right? That earth-shattering battle where the white-armored warriors were burned alive! Don't you want to see it in person? I hereby announce the official establishment of the 'Guangning Xicang Fire Ruins Sightseeing Tour'! The first ten people to sign up will receive a free in-game beta map! Sign up quickly!"

"Holy crap! This is awesome!"

"Count me in! I want to pick up a charred bone as a souvenir!"

On the other side, a girl with colorful hair, whose ID was "I'm a Little Colorful Cat," held up a sign with a chibi version of Prince Jin and called out in a sweet voice:

"A pilgrimage to the holy site of 'Prince's First Flight Experience'! Anyone want to join? Let's take a group photo on the hillside where Amin coughed up blood, and post it on WeChat Moments... oh no, I mean on the forum!"

"I want to go! I want to go! Rainbow Cat, take me with you!"

"Anyone want to join the 'NPC Wang Erniu photo-taking group'? I really like those muscular guys!"

Thus, a magical scene unfolded in Guangning City.

This war fortress, which had just been baptized by blood and fire and was still filled with a chilling atmosphere, was transformed into a chaotic yet lively carnival in just half an hour.

Groups of players, like a pack of huskies running wild, roamed freely throughout the city.

A group of people rushed to the ruins of the granary area to the west, pointing and gesturing at the scorched earth.

"Look! This is it! Back then, General Chu set a great fire, and two thousand white-clad soldiers screamed in agony!"

"I can almost smell the aroma of barbecue... Ugh, I mean, the aura of heroes!"

"Quick, everyone, get into position, I'm taking a screenshot! Say cheese!"

Another group surged onto the city wall, pointing out the landscape outside the city.

"Look at that hillside, yes, the bare one! It's said that Amin stood there, watching the fire, and spat out a mouthful of blood three meters away!"

"Really? Come on, let's go check it out in person and see if there's any blood left on the ground!"

Even more so, some players' "desire to explore" has gone beyond mere sightseeing.

A player furtively pulled out a small knife and gestured at the bricks on the city wall, seemingly trying to carve the famous phrase "XXX was here." Before he could even make a move, he was kicked by a female player next to him wearing gray overalls and with the ID "Zhou Keke."

"What are you doing! Destroying cultural relics! The structural integrity of this city wall is very precise. What if your random carvings cause uneven stress and it collapses?!"

The player, bewildered by the kick, got up and tried to argue, but Zhou Keke had already pulled out a small notebook and started pointing at the data on the city wall, muttering, "The slope is wrong, the mortise and tenon structure is unreasonable, it needs to be changed, it absolutely needs to be changed..."

At the entrance of the Confucian Temple, Li Xunyi leaned against the doorframe, panting, trying to calm his raging anger. Suddenly, he saw several players surrounding the pair of stone lions at the entrance, chuckling and seemingly trying to pry them off together.

"You...you bunch of bastards! What are you trying to do!" Li Xun was trembling with rage.

One of the players turned around, grinned, and said, "Sir, don't get excited. We think this lion is quite majestic, and we'd like to take it back to our guild headquarters as a prized possession. Don't worry, we'll pay for it!"

Li Xunyi couldn't catch his breath. Pointing at them, his lips trembled for a long time before he finally managed to squeeze out a few words: "Rotten wood...rotten wood cannot be carved! In broad daylight, under the clear sky! People's hearts have lost their way!"

The situation at the logistics warehouse is equally dire.

Even through the door, Su Qingying could hear the deafening shouts of slogans outside.

"Open the granaries! Relieve the people!"

"We want to eat! We want our equipment!"

"Listen up, NPCs inside! You are surrounded! Lay down your weapons, hand over your supplies, and we can guarantee your safety!"

The guards responsible for protecting the warehouse turned pale with fright, their hands gripping their sword hilts, cold sweat pouring down their backs. Looking at the sea of ​​heads outside, they felt as if they were guarding not a warehouse, but a desolate city that could be breached at any moment.

The entire city of Guangning was plunged into unprecedented chaos.

On this day, Wang Erniu's worldview was devastatingly impacted.

He witnessed a player yell and leap from the city wall, which was more than ten meters high, and land on the ground with a "thud," disappearing in a flash of white light.

Wang Erniu's heart sank, thinking someone else had fallen. But before he could call for help to collect the body, a flash of white light appeared, and the player was back, lively and energetic, not far from him, patting the dirt off his clothes and shouting excitedly, "Wow! That was so exciting! Brothers, anyone want to experience freefall? It's absolutely exhilarating!"

Wang Erniu was stunned.

He looked at the lively player, then at his own calloused hands, stained with the blood and entrails of his enemies.

He had fought for half his life, and had seen more dead than living people. He knew what the sound of a knife cutting into a person was like, and what a person would look like if they fell from a height.

But... what does all this mean?

Sorcery? Ghosts?

This seasoned veteran, who wouldn't even flinch on the battlefield, felt, for the first time, that his mind wasn't working properly. He felt that something was wrong with the world.

Meanwhile, in Chu Ze's quiet room, that golden world was issuing a piercing alarm to him.

On the GM interface of the "Map of Mountains and Rivers" game, the bar representing the status of key NPCs in Guangning City is rapidly declining at an alarming rate.

[Wang Erniu: Status - Worldview collapsing... Anger 98%, Reason -20%, Cognitive Confusion +50%]

[Li Xunyi: Status - Utterly disgraced... Anxiety level 99%, Mindset -30%, Culture shock +60%]

[Su Qingying: Status - Overloaded by stress... Anxiety level 85%, Sense of security -40%]

One after another, bright red system warnings popped up in front of him.

[WARNING: The key NPC "Wang Erniu" is experiencing severe emotional instability and is nearing the point of losing control! There is a possibility that he may trigger indiscriminate attacks on the "Chosen Ones"!]

[WARNING: The key NPC "Li Xunyi" has suffered a severe mental shock and may enter a state of "utter despair," completely abandoning his educational duties!]

[Warning: The overall order rating of Guangning City is rapidly declining! Current rating: Chaotic!]

Finally, a final warning, displayed in the largest font, darkest in color, and flashing with an ominous red light, appeared in the center of the panel.

[Final Warning: The key NPC group is experiencing a breakdown in morale, and social order is on the verge of collapse! There is a very high probability of triggering a chain reaction of "order collapse" events! At that time, all NPCs will regard the Chosen Ones as hostile targets, and Guangning City will enter a state of civil war!]

Chu Ze sat upright, motionless.

He looked at the plummeting numbers and glaring warnings on the panel without the slightest surprise.

The flood had arrived, and the ditches and dikes he had dug had not yet truly begun to function.

These players, whose energy was enough to destroy the world, indeed began to "experience" the world in their own way after losing the most direct guidance of "quests".

This was something Chu Ze had anticipated, but there was really nothing he could do about it.

This experience is devastating for the fragile indigenous NPCs and the old order.

Chu Ze slowly raised his hand, his fingertips lightly tracing the air before landing on the two newly unlocked features that were not yet truly available to players.

[Guild System]

[Technology Tree]

"It's time."

He muttered to himself.

"It's time to put reins on these runaway horses."

If he doesn't act now, the city he finally managed to save from the Later Jin, and the makeshift team he painstakingly built, will be completely destroyed by the "heavenly soldiers" he personally recruited.