The Undying Ones returned victorious.
They also brought back eight women and children.
Looking at the three Undying Ones, who were excitedly and eagerly waiting for their rewards, Linde was a little bewildered.
Are you guys like some kind of Tamagotchi? (Referencing the popular pet simulator game)
Then Linde discovered a serious problem. He didn't have full map vision, so he had no way of knowing about important events happening to many of the players.
Like this time, he had no idea what the players had actually done.
A real game NPC should be able to sense when a quest is completed, no matter how far away the player is.
He couldn't let his non-mainstream NPC identity be exposed.
"Looks like I'll have to do a lot of lurking on the official website in the future."
But on the surface, Linde put on just the right expression. Using a pie chart, it was three parts domineering, three parts gratified, and four parts expecting it all along.
"Well done, Undying Ones!"
As for why only three Undying Ones returned, one must have died.
No big deal. They can respawn anyway. Player lives are the cheapest thing around.
Linde then looked at the eight people who were flustered and helpless.
Six ragged women and two children.
They looked malnourished and timid, wearing thin clothes in the frigid December weather. One of the women had already swollen her ankle from the cold and was having difficulty walking.
In large camps, women and children are very important population resources, especially women, not just to satisfy animal desires, but mainly for their ability to bear children.
Population is power.
But in small camps with insufficient food, women and children are a burden. Many wanderers are pursuing a carefree life.
Linde currently has no food crisis. He even welcomes new strength to join and strengthen his "newbie village." He'll definitely need more NPCs in the future, and the soldiers have to serve as law enforcement, as a symbol of his power and as background scenery for his every appearance.
The soldiers and players must be separated to maintain absolute authority.
Therefore, it's important to have new NPCs who can give out tasks.
However, the prerequisite for accepting these eight people, and any other NPCs that the players bring back in the future, is that these people's identities must be without problems.
Never underestimate a woman or child. They can become "rats," moving through various settlements, looking for opportunities to wipe out the "kind-hearted fools" for the people behind them.
Linde often heard stories like this whenever he went to Puley Town.
That's why the fate of lone women and children is often not good.
Showing great kindness and saving them might mean the "rats" will attract unwarranted disasters. But casually killing them, better safe than sorry, is easier and less troublesome.
Kindness? Can you eat that?
Even if Star Dragon Outpost can't be breached by the strength of ordinary wanderers, even if they are unwilling to provoke it when they see the tall walls, if they can find loopholes from within, I believe no one will miss this fat sheep.
However, Linde had to project an image of kindness in front of the players at times.
A kind-hearted, if somewhat naive, NPC would always gain more favor from players than a ruthless and selfish one. Besides, he needed to replenish his population, and the players ultimately didn't belong to him.
The players shut their mouths and watched Linde quietly. Of course, maybe they were just waiting for the "plot to unfold."
"I am Linde, lord of Star Dragon Outpost."
Linde looked at the eight cowering women and children: "Where do you come from?"
Among the eight, the oldest woman knelt down to Linde first, and the others followed suit.
The three players on the side were whispering amongst themselves, undoubtedly about things like "Is there a hidden quest?" "Can we get equipment or cosmetics if we kill them?" "If we throw them out to attract wanderers and then kill the wanderers, would that be considered bug abuse to farm rescue missions?"
Only you guys.
As a First Order Great Knight, Linde had sharp ears and eyes. Without special measures to conceal their voices, every word of their whispers went straight into his ears.
Luckily, he already knew that players were like this. If it were anyone else, not just an orderly, good NPC, but even a chaotic evil NPC would be getting a headache.
Where did these devils come from?
"My lord, w-we were captured in the mountains north of Banshee Lake. Before that, we wandered around with 'Hyena' Old Mannde. Later, Old Mannde was ambushed by those terrible wanderers and abandoned us. We had only been captured by those wanderers for less than two days before we encountered your... your soldiers. Your soldiers rescued us."
Wanderer = thief, hillbilly, a rat with no bottom line.
"Old Mannde?" Linde frowned slightly, ignoring the players beside him who were already beginning to show righteous indignation. His emotions weren't so easily stirred. Although he hadn't been in this world for long, he had lost the naive idea of believing everything people said.
He hadn't heard of Old Mannde.
It was unlikely they were making it up entirely. He was probably just a small-time figure.
But in the eyes of ordinary wanderers, he must be a big shot.
"Rio, Reed!" Linde beckoned: "Take them to find a place to settle down. I remember there are some tents left, or they can build simple dwellings elsewhere. Just don't let them be too far from the vegetable garden!"
The vegetable garden was in the central location, not next to the city walls, so even if there were "rats" among the eight, they wouldn't be able to do anything sneaky.
He didn't need to arrange anything else. Rio and Reed would understand what he meant. They would question and investigate them separately. As soon as they found anything suspicious, they would seize them immediately. Even if they couldn't catch them, they could still interrogate them for some crucial information.
Only after confirming that there were really no problems would he truly accept them.
He really did need more people.
The number of NPCs didn't need to be more than the number of players, but there definitely needed to be enough.
"Yes!" Rio and Reed nodded.
"Lord, we can help too!"
See, the Undying Ones are getting impatient again.
"Hold on," Linde said, shaking his head. "You need to report to me what happened, what occurred during this time?"
Yeah, what exactly happened? I just told you to investigate the traces of wanderers and scavengers, basically "scout the map." Why did you guys kill so brutally?
Bringing back a group of people is one thing, but where's the food? Didn't bring back any food at all?! Don't tell me it's because you didn't want to exceed your weight limit, or I'll turn red on you! (referencing a common game mechanic where a player's name turns red if they break the rules)
"Wait for me, I'm coming! I'm coming!" Tortoise Shell Shield shouted as he ran over. His respawn point still wasn't Star Dragon Outpost. Judging by how out of breath he was, it must have been a long way.
Tortoise Shell Shield looked confused. "What's up? Crap, did I miss a cutscene? Did anyone record it?"
White Stocking Fanboy raised his hand. "Already recording."
"The Lord needs a report of what happened."
"Can't you just auto-submit quests in this game?"
"He doesn't have a golden question mark over his head, and there's no text on his waist. It's all about realism, you know? Can't let your mind wander, or you'll miss the plot."
"It's too realistic. Who's going to do it?"
"I'm a good talker!"
The four of them started reporting the situation to Linde all at once.
They described the whole process in a very passionate and exciting way.
"We encountered wanderers, 15 or 16 of them!"
"More like 18 or 19, isn't it?"
"Moon Slash, stop being cute! If you act silly again, I swear I'll disconnect and bombard you with trainee pics!" (Referencing internet slang and celebrity culture jokes)
"I'll continue. The righteousness in our hearts urged us to act!"
"So, we gave up on stealth and charged in..."
"Hey, I used a parry then..."
Linde: "..."