"Old Ye ah! Ah! Old Ye! I'm so sorry to you, Old Ye! (Crying eggplant horse.jpg)"
As soon as Xu Ruofeng logged off, he expressed his deep guilt towards Old Ye in the group chat.
"It's no big deal, the way you're putting it makes it sound like I'm dead... well, I am dead, but it's not like I can't revive."
Old Ye was very magnanimous and didn't blame Xu Ruofeng. He knew that even if he hadn't climbed the tree, he wouldn't have been able to run far.
"No matter what, I have to thank you. If you hadn't lured Ursaring away, none of us might have escaped."
After thanking Old Ye, Chen Yan continued typing:
"You shouldn't have felt any pain when you died, right? Is the penalty after death severe?"
"No pain. My vision just went black, and then I was directly logged off. I was a bit caught off guard."
"The penalty is alright, no deduction of level experience. Maybe because I'm still level 0, so there's nothing to deduct? Also, the revival time is one day. If you die multiple times in a short period, the revival time will also increase."
"Revival also requires deducting a certain amount of PokéCoins. PokéCoins are the in-game currency obtained after completing tasks. Just like the revival time, if you die frequently, the number of PokéCoins deducted will also increase."
Old Ye explained all the information he knew.
"But haven't we not completed a single task yet? How did you revive without any PokéCoins?"
"I'm in debt. It'll be deducted from the rewards after completing a task."
After reading Old Ye's message, Chen Yan thought for a while and then typed in the group chat:
"The death penalty mechanism in this game is a bit strange."
As soon as Xu Ruofeng saw this, he knew Chen Yan was about to launch into a long speech.
"Bench and melon seeds are ready, please begin your performance~"
"...Actually, I can explain it simply and you'll understand. Most games' death penalty mechanisms are helpful to the game itself. Take early arcade games, for example. Letting players die allowed them to earn more game coins."
"Then there were online games from many years ago. After a player died, they would lose levels and equipment. To level up again and obtain equipment, they would invest more time and money in the game."
"Therefore, many game developers would design gameplay like sieges, and even hire shills to guide players into fighting each other. Their purpose was to increase the number of player deaths, thereby earning more profit."
"But the penalty mechanism in this game is very strange. It's not to prolong the player's playtime, otherwise the revival time wouldn't be as long as a day. It's also not to extract profit from players, as revival uses in-game currency."
"This mechanism seems to be just to make players avoid death as much as possible, and doesn't seem to help the game in any way."
Chen Yan expressed his doubts. He really couldn't understand why the penalty mechanism was set up this way.
"If you ask me, you're just overthinking it. Why do you care why they set it up this way? As long as it doesn't delay our playing, that's good enough."
Seeing Xu Ruofeng's comment, Chen Yan was about to refute, but upon careful thought, what he said wasn't unreasonable.
He was just a player, why should he worry about the game's design issues?
It seemed that the impact of virtual reality games was too great, making him feel that every aspect of this game was unusual.
Chen Yan reflected on himself, deciding that he shouldn't look at this game from a reviewer's perspective anymore. It made playing tiring.
He should truly enjoy this game as a player.
"You're right, I was overthinking it. Old habits die hard. Anyway, everyone should try their best not to die. The early game time is still very precious."
"Understood, understood. When we really encounter danger, we just need to run faster than Xifeng~"
"Are you kidding me? With your short legs, you think you can outrun me?"
"At worst, I'll have Spinarak use String Shot to tie you up~"
"Damn it! The most venomous heart belongs to a woman! You're bullying me because I don't have a Pokémon, aren't you!"
The group chat started to get noisy.
When the players logged in the next day, Old Ye was indeed nowhere to be seen.
"Looks like the revival time is really a day. Old Ye won't be able to log in until noon."
"What do we do now? Continue with the daily tasks?"
Just as the players were discussing what to do today, a servant came to deliver a message:
"Lord Ryan said he is going to hunt down Ursaring today. Those who are willing to go with him should gather at the city gate. Those who are not willing can stay in the territory to complete the tasks assigned by the quest board."
The players looked at each other and made a decision in unison.
"Definitely going! We haven't seen a real Pokémon battle yet."
"Tasks can be completed anytime, but this kind of spectating opportunity is rare."
"I want to avenge Old Ye!"
So, all four players arrived at the city gate and went to Flowing Firefly Forest with Ryan.
Not long after, the group arrived at the logging site from the previous day.
The surrounding area was a mess, with scratch marks all over the trees.
"This Ursaring has quite a temper. Do you think our lord can beat it?"
Xu Ruofeng asked quietly.
"Of course he can beat it. Have you ever seen a game protagonist get defeated by the initial boss? Just treat this battle as a cutscene."
"True, it's a pity there aren't any melon seeds or peanuts. Watching it like this is a bit boring."
"I have popcorn and cola, do you want some?"
"Really? Give me some quickly!"
"Get lost! Can't you tell good from bad? Do you really think we're here to watch a movie?!"
Chen Yan rolled his eyes almost to the back of his head.
Ryan didn't know that the players had so much confidence in him. To be honest, he himself wasn't entirely sure he could defeat Ursaring.
But since things had come to this point, Ryan didn't think too much. He directly took out a jar of Sweet Honey from his panel, opened the lid, and let the aroma drift around.
Soon, accompanied by a slight tremor in the ground and a roar, Ursaring ran out from the depths of the forest.
"Roar!!"
It glanced at the Sweet Honey in Ryan's hand, its eyes full of greed and ferocity, and then roared and lunged at Ryan.
Facing the menacing Ursaring, Ryan didn't panic.
He first took out a Sticky Glob and accurately hit Ursaring, successfully restricting its movement.
Immediately afterward, he released three Pokémon.
"Scyther, Leer then Focus Energy!"
"Aron, Harden then use Rock Tomb!"
"Steenee, use Helping Hand, then prepare to release Grassy Terrain!"
Ryan issued a series of commands. He wanted to take advantage of Ursaring's limited movement to weaken its combat power as much as possible while increasing his own side's combat power.
After this set of skills, Ursaring's attack, defense, and speed were all somewhat weakened.
"Roar roar!!"
Ursaring also felt its strength decrease. It frantically tore at the white sticky substance on its body, trying to break free from the Sticky Glob's restraints.
Ryan certainly wouldn't give it this chance and then commanded:
"Scyther, use Slash!"
Scyther stopped focusing its energy, flapped its wings and arrived in front of Ursaring, raising its scythe-like arms and slashing down fiercely.
Ursaring tried to raise its arms to block, but the Sticky Glob hindered its movement, and it could only let Scyther's attack land on its body.
"Roar!"
This Slash successfully hit Ursaring's vitals, causing it to roar in pain.
"Next, use Fury Cutter! Aron, use Headbutt!"
Strike while the iron is hot. Ryan didn't hesitate and commanded his Pokémon to continue attacking.
"Koko koko!"
Aron gathered energy in its head and then slammed into Ursaring.
Ursaring had already lost its footing due to the Sticky Glob and Scyther's attacks. After this headbutt, it directly fell backward onto the ground.
"Give it the final blow, Scyther, Fury Cutter!"
Fury Cutter's power increases after multiple hits. Scyther had already hit twice before, so this Fury Cutter was extremely powerful.
"Roar~"
With a mournful cry, Ursaring lay motionless on the ground.
"This... it's over? Damn, Lord Ryan is so strong?"
"That series of attacks was dazzling! Pokémon battles are so intense!"
"I also want to command Pokémon in battles! Ahhhh!!"
The players discussed excitedly on the side. This battle awakened their desire for Pokémon battles.
"Did we beat it?"
Looking at the motionless Ursaring, Ryan was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but he noticed that Scyther hadn't returned and was staring intently at the Ursaring lying on the ground.
"Could it be..."
Before Ryan could react, the Ursaring on the ground suddenly stood up, its eyes bloodshot as it glared at Ryan, letting out a series of roars.
"Roar! Roar roar!"
"Tsk, looks like we've got a real fight on our hands now!"