MoP: Ch. 161

---Third POV---

Nary Town, LootGoblin's small villa.

Hedgehog burst straight into the living room.

"Breaking news, major progress on the main quest!"

Child was sprawled on the sofa yawning, not even bothering to lift his head. After weeks of false alarms and overhyped "revelations," he'd developed immunity to Hedgehog's dramatic announcements.

"Another 'breaking' update? I hope it's not some irrelevant gossip like last time."

Gaeman nodded in agreement.

Across from them, LootGoblin glared with dead fish eyes.

"I swear, do you guys really think my home is your base of operations?"

"Ahem." Hedgehog rubbed his nose, completely unbothered by the accusation. "We just wanted to make sure you got the update first-hand."

He squeezed into the sofa that Child had already claimed, lowering his voice.

"I guarantee it, this time it's truly explosive, something that could change our whole rescue plan!"

Behind him, LootGoblin continued his protests.

"Who even wants your so-called first-hand info?! Get back to your damn Ship-Carriage Guild already!"

Now he finally understood what that tearfully smile had meant when they'd last met the Ship-Carriage Guild NPC. These guys could really pack away food like they were preparing for hibernation.

They'd already demolished all the seasonal fruit the vice-chairman had gifted him. And they kept the cooling magic array running 24/7, making him pay double the mana fees.

But as usual, the others completely ignored his financial woes. The discussion about intel continued like he hadn't spoken.

Before long, NeverShowOff came rushing in as well. Judging by his messy clothes, he must have logged in hastily.

"I was just rushing a manuscript when I saw the message. I'm not late, am I?"

"Nope, I haven't spilled the beans yet."

Hedgehog waved him over. Ignoring LootGoblin's increasingly hostile glare, he passed over the last flame-shaped fruit from the coffee table.

"Want some fruit?"

"No thanks," NeverShowOff declined politely, settling into the remaining chair. "Just get to the point."

Child perked up, switching from his horizontal sprawl to an upright position.

"So there really is major news?"

"Of course!" Hedgehog's tone turned deadly serious.

"We discovered that the casino tycoons aren't actually on the same side as White Dove's sirens."

"To be precise, they're cooperating, but when it comes to our faction's sirens, their approaches are completely different!"

"White Dove's sirens want to kill on sight, or drag them back to the Misty Sea."

"But the ones in Nary Town? They want to use the excuse of hunting them down to steal sirens from White Dove and resell them!"

Gaeman's reaction was the strongest, he shot to his feet like someone had electrocuted his chair, fists clenched and eyes blazing.

"They want to make the sirens into slaves?!"

Child grabbed his arm and yanked him back down before he could start breaking furniture.

"Calm down. The auction isn't for another week. Nothing's happened yet."

Since the players had discussed the rescue mission while Gaeman was unconscious, he had no idea about the sirens' ultimate destination: a grand auction jointly hosted by the three underground auction houses.

Hedgehog jumped in to clarify:

"Exactly. And it's not just sirens, they're even bold enough to target elves. So this isn't some siren-specific discrimination bullshit."

He gave a quick rundown of what the other players had uncovered from Cobb about the elf trafficking network.

Gaeman finally settled down, though his fists remained clenched tight. After all, staring at an industrial chain that trafficked his own kind, the darkness they glimpsed was only the tip of a very ugly iceberg.

With their siren NPC's homicidal rage temporarily contained, the players finally turned to the main topic.

Child leaned forward. "We've known about the siren auction for a while. What's so explosive about this?"

Hedgehog's grin could have powered a small city. "But here's the kicker, the White Dove faction doesn't know about the auction!"

NeverShowOff's eyes widened. "So they don't even know our siren is trapped in the casino!"

That caught LootGoblin's attention. He leaned closer to analyze.

"So for White Dove, the casino is just a convenient cover to hide their identities temporarily?"

"They're actually still waiting outside the city to hunt for, wait, to hunt sirens?"

"Bingo! Correct answer!"

Hedgehog snapped his fingers loudly.

He grabbed the last fruit from the table, bit into it, and spoke while chewing, "We've got Gaeman, we've got the insider Edgar, so we know all the sirens ended up in Abel's greedy hands."

"But in White Dove's eyes, they think the sirens escaped halfway through transport and completely vanished into thin air."

Gaeman nodded grimly.

"That's right. Helena has a special means of contact. If she was dead or captured, I'd know."

Hedgehog understood immediately, crossing his arms with a smug grin.

"In Nary Town, Abel can trick those naive sirens easier than stealing candy from a baby!"

"So in this whole chess game, White Dove has the least intel."

NeverShowOff frowned. "How do you even know White Dove's background?"

Hedgehog spread his hands.

"Not me. It was Garble. He got promoted again, the lucky bastard."

"And he even boosted his favorability with an orange-haired siren, snuck into that northern secret base we'd heard about, and eavesdropped on their private conversations."

Since NeverShowOff hadn't been online during that intelligence gathering, the information naturally filtered through Hedgehog's somewhat unreliable narrative style.

Everyone else nodded.

NeverShowOff's admiration was genuine. "No wonder they call him Garble. To sacrifice that much dignity for intel, that really moves the heart!"

Child stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Does being undercover come with some kind of promotion buff? I remember LootGoblin ranked up fast when he was infiltrating the goblin nest too."

LootGoblin shot him a sideways glare.

"Stop using me as your example. I'm a star at the Scarlet Casino now. Of course promotions come fast when you're actually talented!"

NeverShowOff pulled the conversation back on track, "So for our rescue plan, we can basically put White Dove's group aside. As long as our ambush is quick enough, their sirens won't make it in time to interfere."

Child's eyes lit up. "If necessary, we could even use them, turn them against Abel's side."

From Gaeman alone, you could see the pattern: sirens had fierce pride, carrying the arrogance that came with being a magically gifted race. If they realized they'd been played for fools, they'd be angrier than a nest of hornets someone had kicked while drunk.

One spark could ignite a full-blown war zone.

LootGoblin nodded approvingly.

"Two against one, we're definitely at a disadvantage. But if we can stir up chaos between White Dove and Nary Town, then it becomes manageable."

Hedgehog jumped on the point, "Exactly why I said our rescue plan needs a complete overhaul! Garble overheard that Abel used some trick, and White Dove's people are leaving Nary in three days."

"If we want to exploit this situation, we have to act before then!"

NeverShowOff's frown deepened. "So we have to move the timetable up? But our group isn't even fully assembled yet."

There were still new players trapped in the starter village.

Child, however, felt his blood start pumping.

"Plans can't keep up with changes anyway. I actually think a sudden strike could work just as well, maybe even better, than waiting for transport day."

"If we can drag White Dove into this, that'll absolutely tip the scales in our favor!"

The NPCs were in the open, while the players operated from the shadows. Plenty of room to maneuver.

And if it all went to hell? At worst, a team wipe. Just respawn, complain on the forums for half a day, and call it content.

Gaeman also nodded.

"Whether we fall into Nary Town's hands or White Dove's, the outcome's the same. It won't be worse."

NeverShowOff looked around the room.

"Since even our siren representative agrees, I vote we move the plan ahead."

---

[Announcement: The Siren Rescue Plan Has Been Moved Ahead, Recruiting Players to Join the Operation!]

[As the title says, latest intel: the White Dove faction's sirens will be evacuated from Nary Town in three days. We're preparing to infiltrate the casino during this window and rescue our allied siren. We are now recruiting players to join this operation!]

Because NeverShowOff and his crew often posted game guides and had developed something resembling competence, they had minor celebrity status on the forum.

This thread they started quickly exploded into a hot topic.

[+1]

[So fast? Didn't yesterday's post say we had to wait until next week?]

[NeverShowOff]: Plans changed. For details, check my previous post on my profile

[Thor]: Damn, I just went diving into the casino yesterday, grinding reputation with the mini-boss to get promoted, and now you're telling me you're planning to overthrow the whole operation?

[NeverShowOff]: Not quite that ambitious yet. The specific plan depends on how many players we can recruit in the next few days

[Hedgehog]: Exactly. Right now we're just here to stir the pot. The goal is to rescue people in the chaos, overthrowing the casino is just a bonus objective!

[CowardlySurvivor]: You guys actually have that idea brewing?

[Child]: Anyone who's been through Nary Town, who doesn't fantasize about burning it down?

[Apple]: Overthrow the casino? Exciting! "Air Force One Family" is in!

[CowardlySurvivor]: Fine, then "Fire-Type Supreme" will send someone too!

[Lux]: Need a healer? I can provide support, plus homemade food!

The response from players was far more enthusiastic than NeverShowOff had expected. Ever since the Goblin Faction War, no new large-scale group battles had emerged from the community.

It was either endless political scheming with NPCs, or the frustrating "you one-shot me, I tickle you" dynamic with monsters.

Especially the NPC politics. Any player who'd spent time in Nary Town had inevitably suffered for it. The exploitation by mages and nobles was woven into every aspect of daily life, ridiculous taxes that would make loan sharks blush, city guards who showed favoritism based on coin purses, and attitudes that suggested players ranked somewhere below livestock in the social hierarchy.

Even the lower-class NPCs had their own brands of ignorance and selfishness. The weak consistently turned their blades on those weaker still, creating a pyramid of misery that reached all the way down to infants who'd learned to exploit player sympathy for profit before they could properly walk.

Individual players stood no chance against this corrupt system. The real beneficiaries hid better than roaches when the lights came on, leaving players with no choice but to vent their frustrations on petty enforcers who were just following orders.

They'd been bottling up rage for so long, they were practically vibrating with the need for a real fight!

The cloud players threw their full support behind the idea, adding fuel to the fire.

Since storyline progression depended entirely on active players, they spent every day hoping someone would create entertaining chaos.

[BobBobby]: Another new trailer to watch?

[ChestBurster]: A siege battle, finally, a chance to see an actual in-game city in the promotional material! I hope for massive action sequences!

[SoySauceLeader]: Yes! Best if it's like, the sky filled with magical explosions!

[NationalChampion]: Dream on. With our current magic level, we're barely one step above the Red-Skinned Worm battle that nearly wiped out the rotation squad.

[Hedgehog]: That happened ages ago. You're still bringing up ancient history?

[BananaYouKiddingMe]: Pfft. Those forum spell guides? My grandmother could memorize them all in an hour!

[BananaYouKiddingMe]: Young people these days... really getting worse with each generation. Only good for playing baby games.

[Lux]: Learning spells in the game isn't just about memorizing incantations. You need to experience the feeling yourself to understand it!

[Child]: Wait a second. Banana... weren't you still denying the game was even real a few weeks ago? What spells are you memorizing?

[Hedgehog]: Been away for a few days, huh? Finally back from "school." Without you stirring up trouble, the forum's been too quiet.

After the community finished roasting their resident contrarian, many player groups in Nary Town had already appeared in the comments, declaring their intention to join the operation.

Even players not currently in Nary Town wanted in on the action.

[Skr]: Sigh, we're still building a wall in the starter village, while you guys are doing siege battles on new maps... everyone has a bright future except us.

[Hedgehog]: We'd love to have you here, but activating the teleport circle requires an intermediate mage to maintain it... so it's easier said than done

[Booze]: So if we can make it over there, we can join?

[Child]: Uh... yeah, that's right...

[Booze]: Well, isn't that just perfect! I know a little forest trail with a 20% success rate!

[Skr]: That high of a survival rate? Count me in!

[Hedgehog]: Don't get too excited. This isn't a gacha game, that success rate means most of you will die horribly. What matters is whether anyone's actually made it through alive

[ForestTrailPioneer]: Thanks for the invite. That method was discovered by me, I just reached the wasteland yesterday.

That single line detonated the newbie community like a bomb.

[Holy shit, seriously?!]

[Kid's grown up just to go suffer in an NPC town!]

[I want to be famous!]

[Pics or it didn't happen.]

[Camping this thread until I die!]

You had to understand, Honeyvale Town currently housed nearly 900 players. The life-and-leisure crowd was mostly content with the starter village experience.

Farming, mining, building houses, fishing... everything a person could want for a peaceful virtual existence.

If they wanted excitement, they could fight wild monsters in the forest. With luck, they might even find valuable magical materials and strike it rich overnight.

But among new players, there were always those who craved social gameplay and story-driven adventures. They were absolutely passionate about storyline missions and large-scale group battles.

Even if, at their pathetic levels, the odds were high they'd just end up as very expensive cannon fodder... it still couldn't dampen their enthusiasm.

By the time NeverShowOff finished dinner and returned to check the thread, chaos had completely taken over.

Over 200 newbies had already agreed to march toward Nary Town together like some kind of digital crusade!

[Do players have a stable exchange channel for Sol-Magicoin conversion? I've saved up 500 coins!]

[Better just bring supplies and barter, our currency doesn't work outside the forest anyway.]

[I have exams tomorrow, so I'll skip the group battle.]

[Same, I'll just use game time before bed to review French vocabulary.]

[Anyway, that makes 211 newbies confirmed. Tomorrow I can meet you guys at Hollow's Edge.]

When NeverShowOff saw that final number, his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He frantically typed:

[Wait, what? How did it suddenly become 211 people?!]

[We're infiltrating the casino, sure, but only to expose the truth between White Dove and Nary Town, to secretly rescue someone.]

[Charging in with more than two hundred people... you guys are really planning a full siege?!]

The casino prided itself on "boutique, high-end service," spacious, but with limited traffic capacity. Two hundred players at once would equal the casino's normal traffic for an entire week.

At least a quarter of them would be entering through the Mage Guild route. A sudden flood of fifty unfamiliar mages appearing in town? What did they think NPCs were, brain-dead?

The players thought about it.

[So what do we do? I was just about to form a team to head for the wasteland!]

[Either way, I'm not going back to farming simulator.]

[I want to see NPCs, lots and lots of beautiful NPCs~~~]

Nobody wanted to give up the chance to escape the starter village and directly influence the storyline. This was their shot at the big leagues, even if they were massively underleveled for it.

Suddenly, a comment appeared that would change everything.