Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

Chapter 26.1: Strength of First-Tier Players

October 9, Earth Time, 4 a.m.

Qin Guan, who had become the "wife" of many netizens, exited the forum and logged into the game. The sun had risen in OtherWorld, and the advanced NPCs were already at work.

When Qin Guan logged in at the respawn point, he noticed there were people waiting nearby.

Although countless "husbands" flooded the forum with comments after Qin Guan released his video, the content of the video itself carried significant weight. Various hardcore players, accustomed to pulling all-nighters, were interested in his invitation.

"Vanilla," the first to greet him was the socially adept Brother Lahong, who led a few others over. He approached Qin Guan and shook his hand as he said, "I've watched your video, though I won't join in because I'm not very skilled myself. However, these friends of mine are rather capable. Take a look and bring them along if they're suitable."

"You're too kind, Brother Lahong," Qin Guan replied politely as he stealthily used "Identify" on the players brought by Brother Lahong.

ID: Study Obsessed

Potential: 48

ID: Phantom

Potential: 49

ID: Guileless Gale

Potential: 49

While Potential value, the only game statistic at present that could be used for comparison among players, was rather controversial, the majority of players' Potential was in the range of 40 to 50. Only a handful had achieved 50 and advanced to level 1, and there hadn't been any who had successfully done a job advancement yet.

Therefore, regardless of whether it was accepted or not, the gulf between one's Potential value and the required 50 points for advancement was the criteria for distinguishing between experts and amateurs.

The three players brought by Brother Lahong were on the verge of hitting level 1 and seemed rather sincere, so Qin Guan immediately put on a smile. "Thank you, Brother Lahong. And to you three brothers, we'll be relying on you."

"Well said." The player called Study Obsessed waved a hand in a grand gesture, similar to the style of a sophisticated gentleman like Brother Lahong. However, the voice of this player was a sweet and tender voice of a young lady.

Qin Guan wasn't fazed at all by this. While game characters in this game were divided into male and female, they weren't skilled enough to discern gender based on skeletal frames, not to mention the large number of players using opposite-gender avatars. Before a player spoke, it was rather difficult to determine their gender.

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Qin Guan, who viewed gaming as his career, also didn't believe that a player's ability was related to their gender. Moreover, in OtherWorld, currently female players accounted for 60% of the players that had reached level 1. Even in most PC and mobile games out in the market, there were already a considerable number of skilled female players among the intermediate and high-level categories.

"Please wait for a bit. Right now, only my friend, Give Me Medicine, has the privilege to create a team. I've already given him a call and he will join us soon. Once he's online, he'll pull everyone into the party," said Qin Guan.

Several other players waiting nearby were encouraged to see Qin Guan readily accepting the three players brought by Brother Lahong. One of them took the initiative to approach and said, "Hello, Boss Vanilla, you can consider me a passerby fan. Although I competed with your friend Give Me Medicine for the Orb of Destruction, I hope we can let bygones be bygones, right?"

Qin Guan eyed the player's ID and immediately replied warmly, "Of course, in-game competition is normal. Are you also here to join us in clearing this quest, brother?"

Jiang Wei, ID Win By Grinding, let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, I saw your video. This quest determines the unlocking of game content, and I want to help out."

"Welcome, welcome!" Qin Guan didn't wait for anyone else to speak and actively greeted the players waiting near the respawn point. "What about you guys? Are you here to lend a hand as well?"

"Yes, yes!" Tang Jia couldn't wait any longer and dragged her two companions. "My friends Unceasing Entropy and Yang Ying. They've both reached level 1 and should be able to help out."

Qin Guan's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly as he glanced at Zheng Qingyue (Unceasing Entropy) and Yang Ying. "Of course, of course. I'm truly grateful!"

In just a few minutes, three first-tier players had come, exciting Qin Guan even more, especially so when he saw Unceasing Entropy, who had quite a reputation for being a brainy player due to the three mini theses she had posted on the game forum.

Soon, Qin Guan's other two companions, Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes, also logged in.

Blossoming Strokes had been grinding until the advanced NPCs got up and started their workday before logging out. After a bathroom break and a quick bite, she logged back in. She hadn't yet had time to visit the game forum and was still unaware of her tragic image circulating throughout the Internet, so she was still in rather good spirits.

Seeing that Qin Guan had already gathered a group of high Potential players in such a short time, Blossoming Strokes gleefully greeted, "Yo, the team's already gathered up. That's really efficient!"

Give Me Medicine didn't hesitate and immediately started adding these enthusiastic players to the team.

After triggering the hidden quest, a team panel had appeared with space for ten more people apart from the team leader. Give Me Medicine added Blossoming Strokes, Qin Guan, Unceasing Entropy, Yang Ying, Win By Grinding, and the three players brought by Brother Lahong. After exchanging a glance with Qin Guan, he decided to include Brother Lahong and Tang Jia, who couldn't bear to leave after bringing experts over.

They came with the intention to help after all, so it wouldn't be right to disappoint them.

Next, the team of eleven players, consisting of four first-tier experts, immediately set off toward the small wooden house where Give Me Medicine had first triggered the quest.

"Tsk, even Sis got roped in…" Inside the Town Hall, Yang Qiu, who had been watching this bunch ever since Qin Guan logged in, frowned.

His sister, Yang Ying, seemed to have taken a liking to this means of making a living after earning more than a month's salary in just three days of manual labor. Without hesitation, she quit her low-paying, demanding job and devoted herself to the gold farming business in the game. Yang Qiu wasn't particularly surprised by this. There were very limited job opportunities for someone with only a high school education.

Yang Ying had always been ambitious, and her ambition wasn't limited to mere words. It was reflected in her actions and her strong spirit. Even though she knew that her younger brother had connections with the game development team and even managed to secure a helmet for her, she never asked her brother to give her special treatment or boasted about knowing an insider on the game development team.

In the conversations she had with Yang Qiu via social media, it had always been stuff like "come home quickly and let Mom be reassured," "you're a minor, don't recklessly sign any contracts," "focus on your work and don't act like a child," "don't spend wantonly and save for your future college expenses," and other such similar advice.

In short, she was a reliable family member that wouldn't cause any worries.

Of course, even with such reassurance, she was still a family member, and Yang Qiu couldn't help but have some personal concerns. Seeing his sister getting involved in this quest made Yang Qiu start to reflect on whether he had gone too far with the quest he had personally created…

"Never mind… It's not like Yang Ying hasn't been slain by NPCs before. It's just a half hour of offline rest at most." Yang Qiu sighed and suppressed his biased thoughts.