DADH Chapter 27

The launch of “Dragon Slayer” was expected to cause another sensation on Starnet, and the studio had anticipated it.

It was the first holographic MMORPG in the entire interstellar realm, boasting extreme realism. Every NPC had their own personalities and potential for growth. Since the completion of the holographic world’s construction, the world data had claimed independence from programming control, allowing it to grow freely!

Once it went live, not only would it amaze the holographic gaming world, but it would also have a seismic impact on other holographic industries.

So from the moment it launched, everyone had been discreetly watching Starnet, waiting for the studio’s shining moment of fame!

Originally, this moment was still a few years away. However, with the substantial funding and technical support from the Jing family and the influence of the newly crowned dual emperors in the interstellar holographic gaming world, the moment arrived ahead of schedule!

People held their breath, eagerly anticipating the moment when the studio received awards. With tense excitement, they opened Starnet.

And then, they were dumbfounded.

Originally, they thought that after the launch of “Dragon Slayer,” players would gradually discover that this game was much more realistic than other holographic games. They would slowly realize that even the smallest NPC in the world, or even a small animal, had an independent personality.

They expected astonishment, amazement!

Those players who initially said, “I want to see what this crappy game has that can attract the dual emperors,” would eat their words!

Furthermore, those netizens who initially claimed the dual emperors were just spending money to promote a lousy game would eventually admit that it was worth it!

From that point on, “Dragon Slayer” would amaze the entire network and become synonymous with the next generation of holographic MMORPGs.

However, when they opened Starnet, all they saw were heart-wrenching questions.

[Online User “InternetBowl”: “Dragon Slayer,” you heartless developers!!!]

[User “Pig Riding an Ant”: “Dragon Slayer” is a scam of an MMO!!!**]

[User “OrangeFairy”: What kind of garbage game is this? It’s infuriating! By the way, does anyone have a woodcutter’s knife?]

[User “DramaQueens”: Not even a 1% drop rate, what a joke!]

[User “DisconnectedAlliance”: Even if we had a woodcutter’s knife, that bug-catching quest killed me three times! I didn’t know that the newbie pain sensor was set at 50%! Now my forehead is bruised… darn this game, it’s a money pit! I won’t complain anymore; just give me a woodcutter’s knife. Let’s not argue over it. (lights a cigarette)]

[User “LuckyKingSu”: @Dragon Slayer Studio Forget about the woodcutter’s knife. I want all the information about Uncle Pipilu within a minute! Hope you know when to quit, don’t make me kneel down and beg!]

[User “InsideTraderWithdrawal”: Uncle, torture me a thousand times, I’ll treat you like my first love. To conquer Uncle Pipilu, I’ve already moved into the newbie village…]

[User “AngelFish”: Upstairs, stop dreaming. He’s a man that players can’t get. There’s a rich lady who spent tens of thousands of star coins on gifts, and Uncle Pipilu didn’t even spare a glance.]

…

The people at the studio were becoming more and more bewildered: What in the world was this?

Was this still the game they developed?

Everyone looked puzzled and, after exchanging glances, cooperated silently, each clicking into different topic threads related to “Dragon Slayer.”

After scrolling to the bottom, they couldn’t find any comments discussing the game’s realism.

Let alone any compliments!

Even more strangely, a bizarre newbie NPC had already become an internet meme!?

But all that was left for “Dragon Slayer” was insults and endless criticism.

Had they failed before they even started? A crash right after launch?

The studio people were alarmed and quickly checked the data console, only to find that the number of newly registered players was skyrocketing!

It was the kind of explosive growth they didn’t dare to imagine. If it continued like this, dominating the holographic gaming world would be a piece of cake!

But after reading the comments online, the studio members who hadn’t even had a chance to get excited were at a loss.

“Dragon Slayer” was indeed popular.

But it wasn’t the kind of popularity they had hoped for; it was a firestorm of criticism.

Even some of the studio’s planners who had posted on Starnet had already become the subjects of dog-faced memes.

The members of the game studio looked at each other in confusion. What was going on?

Just a few days ago, most of them had personally participated in the closed beta, and even the players who got beta access gave positive feedback. So why, when the game launched, did everything change dramatically?

One person responsible for program monitoring remembered the most criticized item, the woodcutter’s knife, and furrowed their brows, saying, “Yesterday, there was a bug with that woodcutter’s knife in the newbie village… Did Xiao Qi check it?”

Programmer Xiao Qi, upon hearing this, furrowed their brows even tighter. “I did check it.”

The keyword that had become the source of criticism for them all was the “woodcutter’s knife”!

Everyone turned to look at Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi leaned back tactically, raising three fingers to swear, “I really fixed it!”

“A few players in the past two days reported not receiving weapons for the bug-catching quest. I checked the data and found that there were a few missing woodcutter’s knives in the NPC warehouse. I don’t know how it happened, but because the world data is constant, I couldn’t replenish it from the data, so I’ve already provided compensation to all the players who encountered the bug.”

“After that, I double-checked! The data before the launch was definitely enough…”

Xiao Qi started to project his small screen onto the big screen and was about to show everyone the relevant data of Uncle Pipilu…

Then, he unintentionally lowered his head and exclaimed, “What the heck!!!”

Everyone instinctively followed his exclamation and looked at the big screen.

Then, they were equally stunned.

In that small farmhouse, the woodshed was filled with woodcutter’s knives, stacked up to the ceiling, and even scattered in piles by the door.

So, this was the reason why players didn’t receive woodcutter’s knives?!!!

The people who had developed this game were left speechless.

Someone couldn’t hold back and said, “Is this NPC toxic? He’s actually withholding items from players?!”

Xiao Qi opened a few new historical data logs and projected them onto the public screen, saying in a hopeless tone, “Not only that, he also went to town to buy elemental crystals…”

On the public screen, a new historical recording appeared, showing the handsome farmer with a cold and aloof expression, carrying a basket on his back, walking to the player’s living town, finding the blacksmith shop, and emptying a basket of woodcutter’s knives with a “clank, clank, clank” sound.

Probably because his face was too cold, the blacksmith was frightened when it came time to pay and quickly took out an extra copper coin from his purse before happily seeing off the cold-faced farmer. Only after that did he wipe away his cold sweat and happily carry the high-quality woodcutter’s knives into the shop.

After selling the woodcutter’s knives and converting them into money, the farmer went straight to the only magic guild in the small town and used all the money from the woodcutter’s knives to buy elemental crystals!

All the game studio members were puzzled. In this game, even though NPCs could grow freely, they shouldn’t violate their basic settings. The farmer’s character was that of an ordinary person, and he had no use for elemental crystals, right?

Unless he had encountered a teacher who taught him magic, there was almost no chance of him embarking on a different path in life.

But that possibility was too small.

Xiao Qi’s voice sounded weary, “Continue watching. You’ll be as baffled as I am after you see the rest.”

The farmer, who had only exchanged a small piece of elemental crystal for a basket of woodcutter’s knives, stood by the riverbank with a frowning expression. After a moment of contemplation, he finally showed a disgusted look and stepped into the river.

Frowning and showing his distaste, he groped in the water for a few moments, eventually pulling out a palm-sized clamshell.

All present were involved in the game’s development, and most had participated in the closed beta just a couple of days ago, so they immediately recognized the clamshell.

It was the same clamshell from Main Quest 1-1, the one that clamped onto the warrior’s leg by the river, just an ordinary shell, not even considered a low-level monster.

By this time, players typically would have completed the beginner’s tasks, received their woodcutters’ knives, and used them to break open the clamshell.

After rescuing the warrior by the river, as a token of gratitude, the warrior would introduce the player to the small living town. It could be said that at this point, the game truly began.

Originally, the tasks in the small fishing village were meant to be guiding tasks and shouldn’t have any difficulty.

However, ever since the farmer had issues, players have been suffering in the small fishing village. Half a day after the server opened, very few players had managed to reach the living town.

Now, the images on the public screen have changed again.

The farmer, after bringing the clamshell ashore, frowned and studied it for a moment. He then fed it with elemental crystals!

As a result, the clamshell absorbed the elemental crystal and immediately grew three times larger!

It went from being a common river creature to a magical creature, equivalent to a low-level monster.

What was eerie was that the farmer, who should have never had the chance to encounter magical creatures in his entire life, showed no signs of surprise at the clamshell’s transformation process.

Because it was a historical recording, after Xiao Qi finished playing it, he scrolled the timeline further.

So, the entire studio watched in astonishment as the farmer turned all the clamshells in the river into low-level monsters!

He upgraded all the clamshells in the river!

One of the planners who had received a woodcutter’s knife didn’t hesitate and went to log into his own account, taking the woodcutter’s knife to the riverbank.

Risking being pinched by short legs, he finally managed to find a large clamshell.

When he logged in, Xiao Qi understood his intentions and projected his game screen onto the public screen.

So, everyone watched as this planner used the novice woodcutter’s knife to strike the clamshell, which had grown three times larger, making a crisp “bang!” sound.

The woodcutter’s knife… broke.

The clamshell remained unharmed…

In other words, even if the players’ woodcutter’s knives hadn’t been withheld, they couldn’t open the clamshells now! They couldn’t rescue the warrior either!

Because of this NPC, the beginner tasks and the beginner main storyline had all become ridiculously difficult!

The entire studio had one thought now: Who designed this NPC? Come out and get a beating!

The designer of Uncle Pipilu, Xiao Liu, felt wronged, “I clearly designed the original data as a simple, honest little farmer. I never thought he would grow into such a devil!”

No one believed him.

So, Xiao Liu opened up the growth records of this NPC.

When they saw the NPC’s initial data, everyone was stunned. This NPC had transformed from a small piece of charcoal into a handsome hunk through an incredible journey!

To be honest, compared to his deviation from the intended character personality, his facial transformation was even more mind-blowing.

Even the designer himself, Xiao Liu, was shocked.

He was responsible for designing the original data for a large number of low-level NPCs, and Uncle Pipilu was just one insignificant character among them.

He thought that Uncle Pipilu ended up looking handsome because the initial data randomly gave him a good-looking face, and it just happened that he developed in a way that enhanced his appearance.

He never imagined that Uncle Pipilu’s initial data, in the database he had designed, was considered one of the less attractive ones!

Confirming that Uncle Pipilu had no bugs, he sold woodcutter’s knives simply because he needed money to raise river clams later on.

The entire character design team began to doubt themselves: Are we really this amazing?

After checking for any anomalies in the game, the studio realized that all the sources of their criticism came from this Uncle Pipilu.

What’s even more infuriating is that the only thing in the entire game that currently doesn’t have negative reviews online is Uncle Pipilu’s face!

Can you believe it?

Do they want to format this NPC?

Of course—

Impossible.

The game world’s data has long been independent and self-contained. The studio won’t easily change or delete any world data because it could risk causing a world collapse.

So, the problem could only be solved from the outside.

After a brainstorming session, a clever idea came to one of the team members.

Since the river clam had turned into a magical creature, why not use magic to defeat magic?

Smashing and breaking open the clam could save the hero, but it was impossible to provide more robust weapons than the starter blade early on because it would make the later mainline quests too easy.

So, they could give players a one-time use item that specifically targeted breaking open clamshells!

This clever team member found a nest of pufferfish in another river, all of which were purely for aesthetic purposes.

They fed them all elemental crystals.

Then, after ensuring its feasibility, they logged in and conducted an experiment themselves.

They placed a sleeping pufferfish inside a partially opened clamshell and then woke it up. When it was startled, it inflated, forcing the clamshell open…

The studio members weren’t particularly thrilled with this silly idea.

But faced with widespread online rage, they were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

So, one of the strategists, who had a new perspective after their discussions, suggested:

Since Uncle Pipilu has become so popular, and he’s the one who caused this mess, why should we bear the consequences for him?

How about we expose him!

Let the whole internet condemn him!

It can also increase the credibility of our game’s realism!

Then, we’ll bring out our magical pufferfish to compensate the players, not only solidifying our innocent image but also shutting up the players!

Others thought about this move and couldn’t help but be amazed: You’re a genius planner! You really are!

You don’t need a thumbs-up; they’re all for you!

–

Sure enough, when the studio uploaded the entire process of Uncle Pipilu’s transformation from a normal appearance to deviating from his personality and starting to do bad things to the internet, it caused a huge uproar!

Players were shocked: !!! This game is amazing.

[The Orange Fairy: Now even NPCs are so cool! Damn, his transformation is so successful. I declare that he is not only my male god but also my idol! I’m learning from Uncle Pipilu!]

[The Disconnect Alliance: So all the suffering I endured came from a mutated NPC!]

[The Invisible Tycoon: Offering a hefty reward for a dog head of Uncle Pipilu!!!]

[Celebrities Don’t Beat Around the Bush: Crazy praise for the handsome man!]

[Kindergarten Class Leader: You dare to offer a reward for my husband upstairs!! I’ll offer three times as much for the dog head!]

[Waste Three: Even a good-looking NPC can attract crazy fans. I (… profanity)!]

[Apple Fairy: Jealous of an NPC, you must be unloved in real life!]

[Waste Three: ￥##%…]

…

The expected astonishment only lasted for a moment, and soon the topic shifted to Uncle Pipilu.

The entire studio: … Okay.

It’s not exactly a disappointment, and it’s somewhat expected.

After all, this is a man who made his debut in the midst of bloodshed and chaos since the server opened.

The studio quickly took the opportunity to apologize to the players on Starnet, and they distributed one-time-use magic pufferfish (note: can open clamshells) to players who hadn’t yet passed the mainline 1-1 quest.

Those who had already completed the quest received it as compensation.

–

The silly bird flew to the Lost Forest and stopped under the tree where Jing Nian and Ga’erfu met.

Jing Nian regained control of the body. They were about to look for the carrier pigeon when they suddenly saw a dialogue box pop up on Jing Nian’s task panel. It was a reward email.

After receiving the reward, Jing Nian looked at the sleeping magic pufferfish he could take out of his backpack with a puzzled expression.

There was a note on it.

Name: Sleeping Magic Pufferfish

Attribute: Disposable

Note: Can open clamshells.

Prompt: Don’t wake it up; it might come in handy later.

The little dragon in the Dragon Soul Space saw the item in Jing Nian’s hand, and his eyes lit up. He gently nudged Jing Nian and then used his speaking eyes to communicate with him.

Is this a gift~

It curiously raised its tiptoes and saw the magic pufferfish move in Jing Nian’s palm, as if it was about to wake up.

Jing Nian remembered the prompt and guessed that this thing should be an item needed for future quests. He quickly put it into his backpack.

Seeing the magic pufferfish disappear from Jing Nian’s palm, the little dragon’s eyes drooped slightly. Then, he looked at Jing Nian with suspicion and started sending a barrage of eye expressions.

Are you trying to hog the gift~

I just want to take a look~

I don’t need yours~

Hmph~

To criticize his little brother for being stingy, in the Dragon Soul Space, the little dragon retracted the tail wrapped around Jing Nian’s dragon soul wrist.

Jing Nian chuckled and puffed up his face like the creature he had just put in his backpack. He explained, “That just now wasn’t a gift; the gift hasn’t…”

He was interrupted mid-sentence when the silly bird suddenly jumped up and pounced in a certain direction. Jing Nian and the little dragon’s attention was immediately drawn to it.

They saw the silly bird holding a struggling owl in its big mouth.

Noticing the familiar ring on the owl’s foot before it entered the silly bird’s mouth.

Jing Nian: !

“Diao Diao! Let it go! That’s the messenger pigeon!”

Hearing Jing Nian’s voice, the silly bird hesitated for a moment before spitting out most of the owl that had already been swallowed.

After the owl landed, frightened, it flapped its wings and scurried behind Jing Nian, trembling with its claws gripping Jing Nian’s small cape.

Seeing that Jing Nian recognized this suspicious-looking flat-faced bird, the silly bird rolled its eyes and shook its head before sauntering away.

Jing Nian apologetically patted the “messenger pigeon,” and after it calmed down, it extended its foot in front of Jing Nian.

The ring flashed, and a box dropped into Jing Nian’s arms.

After taking a couple of glances at Jing Nian, who was fully armed, the messenger pigeon waved its wings, circled around the silly bird’s location, and then left the Lost Forest.

Jing Nian opened the box. The first thing he saw was a dazzling golden light.

Then he could see what was inside the box, a golden dagger!

Jing Nian picked up the dagger, and its information appeared before him.

Name: Severing Dagger (God-tier)

Attributes: Permanent

Remark: Supposedly the masterpiece of the master craftsman Ga’erfu.

Tip: It’s said to be able to cut even dragon horns.

Jing Nian was stunned; goodness, another god-tier weapon!

The moment the little dragon in the Dragon Soul Space saw this golden dagger, it was completely conquered!

It was its favorite color!

Immediately, the entire little dragon couldn’t contain itself, frantically flapping its little wings in the Dragon Soul Space, sticking closely to Jing Nian, and even proactively returning the small tail it had just retracted into Jing Nian’s palm.

You can touch it, go ahead and touch it~

My tail is so springy, you won’t regret touching it~

Facing the big, expressive eyes of the little dragon that was desperately selling itself, Jing Nian couldn’t help but laugh. He reached out and pinched its little heart¹the heart at the end of its tail, indulgently saying, “Alright, it’s all yours!”

Saying that, he handed over control of his body to the little dragon.

When the little dragon took control of his body, the first thing it did was reach for the beautiful golden dagger.

Although Ga’erfu didn’t know Jing Nian’s true identity as a dragon, the dagger was actually designed to be easy to hold in a child’s hand.

But that didn’t stop the little dragon from loving it.

While both man and dragon were studying the dagger.

There were two hidden eyes in the tree, completely fixated on the dagger, unable to look away.

 

The author has something to say:

The top player in the Dragon Slayer game circle: Uncle Pippilu ahhhh

There will be another update later, hearts~

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  the heart at the end of its tail