CHAPTER 229: CHAPTER 182: CLEAR THOUGHTS_2

The reason is simple: players can act as signal sources, base stations. Even if they die, the soul fragments still have the same effect.

It’s often circulated online that a certain group of players, while adventuring outside of the Celestial Net, unexpectedly received a notification and acquired a soul fragment. Bringing it back to the Celestial Net would earn them a reward, eventually leading to a big profit for some big shot.

It is precisely because the soul fragments of deceased players that are scattered outside serve as signal sources. As long as other players get within a certain distance, they automatically connect and attach to them.

Small Knife’s inspiration also stemmed from these.

As usual, Small Knife issued a mission contract. The two major player factions accepted it, with penalties set at the highest levels allowed by the system.

The two guild leaders were very courteous, even submissive, but after looking at the contract, they actually wanted to raise the price?

They pleaded hardship and sought sympathy, making Small Knife quite impressed with their craftiness.

In their eyes, face meant nothing; what mattered was the real benefit.

Small Knife looked at them with a faint smile and said, "Not a single penny more."

Ultimately, a deal was naturally reached.

Subsequently, Small Knife received the task, which was also necessary for his departure.

He left the Hidden Witch Tribe alone.

The Hidden Witch Tribe is vast, covering a large area that overlooks the only exit of the thirty-six Newbie Tribes.

However, this Hidden Witch Tribe is one of the deepest tribes in the Northern Witch area, rarely visited by outsiders, making it impossible to enter the Newbie Tribe.

Leaving the Tribe

This is the origin of the Hidden Witch Tribe’s name.

Outside the Hidden Witch Tribe, there are also three major tribes and a dozen mid-sized tribes scattered around.

Although these tribes haven’t engaged in large battles, conflicts between them are constant.

Even though these tribes have the Holy Land Totem Poles, the Celestial Net envelops this vast area, but they are already considered indigenous and not NPCs.

Small Knife disguised himself as an ordinary player, with his weapons switched to bone-made ones.

Because iron ones would attract the ill intentions of the indigenous people, making the task prone to failure.

This task requires a minimum of seven days, and through its stages, involves interacting with some indigenous people without causing conflict, or else the mission fails.

Ordinarily, with the disposition of players, pretending to be indigenous is not easy, making the task difficult to complete.

Unfortunately, since it’s an old task that every player must undergo before leaving, each task is slightly different.

But there are plenty of guides available online. Small Knife reviewed dozens of internal versions from various factions, thoroughly understood by players long ago.

The core requirement is a single one, to be low-key and avoid trouble, enduring grievances if necessary.

So, with some practice on the way, surviving a week isn’t hard.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed just like that.

Small Knife left the tribe with a frown and a gloomy expression.

His face was unpleasant because he was quite displeased inside.

The demeanor of those indigenous people was really disgusting, oppressing the innocent, like that dry little girl doing the most work yet sleeping in a sheep pen?

And those shivering old men sleeping under the eaves, just because they were old, were driven out by their children?

Is this all part of the mission to witness human injustice?

If it weren’t for the treasures waiting, he absolutely couldn’t bear it.

Extremely frustrated inside.

After learning all this as part of the mission, doing nothing about it, regardless of truth, feels very unpleasant, indeed.

Endure, endure, it’s the final stage.

Small Knife looked ahead; this was an intermediate-sized tribe at the edge of the Northern Witch territory.

According to the task’s prompt, he headed forward, here he could see some martial artists, merely considered indigenous, not NPCs.

Those people glanced at Small Knife and ignored him because he was dressed similarly.

He headed directly to his destination, an old tavern with no one inside.

Glancing at the mission, Small Knife strode inside.

"Shopkeeper, got something to eat?" Small Knife asked with a shy smile.

Glancing at the system, he scored himself seventy, which is passable.

This task is really annoying.

Now he must pretend to be a fledgling novice adventurer, the system scoring every step. Any step scoring below sixty would develop into new task branches, and reportedly, during beta testing, some players’ tasks had kept increasing without completion for months.

The final stage of the task is to eat here and leave safely without causing a conflict.

"Young brother, you look like a martial artist!" said a sturdy man walking out, dressed in a peculiar fashion.

The indigenous here have already been influenced by outsiders, so their lifestyle and attire are similar.

Small Knife returned the smile shyly, but it felt wrong, as he only got a rating of sixty-five. Was his smile not naive enough?

Following the system prompt, Small Knife answered as if he were a newly emerging rookie adventurer, curious about everything.

The man was hearty, offering good wine and meat from outside, but the price...!

Following the prompt, Small Knife had to show some anger and displeasure. "Afraid I don’t have money?"

He directly pulled out a money bag and tossed it out.

A full bag, spilling more than a dozen out.

They were all Bone Coins, but there were also two Iron Coins, causing the man’s eyes to light up with undisguised greed.

Small Knife sighed; this last stage was difficult.

Leaving without causing a conflict was not easy indeed.

Soon, good wine and meat were served.

There were no other guests, and the man heartily invited Small Knife, the rookie, for a drink.

As the task reached this point, Small Knife could finally improvise freely.