Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

After the selection of Emperor Gaozu of Liang, Chu Ge once again shifted his attention to other characters.

Among the numerous characters, Chu Ge spotted a very special existence at first glance.

"This is..."

He reached out and picked that character card.

All eyes instantly focused on it, and they saw a teenager who appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a frail body and sallow complexion, looking like a sickly youth.

But upon seeing his nameplate, everyone gasped in surprise.

"Lord Wei!"

This Lord Wei was not famous in history, but he was quite renowned in heroic tales.

Originally named "Xuan Ba," heroic tales renamed him "Yuan Ba." In fact, he died young before raising troops in Jinyang, at the age of fifteen, and later, in the first year of Wude during the establishment of the Liang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu posthumously titled him as Lord Wei, with the honorary title Huai.

In heroic tales, however, there was a fabricated segment where he lifted a golden lion onto the palace hall and was titled King Zhao of West Mansion by the previous emperor.

But since he was called "Lord Wei" in the game, this image was obviously closer to actual history.

Chu Ge keenly felt that this character should be quite important.

"Could it be... because there was no Lord Qin, they replaced him with Lord Wei to compensate?

"Lord Qin wasn't simply omitted, but had his fate swapped with Lord Wei?"

Suddenly, all players' attention was concentrated on this young Lord Wei.

In this world, a person who died young had become Lord Qin, so the originally doomed Lord Wei could survive. Naturally, he could play a significant role later on.

"This shouldn't be as abnormal as described in the tales, should it?"

Players couldn't help but care about this point, as the Lord Wei in the tales was outrageously abnormal, beyond even a humanoid mecha.

In the tales, he wielded a pair of Drumming Golden Hammers, defeating the 2.3 million army of eighteen rebel kings at Four Bright Mountains, and in a battle at Purple Mountain, he single-handedly reduced an army of 1.83 million to only 650,000.

Such plots were basically unreasonable even for a fantasy novel, considering that he didn't know any spells, and killing over a million people in one afternoon averages to about 55 deaths per second, which even a primary school math pass grade couldn't justify.

If the players' portrayal of this Lord Wei was so formidable, then there was no need for battle.

Why not just trigger an invincible mode from the start?

But he probably wasn't just a skeletal sickly youth, otherwise there would be no point in highlighting him as an individual character.

Chu Ge carefully examined Lord Wei's character portrait and noticed that although he looked somewhat emaciated, he appeared taller and didn't ride a horse, but wielded a large horse-cutting sword.

"It seems that Lord Wei's setting is supposed to be an infantry commander?

"Lord Qin was proficient in horsemanship and archery, both top-notch in the world, so Lord Wei is just the opposite, top-notch in infantry and weaponry?

"Interesting."

All players unanimously looked towards Luo Ying.

Clearly, this character seemed tailor-made for him!

Luo Ying was the first player to clear the Commoner's Trial, and everyone had seen and been astonished by his grace wielding a broad blade.

He was practically a reincarnation of Li Gaoling.

Furthermore, his fighting style had an evident difference from Yun Ying's.

Yun Ying, a Ranger player, had also showcased decent archery skills during his Ranger Trial, but his style leaned more towards dueling, light and nimble moves and footwork, every action exquisitely precise.

But Luo Ying's style leaned more towards military formations, with wide and deadly moves.

Naturally, Luo Ying felt obligated, as his Commoner's unique talent perfectly matched this character.

"I'll take it then. But it's my first time in the ultimate trial, so I can only do my best."

Soon, one character after another was picked and assigned to various players.

The Crown Prince was a very important character, his main task being to stay back and manage logistics and supplies, and also to act as insurance to ensure Chang'an's safety.

Historically, Chang'an had never faced a direct attack, but that didn't mean it was completely safe.

If Dou Jiande really adopted Ling Jing's strategy, he might bypass Hulaoguan Pass and attack Chang'an from River East.

In the ultimate trial, any unexpected scenario was possible and should not be overlooked.

Thus, this role was taken up personally by Chu Ge.

Chu Ge could coordinate with Meng Yuan to ensure the security of the rear and the smooth flow of supplies. In case enemy troops indeed reached the gates of Chang'an, the two of them wouldn't need a rescuing army but just command the guards of Chang'an to be sufficient.

Next was Prince Qi.

This role also didn't stir much controversy and was directly given to Zhao Haiping.

With no Lord Qin, there had to be someone at the forefront commanding the battle. Including Lord Wei among other generals, mainly for charging into the fray and executing various tactics, a cornerstone was needed.

And Zhao Haiping was the most suitable.

Although Prince Qi's combat ability fell short of Lord Qin's, he was still proficient with bow and horse, and his skills in riding, archery, and spearmanship were passable, if not top-notch.

Zhao Haiping played the role of Prince Qi and could both command the battle from the front lines and charge into the fray to turn the tide of battle.

Next were some of the mighty warriors from the Heavenly Strategy Mansion.

This included Yuchi Jingde, Qin Shubao, and Cheng Zhijie, the three fierce generals.

In the novels of chivalry, these three were indeed famous protagonists, but their combat power wasn't very impressive.

Needless to say about Yuchi Jingde and Qin Shubao, in the novels, combined they barely made up the thirteenth hero, while Cheng Zhijie was known as Cheng Yaojin and was famous for his three-pronged axe technique, considered a mediocre jester.

However, in official history, Yuchi Jingde and Qin Shubao were among the top cavalry leaders of the time, their bravery outstanding among the troops.

Cheng Zhijie's combat power, although not as formidable as theirs, was certainly strong.

These three roles were respectively handed to Fan Cun, Yun Ying, and Li Hongyun.

Fan Cun, a rough and burly man adept at spearmanship, was well-suited to play Yuchi Jingde.

Yun Ying played Qin Shubao and Li Hongyun played Cheng Zhijie, which might not have been exact fits, but these two characters had to be tightly controlled by the players. Moreover, Yun Ying and Li Hongyun were both quite powerful in combat, and with various talents enhancing their abilities, they were bound to be highly effective.

Assigning roles for the remaining three proved challenging.

These three were Xia Ruoling, Li Weiyi, and Lu Heng.

Xia Ruoling was a top-notch assassin player, and although the game allowed for gender-swapping roles, most players were resistant and averse to this.

Xia Ruoling was no exception. If possible, she preferred playing female characters.

Lu Heng was a scholar player with decent fighting skills, but only within the confines of unrestricted small-scale combat; he wouldn't be very effective on the battlefield.

As for Li Weiyi, his combat abilities were the weakest.

This architect had played a significant role in the construction of the Orderer's Fortress; ordinarily, it would be hard for him to break into the final trial leaderboard.

But perhaps due to a stroke of good luck, he had forcefully made his way into the top ten.

Finding the best use for the trio was quite a headache for Chu Ge.

Nevertheless, being exceedingly clever, Chu Ge quickly chose three roles from among many and assigned them.

Lu Heng was cast as Wei Zhen, Xia Ruoling as Princess Pingyang, and Li Weiyi as Yan Lide!

Among these three, players were only somewhat familiar with Wei Zhen, who later became a highly trusted civil servant by Emperor Taizong of Liang.

As for Princess Pingyang and Yan Lide, many players had no concept of them.

Chu Ge patiently explained.

"Princess Pingyang of the Liang Dynasty was Emperor Gaozu of Liang's third daughter and shared the same mother as the Crown Prince, Lord Qin, Lord Wei, Prince Qi, etc., so she was very favored.

Her wisdom and courage exceeded many others, and in her early years, she married Chai Shao. Later, when Emperor Gaozu of Liang started his uprising in Jinyang, she gathered the heroes of Guanzhong, led a revolt organized by the sisal growers, commanded the Women's Army to establish achievements, and met with Lord Qin on the north bank of the Wei River to jointly conquer Chang'an.

The role she played in establishing the Liang Dynasty was significant, yet the Records of the Founding barely mention her.

Thus, if deployed shrewdly, the character could facilitate a smoother initial phase for us.

Regarding Yan Lide, his impact was even greater.

His brother was the renowned painter Yan Liben of the Liang Dynasty.

From the early years of the Wude era, Yan Lide served in Lord Qin's Mansion, where he was deeply trusted. Most importantly, he was the key architect of that era.

He oversaw the construction of imperial mausoleums for the Liang emperors, various palaces, and walls of Chang'an, among others.

Even when Emperor Taizong of Liang campaigned against Korea, Yan Lide accompanied the army. At the time, Liaozhe was a marshland filled with mosquitoes and difficult for marching; Yan Lide managed the covering of the land with soil and bridge construction, enabling the Liang Army to pass through smoothly.

Given that Li Weiyi is a craftsman, as Yan Lide, he could openly develop various devices and build all sorts of defensive installations."

Other players couldn't help but be impressed: "Brilliant!"

It must be said, after the final list of ten rolled out, it was incredibly apt.

From top to bottom, the entire foundational force of the Liang Dynasty was securely in the players' hands.

This included core royal members like Emperor Gaozu, the Crown Prince, Prince Qi, Lord Wei, Princess Pingyang, civil servants like Wei Zhen, and military generals like Cheng Zhijie, Qin Shubao, and Yuchi Jingde, even including master architect Yan Lide.

Moreover, initially characters like Wei Zhen, Cheng Zhijie, Qin Shubao, and Yuchi Jingde were still in other factions. If their coordination could be managed a bit better, acting as insiders, perhaps they could stabilize the chaotic era more smoothly.

Until now, players were still unclear about the specific goal for clearing the game.

Would winning the battle at Hulaoguan Pass by capturing both kings and essentially securing the situation count as a victory?

Or would annihilating the Turkic forces count as a win?

Or perhaps managing the country for a period and leading the Liang Dynasty to glory similar to history would be considered a success?

It was hard to say.

Thus, they had to be fully prepared.

Chu Ge briefed everyone on various contingency plans for different scenarios, ensuring that even if they couldn't contact each other after entering the final trial, they could still act according to the plans.

Once all preparations were complete, players crossed the portal, entering the final trial.