NOVEL NEXT Ch. 25
Chapter 25: Sky-High Priced Underwear! The Madness of the Knights!
When 【LaceSupremacy】 sent out that tearful “plea for help” in the Knights’ public channel, the entire massive war machine that was the 【Mophis Wife Knights】 instantly entered maximum operational mode.
Always lurking silently among the crowd and observing the situation, the 【Battle Maniac Hall】 guild leader 【Mad Blade】 was the first to step out.
His voice, amplified through the guild’s highest authority command, resounded across the entire Western Wasteland.
“【Battle Maniac Hall】, all members, hear my order!”
“From this moment, all guild activities are suspended! All combat members, immediately assemble in the front courtyard of the Library! Our target is only one—World BOSS, 【Mother of the Forest】!”
“Logistics Division! Immediately tally all top-grade potions, elixirs, and buff scrolls in the warehouse! Spare no cost, distribute everything! In this battle, we are only allowed success, not failure!”
“I declare that 【Battle Maniac Hall】 will undertake the collection task for the 【Dew of the Fountain of Life】! Whoever dares to compete with us for this BOSS, is declaring themselves the enemy of our entire 【Battle Maniac Hall】, the enemy of our entire Knights!”
【Mad Blade】’s declaration brimmed with dominance, instantly igniting the blood of all combat players.
Immediately after, another top guild, primarily composed of mage players, 【Immortal-Demon Residence】, had its leader 【ILoveTomatoes】 issue orders.
“【Immortal-Demon Residence】, all members, our target—the 【Moon Whisper Forest】!”
“The task for 【Blessings of the Lightwing Elves】, we’ll take it! All mages, prepare your control skills and shields! All priests, max out your purification spells! Today, we’ll show those arrogant elves the true power of players!”
“All costs required for this task will be reimbursed by the guild! And for all participants, contribution points will be tripled!”
The two top guilds took the lead, immediately monopolizing the two most difficult tasks.
As for the remaining one, the most illusory—【Tear of the Morningstar Dragon】—it became the target of all medium-small guilds and solo players.
“Brothers! We might not be able to push a World BOSS, nor break into the Elves’ Sacred Land, but we have numbers! We have endurance!” A solo alliance leader posted a rallying call on the forum.
“【Tear of the Morningstar Dragon】 may be a legend, but the officials wouldn’t set a condition that’s outright impossible! This must be a hidden encounter, triggered only through luck and persistence!”
“From now on, we launch a ‘People’s War’! Everyone, dig up all the historical documents, myth stories, and ancient maps in the game! Any clue related to ‘dragons’, ‘stars’, or ‘tears’—don’t miss a single one!”
“We’re going to start a grand ‘archaeological campaign’ in this game! I refuse to believe that with hundreds of thousands of us players, we can’t find a single tear!”
In an instant, the entire Huaxia region of 《Aincrad Era》 saw its gaming atmosphere completely transformed.
Before, when players logged in, their goals were grinding monsters, leveling up, and farming equipment.
But now, the very first thing all Knights did when they logged in was to open their quest panel and check what contribution they could make to the great cause of “saving the wife’s health.”
Combat players surged in groups toward the respawn zone of the World BOSS 【Mother of the Forest】—the Howling Swamp.
Life players, on the other hand, strapped on their packs and ventured into all kinds of ancient ruins rarely visited by humans, embarking on their “archaeological” journeys.
The game’s economy also underwent violent upheaval.
The prices of 【Health Recovery Potions】 and 【Magic Resistance Elixirs】 quintupled in just one hour, and were still sold out.
Ancient books recording legendary history became the hottest commodities, priced higher than advanced equipment.
Even basic tools like 【Shovels】 and 【Archaeological Brushes】 sold out completely.
In the monitoring center, the official GMs watched all this unfold, each one dumbfounded.
“Manager… th-this is completely out of control now…” A young GM’s voice trembled as he stared at the server traffic skyrocketing to levels that could almost melt the hardware.
“Our main quest, ‘Guardian of Knowledge,’ that progress bar for repairing the barrier—it hasn’t moved for three whole hours! All the players have gone to do that ‘underwear quest’!”
“The number of players in Howling Swamp has already exceeded fifty thousand—more than during the last national war! At this rate, the server there is going to crash!”
“And… and the economy system, it’s on the verge of collapse! If we don’t intervene soon, the entire in-game economy will be destroyed!”
【Pangu】’s expression was so dark it seemed to drip water.
He had never expected that his attempt to “go with the flow” would lead to the players pushing the whole boat up into the heavens, dragging the entire server into an uncontrollable frenzy in a direction he had never foreseen.
What he had designed was supposed to be an epic about “guardianship” and “redemption.”
Instead, these players, along with that NPC who refused to follow the script, had turned it into a farce about “paying for love.”
“Manager, should we… maybe do an emergency server shutdown for maintenance?” a subordinate asked cautiously.
“No!” 【Pangu】 rejected firmly.
Shutting down now would be no different than suicide.
These bloodthirsty players could blow up the official customer service hotline, even carry off the company’s server racks.
“Pass on my command.” 【Pangu】 took a deep breath, a flash of madness gleaming in his eyes. “If we can’t block this flood, then let it surge even stronger!”
“First! Immediately expand server capacity for hotspot areas like Howling Swamp and Moon Whisper Forest! Guarantee the players’ gaming experience!”
“Second! Immediately increase the rewards for the ‘Guardian of Knowledge’ quest! Add rare materials and exclusive titles to the drops on top of the existing rewards! Redirect some players’ attention back to the main questline!”
“Third!” He paused, before announcing a decision that made all the GMs gasp in shock. “Secretly increase the spawn rate of clues related to 【Tear of the Morningstar Dragon】! Give those ‘archaeologists’ a little sweetness! Let them believe their efforts have hope!”
“Manager! Isn’t this just adding fuel to the fire?”
“Exactly, I want to add fuel to the fire!” 【Pangu】 slammed the table. “I want to see how far this NPC and these players can drag this farce!”
He had a strong feeling he was witnessing a miracle.
A miracle born from the collision of a BUG and the players’ fervor, creating an unprecedented, absurd yet vibrant… new gaming era.
And at the center of this storm, Mophis lay leisurely on a soft couch, eating the last batch of 【Spirit Fruits】 that players had delivered through the chimney, watching the players on the forum going mad for the sake of her “health,” with a devilish smile.
“Do your best, my dear Knights.”
“My body is counting on you.”