NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81: The Rules
"Hmm.. How should I say this? It's not exactly beneficial, but it's like knocking down a rival in a wide competition," Alena paused and continued. "Getting rid of another player would mean that the competitive quests from now on will have a less members, which in turn would increase the rewards. The less members there are, the more exclusive the rewards get.. That sort of policy, I suppose. Ones that want to chase nothing but the best will be the ones who want to 'hunt',"
Aria nodded, agreeing with Alena's reasoning. "So it doesn't actually have any direct rewards? Like a quest to hunt another <Player>, will that sort of thing pop up?"
"I don't think so, but as for direct rewards, I can tell you that the death of a the death of one <Player> will pass on effects to the others. The thing about the towers too.. The tower is essentially a floor based competition that has no time limitations, but the 'first' ones to clear such and such things will get achievements and special rewards. As such, if you managed to eliminate every other Player, you could potentially monopolize every single benefit," Alena suggested.
Aria winced at her explanation, thinking of the bloodbath that would have to occur if one of them was a complete maniac.
"However... as for the negatives, if you were unlucky and got yourself a quest that is basically impossible for one person to clear, then that's your own problem," Alena warned. "I'm not sure about this information yet, but there might be a joint fight in the future. It would still be far away considering the rate of progress we are in right now, though,"
"Rate of progress.. What do you mean?"
"Well.. This relates to not only the <Players>, but also the world as a whole. There.. should be a massive explosion of the amount of dungeons. The world will be saturated with the gates, and the Hunters will increase not only in quantity, but also quality. The original Hunters will also gain some ability to power up, be it from their own potential or through external items like gear and other helps," Alena explained.
'That's the thing I saw in my dreams that day.' Aria internally thought.
She doubted that she had prophetic powers, but the similarities that occurred between the scenes she saw inside the dream and what actually happened was not far off. For example, she also remembered seeing the B-dungeon she entered recently at the exact location she went to, but the her at that time paid not much heed to it.
Now that the events seemed to be lining up, Aria felt grateful that she had tried her hardest to memorize the maps because she had the instinctive feeling that it would be important in the near future.
The explosion of dungeons. The second wave, one that would shake the Earth once more as humans chase the path to stabilizing the world once more.
After that, would the third, fourth, and so on come? Would it be a never ending battle coming in hard hitting waves like a tsunami?
Aria nodded in agreement. Although she hadn't seen the tower by herself, she already got the gist of it. "So, could it be assumed that the dungeons and the Towers are directly connected? If so, would the <Players> actually have a significant role in playing out the world's progress rate?" Aria questioned.
"..That's a hard question to answer, but there is definitely a relation between the entities. It wouldn't be a coincidence. But.. as for the roles.. it's hard to say what will happen in the future, so we will have to wait for that one,"
"Will it be hard? For each <Players>, how hard is it for them to progress?" Aria was concerned about this topic.
From her own experience, she was slower in terms of progress rate. She was worried that she would fall behind in the future. Even though she had skills, she couldn't deny that every time she leveled up, she gained a power boost and effects that she envied and desired. At this rate, her skills would not be able to make up for the distance in levels anymore.
The disparity was already starting to show with her recent encounters with people from [Lichte] and the increasingly powerful monsters.
"As far as I know.." Alena made some subtle gestures to the air, appearing as if she was staring at something. To Aria, the screens Alena saw was invisible, but she was sure that it contained valuable information that couldn't be obtained elsewhere.
"Each <Player> has a different difficulty. I don't know what determines the difficulty, but it should be related to the power scaling.. or the person themselves. What their worth is. For example, didn't you encounter a weird discrepancy between your EXP bar and Yoo Jin's?"
"..! That is really attributed to my power?" Aria thought that it made sense at first. She basically had a massive headstart as someone who was experienced with battles. The world was now in peace, and the fact that the common people did not carry a weapon meant that it wasn't similar to the past, where you needed to have a form of self protection against the monsters.
However, as she progressed, she found out that skills could only carry you to a certain point. You also needed the pure power to back it up, and she was starting to lack at that space.
"Yes. Think of the EXP bars as 'the amount of EXP you're able to get', and not 'the amount of EXP you need to gather'. The scaling System.. means that it gauges your actual ability and what you are capable of. If you could beat 100 monsters in Level 1, whereas Yoo Jin could only take on 50 before he's endangered, then that plays off into the scaling. Although the Main System didn't specify this claim, I would deduce that the System has a balancing feature to block the <Players> from advancing too far from the rest of humanity," Alena said.
"Ahh.. that really annoys me," Aria grumbled.
If she had to wait until the rewards came, then she could be doomed before anything. She knew that she had 'special' qualities like the Main acquiring System, the Rebirth function, and all that, but she couldn't really use it without the necessary resources and platforms falling into her hand.
For example, she actually possessed the 'Shop' function, but she never used it because nothing actually caught her attention within the ranks she was able to access.
"But fret not, big sister. As far as I know, the benefits given to powerful <Players> will be matched accordingly to your difficulties. Only, it will be a bit taxing without the proper resources. Which... brings me to my point!"
Aria raised a brow at the girl's excited call.
"Big sister, you don't understand the inner workings of the Associations yet, right? I'm sure that you've dabbled here and there, but have you actually thought about using the back door to get through the obstacles?"
"Back door.. Are you inviting me to join you in a messy tactic like that?" Aria wasn't a hypocrite.
She also used back doors a few times in the past, getting through things with her status and prestige.
"Yes. Even though the Associations all over the world pride themselves as being righteous and the humanity's life savers, the truth in that statement is actually not that much. No matter how they try to resist it, people desire power. And people like me... who get around with bargains gain power through special lines, through using our resources," Alena winked with a mischievous smile.
The girl was openly proclaiming that she used backhanded methods without any shame. Although Aria was not exactly against the idea of using one's utmost resources, she did have qualms about the topic of morals.
"What are you trying to say?" Aria narrowed her gaze as she snorted at Alena.
It wasn't that the girl was showing her true colors. She was not putting an act. She was just displaying herself. The sweet child was a crafty one. Ruthless if needed.
"Oh, come on. You must already realize it. I'm trying to say that instead of bonding with [Golden Insignia] or [Lichte], why don't you just come to my side and receive far higher benefits, not only in dungeons, but also in.. other ways?"
Alena was showing tendencies and expressions that looked truly out of the place for a child's caliber. Aria gulped a mouthful of saliva as she tapped on the table, bringing her beverage up to her lips and sipping it to quench her uneasiness.
Seeing how Aria's expression was still unfazed, and that she was not responding, Alena took the chance to prod even more.
"Big sister, you know that you are in a position where you need comrades, but you can't afford to get too close as well,"