I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 705 - 705 704. Report Number_1

Chapter 705: 704. Report Number_1 Chapter 705: 704. Report Number_1 Old Eggplant let out a sigh, not solely because he had seen the game’s visuals.

It was the overall atmosphere.

During the “Night of Summoning Spirits,” being confined to an enclosed room and considering that Storm Villa was actually more modern in architectural style, Old Eggplant only felt like he had explored an ancient house. After analyzing this feeling, he concluded that people possess the ability to fill in the blanks with their imagination. Often, just a cursory glance was enough for him to flesh out the remaining details in his mind, which made it seem real.

Just like many games, if the background is an urban setting, like racing or war-themed games, the visuals can be incredibly realistic because they have reality as a reference. The top-tier graphics can even achieve a level of deception that confounds the real with the fake.

Therefore, when people evaluate the effectiveness of a game engine or the quality of a production team, they mostly refer to the modeling and texturing of non-realistic objects.

As a result, there has always been a saying online that to truly appreciate the graphics of “Morning Star,” one must look at a genuinely fantastical theme.

But now, the filthy, foul-smelling muddy water, those towering trees blocking out the sun, and the Red Knight’s patchy yet shimmering Armor in front of him were so real, so palpable.

Old Eggplant had played countless fantasy-themed games, sometimes galloping on a horse through dilapidated villages, sometimes roaming on foot atop snow-covered peaks, and occasionally dwelling within grand white castles, but none of them could compare to what he saw at this moment.

The very mud pits shook him to his core.

“Stand in line properly, I’m going to do a headcount.”

Brown looked at the few hundred people crawling out of the mud and shouted uncertainly.

If not for Lu Ban having explained earlier that these people were all summoned by him, Brown might have wet himself on the spot.

Initially, Brown worried whether these summoned barbarians would understand him, whether they possessed basic knowledge and decency.

But when they arranged themselves into an orderly square formation in just a matter of seconds, Brown was dumbfounded.

He obviously had no idea that these summoned “barbarians,” when they were younger, had all experienced military drills. When it came to lining up, no one understood the significance of small, coordinated steps better than them.

“One, two…there are too many of you, can you count off yourselves?”

Brown had intended to count them himself, but considering the embarrassingly childish act of counting on his fingers in front of hundreds of people, he decided to let them do it.

The next moment, Brown was astonished.

He saw the person at the far right of the line suddenly stand still and shout loudly.

“One!”

Then he looked at the person next to him, who immediately followed with a “Two,” and the count continued down the line.

As they were almost finished counting off, Old Eggplant thought for a moment, sensing this was his chance to stand out. In such a game, fostering good relationships with NPCs was bound to be beneficial.

He quickly did the math, and right after the last person finished counting, Old Eggplant called out immediately.

“Report, three hundred forty-six present!”

“…Good, come out and take charge of them,” Brown said after a moment of hesitation, thinking this person seemed rather sharp. He let him take control of the people.

They had all come out of the mud, so they should communicate better with one another, right?

Brown felt unease creeping in.

Old Eggplant’s action surprised the surrounding players.

While they were lining up subconsciously, they had still been in a state of confusion and adjusting to the new environment, like fresh arrivals through a portal.

But Old Eggplant’s call immediately made them realize this was a game!

This was an online game.

Having a good relationship with NPCs was sure to bring plenty of benefits. Look, this guy had just become their leader, and he might even trigger some hidden quest or storyline.

Many players’ minds were still stuck in old-era games, waiting for NPCs to hand them quests.

But this was a virtual reality open-world game; without taking the initiative, how could one expect to gain anything?

“Sir Knight, what should we do now?”

Old Eggplant, following his habit from playing similar games, weighed his words carefully before asking.

“We’re heading back to town; this forest is very dangerous, don’t stray too far from me.”

Brown replied, clearly pleased with this person’s attitude.

Sir Knight, how pleasing that sounds.

He turned his horse around, leading the group forward, with several knights in silver armor guarding beside them.

Old Eggplant walked at the forefront, quite curious about his surroundings.

According to what the knight had said, this must be the Black Forest of Night Country.

The Night Country has the Demonic Tide; it’s a desperate scene of countless monsters attacking—could the main quest of this game be to fight against the Demonic Tide?

Old Eggplant wanted to reach out and touch the trees around him but before he could raise his hand, he heard a commotion from behind.

Turning his head, he saw that a restless player had taken off.

Old Eggplant was stunned, and then quickly understood.

Since it’s an open-world game, there really isn’t any restriction on what the players can do.

Some might be picking apples by the roadside, climbing up to snowy mountains without triggering the initial storyline; others might travel the world and come back fully armed before fighting the first boss—the freedom is the main theme of the game.

That player probably just wanted to see if the forest was merely a texture or if it was an explorable space.

“Dangerous, well darn, isn’t he afraid of dying?”

Brown instinctively wanted to call out to him but then remembered what Lu Ban had said, these “players” were special summoned creatures that would resurrect if they died, so he became a bit curious.

He saw the person running deeper into the forest and quickly vanished into the shadows.

Brown waited a few minutes when suddenly the bog burped bubbles, and a hand emerged from it, sending a shiver down Brown’s spine.

The player who had earlier fled was now crawling out of the bog, with no signs of fear or confusion on his face, but rather, extreme excitement.

“Guys, there’s no invisible wall, damn, this is so awesome, no invisible wall, free to run. But I got tripped by a vine halfway, and then a flower just ate me, damn, that hurt like hell, but it’s so freaking cool!”

He excitedly told the others.

“?”

Brown simply couldn’t comprehend why this person was so thrilled and excited after being killed by Demonic Beasts, as if what he had encountered wasn’t a horrifying creature but a distressed princess.

Hearing this person’s words, others were also eager to try, which made Brown somewhat worried.

Even though these people seemed to be capable of resurrection, it wasn’t good to just waste time here; those monsters might follow their scent over here, and at that time, he wouldn’t be able to take care of these people.

As Brown hesitated, Old Eggplant spoke up.

“Everyone, I think we should run the main quest first; otherwise, with our current gear going against wild monsters will surely result in repetitive abuse. Plus, we haven’t even had the tutorial yet, let’s just keep moving.”

Hearing Old Eggplant’s words, everyone agreed.

The most important part of testing was progression; that kind of off-task exploration could wait until the official release.

Soon, the queue was orderly again, waiting for Brown to lead the way.

“???”

Brown, listening to their discussion, didn’t understand a word.

Main quest, tutorial—what’s all this about?

But these “players” don’t seem to be planning to run off any more?

That’s great.

Thinking this, Brown cleared his throat and said,

“I’ll take you to meet Baron. Keep up, everyone.”