Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 182 - 008. I recommended Li Aozi to the company to be a photo model, but they actually refused!

Chapter 182: 008. I recommended Li Aozi to the company to be a photo model, but they actually refused!

"I’ve come to realize now that Du Zexin must possess some kind of misfortune aura that I’m unaware of."

Li Aozi, with his arms crossed, watched the three game testers in the interrogation room, struggling to hold back his laughter.

He had guessed that they might have noticed him and planned to include him in the game’s promotional video as marketing material—but even Li Aozi hadn’t expected it to be these three unlucky fellows.

What a coincidence, all familiar faces.

The self-proclaimed Qi Huaimu, a "Hacker" and "Martial Artist," as well as the "Shaman" Xue Parker, were well-known scapegoats of Qiqiao Network. Due to the often inconsiderate behavior of Qiqiao Network’s designers and planners that frequently enraged players, and knowing full well their unpopularity, the planners and designers dared not log in. Therefore, players could only vent their anger on the regular game testers.

Moreover, these two were the only overtime workers of Qiqiao Network who always logged in on schedule, making them the easiest targets to be singled out. Every time these two employees started their shift, they would face the pursuit of hundreds of players.

As for that Luao Weike, his real name is Lu Run. His identity is a bit special. From version 3.0 onwards, he has been transferred to the Professional League Committee to serve as a director. His capability in publicity and his performance effects were quite remarkable.

"These poor souls—the lucky guy has finally shown up. I’ve been looking forward to this moment!"

’Qi Huaimu’ brought out a lot of evidence to prove that he had broken off ties with the GTB. On his way, he killed some Bounty Hunters in hopes of clearing his name and also obtained video evidence from the ruins of Mingji Humanity.

With such substantial costs and their amateurish qualities, it was clear to anyone with eyes that these three Frost Plated men weren’t lying, let alone being spies or undercover agents.

However, the Lord of Oakland still smiled cheerfully, as if urging them to continue talking while he listened intently. In reality, Li Aozi noticed that the young warlord was constantly observing his own reaction.

In other words, the fate of these three testers didn’t depend on how well they performed, or rather, the opinion of the Lord of Oakland wasn’t important. What Li Aozi agreed upon, was what truly mattered to the Lord of Oakland.

As expected, after Luo Le presented all his evidence, the Lord of Oakland, this young warlord with white hair and red eyes, propped his chin in thought, turned his head towards Li Aozi, and said:

"What do you think, Mr. Leoz?"

His intent to please was blatantly obvious, entirely unhidden. Compared to the cunning and strategic manipulations typical of ordinary players, Li Aozi’s Extraordinary Charm dissolved any unnecessary conflicts and suspicions, making the Lord of Oakland trust him greatly.

Of course, his own illustrious career achievements, his formidable strength, and his promised knowledge of Mingji Humanity also played a significant role.

After pondering for a moment, Li Aozi said:

"I believe their words. To have the courage to face Bayo Kong and to be able to kill the GTB’s Bounty Hunters, risking their lives to venture into the depths of the Outer World, is a commendable action for the Frost Plated People. I have some matters I would like to inquire about with them alone."

The Lord of Oakland nodded and said, "In that case, I’ll leave these three in your hands to deal with."

He then briefly instructed the guards to release them.

"Wow, this Li Aozi really has quite the influence; even a warlord with nuclear capabilities has to read his expressions."

Luo Le turned his head back, clicking his tongue in amazement.

According to the internal data available to the company, Triangle Town is also set to be developed as one of the player gathering towns in the Outer World in the future and might even become the main city for players of the Outer World faction. There were several pages on the profile of Oakland Zhutt.

And yet, with just a few words, Li Aozi had managed to get the young and promising warlord to release the prisoners.

"Well, that’s to be expected. If Li Aozi truly is a character from the ’Sovereign’ occupation class, judging by his previous performance against Bayo Kong, his strength must have reached a level above Beta."

"The Gamma Phase? Then he indeed has the clout."

While the hand-over was taking place, Lu Run approached Li Aozi, about to activate his "Camouflage Mode" to better communicate with the NPC, when Li Aozi looked up and glanced at him, saying:

"Are you planning to take a picture of me?"

"Eh?" Lu Run was momentarily stunned. How did he know what he was thinking? Was the pupil camera that obvious?

But still, he subconsciously nodded.

"I get it—you want to take photos, record videos to help clear my name. That’s fine by me. What I would prefer is that you make the public aware of the true identity of the Mingji People and the disgusting research being conducted behind the scenes."

This statement from Li Aozi completely baffled Lu Run.

He hadn’t said a thing, yet the other side had pretty much guessed his motives, giving Lu Run a slight chill:

’Is it that NPCs can make such assumptions, or is their intelligence much higher than I thought?’

Noticing some surprise in the player’s reaction, Li Aozi casually opened the NPC template and created a task for him:

"Push Open the Door of Prism"

[Time Limit]: 30 days

[Difficulty]: C

[Introduction]:

A legend who punishes evil and banishes demons is labeled as a cruel butcher and bringer of Human Catastrophe.

Film a video for Li Aozi and speak out on Frost Plated media, revealing the true identity of Mingji Humanity.

I could have tolerated hypocrisy if I had never seen the truth.

[Settlement Conditions]:

Finish shooting and upload to various social media platforms, achieving no less than 100,000 views.

Reward:

Experience Points

Li Aozi Favorability +30

......

With his current template as an "Advanced Senior Combat NPC," he could assign tasks of difficulty B or lower. The experience and rewards were his to distribute, and favorability was a zero-cost benefit; he could raise it if he wanted, or directly lower it to negative values if he found someone annoying.

This task wasn’t difficult, yet the rewards were quite substantial for Lu Run.

He had come here specifically to take photos for Li Aozi and find material, and now he was getting rewards for it too—it was like Emperor Qin Shi Huang looking in the mirror—a win-win situation.

"Leave it to me!"

Half an hour later, Li Aozi sat on the laboratory’s sofa, with three burly men circling around him, snapping pictures. The first round of shooting was complete, and under Lu Run’s direction, Li Aozi had changed into several outfits and recorded some righteous speeches condemning the despicable anti-human biological experiments conducted by Mingji Humanity.

"I didn’t expect Li Aozi to be in such good shape, quite sturdy. He doesn’t look very strong, but he’s all muscle, pretty suited to be a model."

Lu Run looked at the vast amount of material in the video library and was quite satisfied.

"With the materials I previously collected in Mingji Humanity, I’m sure I can successfully meet the requirements. Just a bit of editing, and the promotional videos for Frost Plated and ’Sovereign’ series will soon be ready."

As everyone knows, what’s the prerequisite for a game promo video to look good?

Attractive characters!

If every game character looks like an indistinctly dark figure, the only way the game could sell well is if it’s called "Plantation Simulator."

Lu Run felt pleased with himself and logged off to do some video editing. His body shimmered, and the form of Luao Weike dissipated on the spot, decomposing into dim, lightless particles that instantly scattered and disappeared.

Damn it! Did that kid just bail like that?

Luo Le and Xue Nian immediately had awkward expressions on their faces. With Lu Run logging off so obviously and disappearing with such a noticeable effect, what would the NPC think?

"It seems your friend had something urgent to attend to and left first using Arcane Energy."

Li Aozi watched the two awkward testers and couldn’t help but chuckle as he commented,

"Thank you for your assistance. However, GTB’s retaliation will come soon. I’ll have a word with the Lord of Oakland so you can lay low here for a while."

"Thanks for the concern, but we have other pressing matters and cannot stay long."

Luo Le and Xue Nian were still concerned about the "Trace Back Ming Trace" investigation task. One of the settlement conditions was to work with Li Aozi to take out GTB’s mercenaries and Bounty Hunters.

After this task, they’d have to return to their official job posts and conduct testing on the game system.

The game’s closed beta was about to launch, and the game system was still quite imperfect. Even the "Mall" wasn’t fully implemented yet—if it continued like this, the damn company was bound to go bankrupt—well, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing?

Li Aozi had long suspected these guys had triggered some kind of task to come to him, but he didn’t mind. There was plenty of time, so he decided to prioritize the important matters,

"You seem different from regular humans but don’t worry, I won’t reveal your secret."

Before the two game testers could react, Li Aozi took out a USB drive and handed it over to them:

"This contains some of the Bayo Kong cell data I managed to analyse using the laboratory in Triangle Town. If possible, I hope you can use your Hacker abilities to spread this information on forums worldwide."

"Uh, but what’s the point of releasing this information?"

"To create a backup plan for myself," Li Aozi said with a profound look.

Details of Bayo Kong were probably only known to the higher-ups of Frost Plated. Releasing a small portion of this data into the world wouldn’t cause a stir—only people with a vested interest in this substance would be willing to pay and make an effort to protect him.

Li Aozi chatted casually with the two testers for a while. Both men had a military background and kept a tight lid on information. It was only through Li Aozi’s "Charm" attribute and his friendly demeanor that he was able to indirectly gather some interesting insights:

—Game testers were slightly different from regular players; they seemed to have some basic understanding of the game’s occupational skills and professional knowledge.

This was quite intriguing—if the knowledge and skills learned in the game weren’t just about following a template to execute moves but rather involved a system of comprehensive academic memories and theories, then knowledge wasn’t just a threshold.

"Is one of a game tester’s job roles to use the game’s Cognition Filters to prevent players from truly learning skills and knowledge from the game?"

Li Aozi flicked a ballpoint pen into the air, and driven by Gravity, it spun continuously. He focused his thoughts deeply, and concepts such as "higher education knowledge," "Pioneer-Level Biochemical Materials Science," various scholarly terms, system theories, and calculation formulas came to his mind.

—It was true.

Li Aozi’s gaze sharpened.

This was completely different from when he had been a Player without any control over information.

Li Aozi, he could indeed truly learn the knowledge and skills present within the game.