by <unknown>
After some thought, Han Xiao directly used his code name and called it ‘Black Star Mercenary Group’. He confirmed the name, and the interface suddenly changed from a personal one to a mercenary group interface.
The target members for this group were clearly the players as they were there to provide hard labor. Ah that’s not right, they’re warriors.
Life as a mercenary was extremely dangerous, but players could always revive, so there would not be any loss. This job perfectly suited the players’ natural advantage, and with the players, developing a new empire was twice as easy.
Let the players join my mercenary group, then we can start a new base.
Han Xiao’s eyes looked deep as he smirked.
Building a base was one core components of his plan. It could tie the players as a beneficiary on his tank, and the players would be more concentrated together while decreasing the chance of players leaving. This was the plan that Han Xiao had finally come up with after pulling his hair out.
At the same time, he could build a closer bond with the players, and their relationship could move from one purely out of benefits to comrades.
Think about it, building a mercenary group by himself with professional players as the initial players of the organization would create a lot of news in the world and attract even more players’ attention. He could then use rewards to lure in other skillful players and strengthen his mercenary group. They would think that it was the result of their hard work.
Emphasizing the players’ contributions could incentivize the growth of the faction, and players could find meaning in fighting for their own organization and view the faction’s achievement as their own. In the end, this sense of belonging and pride could create satisfaction and fulfillment in the players.
One could not underestimate the power of social belonging. This romanticism of social belonging could spread roots of feelings into players hearts, and the power of romanticism could nurture soldiers that would die for their country.
For majority of the players, games were just entertainment. The element of role playing and the option for players to choose a faction could further strength the vision and ideology of the faction. On top of that, this setting would attract even more players to join! Everyone’s heart would be filled with passion and loyalty. The emotion of sacrificing one’s life for an organization, which was unbelievable in the real world, could now be released in a video game without any repercussions. Han Xiao wanted to lure out this romanticism in players’ hearts for the sake of his faction.
Han Xiao just wanted to make his faction into the hope of the players, and he was the perfect leader to win the players’ heart. Along with the growth of his faction, Han Xiao could earn more benefits and obtain better items, all while rewarding the players’ contributions. The whole process would be a virtuous cycle, and through this, Han Xiao could aggregate the power of the players to assist him to his goals.
Building a mercenary group was the first stage of his plan, and through Bun-hit-dog’s show, he could keep refreshing his presence. Once the future version was updated, Han Xiao could simply wave his hand, and all the players would rush to him to join the faction.
Of course, it was just an outline of the plan. The actual execution was complicated, and it would take a lot of time and resources to reach the end stage. However, once the plan succeeded, it would be revolutionary for the players, just like the alliances and the Hordes in World of Warcraft.
This was the blueprint of Han Xiao’s new empire!
“You all have the requirement to register as a mercenary. Join my mercenary group, and I will take care of you all,” Han Xiao said in a seductive voice.
Frenzied Sword did not hesitate and was the first to register. He only had two rules. First, he could eat well if he followed Han Xiao. Second, Han Xiao was always right.
The other players slowly joined, and Han Xiao smiled as he watched the whole process, as if he was seeing all the seeds buried into the soil, waiting for them to grow.
The display quickly switched to a new interface.
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Black Star Mercenary group
Credibility: 10
Scale: 47 members
Class C: 37 members
Missions Completed: 0
Active Region: None
Records: None
Creator: Black Star—Han Xiao
Creation date: Galaxy Calendar 2 October 688
Summary: Trainee mercenary group, small scale, abilities are similar among the members, no obvious strength.
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As the mercenary group had just started, they had no information. There were three criteria to rate a mercenary group: scale, strength, and credibility. The first two were requirements to determine which missions the organization could apply. For credibility, it was the ‘level’ of a mercenary group. The points for credibility could be gained after missions were completed. The credibility was the core representation of the reputation.
Many employers had standards for the credibility of the mercenaries. If the credibility score was too low, then the employer would reject the application of the mercenaries.
Credibility was also equivalent to popularity. Of course, in the formal document, it wouldn’t use such an informal word. But in the reputation system, it quantified the reputation system of the mercenary group, and only Han Xiao could see it.
Li Ge and Temple of God were not in the scene and ran around by themselves, so they were the only two groups that did not join the mercenary group. Han Xiao was irritated.
At this time, Han Xiao’s interface popped out a hint.
_____________
Faction formed: Black Star Mercenary Group
Faction Management Function activated.
_____________
The NPC model added a new option named [Faction Management], which was located to the side of [Dungeon Creation].
I knew it! Han Xiao was excited.
After he succeeded in dungeon creation, he had been wondering what other functions the NPC model had. He had expected a faction option to be one of the functions, but he had never activated it. He figured that, since he had belonged to the Dark Net, which Bennett was the boss of, the functions had never been needed before.
He had been pretty confident that only by creating a faction himself would the function be activated.
And he was right.
If the interface did not work, he probably would have given up, but now, with the management interface, it simplified the whole process.
Han Xiao quickly clicked into [Faction Management] and experimented with things, getting more excited as he looked on.
There was only one way describe this function.
You could do anything you want!
Chapter 333. Black Star: The Beginning (3) |
[Faction Management] was the most complicated among all the NPC interfaces. There was a dizzying number of options and information. Through this interface, Han Xiao had access to all the faction-related features a player would have, and he could also give out faction missions, albeit a limited amount.
The level of reward that he could give out was dependent on his own level, faction rank, faction influence, and legendary points.
_____________
Faction Reward Limit: 92,000
Faction Leader Level: 70 (+56,000 reward limit)
Officers: None (NPC)
Faction Size: 47 (+20,000 reward limit)
Renown: 2 (+4,000 reward limit)
Faction Leader Legendary Points: 3 (+15% reward limit)
Allies and Enemies: None
_____________
92,000 was the limit for a single mission, but the daily total limit was twenty times that amount, far more than the limit for individual members, which was only five times more. Moreover, the other factors such as the faction officers and renown would all add on to that limit. With everything added up, their faction’s currently daily total limit was twenty-six tim
es the base amount.
This meant that he could reward the players in his faction with a total of 2.4 million experience every day, but as there were currently fifty or so players, each player could only receive around 50,000 experience. This was not really a lot of experience for the players at their level.
The reward limit mainly controls the speed at which a faction can grow. This is only the base limit, so there’s still a lot of room for growth.
He made some calculations, and putting aside his leadership level, his own character level also contributed to the reward limit. Recruiting strong NPC officers to their faction would also greatly increase their reward limit. This convinced him of the need to start interacting with main storyline characters. The faction size was also separated into different stages, with the next cutoff being a hundred members. Renown was basically the same as the reputation system with a small difference. Faction renown was the aggregate of all area reputation points. For example, ten points of renown in the Garton Galaxy and five points in the Gelock Star Cluster would add up to a total of fifteen faction renown.
Legendary Points gave a percentage increase to the reward limit, and this increase was calculated after all the other factors such as leadership points were accounted for. The “Allies and Enemies” was basically the faction’s foreign relations.
Aside from faction missions, the system also allowed him to manage and monitor the player-faction relationship, as well individual players’ level of contribution. Overall, Han Xiao was very pleased with this new interface, and it could help him attract more players.
After Han Xiao established his faction, the other players also received notifications on their interface.
_____________
You have joined [Black Star Mercenary Group].
Current relationship: Cold (0/300)
_____________
The players were not surprised, as something like a faction notification was everyday business to them.
Han Xiao’s Faction Management system started listing out the names of the member players. His eyes flashed, and he gave out another notification.
_____________
You are the Black Star Mercenary Group’s first batch of recruits. You have gained 300 contribution points. Current relationship status: Neutral (300/1000)
_____________
“There’s something like this?”
“We got the neutral status directly.”
The players were overjoyed, and they hurriedly studied the faction interface. They wanted to find out what benefits they could get out of earning contribution points.
Once they entered the faction reward page, an assortment of items was displayed in front of them. Most of these items were originally in Han Xiao’s personal NPC shop, and he simply moved them over to the faction page. Moreover, he also threw in some good stuff that was not available from his shop. There were the Ranger 2.5 robots, each costing 1,500 contribution points to exchange; mini mobile turrets, each costing 1,200 points; and the original Python mechanical suit, which cost 6,000 points.
The equipment and items instantly caused a reaction from the players.
“Good stuff!”
“God-tier gear!”
The players were moved. These items had previously been unavailable to purchase no matter how much money they had.
“The mercenary group is newly established, and the credibility rating is still quite low,” Han Xiao said. “Only by raising our credibility rating can we take on higher level missions. We’re all comrades-in-arms now. Let’s work hard together for the future of the mercenary group.”
Immediately after, he made the faction size information visible to all the players in the interface. He wanted to use this as a reminder for them that they could take on jobs with better pay once they raised their rating. Moreover, he wanted the players to feel like they could directly contribute to the faction’s growth with their own actions.
The players were taking a while to process all this information.
Then, Han Xiao turned his attention to finding missions or job notices given by the Sunil tribe for his subclass. He quickly found several available missions; however, their faction’s credibility rating needed to be at least 120.
120 points? Han Xiao thought as he touched his chin. If he did things normally, he would be able to acquire 120 points after taking several outbound combat missions. However, he decided to take those menial labor missions that awarded at least one credibility point per mission. These daily missions were safe and easy, and they could be completed within the hub. Although it would take more missions, was this not what the players were for?”
He immediately used the newly gained interface to issue a faction mission.
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Faction Mission [Credibility Standard]
Mission Introduction: Black Star Mercenary Group has decided to take on an outbound assignment. However, the minimum credibility rating must first be met. (Note: This is the prerequisite of the first outbound assignment taken on by the faction.)
Mission requirement: Complete the daily missions and jobs at the Hub Center until the Black Star Mercenary Group has acquired 120 credibility points.
Reward: 45,000 experience and 300 faction contribution points
Remark: The three top contributors to meeting the credibility rating minimum will receive additional benefits.
_____________
“There isn’t much experience awarded, but the contribution points rewarded are not bad.”
“Did you not see? This is only the first part. We will be able to take on the combat assignment later on. That’s where we’ll be able to get the experience.”
“This is a team mission, right? It’s asking for everyone to contribute to the 120 points total.”
“Hoho. You even get benefits for being the top three.”
Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and the others got excited and could not sit still after seeing the reward. They knew better than anyone that Han Xiao’s ‘benefits’ would definitely not be ordinary.
The mission only required taking on the daily missions in the hub. These missions usually only had to do with cleaning and some other utility-related work. The good thing was that they did not have to go through the trouble of leaving the hub. If the fifty players worked together, they would be able to meet the credibility rating requirement very fast. Han Xiao was not worried at all. Moreover, the players had only been getting benefits ever since they joined the faction. So, they naturally had no reason to refuse the faction invitation.
After receiving Han Xiao’s orders, the players spread out and left to take on the daily missions. With this group of helpers, Han Xiao was able to clear out a lot of time for himself to deal with some other business. After he returned to the resting room, he decided to make some preparations as well as think through his future plans.
A few hours later, Li Ge and the others returned to the resting room. They had been walking around outside for quite a while. Li Ge had left for space because he wanted to trigger all those new missions. With so many new NPCs at the Hub Center, he could not wait to explore around and see what missions he could accept. However, he found out that most people there were travelers, and they all laughed Li Ge and the others away when they tried to offer help. The NPCs asked them why they did not just go to the Mercenary Alliance if they wanted to take on jobs.
Although they could not receive any missions, they were able to get a new piece of information. After heading to the Mercenary Alliance and busying themselves for half the day, they finally registered themselves as mercenaries. Seeing the countless listings of jobs and missions convinced them that they had made the right choice in coming to space.
Furthermore, Li Ge believed that acting by themselves was the right action to take, as they had gained a lead on the other players.
The group of people chatted as they walked to the room’s entrance.
“We have gained an advantage this time. Do you think we should tell others
about this mercenary thing?”
Li Ge shook his head. “This is an opportunity that we found. We’re all competing against each other here. There’s no need to tell them straight away.”
“But should we tell them if they were to ask?”
Li Ge thought about this, and he appeared to be troubled. Hiding away information like this after being asked would cause trouble easily. Just as he was trying to decide what to do, the group opened the door to the room. However, they realized that not a single player was in the room.
“Hmm.” A Temple of God player was confused and asked, “Where did the others go?”
“No idea.” Li Ge was glad and secretly let out a deep breath. He no longer had to be afraid of being questioned by the other players.
Chapter 334. Black Star: The Beginning (4) |
They all turned around, but they only saw Han Xiao alone in the room playing with the communicator. He quietly said, “You guys are finally back. You are the only ones left.”
“What do you mean?” Li Ge asked.
“All the other players have already joined my Mercenary Group. How about you?”
Li Ge froze.
Does that mean that everyone else has already become mercenaries? Then what was the point of all our hard work‽
And what’s a Mercenary Group?
A bad feeling slowly arose in their hearts.
“We’ve already registered as mercenaries,” Li Ge replied honestly.
Han Xiao raised his brows and announced a mission to join the Black Star Mercenary Group. Li Ge had nowhere else to go, so they quickly accepted the mission, went to the Mercenary Lobby, and joined the Mercenary Group.
Right after that, they activated the mission that other players had begun a while ago. Seeing the Faction Introduction and the mission requirement, Li Ge and others could not believe their eyes.
Li Ge was upset. This was supposed to be their treatment, but because they had moved on their own, they were behind in process compared to the other players. Just before they got back, they had been feeling pleased with themselves, but now, Li Ge only felt embarrassed. He had wasted so much time and energy wandering around, and he had not achieved anything other than lagging behind in progress.