[Paradise Main Quest]
[Current Phase: Approach of the Black Shadow]
[Attention to all players participating in the open beta, from now on, every instance you experience may encounter...Power from the Abyss. Successful handling will grant extra rewards and progress.]
[1. Confronting the Power of the Abyss is extremely dangerous. Please consider carefully.]
[2. The main quest of the current world will persist until the Pollution Value reaches 1000.]
[3. Once the Pollution Value hits 1000, a major event in the current version will occur! Please try to slow down the increase of the Pollution Value!]
"Old Mo…" Su Qi spoke softly, "So, what is this Pollution Value?"
At this moment, Su Qi was sitting next to a restaurant.
Sub-area number 5, overseen by... the Empty Blade Club.
Under each core hub, there are more than a dozen, twenty areas guarded and developed by top clubs as shelters.
A burly man next to him, with a stern face, sipped his drink gently:
"Don't sound so familiar; we've only known each other for less than two hours."
He was also being petty today.
As an old-timer in Paradise, knowing that today's open beta would bring in a massive influx of new players entering Paradise.
Ready to sell some of his useless stuff for a high price to these newcomers.
After all, newcomers...
Just like freshmen in college, new interns, and novices in games.
They are the best to squeeze for profit.
They tend to be new to the world, lacking social experience, thin-skinned, and under the pressure of veterans in Paradise, they always end up being led by the nose and then suffer losses but are powerless to change that.
He had set his sights on Su Qi, who appeared in this city.
Since players entering Paradise for the open beta all have anonymous protection, currently a free service offered by Paradise, but after a certain time, it needs to be purchased with Spirit Coins.
From the moment he saw Su Qi, glancing around curiously at everything, his curiosity was evident.
The two of them struck up a conversation, originally planning to peddle his useless junk for a high price in Spirit Coins.
Somehow... not a single item sold, and he was bombarded with questions by this guy, now sitting in a bar in this leisure area.
The drinks were even on him.
"...." Old Mo guzzled down his drink, now somewhat regretful of picking what seemed like a naive newbie but turned out to be a quite savvy fellow.
"That Pollution Value... is a scale that records the erosion of Abyss Power."
"The higher its value, the greater the level of pollution, indicating greater dangers that are about to occur."
Su Qi responded, "I see, what's the Pollution Value right now?"
Old Mo gently opened a popup, displaying a funnel-like hourglass with a bit of Black Fog slowly descending, while the bottom looked like a thick black lake.
Above it flashed dark numbers.
Su Qi paused, "That number doesn't seem very high…"
Old Mo shook his head, his voice grave, "It wasn't before; the Pollution Value... was once as high as 700 before the Rainbow Bridge incident, but for some reason, it suddenly dropped."
"A lot of us speculated if something happened in the Anxious Land, but it's a good thing overall."
Su Qi remained silent.
He probably knew what happened; it must have been his re-suppression of the God of Anxiety that caused the previously high Pollution Value to plummet like a cliff.
The stockholders of Paradise should be relieved, but those from the Abyss Camp might be freaking out.
Su Qi, following Old Mo's method, found the window to check the Pollution Value, which even required spending 1000 Spirit Coins.
Typical of Paradise, always scamming players for resources.
And saw...the number had changed to [160]
"It increased again? That fast?" Su Qi was somewhat surprised.
Old Mo said solemnly, "It's always fluctuating. Various erosions occurring in the Present World affect its change, and players clearing instances can also solve some parts, pulling the Pollution Value back and forth."
"You see, it decreased again."
Now it had changed to 157.
It seemed that inside an instance, some players had resolved part of the pollution, or maybe someone in the Present World was making efforts.
It fluctuated, but according to information from Paradise, as long as it doesn't exceed 1000 points, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
And seeing how well Old Mo knew about the Pollution Value, Su Qi roughly understood that this Pollution Value had been around for a long time and was a very important indicator.
He didn't know if there had ever been cases of exceeding the limit, and what would happen after reaching a thousand wasn't asked, considering they had only known each other for two hours. Despite being conversed into familiarity, and even actively (coerced into) treating him, he probably wouldn't get the answer he wanted on such an important issue.
It would be the same asking Xu Linqiu later.
"So... are you interested in those tools I mentioned just now?"
Old Mo finally asked again, "These items are essential for my journey so far, now selling at a loss, each for only 1000 Spirit Coins."