Chapter 632: I'm a Protagonist, and I Have to Pay for Skills?! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

However, the NPCs in the game are quite intelligent!

On the way to hunt the kobolds, Song Ren couldn't help but exclaim as he thought of the scenes he had witnessed.

He realized that the NPCs in the game were nothing like the emotionless backdrop, quest-giving machines of older MMORPGs.

Back then, any player could just walk up, talk, and get a quest.

The NPCs in Warcraft were very human-like when giving and turning in quests, just like Chloe in the Nebula World.

Moreover, players could use microphones to communicate with NPCs for quests.

While a little chuuni, their voices were optimized, making players sound as if they'd hired a million-dollar audio engineer, creating a strong sense of immersion.

With a sigh, Song Ren glanced at the quest requirements and rewards.

Eliminate 10 Kobold Thugs in the vicinity, and the reward, besides experience, was 25 copper coins.

It was the first quest, so getting any money was good, but seriously, 25 copper coins was too little, wasn't it?

Looking at the three currency units of gold, silver, and copper, and then at the copper coins rewarded by the quest, Song Ren was speechless.

If future quests gave so little money, just doing quests probably wouldn't even be enough to repair equipment, buy potions, or learn skills.

As he thought this, Song Ren, like the other players around him, excitedly headed towards the small forest outside the abbey, ready to hunt kobolds.

“There are too many people, aren't there?”

Looking at the dense crowd, with a fireball occasionally flying past him, Song Ren couldn't help but sigh.

Meanwhile, the nearby chat interface was already buzzing with activity.

Mainly, some players were complaining about kill stealing.

For the monster kill adjudication mechanism in the game, Chen Xu adopted a contribution rate system.

This meant that if players weren't in a party, the ownership of a killed monster would go to the player who dealt the most damage. So, if a monster had 100 HP, and one person dealt 49 damage while another dealt 51 damage, the kill would be adjudicated to the latter, not just based on the last hit.

Of course, in team mode, it didn't matter. However, experience points would be numerically balanced according to level differences.

However, considering that players might not always stick to one character, and the cultivation and growth progress of new characters would be slow, Chen Xu and his team would consider corresponding measures later.

For example, by creating alt characters of the same level as a max-level main character, players could switch races and classes within the same faction without inheriting items from the original character. Then, a dedicated questline providing transitional equipment, or other methods, would be tested.

But for now, this aspect didn't require too much thought.

“Can't these guys switch races, or maybe servers? There are too many people!” Song Ren grumbled.

He had just spotted a kobold and hadn't even had time to approach before several fireballs flew over from not far away. Not a single living kobold could stand for even a second. Besides their mournful dying cry of 'You can't take my candle!', and the burning candle on their heads, there was nothing left to prove they had ever existed.

Complaints aside, Song Ren was actually quite excited at this moment.

After all, humans are like that.

In an MMORPG newbie village, seeing too many people and not being able to get kills would lead to complaints.

But similarly, if there were only a few players visible in a newbie village, another thought would emerge: a game with no one playing is truly boring.

Simply put, it was a 'true fragrance' moment; complaining verbally but feeling delighted inwardly.

Watching the bustling MMORPG newbie village, Song Ren was already looking forward to his subsequent experience in Warcraft.

Because judging by the design of the Alliance and Horde factions...

Warcraft clearly featured PVP as a major highlight.

And for PVP, the more people, the more fun it was, naturally.

If it were just a handful of players, what would be the point?

Complaining under his breath, Song Ren searched for stray kobolds.

He deliberately went a bit further, reaching a more secluded area to find isolated kobolds and start fighting.

The combat system in Warcraft was different from his previous life.

As a next-gen VR title, coupled with the existence of brainwave technology...

These technological breakthroughs also made the game's combat richer and gave it a stronger sense of impact.

Players could choose full auto-combat or full manual control in the game.

With manual control, attacking vital points would grant a certain damage bonus, including a slight increase in critical hit chance.

As for using auto mode, it was purely dependent on panel data.

Naturally, the damage output from the two different modes wouldn't differ too significantly.

True masters who could consistently strike an enemy's vital points would, logically, deal higher damage.

However, this was strictly calculated; a level 10 player couldn't defeat a level 30 player just by hitting vital points every time.

As an MMORPG, which is a gear-driven game, attributes still held the primary position.

But at the same level, better skill definitely provided an advantage.

Of course, for ordinary players, auto mode was the most convenient.

The settings of these systems also greatly surprised Song Ren, as they were quite to his liking.

Although he often played games, whenever there was a difficulty selection, he invariably chose the easiest difficulty.

But that was just a choice; in reality, he felt he had a lot of gaming talent.

He wasn't actually that bad!

“In this control mode, auto mode is average, while manual mode has a lower floor but a higher ceiling,” Song Ren commented on the game's combat system.

“But this is perfect for me! After all, I need a control scheme to showcase my skills! The future top warrior of Azeroth definitely needs to be a master of controls!” Song Ren decisively chose manual mode, using the controller with brainwave operation assistance.

Successfully completing the marshal's quest, he then accepted a quest to eliminate a wolf pack in the forest.

After defeating the forest wolves in the woods, Song Ren returned to turn in the quest.

The reward for this quest was much more generous than the previous one, allowing him to choose one piece of equipment from shoes and bracers.

Though both were white-tier, it was still better than nothing.

Next, he continued to talk to the marshal, heading to Echo Cave to eliminate more kobolds.

Returning to turn in the quest, he leveled up to four.

The only thing that bothered Song Ren was how slowly money seemed to come in this game!

He sold all his miscellaneous items, only to gather 1 silver coin and 56 copper coins.

Even a single piece of crappy white-tier equipment in the shop cost dozens of copper coins.

Then, filled with emotion, Song Ren entered the abbey. After speaking with the Warrior Training Instructor, he was shocked by the panel before him.

What did he see? Learning a single skill cost 1 silver coin? His entire net worth couldn't even afford two skills?

As the future Dawn Star of Azeroth, guardian of Stormwind, and pillar of the Alliance, couldn't they invest in him early on?

Didn't they say humanity's great new chapter would be written by him?

Why did learning a skill still deduct 1 silver coin from him?

Is there no humanity left?!

Looking at the Warrior Instructor before him, Song Ren felt a pang of frustration.

(End of Chapter) <>