Chapter 119: We Received Player Feedback

Terumi Mei's gaze was cold and sharp; she wished she could bite the game merchant who was obsessed with money to death.

She asked, "A Family Badge costs nearly as much as a Mangekyo Sharingan; what kind of abilities does it have?"

She had just emptied her coffers to buy Silver Material, and now a Family Badge had popped up.

Terumi Mei regretted it in her heart; if she had known, she wouldn't have founded a family, but instead waited for the Dawn Family to be established, then contacted Sunagakure and Iwagakure to launch a sneak attack on them and break their family monument.

If no one could found a family, then no one would need to waste Reward Points.

Standing within the empty Family Territory, Ao carefully read through the introduction regarding the Family Badge and explained, "The data shows the players two types of Family Badge abilities."

Terumi Mei also opened the family panel and flipped to the data introduction for the Family Badge.

A total of two badges were displayed.

The first one was the size of a palm, entirely deep blue, and shaped like a complete snowflake.

"Family Badges are divided into two types: combat and auxiliary."

"This badge is called the 【Snow Soul Badge】; it is a combat type. It can be embedded into the family monument. Once activated, it consumes a certain amount of Reward Points per minute to provide all family members with 10 points of Ice Attribute Attack Reinforcement."

"All family members?"

Terumi Mei's emerald eyes lit up, and she asked in astonishment, "It can provide a full 10 points of Ice Attribute Attack Reinforcement?"

Ao nodded and said, "That's right, that is what the data says. Although the game merchant values Reward Points quite a bit, the items sold are fair and honest; there have never been any defective products."

10 points of Ice Attribute Attack Reinforcement!

Terumi Mei took a deep breath, her fair, delicate palm gently stroking her chest to soothe her violently pounding heart.

A set of attribute-reinforcement-type armor would have to be at least level 15 and of green quality to provide 10 points of attribute attack reinforcement.

She had tried wearing attribute-reinforcement armor before; even when throwing a Kunai, it would be imbued with fire attribute energy, and skill strength would also increase accordingly. The higher the attribute attack, the stronger the amplification effect.

After calming her emotions, Terumi Mei asked, "Ao, how much does a set of green-quality, attribute-reinforcement-type armor cost?"

Ao thought for a moment and replied, "Merchant players can buy complete sets of armor directly; the price fluctuates around four thousand Reward Points. Some groups of solo players sell them cheaper, but they don't have complete sets, only individual pieces."

During this period, players had been frantically clearing Sihun Yingdi, dropping a large number of blue and green quality armor and jewelry, which caused equipment prices to drop slightly; otherwise, it would be even more expensive.

Upon hearing the answer,

Terumi Mei's emotions, which she had finally managed to suppress, surged back up. She said excitedly, "There's actually such a good deal?"

Two hundred Wuyin Family players, all of whom could be provided with 10 points of Ice Attribute Reinforcement.

That is equivalent to two hundred sets of green-quality armor—it is absolutely an astronomical figure!

The Family Badge only costs 100,000 Reward Points; it is truly worth more than its price. No... it's practically picking up Reward Points for free.

Even,

It stirred a sense of vengeance in Terumi Mei's heart after being scammed out of the Silver Heart material.

"How many Reward Points are left in our warehouse?"

"Eighty thousand Reward Points."

After pondering for a moment, Terumi Mei said, "Prepare the two properties we just occupied on the border of the Land of Fire. If we haven't obtained the special reward in three days, we will directly purchase a random Family Badge."

"Mizukage-sama."

Ao tactfully reminded her, "Family Badges have a high degree of randomness. Combat types include physical attack, energy attack, physical defense, energy defense, movement speed, casting speed..."

"The difficulty of randomly getting the Family Badge you want is very high."

Most of the Wuyin Family players are Wuyin ninja and civilians from the Land of Water; their attack methods lean towards energy and water attributes, and there are many Mage-type professions.

If a badge like physical attack amplification randomly appears, it would be a total waste of 100,000 Reward Points.

"Even..."

Ao sighed and continued, "There are also auxiliary badges, such as badges that amplify tailoring skills, which can increase the success rate when crafting Cloth Armor, or energy potion badges that increase the success rate or mutation chance of brewing energy potions."

Terumi Mei's excitement collapsed instantly.

Then, her gaze locked onto the chat channel, on the announcement posted by the game merchant.

That Family Badge carrying the (Fixed) suffix meant one could actively choose the badge's attributes, without needing to gamble on luck like opening a can.

Terumi Mei was full of regret and sighed, "Whoever can get the special reward is essentially earning hundreds of thousands of Reward Points. Damn it..."

In the short term, it was already impossible to drop enough Silver Heart to surpass the Dawn Family.

Could it be that she could only watch helplessly as the Dawn Family took the special reward?

Of course that was impossible.

Behind the screen,

Watching Konan, who had a look of "this wave is stable" on her face, and Terumi Mei, who was full of unwillingness.

And the Sunagakure and Konoha of the Land of Hot Water who were holding their ground, Fang Yi revealed a comforted smile.

Is competition the most important thing in a game?

How could there be a situation where players have energy but nowhere to use it, and have Reward Points but nowhere to spend them?

Watching the dejected expressions of the top players, Fang Yi decided to step forward; protecting the players' smiles was an incumbent responsibility for a game planner.

Two seconds later,

The game merchant issued a special announcement.

【Game Merchant】: Regarding the recent feedback from most players that the drop rate of the Silver Material 【Sarina's Heart】 is too low and the demand is too high, we have made slight changes to 【Sihun Yingdi】.

For the Jigoku-kyuu fukuhon, the material drop rate remains unchanged.

For Adventure and Youshi-kyuu Sihun Yingdi, we have added new materials: 【Sarina's Heart (Purple)】, 【Sarina's Heart (Blue)】, and 【Xinzang Nianheji】 material.

Consuming 【Xinzang Nianheji】 allows for the bonding of low-quality 【Sarina's Heart】; after a successful bond, the quality will be improved.

Who gave feedback?

Don't talk nonsense; when have we, the players of the Dawn Family, ever given feedback?

The Dawn Family, which had already secured a sure victory, felt the deep malice coming from the Samsara Game, and the Alliance of merchants, who were hoarding the remaining five Silver Materials, also hurriedly began to call out and sell them off.

Just half an hour after the special announcement was released,

【Game Merchant】: Congratulations to player 【Elder】 for founding the Shayin Family.

【Game Merchant】: Congratulations to player 【Huangtu】 for founding the Yanyin Family.

【Game Merchant】: Congratulations to player 【Inheritor of the Will of Fire】 for founding the Konoha Family.

【Game Merchant】: Congratulations to player 【White-Scaled Great Snake】 for founding the Konoha Empire Family.

The continuous announcements tugged at the players' heartstrings.

Factions that were previously watching from the sidelines because their foundations were not solid enough or their strength was not considered very strong, did not hesitate to choose to found a family after seeing the latest announcements.

Was it that they did not want to found a family and compete for special rewards?

How could that be?

Founding a family can gather players, and the earlier one founds it, the better the gathering effect; delaying it again and again was merely a helpless move.

Otherwise, when the Mist Village and Dawn were acquiring Silver Hearts, everyone was unwilling to sell them for a full forty thousand Reward Points precisely because they had a restless heart.

……

Sunagakure, Fengying Dalou.

The sculptures of the past Kazekage radiated a cold luster, solemnly and majestically displayed in the center of the council chamber.

Rasa, who had died and been resurrected, had lingering fear as well as anger in his expression.

As a dignified Kazekage, he had actually been ambushed by Orochimaru, causing Sunagakure to fail to gain any advantage in the Konoha Collapse Plan.

"Gaara."

Rasa suddenly spoke, breaking the quiet atmosphere.

He raised his head, his gaze complex as he looked at Gaara, who was sitting at the end of the row; this jinchuriki of the One-Tail in Sunagakure was also his own biological son.

He was also the savior who had taken out a Resurrection Coin and was willing to let him, the Fourth Kazekage, return to the world of the living.

"Lord Kazekage."

Gaara was expressionless, as if he were a monster without emotions.

But Rasa could clearly see the hatred and fear flashing in the depths of the other's eyes, not as if he were looking at a father and a Kazekage, but as if he were looking at an enemy.

Sighing slightly in his heart,

Rasa suddenly stood up and said in a very serious tone: "Gaara, the jinchuriki of the One-Tail Shukaku, because his personality was cowardly and unable to withstand the powerful mental oppression of Shukaku, he went on a rampage repeatedly in his childhood, and was judged by me, as the Fourth Kazekage, to be a complete failure."

The cold and heartless words

made the Sunagakure Elders present unable to help but frown.

Temari's face was dissatisfied; although she feared Gaara somewhat, he was her own younger brother after all, and she could not bear to see Gaara's scars torn open in front of everyone, but when she wanted to speak, she was stopped by the silent Kankuro.

Is it another cliché tactic?

Mental stimulation, sending people to assassinate; all of it is wanting to kill me and then replace me with a new jinchuriki, just because I am the product of an absolute failure.

Yechawan treated me as the murderer who killed my sister.

Temari and Kankuro fear me.

Father even treats me as a failure, constantly wanting to kill me.

Even Mother deeply hated me before she died.

So, what exactly am I?

Gaara lowered his head, the chakra within his body uncontrollably becoming violent, and the shrill laughter of Shukaku began to ring in his mind again.

Hatred, misfortune, slaughter……

This is the value of my existence.

The sand inside the gourd on his back churned as if a storm had been whipped up, adhering to Gaara's skin, making half of his body look like a raccoon monster, filled with chaos and malice.

"Killing you all, this is the value of my living on!"

"Still unable to control yourself?"

Rasa frowned slightly, not directly releasing Ninjutsu to control Gaara as he usually did when Shukaku went on a rampage.

Instead, he lifted his feet and walked with firm steps to the front of Gaara.

"Want to kill me? …… Come on!"

"A failure like me, a monster like me, should have died a long time ago, right?"

The monster raised his head, staring fixedly at his father, who was close at hand but seemed like a stranger.

This feeling of loneliness, being abandoned by the whole world, is so painful.

Rasa's gaze was calm, but his heart was stinging.

Since succeeding as the Fourth Kazekage, he had been busy and toiling for Sunagakure, and had never looked at Gaara properly like he did today.

As Kazekage, he should have been hard-hearted and dedicated everything to Sunagakure.

But as it happened, the second before he was killed by Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto, the image of Gaara appeared in his mind.

"I am the one who should say I'm sorry."

Rasa took a deep breath and bowed deeply toward Gaara.

"In the eyes of the Fourth Kazekage, you are a failure."

"But I am not only the Fourth Kazekage, I am also your father; standing from a father's perspective, I am the terrifying monster, the complete failure."

The appearance of the Samsara Game,

the destruction of the strongest Ninja Village, and his own death suddenly made Rasa see through many things.

At first, even if he worked himself to the bone, he wanted to revitalize Sunagakure, but he did not trust anyone at all, and even his own son was treated as a tool by him.

The final outcome gained this way would likely not be much better than Konoha's.

Kankuro's punch really did hurt.

"Are... you crazy?"

Gaara's tightly wound heartstrings suddenly trembled violently; he could hardly imagine hearing such words.

Yechawan, Mother...

"It's all fake."

As if able to fathom Gaara's inner thoughts, Rasa's eyes grew deeper with guilt as he said, "Yechawan, and your mother, they are the people in this world who love you the most."

Opening his five fingers, dazzling Gold Sand raged outward.

It struck Gaara's gourd.

Before Gaara could even react, the sand inside the gourd had already flowed out, blocking Rasa's Gold Sand.

A sensation of chakra that made Gaara feel warm, as if a beam of light had dispelled the darkness, swirled around him.

"The power of absolute defense does not come from Shukaku."

"It is your mother, Jialulu's chakra; even before she died, she was worried about you and wanted to protect you."

Rain Village,

it was still pouring rain.

Row upon row of pitch-black iron-clad buildings, dense like a forest built of steel, gave one a suffocating, unpleasant feeling.

From the top of a crooked building pieced together from strangely shaped iron pipes, one could overlook the entire village.

Sitting atop the building, Pain, on the tongue of a giant iron mask, looked indifferent.

"Childish ideals!"

Pain let out a low mutter to himself.

He could not remember how many times he had argued with Konan during this recent period.

Even as partners who walked hand-in-hand, they would not yield an inch when facing disputes over their ideals.

"Only pain can bring true peace; wishful thinking about conversion and understanding?"

He did not say the words that followed,

for his murdered friend proved this path was wrong; those who have not experienced pain simply cannot understand one another.

"Nagato."

Konan's figure appeared in mid-air, her white paper wings behind her making her look like an angel.

Nagato's gaze lowered unconsciously,

and he saw a pitch-black envelope being handed over.

The ripples of the Rinnegan shifted slightly; this was Nagato's state of intense focus. He felt it was strange—it was clearly an envelope without the slightest fluctuation of chakra, yet it was able to avoid the falling rain.

It was as if there were a barrier isolating it from the entire world.

"I founded the Dawn Family, and every month there are two Game Invitations; this way, Nagato can also become a player."

With no outsiders present,

Konan's iceberg-like demeanor seemed to melt slightly, and she looked at Nagato with a smile at the corners of her eyes.

Nagato frowned, his raised palm falling back down as he said coldly, "I have said it before, your ideals are simply unrealistic. Only by collecting Tailed Beasts can true peace be brought about; I have no time to help you."

"Becoming a player allows you to keep growing stronger, and it can also help you collect Tailed Beasts."

Konan did not oppose the action of collecting Tailed Beasts;

during this time, she had been in deep contact with the commoners at the bottom of society and understood that changing reality required not just an attitude of mutual understanding, but also powerful strength as a backing.

"I do not need to become stronger; I am already the God of this world!"

Nagato, controlling the body of Pain, said these words without expression,

but his true body inside the base was unexpectedly somewhat angry, due to his partner's doubt in him.

Possessing these eyes known as "controlling the cycle of life and death," no one in the ninja world could be his opponent; even Madara Uchiha, who hid behind the Akatsuki, he had the confidence to fight.

Konan raised her eyes, looking straight at Pain as if seeing Nagato, and said, "Latest news: the former Konoha ninja wanted by the Konoha Empire, the rogue ninja led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, have settled in the Land of Hot Water. Among them, there is a suspected appearance of the deceased Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato."

"Resurrecting the dead?"

"That's right. In the battle that collapsed Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi was killed by Onoki's Dust Release, yet he was resurrected completely unharmed."

This is the terrifying ability of the Samsara Game.

Even the deceased can return to the present world completely intact.

Pain sat silently in the rain,

resurrecting the dead... the ability of the Rinnegan could also do this; the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique could resurrect the dead once released.

But it required consuming a massive amount of the user's life force.

He had the ability to resurrect Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just died, but to resurrect Namikaze Minato, who had been dead for many years... it was simply impossible.

Even if he exhausted all his life force, he could not do it.

Otherwise, Yahiko would have been resurrected by him long ago.

After a long silence,

Nagato affirmed, "An unfathomable ability. Perhaps the distance between the Pure Land of another world and the present world is relatively close, so they were able to research a unique resurrection technique; it does not mean the game merchant's strength is great."

He was very resistant to the Samsara Game, believing the game merchant profaned peace.

"That is not the case."

Footsteps suddenly sounded.

A voice stepped unhurriedly onto the cluttered pipes, climbing up from behind Pain, out of the pitch-black, cold, slanted iron tower.

"After encountering new things, what we need to do is make contact, then understand and digest them, rather than being like the decrepit Hanzo, locking ourselves in a dark, narrow room."

"What difference is there between this mask shop of yours and Hanzo's office back then?"

Obscured by dark clouds, the cold, temperatureless light fell upon the visitor, unable to conceal his striking orange-yellow hair.

Yahiko looked at the Puppet body controlled by Nagato, revealing a warm smile like sunlight.

"Long time no see, Nagato."

(End of this chapter)