Chapter 28: Moon Phase Changes

"Any players in the Bloodied Plains area come help? This Level 14 Furious Pincer has a sliver of health left. Our squad is down to just me; we can't hold out. Requesting support (Attached: Coordinates)."

"Seeking last hits on monsters in the Ancient Battlefield area. Requirement: I deliver the final blow after the monster is critically wounded. Cash transfer compensation provided (priced according to monster level). Preferably located near me; do not private message if you are too far away (Attached: Coordinates)."

"Crime Syndicate recruiting powerful players. Requirements: Level 8+, preferably with real-world combat or martial arts experience. Compensation details via private message."

"Let all these recruitment messages calm down for a moment. I just have one question: are the bastards roaming the Ancient Battlefield stealing last hits brain-damaged? Can't you find your own squads to farm monsters and level up? Do you just enjoy roaming around annoying people? Born without a mother..."

"Hahaha, dying of laughter. Just now, a squad besieged a Level 13 Cursed Eye and got wiped out. I went over, saw it was critically wounded, decisively delivered the last hit, and freely gained Evolution Points and Sacrificial Power. Thanks to those brothers for their earlier efforts. Heart symbol."

Above the Primordial Altar, Qi Sheng sat cross-legged.

His consciousness reviewed the various feedback players provided while exploring the Monster World, gathering content that needed improvement for the next update.

With new players joining, the daily output of Sacrificial Power revenue had surged dramatically.

According to statistics from the Guide, each player contributed an average of 3 points of Sacrificial Power per day, and this revenue continued to grow steadily as player levels increased.

The regional voice channels, once desolate, had also become unusually lively recently.

Every minute and second, players were discussing game content or recruiting teammates to explore the Monster World together.

Besides bringing more Sacrificial Power revenue, the growth in player numbers had also led to new progress in containing the Primordial entities.

Just half an hour ago, a player squad of seventeen discovered a Generation One Primordial monster, 'Twilight Shadow,' in the Ancient Battlefield.

This monster appeared as a mass of black mist, possessing the ability to switch between tangible and intangible forms; in its mist form, only elemental attacks could damage it.

Its hunting level was 8.

After encountering the seventeen-person player squad, it attacked proactively; following a bitter half-hour battle, the players successfully killed it and contained it in the tenth slot of the Primordial Containment Wall.

The news of successful containment caused a surge of attention among players when it refreshed in the regional channel.

This was also the first time newly joined players had seen the regional system notification for a successful Primordial containment.

After quickly reviewing the various information output by the players, Qi Sheng opened his eyes.

Instantly, the surging stream of information in his mind came to an abrupt halt.

After two days of observation, he had conducted a detailed summary of the player feedback.

Among it, two key issues required improvement.

The first was the issue of channel communication.

In the initial setup, he had divided the players' online chat modes into three channels: Squad Chat Channel, Regional Chat Channel, and World Chat Channel.

The Squad Chat Channel referred to the private chat channel of one's own team; non-team players could not view or participate in the conversation.

The Regional Channel referred to large areas within the Monster World like the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, rather than subdivided areas within the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range such as the Bloodied Plains, Ancient Battlefield, or Spirit Artifact Valley.

The World Chat Channel referred to the largest chat channel where all players, regardless of their location in the Monster World, could participate and communicate.

The addition of ten thousand new players had filled the originally quiet regional chat channels with all kinds of information, causing players' posted requests to be scrolled away quickly, making them difficult to fulfill.

For example, a player on the Bloodied Plains sought help from nearby players, but the large number of players in the Ancient Battlefield kept spamming recruitment messages for new members, forcing the Bloodied Plains players to also spam to increase the exposure of their requests.

Qi Sheng believed that the next game update could divide the chat channels in more detail.

Based on the Squad Chat Channel, Regional Chat Channel, and World Chat Channel, he would add a Small Regional Channel.

This Small Regional Channel would display directly using place names.

For instance, if a player was in the Ancient Battlefield, the Small Regional Chat Channel name would display as 'Ancient Battlefield Chat Channel'; if a player was in Emperor Tomb Village, it would display as 'Emperor Tomb Village Chat Channel,' and so on.

A more refined division of chat channels could significantly improve the efficiency of players fulfilling their needs.

The second issue related to killing monsters to level up.

In the initial setup, he had divided the players' monster-killing leveling Cultivation Mode into two types.

The first type was: the player who delivered the final blow to the monster, meaning the one who achieved the actual kill, received all hunting rewards.

The second type was: players who participated in killing a Primordial monster shared the rewards.

This setting now appeared unfriendly to the players.

He had seen players complaining in the chat channels more than once that the game's last-hit setting had created numerous 'last-hit thieves.'

The so-called 'last-hit thieves' referred to a group unwilling to fight monsters themselves, choosing instead to roam everywhere, specifically seeking out monsters critically wounded by other players to steal the final blow.

In Qi Sheng's view, competition among players was a good thing; conflicts and disputes could significantly enhance players' desire for growth and their wish to acquire greater strength.

However, vicious competition would only ruin the players' gaming experience.

To put an end to such incidents and to provide players with better feedback for killing monsters and leveling up.

He decided to change the setting where the 'final blow' granted all rewards; instead, the player squad that dealt the most damage to the monster would share the hunting kill rewards. If an ungrouped individual player dealt the most damage, that individual would receive all rewards.

He planned to modify and add these two new settings in the next update.

Just as Qi Sheng was pondering what else needed updating, a spatial vortex suddenly manifested before him, and the Guide Water Sphere drilled out from the vortex, hovering in front of him:

【Boss, there is a situation with the moon phase of the Evil Moon.】

Upon hearing this, Qi Sheng immediately switched his perspective to the Guide avatar outside Emperor Tomb Village.

Shifting his gaze to the sky, he saw the waning moon hanging high had been covered by a thick layer of mist, becoming blurry and indistinct; the moon phase appeared highly unstable, with ripples like water waves rising on its surface, as if undergoing some unknown transformation.

As time passed, the dark red substance constituting the waning moon slowly moved downward.

Instantly, the Evil Moon burst forth with dazzling bloody light.

In an instant, the Black Black Tide energy shrouding the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range fluctuated violently, and the earth trembled along with it.

Players exploring outside looked up at the sky one after another, unsure of what was happening.

At this moment, the players were surprised to discover that the surrounding environment began to distort and change, like a stone thrown into a calm Firefly Lake creating ripples; everything within sight became blurry and twisted.

Seeing this scene, Qi Sheng immediately realized that the moon phase in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range area was switching to the Last Quarter Moon.

He decisively issued a game notification to all players.

(End of Chapter)