Chapter 95: Definition of Game Currency

Altar of Meng Yuan Chu.

Day 42 since server launch.

At this moment, Qi Sheng was reviewing the data feedback from the Guidance Statistics.

{Player count: 18,325 (14,238 online)}

Number of Meng Yuan Chu traits collected: 22

Player-generated Shou Shou Jili per hour (real-time update): 52,932.

Average Painful Painful Minghun level (average level of Painful Painful Minghun embedded in single-player star-vein networks): 18.3

Owned domain nodes: Beneath Di Zhao Village (rule), Dark Cave (resource), Mo Pendant Pit (resource).

……

Through Guidance Statistics, it was evident that after the insect tide emerged, player-generated Shou Shou Jili had significantly increased.

This also accelerated his pace of recruiting new players.

Now, he issued new game access daily, continuously recruiting promising newcomers.

With player numbers growing, he considered constructing a new batch of functional buildings within Beneath Di Zhao Village, similar to the Test Tower.

If conditions permitted, he even contemplated opening land auctions for purchase, allowing players to freely build shops.

For example, the Sandamo Sect mentioned by players on the forum could open shops within Beneath Di Zhao Village to expand their sales channels.

But at this stage, his core goal remained player recruitment; these ideas lacked immediate motivation for implementation.

After all, players were productivity.

Each player, as their strength grew, steadily provided him with an upward curve of Shou Shou Jili returns.

During the statistical period, he also discovered a curious incident in the game.

Many pay-to-win players complained that the cash price for purchasing Shou Shou Jili had risen significantly again, and could only be acquired in scattered amounts, making bulk purchases difficult.

At launch, the Shou Shou Jili-to-cash exchange rate was 1:50; now it had risen to 1:175.

The primary cause of this effect was tied to the game's unique environment.

Out of curiosity, Qi Sheng researched the price fluctuations of game currency exchanged for real money.

He found the greatest factor influencing game currency was supply and demand.

Excess game currency supply, exceeding demand, caused the ratio to drop.

Conversely, when demand exceeded supply, prices rose.

Four main factors influenced supply-demand fluctuations.

First was the currency generation and consumption mechanism.

Excessive currency generation leading to insufficient consumption lowered currency value; conversely, rapid consumption with insufficient generation raised currency value.

Second was in-game economic activity—for instance, his lottery events caused sharp spikes in Shou Shou Jili-to-cash exchange rates within short periods.

In other games, such activities appeared as event dungeons, special quests, or pay-to-win events, generating or consuming massive amounts of game currency, thereby affecting the cash exchange ratio and supply-demand balance.

The third factor was player purchasing power—the number of pay-to-win players.

More pay-to-win players meant greater game currency consumption and rising demand.

More grind players meant greater currency generation, leading to reduced demand after continuous satisfaction.

The fourth factor was market speculation—some savvy players exploited price fluctuations of in-game materials and currency, engaging in speculative operations such as hoarding resources or currency to buy low and sell high, further intensifying fluctuations in the Shou Shou Jili-to-cash exchange rate.

Monster World possessed all these factors driving up game currency prices.

Especially the number of pay-to-win players, far exceeding that of grind players.

Even a small number of high-spending players could significantly impact a server's economy.

Before his transmigration into Beneath Di Zhao, he had encountered games where a few high-spending players influenced the entire server's prices.

For example, the memory-laden game "Dream Westward Journey."

In it, high-quality equipment sold for seven- to eight-digit cash sums; later, 95% of the server consisted of multi-account grind players supplying the 5% high-spending players with better content.

Or an even older game, "Legend."

In that game, there were even single-digit high-spending players who sustained the entire server's grind players.

They single-handedly supported the entire server's player base.

These games shared traits: free trading, high consumption, low output—high-spending players had to buy game resources from grind players to grow stronger.

Monster World's situation was more severe than any pay-to-win game Qi Sheng had experienced before his transmigration.

The number of high-spending players was enormous; to meet grind players' real-world demands, he specifically recruited several super pay-to-win players who were willing to invest massive cash into the game to exchange for resources, ensuring Shou Shou Jili remained perpetually in short supply.

As for grind players' output, it could not budge Shou Shou Jili's rising price or satisfy high-spending players' demands.

Early in the game, grind players used multi-accounting to boost grinding efficiency.

But in Monster World, every player controlled only a single character—multi-account gold farming was impossible.

Guidance had calculated this.

Even if grind player numbers increased tenfold, they still could not meet the Shou Shou Jili consumption demands of pay-to-win players.

Moreover, Monster World's grind players themselves needed to consume Shou Shou Jili to grow stronger, or risk falling behind the insect tide and black tide's progression, so they could only sell small amounts of Shou Shou Jili, converting the rest into strength.

Selling small amounts of Shou Shou Jili already satisfied grind players' real-world needs and left them with surplus.

Thus, the Shou Shou Jili-to-cash exchange rate settled around 175 due to insufficient supply.

It was a case of high value, low market liquidity—many grind players had already established stable sales channels with major guilds, and their generated Shou Shou Jili never entered open circulation.

This made it difficult for ordinary pay-to-win players to acquire Shou Shou Jili.

Looking ahead, as player strength increased and Shou Shou Jili output rose, the Shou Shou Jili-to-cash exchange rate would not decline—it might continue rising, as future mechanics would increase Shou Shou Jili consumption.

Qi Sheng had considered one question.

Since game-generated income was so high, if Monster World fully opened game access, who would still want to keep their real-world jobs? They could fully satisfy real-world needs through game output.

Regarding this issue, the Guide analyzed it and offered an explanation.

It stated that the real world had long entered the artificial intelligence era, where all physical labor is handled by robots; for ordinary people to enter the virtual world and generate real-world income is simply the trend of the times and a phenomenon already present in this era.

The positions still existing in the real world are mostly AI technicians, mechanical engineers and maintenance personnel, high-end technical R&D staff, and others—tasks that AI cannot complete alone.

Therefore, driving ordinary people into the virtual world to provide virtual jobs is something the Human Federation government, and even many alien factions, are already doing.

Through virtual jobs, they provide work as relief.

This is one of the main reasons why the price of the virtual game pod is set very low, with some regions even distributing them for free, making them accessible to thousands of households.

The development of the times has completely erased the ancient concept of the "demographic dividend."

With artificial intelligence robots already capable of meeting societal production demands, population growth brings more burden than dividend.

Thus, when players on the forum mentioned that this game might bring about the concept of wealth redistribution, there was indeed some truth to it.

Whales distributing real-world wealth to grinders in exchange for in-game resources allows social wealth, once nearly rigid, to flow downward, indirectly narrowing the wealth gap in the real world and achieving a wealth redistribution effect.

After brief contemplation, Qi Sheng stopped paying attention to this issue.

Because whether it is whales or grinders, their trading of Shou Shou Jili does not affect his commission.

Whales are flowers, grinders are also flowers; both are consumed in power enhancement.

And the Shou Shou Jili he extracts will neither decrease nor increase.

After briefly discussing this issue with the Guide, Qi Sheng stopped paying attention to fluctuations in the Shou Shou Jili price.

Consciousness switched at this moment to the perspective of the Guide's avatar in the Colorful Mist Sea.

It could be seen that the deep blue spirit runes on the ground, starting from the array core, moved constantly as if possessing self-awareness, weaving and intertwining with one another to form delicate and intricate, exquisite patterns on the ground.

Driven by the continuous injection of Yan Ming's spatial power.

All the spirit runes, as if imbued with life, gave birth to one after another pulsating energy runes above the spatial runes; following the operational laws of the Monster World, they resonated with each other, their released energy waves connecting to gradually outline a massive spatial teleportation framework.

During this process, every flicker of the array core released flowing energy to sustain the expansion of the spirit runes.

Through observation, it could be confirmed that the completion of the stable spatial teleportation array was not far off.

Consciousness switched back to the player forum at this moment.

According to the Guide's feedback, a newly posted thread was rapidly gaining popularity.

【Noticed many new Xinliu Sect combinations appearing on the forum recently, all claiming to crush the Faxiliu Sect's Star Pulse builds. I want to tell you: the Faxiliu Sect Star Pulse combination remains the true god of the meta. If you disagree, come in and look at my build; just ask yourselves, isn't it strong?!】

Poster: Melee Magic God.

Content:

Everyone says that after the insect swarm appeared, the strength of the Faxiliu Sect Star Pulse was nerfed by the meta because insect warriors have high resistance to elemental damage, affecting the efficiency of Faxiliu output. But I want to tell you: the Faxiliu Sect remains the true god of the meta; it simply requires new combinations adapted to the meta changes to fit the new version.

Now, let's get to the point and discuss my Star Pulse combination.

My Star Pulse build only requires three core Painful Painful Minghun; if you have extra Star Pulse slots, you can embed them as you see fit.

First Star Pulse Slot: Breath of Qi

Effect: Automatically filters energy particles from the air through breathing to replenish spiritual power and blood consumption.

Second Star Pulse Slot: Flowing Shadow

Effect: Can create a clone with 20% of the original's strength by consuming spiritual power; the clone's actions can be controlled via consciousness (clone strength and quantity are affected by one's own spiritual power strength).

Third Star Pulse Slot: Light Shield

Effect: Constructs a freely extendable and retractable energy shield by consuming spiritual power to resist various types of attacks.

Seeing my build, some brothers will surely think I'm an idiot; this combination has no output, and its defense is inferior to melee Painful Painful Minghun.

You might even imagine a scene where I summon multiple Flowing Shadow clones and then release an energy shield to smash enemies.

Because this combination seems to have no other offensive means besides the Light Shield.

Summoning clones to fight, yet not pairing them with melee-type Painful Painful Minghun.

Summoning clones for ranged output, yet not pairing them with elemental damage-type Painful Painful Minghun; no matter how you look at it, it's an utterly foolish Star Pulse combination.

But I want to tell you: the core of this Star Pulse build, besides these three Faxiliu Sect Painful Painful Minghun, includes one custom weapon.

It is the Spirit Bomb, produced by the Arms Dealer.

The combat mode is very simple, requiring no skill whatsoever.

You only need to do one thing: first summon a Flowing Shadow clone, then take a Spirit Bomb from your spatial bag and hand it to the clone, and finally let the clone happily charge and self-destruct.

So the core of this Star Pulse build is Breath of Qi + Flowing Shadow + Spirit Bomb (custom weapon).

As for why a Light Shield is included, there are two reasons.

First, the Light Shield is inherently a spiritual enhancement-type Painful Painful Minghun; its main attribute bonus upon leveling up is spiritual power.

Second, the Light Shield's effect can protect oneself at critical moments.

For example, if ambushed by enemies at close range, or caught in an explosion due to detonating too close, etc.; it counts as a necessary defensive measure.

If you have team protection, embedding only Flowing Shadow + Breath of Qi is entirely feasible.

Take note: next comes the practical demonstration (eating dirt, slapping the table. jpg).

(Attachment: Video)

In the video footage, the player activated the Flowing Shadow trait, summoning three clones.

Then, one Spirit Bomb per person, under the player's control, they sprinted toward the distant insect swarm.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Upon approaching the insect swarm, the Spirit Bombs were detonated; the instant high temperature and shockwave sent a large number of insect warriors flying, with chunks of flesh splattering everywhere.

At this moment, the player summoned three more Flowing Shadow clones; while handing over Spirit Bombs, he vigorously inhaled white mist from his mouth to recover the heavily consumed spiritual power.

After three consecutive suicide charges, the player gave a thumbs-up to the camera and grinned, saying:

"Just ask you all, isn't this Star Vein combination fierce?"

Comment Section:

Supreme Big Fish Head: I clicked in with a critical mindset, but after reading, I found it's indeed awesome. If we had the Flowing Shadow Painful Painful Minghun combined with your Star Vein setup back then, how would we have needed a suicide charge to conquer the Dark Cave? We could just send the clones to die; purifying the Dark Cave would be a breeze. This Star Vein combination must get a like; it's very practical for team battles.

Night is Approaching: After reading, I have a question I hope the OP can answer. I roughly calculated based on the visuals (not necessarily accurate, didn't see clearly), the number of Insect Warriors blown up versus the cost of the Psionic Bombs. It feels like the Shou Shou Jili yield of this setup is very low. The main profit comes from Evolution Points. Whether the Shou Shou Jili yield minus costs is profitable depends on the situation; perhaps we make little profit, no profit, or even lose money.

Melee God (OP) replying to Night is Approaching: Hehe, you discovered the weakness of this combination. This setup must be used against targets with extremely high monster density, like Insect Swarms and Black Tides. Using Psionic Bombs against single, high-intensity targets results in a net loss. At the current stage, every time the clone suicide tactic is used, the kill yield fluctuates around 10% (calculating only Shou Shou Jili yield); there have even been cases of loss, but the Evolution Point yield is very high. One round of output can blow up a whole group.

Divine Hall - God King: Damn, this Star Vein combination looks useful. The team can equip a few. When encountering an impasse that can't be broken, let a group of Flowing Shadow clones rush up and self-destruct to clear the path; the effect will surely be good. I'll have the guild's mage team equip a few suicide Star Vein combinations (Tip: 18 Shou Shou Jili).

Must Be Dedicated to Gaming: Monster Flow players say, aren't you tired of switching back and forth? Every day we see you researching this and that. I've been playing with a Black Armor Snake Painful Painful Minghun for a month; now I'm over 20 meters long, swimming in Insect Swarms. It's awesome! I really don't understand you players who take the Body Path route, thinking every day about how to combine Star Veins to get stronger. I think it's better to stick to the Monster Flow route. When my body length grows to 1000 meters, any Insect Swarm or Black Tide, I can swallow hundreds in one bite (Brick-laying Arrogant Face. jpg).

Is This Beaver? replying to Must Be Dedicated to Gaming: The Monster Flow is indeed strong in the early stages, but later there will inevitably be various weaknesses caused by a single trait. Combining Star Veins is the Zhu Liu Wan Fa of this game. The process of combining is itself about filling weaknesses, gaining stronger combat power through combined traits.

Must Be Dedicated to Gaming replying to Is This Beaver?: I don't care, I won't listen. Anyway, Monster Flow is number one under heaven!

While Qi Sheng flipped through the post, he noticed that the sales commission fees for Psionic Bombs in the Trading Hall began to rise rapidly.

This was obviously the influence brought by the Clone Suicide Flow.

Players have already decided to try following this school.

More importantly, the Qi-Eating + Flowing Shadow combination was originally a standard option for mainstream mage Star Vein setups.

For example, Qi-Eating + Ink Flame (Bone Fire) + Flowing Shadow forms the Clone Fireball Flow.

Many mage players don't even need to decompose their Painful Painful Minghun and recombine Star Veins; they can directly start using the Clone Suicide Flow.

This caused the sales data for Psionic Bombs to grow rapidly.

Qi Sheng had already noticed similar situations several times.

Every time a popular Star Vein combination appears on the forum, it affects the sales data of related items in the Trading Hall, even causing significant price fluctuations for some items.

For instance, the emergence of the Fishing Flow caused the price of Iron Shell Bug Silk to surge continuously.

This made an idea surge in Qi Sheng's mind.

When Shou Shou Jili is lacking in the future, could he use forum information mastered in advance to resell resources and quietly earn Shou Shou Jili yield from players?

But after thinking carefully, he abandoned this idea.

Compared to lottery events, which are no different from direct robbery as a method of Shou Shou Jili recovery, reselling resources is too low-end.

Moreover, it involves cost expenditure and the drawbacks of inventory holding cycles.

When Shou Shou Jili is truly lacking, just use the lottery events.

If players find that the lottery never yields good items and are unwilling to participate, he just changes to another probability-based Liu Wan Fa.

He can switch to scratch-offs with skins, smashing Easter eggs, drawing gift vouchers, and other modes.

If players are still unwilling to take the bait, then use hints, triggering players' inner desires through high-frequency refreshed rewards, making them have lucky thoughts.

During this period, as long as they try, it is very easy to fall into a probability trap.

Players with weak willpower, after winning, want to win more.

After losing, they think about playing a few more times, just to break even before stopping.

When Shou Shou Jili is truly in short supply, Qi Sheng has plenty of ways to make players willingly hand over their Shou Shou Jili; in the end, they will only think it's their own bad luck, not the fault of the officials.

After all, the officials haven't opened a cash recharge channel.

This setting allows Qi Sheng to stand in an unbeatable position.

In the eyes of players, Shou Shou Jili is data the officials can create; they can print as much as they want. They will never imagine that the essence of official events is to cheat players out of their Shou Shou Jili.

Brothers, today's ten thousand words are finished. I am working hard to type. Please vote for monthly tickets.

Friendly recommendation of a friend's new book:

"Attention, This Is Not a Game"

A work where the game descends into reality, where abilities can be obtained from the game. The performance is good. Those who like this genre can add it to favorites.

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(End of Chapter)