Chapter 21: Signs of Quitting the Game

The second method is to kill the weirdness.

Most people haven't killed any weirdness yet; they've heard this from NPCs, who say killing weirdness refines the Human Soul and grants Yang Shou.

Fang Yue himself has practiced this, so he can confirm its authenticity with certainty.

But the weirdness is too strong—most players still lack the ability to kill one alone.

Still, this is where elite players gather; they've devised traps, hired decoys as meat shields, and planned ambushes, preparing to put serious effort into this.

The third method, in fact, is widely regarded as the most reliable.

Any village or town possessing the Di He must pay Yang Shou to the authorities, similar to taxation.

The authorities use this Yang Shou to issue tasks.

The reward for these official tasks is Yang Shou!

The problem is that these tasks are extremely dangerous.

For example, patrolling the wilderness at night, acting as bait to lure weirdness, or even becoming human food to feed weirdness—with the awarded Yang Shou handed over to one's family.

There are all kinds of tasks, but the ones most favored by the public are those leaning toward logistics and technical roles.

Such as making pills, gathering herbs, mining minerals, maintaining equipment, forging weapons, and so on.

These tasks have no strength requirements, only skill level requirements in life-related skills; learn them from NPCs, then you can take the tasks—much less dangerous, but the rewards are also far smaller.

Most people strive to improve life-related skills to obtain Yang Shou.

But some have raised doubts.

They believe that after entering the game, except for those who gained extra Yang Shou through special circumstances, every player starts with only one day of Yang Shou.

Within that one day, you must learn a life-related skill, accept a task, and complete it before your Yang Shou runs out.

The time is simply too tight—very few can successfully complete this entire path; the difficulty is too high, and no one knows how much Yang Shou any task rewards—it's pure gambling.

But the voices of this small group were drowned out by the mainstream tide; no one paid attention.

After all, this is already the most reliable way to obtain Yang Shou.

Of course, some others proposed an even bolder idea—wait until your Yang Shou runs out, then fight the Ghost Messengers: my fate is mine, not heaven's.

Unfortunately, no one took these people seriously; at the game's launch, new players have nothing—how could they possibly fight Ghost Messengers? Wouldn't that make Yang Shou a joke?

Besides these three reliable ways to obtain Yang Shou, the forum is full of other theories.

For example, some suspect that higher cultivation realms increase Yang Shou, but no one has verified it.

Or perhaps killing NPCs might allow you to steal the Yang Shou of civilian NPCs.

Players, once they have an idea, act on it—but most have no follow-up, likely because they failed.

As for the idea that cultivation level increases Yang Shou, Fang Yue can debunk it.

After thinking it over, Fang Yue posted a thread.

"【Yese Liming Original】 The Most Complete and Up-to-Date Guide to Yang Shou."

In his first post, Fang Yue categorized and summarized all Yang Shou information collected from the forum, adding his own commentary.

He then added some personal insights and experiences, such as the system directly rewarding Yang Shou, and killing weirdness granting Yang Shou.

Although the forum had discussed Yang Shou extensively, the information was scattered, some even priced high—no one had ever systematically compiled it like this; Fang Yue's post effectively summarized, collected, and repackaged others' labor.

Considering the explosive income from his last post and the small cost of gathering Yang Shou information, Fang Yue priced this one high: 100 yuan!

He needed to recoup his costs!

After posting, Fang Yue immediately refreshed the backend repeatedly—but after a long while, he found no one had bought it.

He checked the homepage again and saw his post had already been pushed down by others, completely invisible.

Fang Yue froze, then immediately understood.

The price was too high—even if someone scrolled past it on the homepage, seeing the high cost made them hesitate, and by the time they decided, the post was gone.

No one would specifically search keywords just for a new post; naturally, it sank without a trace.

And a post that sinks without a trace, with no new replies to boost its popularity, will never gain exposure again.

Fang Yue realized this and immediately lowered the price, switching to a low-margin, high-volume strategy.

Price: 0.5!

"Though not as high as 100, it's still five times the price of my previous post—still progress."

Fang Yue comforted himself, then pinned his own post, refreshed the backend again, and finally saw someone make a payment.

He refreshed again and again; after a while, the post began selling intermittently.

Relieved, Fang Yue thought of posting another thread.

"After Becoming a Hou Tian Cultivator, I Realized the World Is Vast Beyond Imagination."

The post explained cultivation realms and how increasing them boosts HP.

Fang Yue set this post as free, but at the end, he linked to his two paid posts—perhaps someone reading to the bottom would casually click them, and he'd earn a little more.

After posting both threads, his instant noodles were finished.

Fang Yue rubbed his temples and kept browsing the forum, when suddenly he noticed a hot thread rising to the top.

"Blue Sea: A Charming Game Destined to Fail—Guys, I'm Quitting."

The title was sensational, but the poster was a big V—Liang Bai Kaishui, a veteran who'd been in the professional player scene for years.

He checked the price—it was still free.

Fang Yue was surprised and clicked in to read carefully.

The first half of the post praised Blue Sea's brilliance, highlighting how compelling its mechanics were.

Then, in the second half, the tone sharply shifted, sharply pointing out the game's excessive difficulty and unsuitability for ordinary players.

"A globally popular game must be accessible to all ages—not this kind of high-difficulty game."

"This game has no new player tutorial, unclear leveling methods, no auto-pathing, no low-level mobs for XP—just struggling to survive by completing tasks to earn Yang Shou, barely clinging to the Life and Death Line."

"A game like this can attract players with its flashy appearance, but it will never last."

"Once the initial enthusiasm fades, the game is bound to face a bitter winter."

"Brothers, we professional players are here to make money. A game that ordinary players will inevitably leave, a game about to lose its popularity so soon — is it really worth our energy to invest in it?"

"The answer is no. This game is doomed to fail!"

"I dare to assert that within a month, this game will shut down its servers!"

"We need to make a living off games. This kind of game isn't suited for making a living. It's only suited for those hardcore players. I have to say, Tengli Group has made a wrong move with this one!"

"So, I've quit the game. I'm leaving this post for free, as a warning to those who come after."

(End of chapter)