A.D. 2108.

In the low-rent apartment in City A, China, in the game cabin, Zhan Xiaobai stared at the virtual game interface of "The Rise of the Three Kingdoms" with a pair of eyes, waiting to enter.

Zhan Xiaobai, 22 years old, has been in college for 4 years, and he has not made any academic reputation, and he plays games all day long, so the day he graduated is the day he loses his job. Now he can't find a decent job in City A, so he has to mix online games.

"The public beta of the virtual game "City Rise of the Three Kingdoms" has entered the countdown: 10, 9, 8...... 1, 0, start."

At the moment of "0", Zhan Xiaobai clicked his finger to enter the game start screen. The beauty of the Three Kingdoms system, Xiao Zhao, came out. Set the account number, password, fingerprint, retina, and then the name of the game character he always likes to use - "Xiaobai", OK.

Haha, the cybersquatting was successful! The whole time took only 7 seconds.

Beauty Xiao Zhao: "Welcome player Xiaobai to enter "The Rise of the Three Kingdoms City", which is now the 180th year of Guanghe in the Eastern Han Dynasty. You have plenty of time to build your city. ”

A white light flashed, dressed in cloth and carrying a copper knife, Zhan Xiaobai, a level 0 civilian player, appeared on a wilderness, absolutely barren, weeds and wilderness, and wandering beasts, without any artificial traces in all directions-

That's the beauty of this virtual game, where there are no starter villages, no supply depots, no pharmacies, no gear stores and anything like that (big cities do, but players can't afford to buy them in the early days), and it's up to players to build a city base from scratch. Naturally, the early development of the player's power is extremely difficult.

There are no small towns in this virtual world, only large and medium-sized cities (such as Chang'an, Luoyang and dozens of other famous cities). All the free land, allowing players to build their own villages and towns, and even climb a small village to the size of an imperial city - there are many virtual games of the Three Kingdoms on the market, but this kind of construction-based and management-themed Three Kingdoms game is absolutely rare.

According to international authoritative market research, it is estimated that there will be at least 80 million players in China, and the peak may reach 200 million. There must be at least 300 million players in Asia and 600 million players worldwide. As a semi-professional player, Zhan Xiaobai has long seen its potential, so he actively got an internal beta account three months ago and participated in the top-secret beta of this game (there are only 10,000 test numbers in China, and Zhan Xiaobai took **** luck to get one).

Today is the day of the open beta, Zhan Xiaobai was excited all day, preparing a month's food reserve early in the morning, and rushing to enter the game as soon as possible.

The number of players in the system shows that in just 10 seconds after the public beta was launched, the number of players in China has exceeded one million in one go, and it is still soaring in a straight line.

Zhan Xiaobai didn't dare to delay, and immediately checked his location through the system map.

The location where he is located is randomly selected by the system, and it may be the richest water town in the south of the Yangtze River, or it may be the southern barbarian wilderness, the desert island of the East China Sea, and the Gobi Desert in the Western Regions. When the player's character dies, the location can be randomly assigned again. (When the player dies, they can choose to respawn in place, respawn at a random location, or respawn at a spawn point.) Players have a freely set spawn point. ）

"Xiliang!"

After Zhan Xiaobai looked at his location on the map, he was taken aback, his location was about 100 kilometers away from Weiwu City, an important town in Xiliang, about 100 kilometers away from the Qiang sphere of influence, close to the Longyou region, it was also a relatively dangerous place to live, and the Qiang barbarian forces were very strong here. There are also Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Dong Zhuo, who are powerful figures of NPc bigwigs.

According to the experience of the internal test, Xiliang is not only dangerous, but also lacks materials, and it will be a very difficult task to develop a city base here. The biggest specialties here are horses, wool, and warriors.

Do you want to develop here? Or commit suicide and go to other places where the land is rich?

After thinking about it for a while, Zhan Xiaobai was ruthless, so let's be here. Desolation has the benefit of desolation, and there should be fewer players who dare to grab territory here. And what he likes most is that the most important strategic material is abundant here - war horses.

In the short 2 seconds that Zhan Xiaobai was stunned when he looked at the map, there were several white flashes of players within 10 square kilometers around him, and these people were randomly brushed to Xiliang. (According to Han's 25 million square kilometers of territory, even if there are 10 million players at present, less than 1 player will be allocated for 2 square kilometers, which is very sparse.) It will take several days for the player's population density to rise to a certain level. ）

It seems that it is time to hurry up and enter the game, Zhan Xiaobai said to himself secretly.

Now I have two ways to go, one is to kill level 0~10 beasts to level up, after level 10, you can choose the profession, and then join other powerful players who own villages. The second is to find the villagers of the wilderness NPc to do tasks and get various props, including the extremely precious "Small Village Construction Blueprint", build the city by yourself, and stand on your own.

Zhan Xiaobai has participated in the internal test, and his goal is very clear, that is, to find the "Small Village Construction Drawings" as soon as possible. Time is of the essence. If you can build a village at the beginning of the open beta, it is not impossible to dominate one side in the future, and even compete with various princes for hegemony.

Not daring to delay, he immediately ran across the wilderness, searching for the scarce number of wilderness NPc. The NPc hasn't been found yet, and the player has come across one instead.

There was a player with the name "Ah Fei" on his head, and when he saw him running, he also ran along, and shouted: "That big brother, can you take me?!" I'm new and I don't know how to play yet. ”

Zhan Xiaobai heard the voice and looked back at him, it was a young boy about 18 or 19 years old. But don't look at his youth, he is definitely a veteran player who can enter the virtual world for the first time.

Zhan Xiaobai added "Ah Fei" to his friend list and team list, and said with a smile: "Okay, I have participated in the internal test, and I have some experience." ”

Ah Fei's eyebrows danced, and he shouted excitedly: "Thank you, big brother!" I didn't expect my eldest brother to participate in the internal test, it's amazing. The little brother stayed up for three days and three nights and didn't grab the internal test account. Big brother, what should I do? ”

"Okay, now let's spread out and go to NPc. I'm going west, you're going north. Find the NPc and then take the task, call me immediately, and we'll do it together. ”

"Hmmm! Big brother, I'll look for it right away. ”

Na Ah Fei turned his head and ran in the other direction.

Zhan Xiaobai smiled and ran towards the west. At the beginning of the open beta, I met a partner with a tacit understanding, and it was indeed luck that the city walls couldn't stop it.

This game, whether it is doing tasks, killing monsters, or engaging in construction, requires close cooperation between a large number of players. Therefore, Zhan Xiaobai has never been reluctant to join forces with other players. Of course, it is best if someone takes the initiative to cooperate with him. Along the way, he successively pulled 3 more players into the gang to form a team of 5 people. This is the maximum number of party members for a level 0 civilian player, and it can't be more. The five of them split up to find the Wilderness NPc to take the task.

Zhan Xiaobai ran for more than five minutes, and he didn't even see the shadow of NPc, and he was bitten by a few beasts and ran away, and he almost vomited blood in anger.

But in a hurry, the search for Wilderness NPc is all up to luck. And even if you find the Wilderness NPc, you may not be able to get the "Village Construction Blueprint" quest. During the closed beta three months ago, it took him ten full days to find a Wilds NPc and take on a bonus weapon mission. It took a month to get a construction blueprint, build a small village, and become one of the few players who had experience in building a village in the closed beta.

"Hey, something is wrong!"

Zhan Xiaobai suddenly stopped. He found that the grass under his feet, which seemed to have been cut by hand, was significantly different from the surrounding weeds. If there is no NPc in the wilderness, there will be no artificial traces. If there are artificial traces, there must be NPc infested. This is what he summarized in the internal test, and found important clues about NPc.

But where is NPc? All around is a plain wilderness, and there is no way to hide people for miles.

Zhan Xiaobai was distressed, and his feet slipped. "Plop" sounded, and he fell dizzy, with gold stars in his eyes. He fell into a disguised pit.

Pitfall.

Zhan Xiaobai came back to his senses and found that he was in a deep trap.

And in front of him, there was still a "dead old village chief" with gray hair and injured legs.

Wow, rare wilderness NPc. And it was also a "distressed type", and he was actually encountered by himself, Zhan Xiaobai couldn't believe it. Generally speaking, the reward is as great as the player helps NPc.

The "old village chief in distress" lay in the trap, facing Zhan Xiaobai, who suddenly fell from the sky, and moaned excitedly: "Help! Hero, as long as he saves the old man's life, the old man is grateful! Cough~! ”

Zhan Xiaobai hurriedly got up, helped up the "old village chief in distress", and asked: "Old village chief, don't worry, speak slowly!" ”

The old village chief who was killed: "Please also ask the hero to save the old man from the trap, and then look for a little herb to heal the wound, the old man will be grateful!" He shuddered and pulled out a drawing.

Zhan Xiaobai was inexplicably excited, and his eyes turned red when he looked at the drawings.

Drawings, drawings!

As the saying goes, Luoyang paper is expensive, but this drawing, even hundreds of thousands of yuan, can't be bought, it all depends on the player's luck and timing to get it. If this drawing were to be sold, even if it cost millions, some people would buy it immediately.

Zhan Xiaobai stretched out his hand to take it and take a closer look at what color and texture it had (in fact, he wanted to grab it immediately), but the old village chief immediately retracted his hand, held it in his arms, and looked at Zhan Xiaobai pitifully: "Hero, save me!" ”

Zhan Xiaobai smiled, and there was no blush on his face. Damn, this old man is very shrewd, and it may be impossible to get him a drawing for nothing.

However, he looked up at the trap, which was more than five or six meters high, and the walls were straight and steep. Not to mention saving the "old village chief in distress", even he is trapped here.

Zhan Xiaobai thought for a while, and called Ah Fei and the four of them on the friend communicator, and immediately rushed over, there was something important to do.

Although Zhan Xiaobai didn't say anything specific, Ah Fei still guessed that Zhan Xiaobai must have met NPc. He was so excited, his feet were like flying, and in less than five minutes, he ran to the coordinate address that Zhan Xiaobai told him, and found a trap, Ah Fei poked his head into the black trap and shouted: "Big brother, you are okay!" Hehe, why did the eldest brother run into the trap and stay? Could it be that it's cool down there? ”

Zhan Xiaobai scolded with a smile: "Damn, just your poor mouth, quickly find a rope and pull me up!" ”

"Okay!"

Ah Fei answered, and immediately went to find the rope, but he looked around, and it was empty. He said helplessly: "Big brother, where did the rope come from in this wilderness?" ”

Zhan Xiaobai rolled his eyes: "Braiding the grass knotted rope, or find a long enough vine, you can do it yourself." ”

"Braiding straw knots? If I had this ability, I would have made a fortune a long time ago. Let's go find a sturdy vine. ”

Ah Fei muttered, pulling his head to get the rope.

Zhan Xiaobai waited boredly in the trap, occasionally talking to the old village chief. Nurture and nurture "feelings". By the way, let's see how many good things the old village chief has. The old village chief hid and tucked it away, refusing to speak.

It didn't take long for the remaining three team members to arrive.

During this time, they were not idle, Zhan Xiaobai asked them to weave a large straw basket to carry the old village chief who was killed, and the old village chief did not have the strength to climb out along the rope by himself.

Half an hour later, Ah Fei came back with a long vine and pulled Zhan Xiaobai up.

Zhan Xiaobai didn't immediately pull the old village chief up.

In addition to Zhan Xiaobai and Ah Fei, the other three are "Qiushui", "Sword Ba", and "Spring and Autumn Young Heroes". They are all veteran players who often hang out on the forums, and they naturally know the significance of discovering the NPc in the field.

The five of them sat in a circle around the trap, excited. Among the five, only Qiushui is a girl in her twenties. A middle-aged man in his thirties. The Spring and Autumn Young Heroes are about the same age as Zhan Xiaobai, both in their twenties. Ah Fei is the youngest and has just reached adulthood.

Zhan Xiaobai looked at them and said with a smile: "I won't say anything superfluous, I can tell you an accurate information, the NPc in the trap has at least one drawing in his hand, and it is very likely to be the "Small Village Construction Map". Once NPc comes out, we must do everything in our power to protect him from other players until we get the blueprints in his hands. There are some things I must say in advance, there is only one master of the figure, and there is only one leader of our team. If you are willing to mix with me, then you are welcome to stay, and the benefits of the establishment of the village are naturally indispensable. If you don't want to, leave on your own. ”

The Spring and Autumn Shaoxia hurriedly said: "Brother Xiaobai is too worried, the drawings were also discovered by you, so they should naturally belong to you." We're following you, too! ”

Qiushui nodded.

Sword Bapi didn't smile and said, "I don't have any opinion. ”

After the five of them finished discussing, they put down the straw basket and hung the old village chief who was killed out of the trap.

The old village chief who was killed rebuilt the day, and immediately felt grateful to Zhan Xiaobai: "Engong, Engong!" The old man had no intention of repaying him, so he had to give Engong this drawing as a reward! ”

Zhan Xiaobai excitedly took the drawings in the hands of the old village chief who was killed. The first construction drawings of the village in the whole system have arrived. He took a closer look at the attributes and was immediately surprised.

"Drawings for the Construction of Small Villages":1. It can be used to build the lowest level of small villages according to the blueprint, with a maximum of 100 villagers, and automatically owns a village chief administrative hall. After reaching a certain size, it can be upgraded to a medium village. 2。 Special Attributes: Recruit NPc villagers, 5% chance to recruit abnormal NPc villagers.

According to his experience in internal testing, all construction drawings have only one property. This drawing has one more special attribute, I don't know how.