"Chugged a flask of chemicals: "The top player of the whole server, gotta say, badass!"

Yiye Zhiqu: "???"

Minotaur Warrior: "Hahahahaha, fuck!"

Meichuan Autumn Pants: "Ah, seeing you guys have so much fun makes me hate it! When is the open beta? Or even just drop some new activation codes, please. QAQ"

Forgetful River's Coolness: "+1, doesn't anyone think that 2000 players are too few?!"

Dragon Slaying Hero: "If the open beta doesn't start, Yiye Zhiqu is gonna hit max level soon! T.T"

Proud Life: "Lol, a couple of AIs keep making this shit up. I bet this damn development team can't keep this up forever. If this game is for real, I'll eat my computer!"

I am Lord Demon King's Dog: "Begging the development team for an open beta and a character wipe!!!"

Yiye Zhiqu: "Please act like a human being..."

"..."

The topics on the forum are just like the wind, always coming and going in gusts.

Amidst the instigation of a group of cloud gamers, the focus of heated discussions quickly shifted from Lord Demon King's new minion to updates about the new version and calls for more beta testing spots.

It wasn't just the cloud gamers who were eager to dive into this increasingly rich game world; veteran players were also keen on having more fresh newbies to enhance the "elite players'" gaming experience.

Honestly, not only do the players think there are too few beta spots; Luo Yan himself felt that the 2000 beta slots were way too stingy.

How was this small amount of cannon fodder supposed to be enough for him?

However, every time Luo Yan asked Youyou about how to obtain more beta testing spots, Youyou would always kick the ball back to him—

"Lord Demon King, Youyou should have reminded you, oh. If you want more players, you need to develop more believers."

Luo Yan asked helplessly.

"So, how many believers specifically do I need to develop to get one beta spot?"

Youyou said cautiously.

"Uh... Youyou doesn't know that. Maybe start by maintaining a daily growth of faith value above ten thousand? Maybe then you might get more beta spots."

Luo Yan was certain that this guy was hiding something from him.

But, it seemed unrealistic to force it to reveal anything.

Luo Yan sighed and said.

"There's something I've wanted to ask for a while. If your purpose in doing this is to urge me to increase the number of believers quickly, wouldn't having more players come in facilitate the expansion of my divine power?"

Youyou fell silent for a while, then spoke softly.

"Lord Demon King, first of all, you've misunderstood Youyou... I am just your deity, not the 'system' that Linte Isaac designed for you. I can only analyze problems based on the information you have and cannot change anything. Moreover, from an objective point of view, the number of Chosen should be directly proportional to the number of believers, right? At least that's what I think."

It paused for a moment, then continued.

"And besides, Lord Demon King, if you ask yourself honestly, does having more players really lead to more believers? Is that really the case?"

Asking himself honestly, indeed.

However, upon closer consideration, Luo Yan realized that although players could help by spreading fear, when it came to expanding the realm of belief... they indeed seemed to be of little help due to the basic communication barriers they faced.

Their "use" was similar to that of other gods' chosen ones, being more pronounced in responding to the prayers of believers.

For instance, human societies on the surface desired a decisive, powerful figure, so there emerged god-chosen heroes like Duke Campbell, who defeated the Demon King in a stroke.

And the role of the Demon King, in some sense, was also a response from successive Demon Gods to the ultimate wish of the creatures from Hell to "return to the surface."

Thinking this way, Luo Yan could understand why there were such strict limitations on the number of players.

Perhaps it was not a rule set by anyone, but rather, according to the principles of the power of faith, there existed a certain proportional limit between the number of god-chosen heroes and believers.

If no one prayed, then no one would respond to the prayers.

These two are causally linked.

Realizing this point, Luo Yan showed a helpless expression.

"It seems there are no shortcuts to take," Luo Yan said.

Youyou: "That's the way it is."

Luo Yan sighed.

"Actually, I'm not entirely looking for shortcuts; I was just thinking... it would be great if there was a clear reference for the ratio between god-chosen heroes and believers. For instance, how many god-chosen heroes can be developed from a certain number of believers. Or, for example, if the proportion exceeds this upper limit, by how much would it weaken the effectiveness of the god-chosen heroes and the power of faith," he said.

Youyou: "That would be difficult to calculate, wouldn't it? After all, let alone measuring the level of devotion, even comparing the weight of different souls is hard to put on a scale..."

Looking at Youyou in the mirror, Luo Yan tentatively accepted this explanation.

"You have a point," he said.

For now, it seemed best to develop followers honestly and earnestly.

It was worth mentioning that as statues of the Demon King were successively erected in places like the Land of Nightmare, Iron Teeth City, and the fourth layer's Mist Town, the legend of the Flame King continued to ferment on the surface, and recently, the daily increase in Luo Yan's power of faith had surged remarkably.

However, comparatively, as the area covered by the Demon King Territory gradually expanded, the consumption of the power of faith was also increasing by the day.

The current "net growth value" fluctuated around 8,000 daily, which was not too far from the 10,000-point milestone.

Additionally, according to Luo Yan's observation, the increase in faith value was not only related to the soul level of the target but also seemed associated with the target's mental capacity.

For example, the Earth Cave Spider contributed a very limited amount of faith value.

By contrast, the tribe of Dark Night Elves, despite their scant population, contributed a total faith value that surpassed the tens of thousands of Earth Cave Spiders in the Weaving Shadow Nest!

Meanwhile, this also involved the concept of devotion.

If the mental capacity was high enough but devotion was too low, it would be difficult to acquire faith value through normal methods, and instilling fear and corruption would be more effective instead.

Adventurer groups were just such a case.

They would not feel any devotion towards the statues of the Demon King in Mist Town, but would passively contribute to the power of faith out of fear.

Luo Yan silently noted these clues.

It was at this moment that he finally received a response from Demon City.

The application for approved leave to return to Demon City had finally been granted...

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