Luo Yan hadn't expected this at all. There were plenty of rat tails to pick up off the ground and even spiders full from their meal napping on the first floor of the Underground Maze that one could sneak past, yet there was still some fool fixated on hoarding those worthless Demon Crystals.

Isn't this just farting after taking off your pants for no reason?

He had originally planned to enable death penalties when there were more players, but now it seems he had to implement them ahead of time.

Watching a particularly appetite-suppressing ID walk away, Luo Yan lamented helplessly.

"Youyou, can't you screen the beta testers a bit? I'm not saying non-expert players don't deserve to play the game, but can we at least block those who are too contrary to common sense? At least until the game is polished?"

Youyou hesitated before responding.

"That... wouldn't work. Although I can revoke beta testing qualifications, I can't grant them to specific players."

Fine then.

It looked like beta test privileges were distributed randomly, part of the 'base code' that the disaster system couldn't change.

Luo Yan could only optimistically think that these contrary players were there to help him catch bugs...

...

Elsewhere, as the a02 version update was released, the atmosphere on the "Disaster OL" official website forum was as lively as a festival.

In fact, when the monsters began sieging earlier on, some restless players had already snuck offline during the revival downtime to update the group battle live thread on the forum.

Hordes of rats!

Bosses as tall as small mountains!

And cool casting effects... though it was NPCs doing the casting, rounded up, it was still part of the gaming experience!

In just one day's time, they verified two things!

The first was that the game's servers were even more robust than they imagined, seamlessly integrating so many events and scenes while also carrying scene destruction effects and a physics engine realistic enough to fool you!

The second was that the game's content was definitely not just about mindlessly grinding and mining!

Just the incidence of events encountered in the newbie village alone showed the development team had a lot of integrity!

Wouldn't other games have released this as a separate expansion pack?

Watching the beta testers play to their heart's content, a bunch of cloud gamers were envious, itching to dive into the game themselves and go on a dragon-slaying rampage.

"Strongly requesting the development team update the screenshot and recording functions!"

"Strongly requesting the development team start an open beta immediately!"

"Ahhh!!! I'm dying without Disaster OL!"

"Holy shit?! Updated again!"

"!! Shocked! This speed!!"

"Good news, brothers!!! New beta test slots have been released!"

"Bad news, only four hundred new lucky ones. (Amused)"

"Second piece of bad news, the number of reservations has already exceeded ten thousand. (Amused)"

"@%#$!"

"I'm going to kill you all! (Angry)"

Watching the flood of messages on the forum, Zhao Jinyan sitting in front of his computer was dumbfounded.

The reason he was dumbfounded wasn't because of the shocking quality of the comments from his fellow netizens, but because...

"Well damn."

He actually won the draw?!

The game demo program had been downloaded a while back. Containing his wildly beating heart, he quickly donned his glasses and entered the account and password on the startup page.

After an excruciating wait of five to six minutes, just when his anxiety was reaching its peak, he suddenly heard a strange noise.

"Beep—"

The opening animation described by the netizens didn't appear. Instead, the screen was filled with static.

"Fuck!"

Having spent a fortune—tens of yuan—on a secondhand VR, it had freaking crashed on him!

What kind of trash game is this?!

...

While Zhao Jinyan was busy arguing with the unscrupulous seller, on the "Disaster OL" forum, players finally began to seriously discuss the content of the a02 update.

Village Elder: "Although the update seems substantial, it actually offers a great deal! Besides the death penalty update, they have even updated the social module and the in-game store!"

Gou Shi: "The Village Elder seems to have said a lot, but in fact, he indeed said a great deal! (Amused)"

Village Elder: "F*ck you!!! Aren't I just trying to make it easier for the newbies to understand by summarizing the updates?"

Gou Shi: "Alright, don't explain any further, it's just more awkward. (Amused)"

Village Elder: "@#%$!"

Supreme Ying Xiong: "Regardless, Joss Paper finally has a place to be spent, which is cause for celebration!"

Knowledge Explodes: "But what's this about hiring clerks? And they're paid in Joss Paper?"

Yiye Zhiqu: "Would they pay in real money instead of Joss Paper? Think about it, is that possible? (Skeptical)"

Knowledge Explodes: "Here comes the strategy guy!"

Friar Lin Daiyu: "Strategy guy! Give us an analysis! With so many updates this time, is the open beta coming soon?!"

Yiye Zhiqu: "I don't know, I'm not an insider. Anyway, despite the volume of updates, they all are actually expected features. If you think about it, which game doesn't have a death penalty, social system, and an in-game store?"

No Washing Pants: "Holy shit?! True that!"

No Washing Face: "That was close! I was almost fooled by those damn planners!"

Goblin Chieftain: "Fake update!!! Refund!"

Tauren Warrior: "Bro! Your ID is pretty interesting, how about hitting the reserve button and playing together?"

Yiye Zhiqu: "Ahem, it's rather harsh to say that. Although these systems exist in other games, 'Cataclysm Online' is after all a groundbreaking open-world adventure game developed by an unknown developer... Anyway, I'm about to sing its praises, so the dog planners better not rush to beat me up."

Yiye Zhiqu: "Even though the update doesn't have a lot of content, from the details, it's not hard to see the ambition of the development team. Take the death penalty mechanism, for example, it specifies that the Contribution Value deducted upon death will vary based on the role the player is portraying. A reasonable analysis would suggest that they're laying the groundwork for future updates to play as different races."

Pig-headed Knight: "Enchanting Demon! Enchanting Demon!!! (Screaming)"

Yiye Zhiqu: "Exactly, take the Enchanting Demon you mentioned, for instance. I speculate that in the future there might be a mechanism that allows players to upgrade their character from a skeleton to an Enchanting Demon... or even a pig-headed man, by using up Contribution Value."

Gulped Sewage: "Why Contribution Value?! What about Joss Paper? And Demon Crystal!"

Yiye Zhiqu: "Demon Crystal? What's that? In any case, it makes more sense, from the setting perspective, that both the penalties for death and the cost for reincarnation use Contribution Value. From a practical standpoint, with the currency inflation of Joss Paper being what it is at server launch, if I were the planner, I certainly wouldn't link important systems to it."

"On the contrary, I can clearly feel that the planners are very careful in controlling the Contribution Value earnings curve. It suggests that this parameter will greatly affect game balance. The only thing I can think of that will affect game balance would be the future job-transfer system... after all, anyone with eyes can see that a High-level Demon will obviously be stronger compared to the lowly fodder."

Gou Shi: "Awesome! I'm convinced!"

Know-it-all: "You damn mop! You're still saying you're not an insider? (Angry)"

Yiye Zhiqu: "..."

Goblin Chieftain: "Bro, hook me up with a beta test spot! When I become an Enchanting Demon I'll let you play. QAQ"

Yiye Zhiqu: "Scram!"

Village Elder: "Hahahaha fuck!"

"..."

Meanwhile, at the entrance of North Peak Mine, inside the inn situated beneath the abandoned stables, Luo Yan was secretly peeking at the chat on the official website through a mirror while roasting rat tail skewers over a fire.

Although he was somewhat averse to the idea of eating rat people's meat, rat tails seemed to be a kind of Chinese medicine, right?

In any case, he planned to set aside the durable jerkies for now, and make do with the offerings provided by the players for the next few days.

"Geez... this guy's got something."

Imagining the skewer in his hand as Peking duck, Luo Yan braced himself and took a bite, to his surprise, it wasn't bad; if he chewed carefully, he could even taste something reminiscent of duck.

What a pity.

Without cumin and MSG, it would still feel a bit gamey after eating too much.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered that Thunder City was near the sea, and if he walked south, he should be able to find the coastline.

If he could get some kelp back, he might just be able to create monosodium glutamate.

Even though he didn't know exactly how to extract it, he had players!

The more Luo Yan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He also wondered why no transmigrator before him had thought of this.

"It seems that even a god has limits, and no one is infallible..."

Youyou: "Lord Demon King?"

"It's nothing, I was just struck by how great it is to have a bunch of likeminded buddies, haha."

Watching the comments of silly netizens, Luo Yan burst out laughing, looking every bit the true Demon King.

"Speaking of which, Youyou, considering you're just watching me eat, do you want a bite?"

Youyou, reflected in the mirror, stepped back in fear.

"Uh, no, I think I'll pass... Plus, I can't really eat in this form."

"Is that so?"

As he spoke, Luo Yan, still holding the skewer, smeared another handful on his mouth. "That's a shame... It's actually quite tasty."

Right then, "Bond," who had been sitting nearby with his head drooping, suddenly opened his pale eyes, letting out a hissing growl.

"What's wrong, Bond? Are you taken aback by my culinary skills? Or is it... you smell a living person?"

Luo Yan laughed heartily, though his eyes gradually got colder, and his hand rested on his magic staff.

He had agreed with Jack to exchange goods the next evening when the sun went down.

This wasn't just coming two hours early, but an entire day early.

"Lord Demon King... what has happened?"

"Not sure, it could be an assassin."

The person's presence was very faint, indicating a master at concealing themselves.

Moreover, that person was nimble enough to have avoided the warning magic circles he had set up around the inn!

If not for the zombie he had summoned catching the scent of a living person, he might have remained unaware to this point!

Indeed.

It was still too risky to stay outside.

Luo Yan got up quietly, pretending to have a pressing need to urinate and darted off to a corner, while ordering Bond to conceal his presence and wait for the target to appear before making a move.

After making these arrangements, he held a lens in his hand, signaling Youyou to stand outside and relay what she saw.

Maybe the other person couldn't wait any longer.

No sooner had he walked away than that hidden figure darted out and headed straight for his lit fire.

Were they planning to poison the food?

Heh, not a bad plan.

But what a pity, he still had a backup plan.

As Luo Yan was thinking this, the fleet figure snatched the rat tail skewer from beside the fire, and stuffed it into their mouth with an "ao wu ao wu," ostentatiously enjoying it.

Watching the cat ears jittering in the mirror and the wooden stick that produced a crunching sound under the assault of teeth, Luo Yan froze on the spot.

This was...

A Demon?!

This guy also came from Hell?!

-

(Damn the masked thrashing, I've been tricked into opening the book. If it weren't for the new release, I'd have taken a break. T.T)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.