[NR] System Still Hates Them - Chapter 751

Courtney sighs, “Well, since they aren’t worth anything, grab a decent corpse and let’s make our way over to the settlement since we’re already out and about. They’ll want to know about an aggressive horde like that.”

Rosha shrugs, “I doubt there are more, but sure. No harm, no foul. Maybe they’ll give us some pocket change?”

Jason kicks at the pile of bodies, “Eh, I doubt we’re that lucky.”

Rosha raises an eyebrow, “Lucky?”

Jason nods, “We’ve been bumming around out in the Deep Wilds a little too long. You said these are some kind of wood spirit? Formed from the natural power of the forest coalescing I assume?”

Rosha frowns, “Yes, but what do you mean by being in the Deep Wilds too long? We, have we been in here a year yet? It doesn’t matter, there are players and locals who spend years, decades, in here.”

Jason shrugs, “And how many of them use Energy? How many of them are the heir of a powerful family? How many stay on the edge like we have? Not fully in the Deep Wilds and yet not truly in NeoRealm?”

Rosha waves that off, “The System is meant to be unbiased.”

Jason laughs, “Pull my other leg, it has bells on it. I’m sure things are mostly fair. The rich have their own ways to make things unfair without the System propping them up. But we’re literally on the border that represents the biggest battlefield of all of NeoRealm. The battle between NeoRealm and the Deep Wilds. A true battle for territory. And every single one of us is oh so interesting.

“An Energy user, a noble, and a noble bloodline. Too interesting to let us rest. Wood spirits? I bet the System riled things up and then let nature take its course. There will be more.”

Courtney sighs, “You do realize you sound delusional? A bit of main character syndrome?”

Jason shrugs, “Every player is a main character. That’s the whole point. Admittedly, unlike old-school MMOs and RPGs, we can’t literally be at the center of everything that is happening. Storylines don’t get replayed for every new player. But a player who crafts will find a way forward when stuck. A player trying to be a knight will get that chance.

“It can be subtle, easy to miss, but way too many players end up with that one chance. Oh sure, most will fail at it. They try out to be a squire, but aren’t actually disciplined enough for the job or they don’t put in the work to raise their crafting skill enough. But there’s a chance!”

Courtney, “Now you just sound like a conspiracy theorist.”

Rosha, “But is he wrong?”

Courtney sighs, “No, no he’s not. Though I don’t see why that would lead to us fighting wood spirits.”

Jason shrugs, “Part of giving everyone a chance also includes snipping that very potential. If everyone who wants to be a knight gets a chance to be a squire, you need to spread them out. There needs to be a bunch of knights looking for player squires. Knights need to be valued combatants and there needs to be combat for them to fight in.”

Rosha, “I could see that leading to a bunch of ‘accidental’ deaths among the local squire population.”

Jason holds up his hand and lowers a finger with each point he makes. “And there needs to be monsters a knight specializes in killing. Actual knights need to die so there is space for more. The political landscape needs to be such that knights can be supported by local nobility. There needs to be many chances for the knights that do live to ‘fall to evil’ because fighting against an evil knight is a popular fantasy. Oh, and players still need the ability to decide they don’t want to be a knight anymore. So that means supporting even more knights than actually needed.

“And all of that is wrapped up in the fact that every desired position is like that. For instance, there are a lot of people who want to be alchemists. Yet have we ever used a potion? Of course not, we have a healer. But someone needs to buy the unending flow of low-grade healing potions, so small farming villages can’t just have a hedge witch with actual healing magic. There are a lot of knock-on effects to at the very least, giving players the chance to be whatever they want, even if most fail at it.”

Rosha, “Fair, now how does that circle back around to the System attacking us with wood spirits and our having been in the Deep Wilds too long?”

Jason shrugs, “There is one other tiny little detail to all of that. While common things such as being an alchemist are easy enough to fit in. Other things aren’t so easily done. The knight is a good example of this.

“No matter how much you expand things and create a thousand tiny little kingdoms. There will never be enough knight positions up for grabs. Worse, most players aren’t actually in it for the long run. They’ll take the training and then slip out.

“Which is perfect for the System. That is what it wants. Someone to claim a position, revel in it for a little, then move on so others can get the position. We’re not doing that.”

Rosha laughs, “So the System is picking on us because we managed to get important teachers?”

Jason raises an eyebrow, “Because you did. Our staying in the Deep Wilds like this means Peter is keeping an eye on you and likely considers you something akin to a personal disciple. So for others to have that chance to train with him, even if just for a week, you need to leave the Deep Wilds.”

Rosha, “But there has to be others who can teach them?”

Courtney sighs, “I see what he’s saying. The problem isn’t having someone to teach people. It is having people cycling through fast enough. You represent one more teacher who isn’t accepting new trainees.”

Rosha, “Well that’s stupid.”

Courtney shrugs, “And the System isn’t human. It isn’t designed to give us our happily ever after. It is meant to give us a chance and move on, but we aren’t moving on.”