Chapter 14: The Know-It-All of the Honkai World
"Lord Bishop Otto, after preliminary testing, the basic statistics of nearly all Descenders are similar. The only significant variance appears to be in their Honkai Energy resistance."
Amber, ever the model of efficiency, presented a sleek data-slate to the Overseer of Schicksal. Otto Apocalypse accepted it, a flicker of genuine interest animating his features as he began to peruse the report.
"According to these tests, ninety percent of the subjects possess a Honkai Energy resistance hovering around a mere 100 HW," Otto murmured, his voice laced with a faint, scholarly curiosity. "The remaining ten percent are only around 200 HW… Oh, my. That's only marginally better than an ordinary civilian. Is this truly the extent of what these Descenders have to offer?"
He raised a single, perfectly sculpted eyebrow, a subtle air of disappointment settling over him. He had harbored a sliver of hope that the arrival of these otherworldly beings might introduce some novel variable, some new possibility into his grand equation. Yet, from the looks of it, they were a collection of rather unremarkable mediocrities.
"Have there been any successful cases of artificial stigmata transplantation?" he inquired, his gaze still fixed on the data.
"Currently, there is only one, my Lord. A Descender in the North American branch who calls himself Apollo," Amber replied with crisp precision.
"And the adaptability of the artificial stigmata?" Otto pressed, his tone sharpening slightly.
"Average," Amber stated. "Once the modification process is complete, his projected strength will be roughly equivalent to a B-rank Valkyrie. The estimated time for the full modification is two years."
"Two years…" Otto nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression gracing his lips. "That is actually quite swift."
It seemed these Descenders were not entirely without their uses after all. Under normal circumstances, training a B-rank warrior from scratch would require at least three years of intensive effort, and even those blessed with exceptional talent would need close to two. This 'Apollo' had managed to provide a small, but welcome, surprise.
"There is one other matter," Amber continued. "Cocolia wishes to cooperate with you, Lord Bishop. She is offering a five percent stake in ME Corp as use in exchange for some of our military assets in Nagazora City, in the Far East."
A low chuckle escaped Otto's lips, which soon blossomed into a full, melodious laugh. "Heh… Hehehe…"
Cocolia. One of the key executives of the Anti-Entropy reformist faction, responsible for managing the bulk of their military might. And ME Corp was the primary source of Anti-Entropy's funding, its financial lifeblood. For her to willingly offer him a five percent stake… and all for a few military pieces in Nagazora? What could this possibly signify?
It was common knowledge that Schicksal and Anti-Entropy maintained a relationship of open, if carefully managed, hostility. Beyond their shared mission to combat the Honkai, the two organizations had practically nothing in common.
And then there was the matter of what had transpired decades ago. His dear old friend, the current Sovereign of Anti-Entropy—Welt Yang—despised him with a hatred that burned to the very marrow of his bones.
Otto had only eliminated Welt's father for certain… unavoidable reasons. Yet, the boy held a grudge to this very day. For decades, he had stubbornly dedicated himself to opposing Otto at every turn.
Otto truly couldn't comprehend it. How should he put it? Welt may have lost his father, but he still had him! Otto could have perfectly fulfilled the role of a guiding mentor in his life, could he not?
If only he had Welt's contact information, Otto desperately wanted to call him right now and inform him… Did you know there's a traitor in your midst?
Then, in a flash of imagined brilliance, he would materialize right before Welt's eyes and declare: "I have always longed to see this particular expression on your face—this look of wanting to kill me, yet being utterly powerless to do anything about it!"
"Lord Bishop?" Amber's voice, tinged with confusion, pulled him from his reverie. She watched him, her expression a mask of professional concern as his own had grown increasingly strange.
Otto's thoughts snapped back to the present. He cleared his throat twice. "Ahem. Go and speak with Cocolia. I believe a ten percent stake should be achievable."
He waved a dismissive hand, entrusting the matter entirely to Amber. While he was uncertain of Cocolia's ultimate goal, the prospect of sowing internal conflict within Anti-Entropy was a delightful one he was more than happy to encourage.
"Yes, Lord Bishop," Amber acknowledged with a nod before departing.
Left alone, Otto's gaze drifted back to the files on the Descenders. While most were indeed useless on the battlefield, perhaps they could be put to good use as manual labor… or as experimental subjects? The thought brought a faint, contemplative smile to his face.
...
"Ahem, hello everyone, and welcome back to 'The Know-It-All of the Honkai World.' After about a day of exploring, I'm sure most of you have a basic grasp on how to play in this world, right?"
"This online game is a whole different beast from the traditional ones we're used to. The two biggest questions on everyone's mind are 'Newbie Progression'and the'Quest System'."
"First off, this game doesn't have a classic 'Newbie Village.' Instead, we're divided into different training academies and organizations. Some of these academies are subsidiaries of Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, and it looks like we'll eventually be able to join one of these two major factions through certain channels. For now, these places are the main way for us to get stronger."
"For more details, you can check out my previous video, where I broke down the rankings of the training academies, the preferences of the two big factions, and even some of the civilian groups like the Federation…"
"Personally, I'm leaning towards mechs, because mechs are a man's romance, plain and simple!"
"In these academies, we can gain experience points by 'attending classes,''training,' and other similar activities to'level up.' Each level-up gives you +1 to all four base attributes and 2 free attribute points to assign as you wish, for a total of 6 attribute points per level."
"Of course, you could also try to hunt 'Death Soldiers' by overwhelming them with sheer numbers, but that's really an option only for the big-spending whale players. Why? Because the death penalty in this game is absolutely terrifying."
"If you die in the game, you get hit with a 24-hour login ban and you lose a full level. The lowest you can drop is back to level 1."
"Just to give you an idea, a single, low-level, Level 10 'Death Soldier' requires a team of about thirty well-trained members to barely take down."
"And since there are currently no known ways to restore health in the field, we literally have to rely on throwing bodies at the problem."
"A Level 10 Death Soldier gives about 300 experience points. For a 30-person team, it takes about ten minutes, which averages out to a measly 10 experience points per person. It seems low, but… ahem, let's just say for certain specific groups, the rewards are much higher. Those who know, know. If I say too much, this video won't pass the review. You get me?"
"But the risk is also sky-high. The attack power of a Death Soldier is insane; at our low levels, you're basically dead in one hit. So, I strongly, strongly advise against trying to grind levels by killing Death Soldiers in the early game."
"What's more, the spawn locations for Death Soldiers aren't fixed. If you're an average player and you stumble upon one, just run. Run immediately. Don't turn around and flash it a stupid grin."
"Next up is the Quest System. The quests in this game don't seem to give any experience points. They only reward us with items, equipment, money, or things like identity certificates. It's as if the game is forcing us to improve ourselves through our own training and effort."
"It might seem unreasonable at first, but when you think about it, it's actually a lot like our real world, isn't it?"
"Also, the bonuses you get from skills in this world are terrifying. At the same level, a player with skills and a player without are on completely different planets."
"Even the most basic, lowest-level white-tier skills provide a huge boost to our combat effectiveness."
"It's been said that if you've learned corresponding skills in reality, like martial arts or marksmanship, your proficiency with those skills in the game will increase much faster. So, while you're leveling up, don't forget to learn some skills!"
"Here's another thing that no one's figured out yet: the 'Honkai Energy Infection Progress' bar. It's currently a mystery what happens when it reaches 100%. We know that in areas with high concentrations of Honkai Energy, this progress bar will rise. Everyone's natural Honkai Energy resistance seems to be different, so the rate of increase varies from person to person."
"However, seeing the word 'infection,' it's obviously not going to be anything good. I've heard some people are already trying to max it out on purpose; we can only pray they bring us back some surprising results and not just a perma-ban."
"Lastly, let's talk about the game's realism. It goes far, far beyond any online game we've ever played. I'd go so far as to call it a 'Second World.' There are social nuances here; if you give NPCs gifts, they'll actually start to look at you differently."
"Correspondingly, there's also a crime system. If you try to grope someone's butt on the street, you'll most likely be hauled off to a detention center by the local police, which is basically a forced offline death penalty. How long you're locked up for probably depends on the severity of your crime."
"A confirmation prompt will even pop up before you try to kill an NPC, asking if you want to proceed. If you kill someone for no reason, you're definitely getting taken away by the cops."
"The average level of a police officer is around Level 10, and they come with full equipment, including sidearms! At least for now, I really don't recommend causing any trouble."
"So, I genuinely suggest everyone treat this world as if it were a real one."
"Alright, that's it for this session of 'The Know-It-All of the Honkai World.' If you liked the video, don't forget to give it a heart and leave a comment. See you all next time! Bye-bye!"
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