Chapter 6

Free-To-Play. Now thats a business model that Cruel hasnt seen in over a decade and a half. It used to be very popular back in the days, but China… well… well China kind of killed free-to-play. Them shitard chinese bots and haxors to be exact.

Fifteen years ago, these chinese haxors used to plague every free-to-play online game there was on the planet. They were like pests--- voracious, relentless and unsightly. They were everywhere. Especially in places where they weren’t wanted at all. Where there was money, they trail it, like leeches to blood. Filthy would actually be an understatement.

For nearly a century, these fucking Chinese haxors have been known to have participated directly or indirectly in ruining almost every good free-to-play economy there was. It was as if they carry this Midas curse with them, but only in reverse. When one free-to-play game ends, these army of online leeches would immediately go to the next most popular one, sucking all the resources of that game until there was nothing left, repeating the whole vicious reverse Midas cycle all over again. Until one day, one thing led to another and somehow civil war broke inside the communists very own backyard. In-breds fighting each other was the shit way back. It was all over the goddamn news. Trash media kept shoving the report to everyone on the planet, even to folks who were not even remotely interested. China went on a total blackout at some point, preventing everyone in there (including the haxors) from going online for a time. Typical commie moves. Nothing new.

To cut the story short, civil disobedience won and communist China folded to the will of the Chinese hippies.

Today, all of what was former China as well as Taiwan has been unified under one banner. They were now called New Hong Kong. How original was that? You tell me.

Oddly enough, when China vanished, the haxors went away too like magic. Perhaps the New Hong Kong government hunted down the former China keyboard warrior propaganda machinery that employed most of these haxors and nipped the ching chong underworld internet ring right up to its roots.

Maybe?

Maybe not?

But that was not what this story was all about. This was not about recounting the events that led to China's ‘extinction’ (although honestly, half of the savage world had fun watching the ‘Giant’ burn down in flames). No. That was not what this was all about. This was about how Free-To-Play players once roamed the vast MMORPG expanse some few decades ago. How they thrived and stood as equals against real life giant money spenders while spending zero cash for themselves like god damn mini bosses. A story of triumph through sheer hard work, insomnia inducing shitty nights, and unrivaled determination. Those were the kind of stories that resonated well with Cruel. And although he has a current paid subscription (subscription which was part of his employment package and not something that he paid straight from his wallet because paying for a game was shit and that was not his style) Cruel still identified himself as a F2P player nonetheless.

F2P or free-to-play players were the webs most hardcore online game gold farmers there were and still are. In fact, most of them were now employed inside Helion, because you know… poverty (*chuckles*). Cruel was no exception.

The business model might have totally changed, but still, the attitude was the same. Mostly. At least for Cruel, it was.

Free-to-play players used to be the most passionate, both for the love of the game and for the love of gold, but only if it was for free. If it isn’t free, then forget about it. F2P gamers ain’t touching that shit. That shit’s poison.

What was also remarkable about them F2P’s was their ability to farm for cheap but god damn it they farm the most efficient. They knew just how to make every gold coin count. I dunno, maybe because of… drum roll… poverty?

Apart from being passionate free loaders, where else does every F2P player excel at? Well… they were good at getting ridiculously strong at the cost of practically nothing (which the Whales loved to hate).

Problem was, the face of F2P has significantly changed over the decade. Most F2P players nowadays don’t carry that same chaotic fire of fun anymore while playing online games. They used to paint havoc over the VRMMO lands, bringing fun wherever they went. But now, all of that was gone. F2P players now were no different from mere corporate office workers we see on wolf street everyday. They just clock-in and clock-out. Which was sad because playing VRMMORPG was supposed to be fun as fuck. It was not meant to be a vehicle of slavery.

Cruel clearly understood why it was so easy to lose one's way in this day and age, yet there was still hope, as shitty as it might seem. Challenges were already a given. All of us have that wall to overcome on a daily basis but it doesn't mean we just have to give up our shit, especially when balancing ones work, life and playtime became particularly burdensome. We had to toughen ourselves and make it work somehow. We have to always remember that problems always have their solutions. You just need to find it and get your shit together.

Speaking of shitty situations, the real challenge for Cruel now was how he was going to pull off being pseudo F2P inside a subscription heavy Helion? How was he going to balance farming for himself while farming for Ouroburos too? Was than even possible? Was there a way to be on par with the Leviathans (Rank Leaders) despite the glaring disadvantages?

Well… a freeloader could only dream.

Originally, Cruel thought of allocating some of his unplugged time into doing some research. After all, knowledge was power. But thank Hades he stepped back. He would’ve wasted a big chunk of his time researching for clues when the answer was already right under his stupid nose.

What he stumbled upon by chance was the Hexacode. An artificed almanac created from the remnants of Yggdrasil. It used to be that this relics function was to purely chronicle every adventurers story and quest progress from day one and beyond. Today, however, the Hexacodes upgraded version housed other important, if not, game changing features to date. It included new features now such as Thimbles Revolving Armoire, Crowley's House of Cards, Bartholomews Pet Planet, Siegharts Hell's Kitchen and Kreel’s Trophy Cabinet. Bitch don’t even get me started.

Now, why was this piece of relic very important?

Two words, fuckers: Unlocks and Deposits.

See, every player had the Hexacode secured in their inventory at level one upon rebirth. But strangely enough, no one knew of the changes that were happening to it just recently.

Honestly, it was no surprise that a lot of people were unaware of the Hexacodes massive overhaul most likely because the tards from the development team failed to clearly communicate such an important upgrade publicly. Lazy assholes, quite frankly.

There was zero news presented to the media. No press conference was called. Even youtube's biggest gossip networks missed the scoop.

Was this supposed to be a secret? Like a hidden easter egg shit or something?

To be fair, Cruel would have been clueless too had he not fiddled with the almanac’s content out of boredom. He too was only discovering the importance of the Hexacode now as a treasure trove of untapped free stat points resource.

Cruels opinion was this--- there could be others like him out there too who knew of the secret. He was pretty positive that most of them already discovered the secret (if it was a secret at all) since day one. The big question though was why were they keeping mum about the news if they knew of it? Why the silence? No postings on facebook or youtube? No tweets? No tutorial guides? Was it because of greed? Did they intend to create a strength gap between the ones who knew versus the ones that didn't? Wasn't it that the goal was for everyone to get strong and beat the game together? So why would they not share the fucking information then, huh?

Cruels head was full of questions. His answers were only as good as ours.

But what do I care? I'm just here to farm.

So, before his brain cells dries up for trying too hard to solve an imaginary game conspiracy that wouldn't really affect him much, Cruel went back on hitting the books instead.

Chapter Two: The Wonders of Unlocks and Deposits.

To simplify what Cruel was reading, a suitable example was in order. Let us all take Thimbles Revolving Armoire for reference.

Ready?

Okay.

So, if one has a fashion blueprint, say a Blue Larks headpiece for example, and then that someone decided to create the specifics of that blueprint, upon the items completion, that action would count as an unlock. On the other hand, if a finished Blue Lark headpiece was to be stored inside Thimbles Revolving Armoire, then that would count as a deposit. Respectively, bonus stats points of +2 INT +32 HP for unlocking and depositing the headgear would be awarded to the adventurer for meeting the conditions. Also, what was beautiful about the Hexacode was in its variety. It allowed players to collect additional stat points from a multitude of sources and not just one. It could either come from cards, relics, quest titles and even food recipes among other things.

Right now, it was Cruels job to find those extra stat points wherever they were. And what he was targeting most specifically were the unlocks and deposits that has INTs and MATKs (Magic Attacks) in them. That being said, Cruel knew exactly where he needed to be to get started.

Knock. Knock.

Quick but strong. Cruel made sure he made an impression to the owner behind the door.

A few minutes later, the back door opened without much of a fanfare. And from it, out came a Labran. It was Riddle... sporting a morning fur. “Cruel? Is that you, boy? What in Kuku’s name are you doing here at 3 am? Come back later. I still need my shut eye.”

“Just hang on for a second and listen to what I have to say first. I know this was so out of the blue and I’m really sorry for bothering you this early in the morning, but I have something very urgent that needed your help...”

“And what could be more urgent than my shut eye, boy? You tell me?”

“GOLD… Lot’s of gold…

That is if you'll let me borrow your kitchen for a bit.”