Chapter 46: Deduction Postponement Exposed, Player Faction Distribution

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Deduction Postponement Exposed, Player Faction Distribution [We’re screwed! The Inference Day has been extended! Goddammit! Which powerhouse promoted to Tier Four so fast?!]

Around 10:10 PM, after making and eating a bowl of egg noodles, Lince lay down on his bed, pulled out his phone to open the game forums, and immediately saw the trending post.

The moment he saw the post, Lince was stunned for a moment.

’Was it discovered so quickly?’

’Hasn’t the True Game video compilation been released yet?’

Lince was a little puzzled, but a moment later, a possibility occurred to him.

So, he immediately opened the post. And sure enough...

"Guys, we’re screwed! I overslept today, and on top of that, I had some real-life stuff to deal with, so I logged into the game late. I just finished my daily playtime, and you’ll never guess what I discovered."

"That’s right! It’s just like I wrote in the title. When I logged out, the game notified me that the Inference Day has been extended by one hundred days!"

"What the fuck! Which powerhouse is such an asshole?! Couldn’t they have at least waited a few days for us poor saps to grind a bit?!"

"The three-hundred-day Inference was already hard enough, but then you went and hit Tier Four, extending the timeline again by a huge amount. How are us scrubs supposed to survive?!"

"Goddammit!"

As expected, the post immediately attracted a flood of comments from online Players.

Angry Big Dog: "No way? OP, you’re not lying, are you? How could anyone reach Tier Four so quickly?"

Perfectly Seasoned: "Yeah, according to statistics from the Countermeasures Bureau, among the 8,000+ online Players, 126 are Tier Three. But promoting from Tier Three to Tier Four is a major tier jump, right? And in the game’s background world, it seems that Low Tier Bloodline Human Transcendants at this stage need a Bloodline exchange, and the success rate is low. How could it be this fast?"

Milean Jack: "You yourself said it’s low-tier humans who need to change their Bloodline. But what about members of the Human Race who have High Tier Bloodlines, or even Saint Tier Bloodlines? Or, consider this: what if the powerhouse who hit Tier Four isn’t human at all?"

Yaric: "Oh crap, that might actually be it. There seem to be a lot of non-human Players in this game. Besides, there were no Tier Four Players before this, so isn’t it possible we Players aren’t even bound by the background world’s promotion system? After all, we get exclusive gameplay rewards after every inference!"

Cosmic Neutron Star: "Okay, case closed, I guess! There’s a high probability our Player promotions aren’t affected by the Game World’s system. So the question is, who among the one hundred twenty-six Tier Three Players is the one who just promoted to Tier Four?"

"..."

There were plenty of people in the thread spectating and joining the discussion.

Some were doubtful, some were curious, some were cursing. In short, on this small forum with less than ten thousand people, a vivid slice of life was playing out.

However, that wasn’t Lince’s current focus.

After just one day, the game forums were already filled with numerous statistics threads.

These threads were undoubtedly quite helpful, not just to Lince but to the other Players as well.

For example.

[Poll: To help everyone get a clearer picture of the current Player demographics in-game, please cast your vote.]

Game Starting Location:

(1. Human Kingdoms: 1,358 votes)

Human: 758; Non-human: 373.

(2. Elf Empire: 1,289 votes)

Elf: 265; Non-elf: 818.

(3. Beastman Empire: 1,860 votes)

Beastman: 1,168; Non-beastman: 373

(4. Demon Beast Mountain Range: 378 votes)

Demon Beast: 28; Non-Demon Beast: 231

(5. Ocean Sea Race: 2,862 votes)

Sea Race: 2,543; Sea Beast: 124.

(6. Unknown/Other: 482 votes)

Player participation in this poll was extremely high; almost ninety-five percent of them had already voted. Many didn’t vote in the sub-categories, but even so, the thread gave Lince a clear understanding of the current Player distribution.

The Human Race had the Three Great Empires, twelve surrounding Kingdoms, and over a hundred Duchies, yet there were only just over 1,300 Players there.

Even when averaged out, it would be rare for a single Duchy to have even 10 Players.

After all, the largest territories within the human domain belonged to the Three Great Empires, making it much more likely for Players to spawn within Empire Territory.

’So, are there any Players in the Silver Lion Duchy?’

Lince didn’t know, but he figured he’d be lucky if there were even one or two.

But as things stood, the fact that no Players had come to Lince seeking protection spoke volumes.

Either there were none, or they were still hiding, silently observing and waiting for the right opportunity.

After all, not all Players were human.

If one day a giant earthworm popped up in Lince’s Swamp Territory and claimed to be a Player, Lince wouldn’t be surprised.

Furthermore, on the Oakland Continent, it was actually very difficult for ordinary people to leave their place of birth.

Just like in the ancient societies of the Human Alliance back in the real world, people on the Oakland Continent needed travel permits.

These permits were issued either by formal organizations like guilds and merchant associations, or by the Lord’s Mansions of various territories.

Without a permit, forget entering a city—people would inevitably be interrogated, or even arrested, just for passing through another Lord’s territory.

Getting arrested was actually a small matter; the real fear was being sold into slavery in the blink of an eye.

At this stage, any Player who had been in the game for three days should have reached the Entry Tier, unless they’d had it exceptionally rough.

However, reaching the Entry Tier actually restricted Players, making it even harder for them to move around freely.

Because once they reached the Entry Tier, it also meant Players would be highly valued by local powers.

Being trained, being watched—you think you can still wander around freely? No way!

Furthermore, without maps or modern navigation systems, many Players were highly likely to get lost the moment they stepped out the door.

This probability wasn’t just high, it was massive!

Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that no Players had sought out Lince at this stage.

Moreover, the daily playtime limit was only eight hours. At this stage, when all Players were cherishing their characters’ lives, who would dare let their character travel far while AFK?

When he thought about it that way, it was perfectly logical that no Players had sought him out yet.

Looking at the data in the post, Lince was actually quite curious about the votes for the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

He discovered that the Demon Beast Mountain Range had the fewest Players of all the options.

There were only just over three hundred, and the number of Demon Beast players was even smaller, with a mere 28 votes.

Even accounting for those who hadn’t voted, Lince figured there were fifty Demon Beast Players at most.

Considering the Demon Beast Mountain Range stretched for who knows how many thousands of miles, that base number was pathetically small. One had to remember that the Demon Beast Mountain Range was a power capable of contending with the Human Empire; God only knew how vast its territory was.

That number of Players wouldn’t even make a splash in a place like that.

What made Lince most curious was that there were over two hundred non-Demon Beast Players in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

’If a Player in the Demon Beast Mountain Range isn’t a Demon Beast, then what the hell are they?’

’An Alien Race? A Magic Plant of some kind?’

Lince was quite curious, but for now, it was just a passing curiosity.

At this stage, although many Players had begun to reveal their identities, a good number were still cautiously hiding who they were—and even what their in-game roles were.

So, Lince wasn’t going to force the issue.

Overall, the Sea Race had the most Players, accounting for almost a third of the remaining player base.

But the ocean was huge, so it was normal for Players to be randomly assigned to oceanic regions.

And so, taking advantage of the lull before the inference video was released, Lince began browsing other data polls and analysis threads on the forum.