17: Chapter 17 Capturing Players

"Phew."

Mo Bai slowly withdrew his Spiritual Power and let out a long breath.

"experience points +35."

"The experience points I gain each time are increasing now."

"The stronger the Spiritual Power, the faster the growth. Hmm, a positive cycle."

"But what was that elemental fluctuation just now?"

"Is there a magical beast over there? Or has some Natural Treasure appeared?"

"Wait, didn't the Green Leaf Guild seem to head in that direction earlier?"

Mo Bai pondered slightly, feeling a bit curious.

The sudden elemental fluctuation just now was very weak. If his Spiritual Power hadn't been deeply fused with the wind element, he definitely wouldn't have caught that trace of elemental ripple.

"I'll go take a look."

Deciding to go immediately, Mo Bai packed his things and appeared in the forest.

"Hmm? Why are there so many players in this area?"

Before long, Mo Bai had already spotted several groups of players.

"Has something big happened recently?"

Immersed in Magic Spell Models, Mo Bai hadn't spent much time browsing the forum over the past twenty days or so, though it wasn't for lack of time.

The main reason was that to deeply perceive the wind element, the most important thing was a calm mind.

Even a slight ripple in his heart would disrupt his state, so he rarely went on the forum, to the point where he now felt somewhat isolated from the world.

"Brother, has something happened? I see so many people heading that way."

After thinking for a moment, Mo Bai quickened his pace to catch up with a player and asked.

"Hmm? Brother, haven't you been online lately?"

These two players immediately became wary when they saw someone approaching, but upon seeing that Mo Bai was alone, they relaxed and spoke up.

"A player was captured. It's caused quite a stir on the forum; you'll know once you check it."

"Ah? A player was captured?"

Mo Bai couldn't help but be stunned, not quite processing it.

The slightly chubby player of the two, seeing that Mo Bai didn't look fierce and seemed like an honest person, spoke up immediately.

"You really don't know?"

"Tell you what, let's walk together so we can look out for each other. I'll tell you about it on the way."

"I'm Zhou Rin, he's Yang Hao. And you?"

"I'm Mo Bai."

"Oh, Brother Mo Bai. Here's the gist of it."

"Doesn't Oak Town have an Enforcement Squad? If you break the law inside, you'll be caught by the Enforcement Squad."

"Once caught, you're either killed on the spot or thrown into a small dark room, and then someone has to pay a ransom to bail you out."

"Ahem, don't think about bailing yourself out; when you're caught, everything on you no longer belongs to you."

"Of course, that's not the point. The point is that a player discovered that while robbing someone in town gets you wanted and caught, fighting back after being robbed doesn't."

"So he set his sights on that group of Beggars in Oak Town. You know, those gangster Beggars; they're often seen extorting people in town."

"So that player decided to play the 'thief stealing from a thief' game and disguised himself as a Beggar first."

The slightly chubby Zhou Rin was quite eloquent, telling the story vividly, while Mo Bai blinked his eyes upon hearing this.

He suddenly realized what was about to happen next.

He felt a bit like laughing.

Zhou Rin continued vividly.

"Not long after he started pretending to be a Beggar, the real Beggars showed up. Three of them came and dragged that player into a secluded alley."

"But that player didn't panic. The five players he had invited beforehand immediately followed to 'rescue' him."

"And do you know what happened?"

Zhou Rin asked, his eyebrows dancing.

Although Mo Bai already realized what was coming, he still played along and asked curiously.

"What happened?"

"Heh, as soon as those five went in, they found that player frantically winking at them."

"Before they could react, over a dozen burly men surrounded them from behind, blocking them in front and back, leaving no room to escape."

"Then those five players were tied up and taken away by those burly men."

"If it had ended there, it would have been fine—just those players having bad luck, they deserved it."

"But those Beggars, for some unknown reason, suddenly started kidnapping players in bulk."

"And all the kidnapped players were secretly transported to the same coordinates."

"The place where we're heading. I heard they're being used directly for human experimentation."

"Ah? What?"

Mo Bai was startled and looked at Zhou Rin in disbelief.

"It's not fake; quite a few of these players are live-streaming it on the forum."

"There's drug testing, organ harvesting—the most extreme ones even involve replacing players' bones and internal organs. I heard they even implanted some kind of rhombic Magic Crystal."

These players can only be free if they die, but they can't move. They're basically in a state where they can neither live nor die. Many players were kicked out of the game because their emotional threshold was reached during the experiments.

This immediately sparked public outrage.

At first, the Green Leaf Guild launched a guild activity to besiege them, but their stronghold's defense is very strong, and the people inside are also very powerful.

They couldn't take it down, so the Green Leaf Guild had no choice but to ask for help on the forum.

Mo Bai couldn't help but scratch his head.

"This game's path is a bit wild, NPCs capturing players for human experimentation."

"Tell me about it."

Zhou Rin shrugged.

"Someone asked the game's customer service, and the explanation they gave was that once the game starts running, everything within it operates independently and in a closed manner."

The NPCs are all individual AI agents who will operate and grow on their own based on existing situations and information.

The game officials only guarantee the players' personal safety, ensuring they enter a dream mode if their emotions become too intense, preventing any permanent damage.

"I see."

Mo Bai nodded.

"Yeah. Hey, brother, what level are you? Which attribute did you mainly focus on?"

"Do you have a fixed party?"

Zhou Rin glanced at the Spear in Mo Bai's hand and said casually.

"level 3."

"level 3, that's not too low. You'll level up with some practice. What's your main attribute?"

"spirit."

As soon as Mo Bai spoke, the two were stunned. They looked at him strangely for a while before finally speaking.

"Brother, you're aiming to be a Mage, aren't you?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Well... this game might not have Mages, or the Mage class might be very hard to change into."

"Brother Mo Bai, don't take offense at what I'm saying."

"Many people are like you, putting points into spirit when they level up, thinking about playing a Mage later."

"But so far, there hasn't been any news or sign of a Mage. After working hard to reach level 4 or 5, putting all points into Spiritual Power leaves you with zero combat power."

"Others who put points into strength or agility—twelve or thirteen points of agility make them like mini-supermen."

"Those who add points to spirit are as weak as kittens; they can't even find a group to join. And you can't even lower your level to reset points; the game doesn't have that setting, nor can you create a new character."

"Brother, I see you're only level 3, so you still have two attribute points left."

Zhou Rin patted Mo Bai on the shoulder and didn't continue, but Mo Bai understood what he meant.

Putting all points into spirit makes one weak; if he switched to strength early, he could still save a few attribute points.

Normally, if one couldn't change classes to a Mage, this would indeed be a wise move, but...

Mo Bai thought to himself.

"But I am a Mage."