Chapter 72: Lord's Escort for Monster Hunting, Players Line Up to Express Gratitude

When Qin Wentian sent that message, Lin Ye was drinking tea on the third floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center. He had just picked up his cup and hadn't even brought it to his lips when the cross-server channel popped up.

"Did the Lord of Flame run away?"

Qin Wentian replied in a second: "Ran away. I saw it with my own eyes. It snuck out the back door of the Korean Server Abyssal Lord's city and ran north along the abyss ley lines. It even looked back twice while running; it was acting very shifty."

Lin Ye put down his cup. The Lord of Flame was the Korean Server's Abyssal Lord, level 98, had signed an employment contract, and had submitted last week's materials on time. Why would it run?

He opened the cross-server channel and directly @-ed the Lord of Flame.

"Ye: Flame, I heard you ran away?"

The cross-server channel was quiet for a few seconds. Then the Lord of Flame replied.

"Korean Server Lord of Flame: Didn't run. Just came out for some fresh air. The Abyssal Lord's city is too stuffy."

"Does getting fresh air require running north along the abyss ley lines?"

The Lord of Flame fell silent. It remained silent for a long time, long enough for global players to start grabbing popcorn. The cross-server channel was full of memes of people pulling up small stools to watch.

The Lord of the Abyss suddenly spoke up.

"Abyssal Director: Flame, your real-time location shows you are in the northern section of the Korean Server's abyss ley lines. Seventeen kilometers away from the Abyssal Lord's city. Does getting fresh air require traveling seventeen kilometers?"

The Lord of Flame was silent for another moment. Then it replied with a message that made global players burst into laughter.

"Korean Server Lord of Flame: Director, I was wrong. I wanted to go to that wild Abyssal Lord's lair to the north. It has a type of ore there that can increase flame purity if eaten. I just wanted to steal a bite."

"Abyssal Director: Stealing ore, dereliction of duty. Deduct 20 performance points. Your year-end bonus for this quarter is halved."

"Korean Server Lord of Flame: Director! I only wanted to steal one bite! I didn't even get to eat it!"

"Abyssal Director: Attempted crime is still a crime. Add another 10 points, a total deduction of 30 points."

The Lord of Flame didn't dare to speak anymore. Global Abyssal Lords collectively fell silent. Since the Lord of the Abyss became the Director, his performance deductions were even harsher than Lin Ye's.

Lin Ye closed the cross-server channel and turned to Fatty Wang.

"Why is Qin Wentian in the Korean Server's Abyssal Lord's city?"

Fatty Wang flipped through the backend records: "He bought the advanced abyss protection package. The escort Abyssal Lord assigned to him was the Lord of Flame. He's been following the Lord of Flame to farm materials for the past few days."

Lin Ye nodded. Qin Wentian had spent 100 rockets to buy the package, and the assigned escort had run off. Anyone would report that.

"Tell the Lord of Flame to come back. No need to make up for the deducted performance points. But it must complete double the escort missions for Qin Wentian this week."

The Lord of the Abyss replied instantly: "Received."

Less than three minutes later, the Lord of Flame appeared at the gate of the Korean Server's Abyssal Lord's city. When it ran back, its flames were in disarray, looking like a chicken caught in the rain. Qin Wentian stood at the city gate waiting for it, holding a newly crafted abyss longsword.

"Back?"

The Lord of Flame lowered its head.

"Let's go, farm materials. Brother Ye said, this week's escort missions are doubled."

The purple flames in the Lord of Flame's eyes flickered. Doubled is doubled, better than having the year-end bonus deducted. The human and the Abyssal Lord walked into the abyss ley lines.

This scene was screenshotted by Korean Server players and posted on the forum. The thread title was "Lord of Flame being escorted by Qin Wentian to farm materials".

Global players were laughing like crazy.

On the forum, someone had made a compilation of screenshots of Abyssal Lords escorting players. The Lord of Dark Erosion was holding a shield in front of a Japanese Server player; the claws of an Abyss Minion hitting the shield didn't even leave a mark. The Lord of Despair was crouching next to a US Server player; an Abyss Commander rushed over but was slapped away by it. The Lord of Plague was following behind a European Server player; as the player opened treasure chests, it was responsible for clearing nearby mobs. The Lord of Nightmare was the most outrageous; it directly let a European Server player sit on its shoulder to farm mobs.

Below the post, everyone was queuing up to thank Lin Ye.

"Korean Server player Park Jung-tae: Thanks Brother Ye. The Lord of Flame took me to farm abyss materials for an afternoon. I finished my weekly production quota in one afternoon."

"Japanese Server player Yamada Kenta: Thanks Brother Ye. The Lord of Dark Erosion took me to farm Abyss Elites. I didn't lose any HP the whole time, but it lost half a health bar."

"US Server player Johnson: Thanks Brother Ye. The Lord of Despair is too fierce. An Abyss Commander charged over, and it slapped it away with one hit."

"European Server player Schmidt: Thanks Brother Ye. The Lord of Nightmare let me sit on its shoulder. I've been playing this game for three years, and this is the first time I've farmed mobs while sitting on an Abyssal Lord's shoulder."

The queue of people thanking him grew longer and longer. From the Korean Server to the Japanese Server, from the Japanese Server to the US Server, from the US Server to the European Server. Finally, even the Chinese Server casual players joined in.

"Chinese Server player Little Mage: Thanks Brother Ye. Although I didn't buy the top-tier package, the Lord of Destruction helped me clear a wave of mobs while patrolling in the wild. I said thanks, and it said 'You're welcome, there's a player satisfaction item in the performance appraisal'."

This reply was upvoted to the top of the forum. There was a player satisfaction item in the Abyssal Lord's performance appraisal. This meant if players gave bad reviews, the Abyssal Lord would have their performance points deducted.

Global players were collectively boiling over with excitement.

Someone started a voting thread titled "Rate the Abyssal Lords". The Lord of Dark Erosion got 4.9, the Lord of Despair 4.8, the Lord of Plague 4.7, the Lord of Nightmare 4.9, and the Lord of Flame got 3.5 due to the running away incident.

The Lord of Flame replied under the post.

"Korean Server Lord of Flame: 3.5? I didn't let the player lose any HP the whole time I was escorting!"

The second floor replied: "But you ran away."

The third floor replied: "But you ran away."

The fourth floor replied: "But you ran away."

The Lord of Flame stopped talking.

The Lord of the Abyss posted in the thread.

"Abyssal Director: Lord of Flame, player satisfaction is included in this quarter's performance appraisal. 3.5 points, deduct 20 points."

"Korean Server Lord of Flame: Director! That's a netizen rating! Not an official rating!"

"Abyssal Director: Netizen ratings are ratings too. Deducted."

The Lord of Flame was completely wilted.

Other Abyssal Lords saw this reply and collectively became nervous. The Lord of Dark Erosion opened the cross-server channel and asked cautiously.

"Japanese Server Lord of Dark Erosion: Director, will my 4.9 points be deducted?"

"Abyssal Director: 4.9 points will not be deducted. Keep it up."

"Japanese Server Lord of Dark Erosion: Thank you, Director!"

"US Server Lord of Despair: What about my 4.8 points?"

"Abyssal Director: Not deducted."

"European Server Lord of Nightmare: What about my 4.9 points?"

"Abyssal Director: Not deducted. Nightmare, the fact that you let the player sit on your shoulder is good. Add 5 points."

The purple flames in the Lord of Nightmare's eyes were so bright they were almost overflowing. The Lord of Plague was anxious.

"European Server Lord of Plague: Director, my 4.7 points aren't low either. Why no points added?"

"Abyssal Director: The points deducted for your false advertising last time haven't been made up yet. Fill the hole first."

The Lord of Plague wilted.

The global Abyssal Lord performance ranking was updated in real-time on the forum homepage. The Lord of Dark Erosion and the Lord of Nightmare were tied for first, the Lord of Despair was third, the Lord of Plague was fourth, and the Lord of Flame was at the bottom. Looking at the leaderboard, the Lord of Flame squatted at the gate of the Korean Server's Abyssal Lord's city, the flames on its body wilted like a candle about to go out.

Qin Wentian stood beside it, holding the abyss longsword.

"Don't wilt. Let's go, farm materials. Farm the satisfaction rating back."

The Lord of Flame raised its head, and the purple flames in its eyes ignited again. The human and the Abyssal Lord walked into the abyss ley lines again.

Lin Ye watched the thanking thread and the performance ranking on the forum, his lips curling up.

Fatty Wang leaned over: "Brother, are you really letting netizens rate the Abyssal Lords' performance?"

"Otherwise what? I'm one person watching over hundreds of Abyssal Lords globally, can I keep up? Letting players rate them is easy and accurate."

Su Qinghan stood to the side and said softly: "You're not making the Abyssal Lords work, you're making them serve as waiters."

Lin Ye laughed: "What's wrong with being a waiter? Being a waiter is a proper profession too. When the Abyssal Lords invaded the game world, how many players did they kill, how much gear did they explode. Now making them serve players, isn't that expected?"

Su Qinghan looked at him and couldn't help but laugh. This person said it was expected, but in reality, he was using this method to make the Abyssal Lords pay their debts. The levels players lost when killed by Abyss Monsters wouldn't come back, the exploded gear wouldn't come back. But at least now, the Abyssal Lords were bowing, lowering their heads, and cautiously asking players if they were satisfied.

Debts owed must be repaid.

In the cross-server channel, players queuing to thank him were still flooding the screen. Some sent rockets to Lin Ye, some sent banners. Since they couldn't send physical banners in the game, some used materials to arrange the characters "Brother Ye is Awesome" in the square.

One was arranged in the Korean Server's Main City Square. One was arranged in the Japanese Server's Main City Square. US Server, European Server, Chinese Server, all the Main City Squares of all servers globally had one arranged.

Lin Ye stood on the top floor of the Unscrupulous Business Center, looking at the four characters spelled out with materials in the Dawn City square.

Fatty Wang stood next to him: "Brother, global players are all thanking you."

"Saw it."

"How does it feel?"

Lin Ye was silent for a few seconds.

"Not bad. But it's not enough."

"What's not enough?"

Lin Ye pointed in the direction of the Abyss Rift.

"The Lord of the Abyss is still in the seal formation. The seal formation can hold for at most five more days. Five days later when it comes out, whether the global Abyssal Lords listen to it or to me, no one knows. At that time, if they collectively rebel, these hundreds of Abyssal Lords attacking the cities simultaneously, all global servers will fall within a day."

Fatty Wang's face went pale.

Su Qinghan's brows furrowed.

Lin Ye turned around and looked at the two.

"So in these five days, we must make the Lord of the Abyss completely submit. Not the kind of submission from signing a contract, but from the bottom of its heart. Let it know that working for me is more profitable than being the Lord of the Abyss."

He opened the cross-server channel and @-ed the Lord of the Abyss.

"Ye: Director, how are your Director Escort Edition packages selling?"

The Lord of the Abyss replied instantly.

"Abyssal Director: The second batch of one hundred, sold out in ten seconds. The third batch is on pre-sale, the number of reservations has already exceeded one hundred thousand."

"Want to increase sales by another ten times?"

"Abyssal Director: How to increase?"

Lin Ye's mouth curled into that extremely unscrupulous smile.

"Start a livestream. You bring the goods yourself."