Cold Spring Great Forest, Stone Forest City, Liberty Inn.
"What is Zero Wing thinking?" Mu Lingsha, who had been resting, nearly leaped to her feet upon seeing the sudden announcement Zero Wing had posted in Stone Forest City. "Refusing to let NPCs enter the city at a time like this? Even Stone Forest City can't afford that kind of loss!"
Beside her, Undying Warheart studied the city announcement and pondered aloud. "But this really is one way to deal with the NPC problem."
"However, trading away more than half the city's economic revenue? That price seems far too steep. And to make up for the shortfall, Zero Wing is charging a twenty-silver-coin entry fee? Regular players won't accept that at all. Stone Forest City might barely manage it now, but what about Zero Wing's other two guild towns?" Mu Lingsha shook her head in confusion. "Right now we're being watched like hawks by the Dark World. The moment things slip on our end, they'll seize the opportunity."
"I'm not sure about all that, but Zero Wing doing this is actually good news for our guild," Undying Warheart said with a smile.
"Good news?" Mu Lingsha stared at him blankly.
She couldn't begin to see how this could benefit their guild, Battle Soul Unyielding, in the slightest.
"With Stone Forest City's entry fees going up, a lot of players are going to choose other guild towns instead—or simply stop coming here altogether. You know what Stone Forest City's resources and conditions are like. It's absolutely the best among the hundred-level neutral zones. And when it comes to purifying aberrant energy, Liberty Inn has nothing comparable. That means the slots that open up at Liberty Inn can be filled by our guild members," Undying Warheart explained at a measured pace.
"That's true." Mu Lingsha's eyes lit up. "I'll have the Guild Master and the others start preparing right away."
Stone Forest City was already incredibly crowded, and with the influx of NPCs it had become wall-to-wall—entry was being throttled just to keep the streets passable. If a large number of NPCs left, and a massive wave of players followed suit, it would be the perfect opportunity for them to establish a stronger foothold in the city.
After all, Stone Forest City was one of the rare intermediate cities in the entire Divine Realm. If they played their cards right, their guild members' levels could pull significantly ahead of rival guilds.
Beastman Empire, Silverwing City.
"Crazy! Zero Wing has completely lost its mind!"
"Kicking the NPCs out is one thing, but why are shop rents going up too? This has to be a Zero Wing conspiracy! They're trying to drive us player merchants out of Silverwing City!"
"Zero Wing's got some nerve! I'm behind them a hundred percent—getting rid of those NPCs is great! This city was built by us players in the first place! With so many NPCs crowding around, I can't even pick up a quest!"
Opinions among the players in Silverwing City were sharply divided. Some denounced Zero Wing as having gone money-mad, while others thought the changes were a welcome improvement—fewer NPCs meant one less group of competitors.
And while the general player base remained ambivalent, the major powers that had received word of Zero Wing's NPC ban were quite pleased.
"Zero Wing actually has the guts to do this? Refusing NPCs? Let's see how their three guild towns keep running after that."
"Bold move, truly bold. Every major faction is scrambling to recruit right now, trying to shore up their defenses, and yet Zero Wing is pushing people away. Looks like after helping Frost Heaven become one of the Twelve Candidate Guilds, they've let it go to their heads!"
"With Silverwing City ceding ground in the Beastman Empire, this is a golden opportunity for our guild to expand. Pass the order—starting now, our guild town's entry fees are halved, and recruitment requirements are lowered!"
The major powers watched Zero Wing drive people away, and one by one they leaped at the chance to recruit aggressively, hoping to capture a larger share of the player market across the Beastman Empire.
Sure enough, in less than half an hour, the number of players entering Zero Wing's three guild towns had dropped sharply. A great many ordinary players had been lured away by other guild towns in the Beastman Empire, and NPC-related revenue had plummeted even more dramatically.
"Guild Master, this really isn't working! It's been less than half an hour, and we've already lost over twenty percent of the player population across our three cities. If this keeps up, we'll be lucky to have even a tenth of what we had before!" You Lan urgently contacted Shi Feng, sounding on the verge of a breakdown.
This was all money hemorrhaging out of their coffers!
With Bai Qingxue and Watercolor Rose both currently in states unfit for management, the burden of running Zero Wing's guild affairs had fallen squarely on her and Liang Jing's shoulders.
They hadn't fully understood Zero Wing's situation before taking over, but after stepping into these roles, they realized the guild had been walking a tightrope all along—their finances were balanced on a razor's edge.