The town of origin was still bustling with people. After the initial panic, anxiety and hesitation, the players finally settled down and began to explore the world in front of them. Players chatting and leveling up could be seen everywhere, and the whole town of origin was extremely lively.

But in Fang Zheng's eyes, all he saw was the surging undercurrent.

“How many more people are on the list today?”

Fang Zheng put down the drink in his hand and looked at Argo who was sitting opposite him. Although his question sounded incoherent, Argo still gave a quick answer.

"Twenty-seven."

"It seems that we don't have much time left..."

Fang Zheng frowned when he heard Argo's answer. Argo was a little curious. She knew what Fang Zheng was asking. In fact, one of the tasks Fang Zheng entrusted to Argo was to go to the stone tablet of the Black Iron Palace every day to check the names and numbers of players who died there. Although Argo didn't know what Fang Zheng wanted these for, she still agreed to take the commission.

But now, hearing Fang Zheng's sigh, Argo couldn't help but become a little nervous.

"What's missing?"

"time."

Fang Zheng said this again with a stronger tone, and then he looked at Argo again.

"You haven't found the right player yet?"

"It's not that easy."

Hearing Fang Zheng's request, Argo rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"You require a solo player who can keep up with you guys in level progress and has outstanding strength, but it's not easy to find such a person. I contacted a few before, and although they showed interest, they immediately rejected it when they heard the number of people in your team..."

"That's quite normal."

Fang Zheng was not very surprised by this. At present, there were only six people in his team, which was a small team at most. Even if those lone players wanted to join, they would look for large guilds with many members, not small teams like his. After all, according to Fang Zheng's requirements, they must be people with certain strength. Such people are also very proud. If they want to join, they will naturally look for teams and guilds with many people.

"But then again, why did you say we didn't have much time?"

Argo explained casually, but immediately focused her attention on Fang Zheng's answer. After all, this was not just a game, she was also worried about her own safety!

But this time, Fang Zheng did not answer immediately, but asked Argo a question in return.

"Do you remember the number of people you reported to me two days ago?"

"Well... I remember five more people were added the day before yesterday, and nine more people were added yesterday... But that's nothing."

Argo thought about it carefully and gave the answer immediately. However, in Argo's opinion, this was not a big problem. There were as many as 10,000 players trapped in the game. So far, except for the 300 people who died for various reasons on the first day of the public beta test, the number of player deaths has been increasing slowly since the second day. Especially after Fang Zheng's "Survival Manual" was released, the number of player deaths has further decreased.

So far, there are less than 500 people on the "death list" of the Black Iron Palace. In Argo's opinion, this is already very good. Although people are still dying, there is nothing Argo can do about it. After all, there are always some people who can't get over it or have accidents... She is not a god.

“That’s very telling.”

Fang Zheng shook his head, then he stared at Argo intently.

"You've leveled up with me before, so you should know that at the current level, most players haven't left the novice zone yet. In fact, there aren't many factors that can endanger them in the entire novice zone. In other words, if they're careful, they won't die at all."

"...Maybe someone accidentally encountered a hidden boss, or stepped into a trap?"

"It's not that simple."

Fang Zheng sighed and took a sip of his drink.

"Although most players are still calm on the surface, the data doesn't lie. They have begun to become impatient."

"……impatient?"

"That's right."

Fang Zheng nodded, then turned his head and looked at the busy street not far away.

"It has been almost ten days since the start of the game, but we still have a long way to go before we can clear the first level. Although everyone is still patient, their patience is limited. You also know that most of the players here have played online games before. No matter how strong the lord of the first level is, he is still the weakest one. If we can't defeat him in a short time, more people will become impatient."

Having said this, Fang Zheng looked at Argo again.

"Think about it carefully. If it takes us two months or even longer to defeat the Lord of the first level, then when will we be able to clear the level? There are 100 levels! Assuming it takes us two months to defeat each level of Lord, it will take 200 months to defeat 100 levels. How many years will it take?"

"……hiss!"

Hearing Fang Zheng's analysis, Argo gasped. She hadn't thought too much about it before, but after hearing Fang Zheng's analysis, Argo couldn't help but feel nervous.

"But, but... Isn't it because we players can't get good equipment and our levels are low that it takes so long in the early stages? In the later stages, if we only need to increase our levels and get good equipment, it won't take that long to defeat the Overlord Boss!"

"That's true, but when it comes to their own lives, you can't expect everyone to think calmly. In fact, the surge in the number of deaths is enough to explain the problem. So far, the first-level lord has not been defeated, which has made some people anxious. Some of them have chosen to take radical risks to level up, and some may simply want to die. It's okay now, after all, most people can't notice the death of dozens of people, but once time goes on too long, they will become more and more anxious, and then there will be a large-scale death of hundreds of people. At that time, it will be impossible to turn a blind eye. In the worst case, there is a high possibility of mass panic."

“…”

After hearing Fang Zheng's explanation, Argo's face suddenly turned pale. She clenched her fists and her petite body began to tremble slightly. Argo was not stupid. She could understand what Fang Zheng meant. When she thought about the lives behind these words, she became more and more frightened.

She almost grabbed Fang Zheng's hand and stared at him as if he were grasping at a life-saving straw.

"So, what do you have in mind? You should have a solution!"

"certainly."

Fang Zheng nodded slightly.

"As the saying goes, well begun is half done. The reason why everyone is so anxious now is that up to now, no lord has been taken down, so... I plan to challenge and eliminate the first-level lord within a month!"

"Are you in such a hurry?"

"This is necessary. If the time is too short, players will mistakenly think that the lord is not as dangerous as they think and will seek their own death. If the time is too long, players will think that challenging the lord is too difficult and will despair. One month is a very suitable time, and we can't delay it any longer. For this reason... I need more manpower, at least four more people to form a team guild."

“Ugh…!!”

Hearing Fang Zheng's answer, Argo gritted her teeth and quickly opened the system.

"Wait a minute, I'll see if there's anyone who meets your requirements... I remember there should be a few people... I found them!"

While quickly looking at his records, Argo's eyes lit up.

"I have a few people here who meet the requirements, but..."

"but?"

"The other party also has its own requirements."

"oh?"