Chapter 3161 - 1053: After 11 Months of Operation, We Successfully Regressed from Open World to Linear Narrative (Sad)

Chapter 3161: Chapter 1053: After 11 Months of Operation, We Successfully Regressed from Open World to Linear Narrative (Sad)

"Bang Bang"

The knock on the door at dawn interrupted Murphy, who was immersed in his desk work. He looked up from the mountain of books and papers to see Triss walking into the room with a cup of coffee.

She wore the Heart of Blood around her neck, scattering a halo of light across her chest. This added a hint of unusual "sanctity" to her already generous and wealthy form, giving off the image of a gentle wife visiting her husband working late into the night. This softened Murphy’s gaze, but before he could smile appreciatively, he saw Triss sit on the couch and bring the aromatic coffee to her lips.

This made Murphy’s expression crumble completely.

Alright then.

He thought it was prepared for him, but apparently he was thinking too much.

"Why are you drinking coffee? Did the Blood Vulture Duke finally empty his wine cellar with his constant drinking?"

Murphy immediately put on a stern face and said:

"Don’t play the pity card with me, given Transylvania’s current volatile financial situation teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, even as a Governor, my pockets are empty. I’ve got no way to buy you good wine."

"Do I really need you to help me get wine? What do you take me, the dignified Blood Vulture Duke, for?"

Triss pouted dismissively and said:

"I can casually release some affinity quests, and whatever fine wine I want, I can get. If I took a few treasures from Salockdale’s Vault as rewards, my capable little players might possibly traverse the Grey Desert to Kalem Ancient Country and steal the fine wines from Dragon Emperor’s Cellar for me.

It’s just unnecessary; their value should be put to more reasonable and significant uses."

"Oh, now it’s all about your little players."

Murphy snorted, continuing to work on his version document modification without looking up, saying:

"If word got out, people might think you are Lord Administrator instead. Unfortunately, as an important member of the development team, I haven’t seen you put any effort into the upcoming version 3.0. Luckily, I don’t really have to pay you all, otherwise, I’d genuinely feel like dissolving the company right here, right now...

Hmm?"

Before this grumbling complaint with a hint of sourness could finish, a frosty wine glass was placed by his hand.

Raising his head, the vampire saw Triss set the blood-like scarlet drink on the table, magically producing a fresh lemon slice to place on the rim of the glass.

Apparently, this was the late-night work energy drink meant for him.

"Why only one slice? Players might think I can’t afford it. Put a few more slices; I like it with a heavy lemon flavor."

Murphy leaned back against his chair, fussing like a customer ordering a cocktail from a bartender, which brought a murderous glint to Triss’s face. However, she shrugged, opening her left hand briefly to conjure another lemon and, using spiritual energy, fashioned it into small slices, which she placed on the rim of the glass.

This finally made Murphy nod in satisfaction.

As he lifted the drink, he heard Triss say darkly:

"You’ve really learned to be brave, go ahead, drink if you dare..."

"Tch."

Murphy sneered, downing a third of it in one gulp, then turned to Triss, saying:

"If it’s really poisoned, you’ve got about ten seconds or so to save your darling. Or maybe we can use what little time remains to say something..."

"Bang"

A stack of organized documents was slapped onto the table by Triss. She glanced at Murphy, saying officially:

"These are the materials you asked me to prepare. Turns out you’re not the only dog planner in the development team who cares about business.

Out of your sight, Professor Malcolm is practically compiling a ’Encyclopedia of Otherworld: Races and Civilizations’ for the forum, and both Maxim and Adel are diligently managing admin duties, never daring to slack off.

Little Sheron is perpetually on the forum, learning otherworldly knowledge and transforming it into local teaching content for us. Even the only young lady who slacked off manages the forum’s video archive quite well. My suggestion is you should consider giving everyone a break sometime."

Otherwise, we’ll have to resort to reporting you to Alpha Company’s Human Resources for exploiting employees."

"A break? Those are the two words capitalists hate most, second only to a salary raise."

Murphy picked up the draft brought by Triss and flipped through it. A few minutes later, he nodded, saying:

"Very well, covering 47 medium and long-term exploratory side quests and treasure-related feature gameplay. It also includes some analysis of the cultural customs of the Sanghai Empire, which only someone who has lived there could write.

Especially the side quests concerning Origin Port, Moon Holy City, and Ptolemaic Royal City are done exquisitely; I really appreciate that.

I knew entrusting these to you would be absolutely fine!

This stuff is enough to sustain a part of the guiding game content, with enough quests to guide players in expanding their activity trajectory to most of the Sanghai Empire. I’ll hand these over to Penny in a bit.

As the guide NPC for this DLC, she must memorize these contents, though for a Mechanical Mind, it’s not a problem.

Here, take a look at this, I’ve just finished it."

Murphy picked up a finished draft from his desk and handed it to Triss. After a glance, her expression turned peculiar.