"Mabui, you're here too? And Omoi, that little brat as well."
Samui turned her head to look at her companions.
The dark-skinned Omoi, chewing on a toothpick, frowned in dissatisfaction. "Don't call me a little brat. I'm already a full-fledged Genin of the Hidden Cloud Village. Besides, this is seriously a terrible situation."
Mabui, the secretary of the Raikage, was known for her exceptional analytical skills. Much like the Nara clan of Konoha, she was famous not for her combat prowess but for her intellect.
"I can't sense any chakra, so it's probably not a genjutsu."
She furrowed her brows slightly. "Most likely, this is some kind of space-time transportation jutsu. But for it to bypass the Hidden Cloud's barrier squad and take me away right under the Raikage's nose..."
A technique of this magnitude was unheard of.
The Hidden Cloud Village did possess space-time jutsu, such as the Heavenly Transfer Technique, which allowed them to teleport objects anywhere.
However, ordinary ninjas couldn't withstand the damage caused by teleportation, only someone with a body as resilient as the Raikage's could endure it. Yet just moments ago, she had seen even civilians being transported here without issue.
"It's not just us. There are also villagers from the Hidden Cloud, merchants and samurai escorts who were in nearby towns for missions…"
"And ninjas from other villages."
Samui nimbly grabbed onto a rooftop and leapt to a higher vantage point.
Mabui massaged her temples. "Look around for any ninjas from our village. Gather them together and avoid direct confrontation with foreign ninjas. Our priority is intelligence gathering."
"I am Sarutobi Asuma, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf."
"I will take responsibility for this operation. From now on, this is classified as an S-rank mission. No matter your rank, intelligence gathering is the highest priority!"
Sarutobi Asuma spoke with a serious expression to the gathering Konoha ninjas.
Hyuga Neji nodded. "Understood."
He had already graduated two years ago, and since his mentor was Might Guy, who was aligned with the Hokage faction, he naturally recognized Asuma.
Kabuto Yakushi obediently bowed his head. "Yes."
Gathering intelligence was, of course, important, but not for the Hidden Leaf. It was for Orochimaru.
Especially considering the mysterious man's mention of "immortality." Even if he only obtained a few scraps of information, Orochimaru-sama would surely reward him.
"Alright!"
Uzumaki Naruto, still unsure of the situation, immediately became fired up upon hearing that this was an S-rank mission. "I, Uzumaki Naruto, will absolutely complete this mission!"
Asuma glanced at him and said, "Stick close to me. We'll move together."
Even though the mysterious man claimed that death in the game would return them to reality, seeing was believing. No one would risk testing that theory, especially not with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki on the line.
A white-haired girl, scanning the remaining players, reported, "Three hundred players exited the game, all civilians. The remaining two hundred consist of nobles, their bodyguards, merchant caravans, and hired samurai."
Fang Yi nodded. "Even though the game invitations were distributed with ninja villages as the central point, not all players would be shinobi."
After all, ninja villages also housed ordinary people, and they made up the majority of the population.
Even during the Great Ninja Wars, the total number of ninja forces never exceeded tens of thousands. The standing military forces of the major villages weren't as large as many assumed.
At this moment, most of the players who had chosen to stay had already ventured into the Contaminated Zones and begun encountering Corrupted Creatures.
The group led by Sarutobi Asuma was particularly diverse.
Among them were two Chunin from the Logistics Division, Hyuga Neji, a member of a prestigious clan with the Byakugan bloodline, Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Kabuto Yakushi, a disguised spy.
"Such massive structures!"
Uzumaki Naruto exclaimed in awe.
They had arrived at the Death Spirit Mountains, a corrupted area under the influence of the Ghost Mage Salina.
The landscape was filled with the ruins of destroyed towns and villages, giant marble castles, churches, rib-like wide streets, beast-carved statues, and towering stone walls stretching as far as the eye could see.
This world had once possessed knights and mages, civilizations built with immense manpower.
Even the ruins of its devastated towns appeared far more advanced than those of the real world's medieval era, almost like a special game setting.
The architecture was vastly different from the Land of Fire, grander and more imposing.
"Did we really enter another world?"
Even Asuma was shocked, running his hands over the religious-style ruins.
Just then
A gray-black spectral figure slithered out from the cracks in the building.
It was the remnant of a life that had been slain by Salina, its soul now corrupted and enslaved.
"Enemy spotted!"
Hyuga Neji reacted swiftly. Even though the game had taken away his Byakugan advantage, his keen observational habits allowed him to be the first to notice the ghostly enemy.
A crude short sword appeared in Asuma's hand.
While exploring the player interface, they had discovered it in their inventory, a starter weapon provided to all players.
It had no special attributes.
Of course, Fang Yi wouldn't send the players in unarmed, that would be a death sentence.
Equipping 500 weapons had cost him 500 reward points.
The white-haired girl pouted. "Why waste points on weapons for them?"
Fang Yi chuckled. "Don't be stingy with early investments. A simple weapon will help them kill monsters faster, why wouldn't I do it?"
A light screen appeared before them, resembling a security surveillance monitor, divided into multiple sections displaying the players' activities.
On-screen, Asuma and Neji worked together to take down the attacking spirit.
When the spectral entity perished, a faint trace of primordial essence dispersed and merged into Hyuga Neji, the one who had landed the final blow.
The white-haired loli frowned with concern. "There have been world consciousnesses before that recruited humans to fight against the sources of corruption, but this method has a major drawback."
"Primordial essence is a highly unique substance, it's the purest form of energy."
"When a corrupted entity dies, the essence naturally prioritizes merging with the lifeform that dealt the killing blow. Even world consciousnesses can only forcibly extract at most one-fourth of it. The remaining majority stays within the players, which results in a huge waste."
Fang Yi's eyes gleamed with excitement. "So the players go through all the trouble of killing the corrupted entities, and we get to take a free quarter of the essence?!"
The white-haired loli sighed in frustration and nodded. "Yes. That's why certain systems use a 'Gu cultivation' model, coercing reincarnators with mission failure penalties and the threat of death to force them into surrendering their rewards. Should we do the same?"
"Of course not."
Fang Yi shook his head repeatedly, grinning. "The free primordial essence we get is pure profit!"
"As for the remainder inside the players, half of it will accumulate as experience points. Once it reaches a threshold, they'll receive a prompt to level up. The moment they choose to level up, I can directly extract that portion of their essence and grant them physical enhancements, essentially, attribute points."
"The last part is the reward points they earn. These can be used to purchase equipment and skills from the in-game shop to become stronger. And as for me? Every item I create for just one reward point is sold in the shop for ten times the cost."
Choosing a game system as the solution against the sources of corruption wasn't just some impulsive decision.
Fang Yi had countless ways to make players willingly hand over their reward points.
The white-haired loli, still feeling a bit dizzy from all the financial scheming, hesitated. "But if the shop prices are too high and players can't afford anything, won't that slow down the progress of eliminating corruption?"
"You don't understand gamers at all."
Fang Yi let out a cold laugh and explained, "The high prices are intentional. Imagine this, most players have nothing, but then someone grinds for months and barely manages to craft a legendary Dragon Slayer Sword. Another player sells their house and car just to afford a rare pet egg. If everyone could get these items easily, where would the motivation to grind come from?"
"Besides, in the ninja world, bloodline limits, jutsu, and ninja tools can all be exchanged for primordial essence, right?"
"If they don't want to spend time grinding, they'll have to become 'whales', offering up their valuable resources to me willingly!"
Fang Yi's gaze landed on the players projected on the light screen, much like a farmer admiring his thriving field of leeks.
Especially in the ninja world, where peace was fleeting and every village sought more profits and power.
Once these players got a taste of the benefits, they would descend into madness, pouring everything they had into this game world, leaving themselves ripe for the harvest.
T/N: there more latter but this is it for now I am quite sleepy. I proofed this twice but if mistakes are notice please do tell i will fix it when i get back up.