Chapter 63: Begging for Pay-to-Win

Chapter 63: Begging for Pay-to-Win

Felix·Ringed Magic Tower

In the Forbidden Gods Meeting Room, Dandell sat upright at the Round Table, flanked by two magic projections—the God of Magic Qimoer and Beixi.

The three remained silent, awaiting the arrival of the Internet God.

Suddenly, a magic circle lit up on one of the high-backed chairs in the meeting room. In the blink of an eye, a magic projection materialized.

At the sight of the Internet God’s projection, the pupils of Dandell and the other two subtly dilated.

The projection wore a white shirt and black pants—an eccentric and bizarre outfit.

If they weren’t mistaken, this should be the Internet God’s true form.

Though he bore the same appearance as the god’s projection, Ajef, his attire was utterly peculiar, starkly different from the styles of the Azarea Continent. It was likely the fashion of the Azure Star.

Behind him, faintly visible, stood several armored attendant statues holding scepters.

His figure flickered, distorted by the influence of intangible Source Essence.

With each breath, his silhouette sharpened before blurring again, revealing the profound abundance of his Source Essence spring.

"Congratulations. Another domain is about to fall under Your Excellency’s rule," Beixi spoke first, leveraging her feminine charm for social advantage.

"..." Yu Sheng'an.

When did another domain come under my control?

How come I didn’t know?

After a long pause, it suddenly dawned on him. Wait, they don’t think the Dofi domain is mine, do they?

Hold on—if it’s mine, why say ‘about to fall under my rule’?

Unless… they think I’m the invader?

"The three of you summoned me here—surely not just to offer congratulations?" Yu Sheng'an chuckled lightly, offering no explanation.

"Of course not. To be frank, we have a favor to ask of Your Excellency."

"Oh?" Yu Sheng'an’s eyes gleamed.

"Magic is a profound discipline, but above all, it is a practical one. Studying without application renders even a Grand Archmage useless. In the past, the training of magic apprentices required meticulous planning on our part, even covert protection."

"Now, witnessing Your Excellency’s creation, Conquest of Subdomains, has enlightened us. We wish to conduct apprentice mage trials within Conquest of Subdomains and hope Your Excellency will grant us this convenience."

Dandell’s words left Yu Sheng'an momentarily stunned.

Was this a request for help?

This was practically a favor to him!

The Keville Empire had sixteen cities and six Magic Academies, not to mention the Magic Towers with educational authority. This wave of apprentice mage trials would involve at least tens of thousands of magic apprentices.

The key was that such a large-scale trial would inevitably require numerous full-fledged mages—even Archmages—to oversee it.

If this force were deployed to the Dofi domain, even if only through shared puppet means, it would be an immense boon!

At this thought, Yu Sheng'an’s gaze grew profound.

Were these three old foxes testing his foundations?

Or were they subtly offering a gift to ingratiate themselves?

"Do you have a trial plan in mind?" Yu Sheng'an probed.

"Of course. Since this year’s trials will be conducted via puppets, we intend to raise the difficulty by one tier—using the construction of a Magic Tower as the objective. What does Your Excellency think?" Dandell proposed.

"An excellent idea."

Yu Sheng'an nodded in agreement, feeling a surge of admiration. Truly, top students were top students—not only were they ridiculously talented in magic cultivation, but they also knew how to handle things with such finesse. It was impossible not to be impressed!

"Thank you for your assistance, Your Excellency!" Dandell and the other two bowed slightly, as if Yu Sheng'an were genuinely helping them.

The four of them then proceeded to discuss the details of the trial.

For instance, the specifications of the trial puppets, the weaponry to be equipped, the resources needed to construct the Magic Tower... and so on.

During the discussion, Yu Sheng'an initially planned to propose the establishment of a magical research institution to study biological augmentation.

However, just as the words were about to leave his mouth, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he came up with an even better idea.

Biological augmentation would be an entirely new concept. Dragging in traditional mages might not necessarily yield the results he desired. Moreover, what if the three Gods of Magic foisted some gilded mediocrities on him?

So he thought—why not create a dedicated professional Q&A community on the internet?

He could pose specific challenges and harness the collective wisdom of all netizens.

What?

Unwilling to divulge advanced magical knowledge?

With high positions, generous salaries, and the promise of leaving a mark in history, he refused to believe he couldn’t attract talent.

As the meeting was nearing its end, Beixi suddenly spoke up with a hint of embarrassment. "Your Excellency, I have one more presumptuous request."

"Hmm?"

"Recently, many nobles have expressed their desire to purchase high-level puppets and weapons in 'Conquest of Subdomains' with substantial sums of gold coins. Would that be possible?" Beixi asked nervously.

After all, these were two separate domains, and their currencies weren’t interchangeable. Naturally, the proposal seemed utterly absurd.

That said, the reason she made such an absurd request wasn’t just because she was easily swayed—it was also due to popular demand.

Ever since 'Conquest of Subdomains' was launched, within just a couple of days, a large number of nobles—and even mages—had tried to relay their willingness to offer wealth to the Internet God in exchange for better puppets and weapons in the Dofi domain.

At this moment, Dandell and Qimoer also fixed their intense gazes on Yu Sheng'an, a trace of helplessness flickering deep in their eyes.

Though they were revered as the Empire’s pillar Gods of Magic, they didn’t live solely for themselves. They had to consider the voices from below!

"Your Excellency, gold coins are nothing but scrap metal if they don’t circulate. Drawing them out from the nobles’ vaults to subsidize farmers would not only benefit the Empire’s prosperity but also aid in the execution of your low-price food strategy. Ultimately, it would strengthen your Source Essence spring. Of course, the money is yours—you could very well use it elsewhere."

Dandell chimed in, once again deploying the tried-and-true argument of the "Source Essence spring."

A flicker of astonishment passed through Yu Sheng'an’s eyes.

What was this?

Begging for pay-to-win mechanics?

Seriously, have you no shame?

Lording it over others in real life wasn’t enough—now you want to wave your wallets around and keep doing it in-game too?

Think money makes you special?

"Approved!" Yu Sheng'an nodded solemnly.

Apologies, fellow free-to-play players. Don’t blame me for bending to the allure of wealth—it’s just too damn tempting.

Besides, we’re all allies here, right?

Even if I didn’t let them pay-to-win, they’d just spend money to hire others to power-level their accounts. Better to guide the flow than to block it—might as well open the floodgates from the start.

In a way, this counts as wealth redistribution!

At this thought, Yu Sheng'an felt a pang of regret, almost wishing he could slap himself twice.

How could he have forgotten about pay-to-win mechanics?

The face sculpting feature should never have been made free!

Just think how much money skins could make?

And it wouldn’t cost a thing.

……

After the meeting, Yu Sheng’an, now ashamed yet determined, sat in the Divine Palace’s Ancient Castle, recalling the pay-to-win schemes of Blue Star’s games. Gnashing his teeth, he drafted a set of pay-to-win exchange rules.

From exchanging specific puppet weapons to minor perks like VIP suffixes on Forum nicknames—he left no stone unturned!

However, when it came to the pay-to-win threshold, Yu Sheng’an set the minimum first-time purchase at 1,000 gold coins.

He did this for no other reason than to protect low-income players.

Otherwise, who knows how many addicted common players would gamble away their livelihoods just for a chance?

If things escalated to that point, it would completely defeat the purpose for Yu Sheng’an.

The Dofi domain was important. The Fourth Calamity was important.

But most crucial of all was the stability of the Source Essence spring.

After finalizing the pay-to-win rules, Yu Sheng’an was about to send a copy to the three Gods of Magic, including Dandell, when he hesitated.

Would this pay-to-win system deal a severe blow to the morale of non-paying players?

At present, common players might at most seethe in silence, but their mindset was still vital!

If their morale collapsed, a large group of players might give up, lose their creativity, and play recklessly—that would be a net loss.

No, he had to dangle a carrot to keep them hooked.

With that thought, Yu Sheng’an pondered briefly before adding a new rule to the pay-to-win regulations.