Who Lost

Gumantong was very curious about what the Masked Man would do.

It had tried releasing monsters to drive away humans and stirring up their fears, but people who had become numb quickly accepted their fate. Some even knelt on the ground, actively making offerings and begging the "deity" to calm its anger.

"SS-Level Monsters like you are truly rare. Indeed, a comfortable life corrodes the spirit, and even monsters can't avoid it."

Compared to Gumantong's easy point-scoring, the monsters born in the Five Major Countries could be said to be living in dire straits. To deceive more humans, the monsters in the Five Major Countries had to keep changing their tactics. Gumantong obtained points too easily, and instead absorbed extravagant lifestyles from the internet.

The avatar with its strange voice and mannerisms outwardly expressed amazement, but was actually secretly delighted. It observed similarly to its predecessor avatars that had been dismissed - humans were easy to fool and thought themselves clever.

Gumantong was naturally displeased at being criticized, but it didn't dare even think about it, lest it be caught out again.

"From the humans' perspective, what's the difference between monsters and you?"

Even the most numb humans are smarter than sardines. Throwing in a catfish to liven them up is too simple and crude. Sardines can't see the end of their journey, but humans can. From their point of view, it's just a different way of being eaten.

"No difference...?"

Gumantong's face turned ashen. Like some rich second-generation kids who don't want to be lumped in with commoners, it didn't want to be classified with its underlings.

"Monsters and you are both entities that cannot be resisted. When resistance is impossible, does it matter how strong the powerful are?"

The psychic ability avatar of the Masked Man sneered, "No matter how humans live, whether walking on the street or at home, if they're unlucky enough to encounter a monster, they'll die."

There's no "just outrun the other humans" here. Under monster rule, not wanting to be eaten and running away is a symbol of resistance, and they'll only die faster.

"But if humans are divided into different classes, there will be differences between people. To protect their interests, they will come alive."

Not to mention games, which are divided into different camps like free players, hardcore grinders, monthly card holders, whales, and so on. Add in character fans fighting each other, as if whoever loves deeper will win.

It's the same with celebrity fans - super topic levels, how many albums and merchandise they've bought, revoking fan status for not spending money, and so on.

In reality, the companies are raking in the profits.

Gumantong could classify monsters into hierarchies, but it treated humans like chickens, ducks and geese to be raised. This was because deep down, that's what it truly believed. Its evaluation of humans was only whether they tasted good or not; good-tasting ones were good humans.

Even if the chickens, ducks and geese in the pen were powerful one second, they'd be eaten the next. With leaders changing so frequently, how could any class system form?

Gumantong pondered, mulling over the words, and cautiously probed: "Do you mean for me to establish a human class system, and then provoke their desires?"

"Correct and incorrect."

The Masked Man waved his hand in front of it, using his psychic ability to manifest a rough game interface in its mind. "We don't have time to wait that long. We need to use some tricks to speed up the process."

"First, let them know what else they can lose, like their lives and families."

The interface changed, showing a scene of monsters chasing humans.

"But if we do that, a large portion of humans will die. And you just said that monsters and I are the same, useless against humans."

Gumantong eagerly interrupted. Rather than letting its subordinates eat all the humans, it might as well eat them itself.

The Masked Man tilted his head and looked at it, his cold gaze piercing like a physical force. "I don't like it when people keep interrupting me."

With that, he raised his hand and made a grasping motion in the air. The connected psychic force launched an attack on Gumantong, which immediately began to wail in agony.

Chastened by this lesson, the deflated Gumantong obediently shut its mouth.

"It's not actual death, but a death experience. Isn't it normal for games to have multiple lives? In your domain, if you can't guarantee life and death, then we'll have to consider replacing you with another monster."

"Give humans the power to resist - items, levels, or you can lend them your power. Let them realize that in the game, by standing on tiptoe, they can grab the rope to leave hell."

The Masked Man continued: "There's no need for all humans to immediately change their thinking. As long as some people start to accept the game, it's enough. Give these leaders benefits, immunity, power, strength, or even freedom. For example, the highest-ranked can leave Duoheluo Country."

The speed of a game is much faster than reality proceeding step by step.

As long as people fear death, they will become internal competition warriors.

And when others see people who started on the same starting line suddenly no longer worrying about their lives, gaining status and wealth, it will breed a sense of imbalance and motivation to improve. Some might even feel hatred and envy.

"You need to understand that the current goal is to level up."

Seeing Gumantong's uncertainty and worry about not only failing to level up but also consuming its food supply, the Masked Man began to paint both carrots and sticks. "If you're strong enough, raising humans elsewhere is just the same. Otherwise, you can wait here to die. The Five Major Countries' cleanup plan has already begun. Are you confident you can stop Qi Yuan?"

Gumantong's twelve eyes widened, as if recalling unpleasant memories. A monster on the verge of becoming SSS-level was toyed with until it committed suicide. At least the Masked Man and the old team combination gave a quick end.

Death either way, it might as well cooperate with the Masked Man.

However, it shook its huge head. "Sir, no matter how intense the provoked desires are, they have nothing to do with distorted will, and won't help me level up."

Its toxic mist was a good attack method, but infecting reality had both pros and cons. The downside was that it was difficult to take the shortcut of distorting human will, while the upside was that it was easier to change and infect inanimate objects.

With these pluses and minuses, Gumantong leaned more towards dealing with inanimate objects.

"I remember your ability is toxic mist, right? Does psychic toxin count as distorting human will? For example, mist that can make people feel happy, or amplify their neural perceptions."

If all else fails, they could resort to a gacha system - the addiction rate is high.

The psychic ability avatar didn't say this out loud. As long as it could persuade Gumantong to cooperate, and then stack on an amplification ability buff, looking strong would be enough.

The original body wasn't a sociopath who really wanted to create SSS-level monsters.

The people of Duoheluo Country would regain their senses from numbness, and game winners would gain freedom early and spread the news to countries around the world. When the world's attention turned to them, they and the original body would have the best stage, and could also gain recognition from the people of Duoheluo Country.

This move... only Gumantong would lose out completely.

Unfortunately, the fish fry was still too small. He needed to add some hormones to help it quickly reach the conditions for advancing to SSS-level.

Gumantong, unaware it had been targeted, had a sudden realization. Amplifying addiction was also a form of toxic mist - why hadn't it thought of that before?

"Sir, how should we design the game?"