Chapter 516 Feelings Are Not Enough—One Has to Employ a Routine (2/2)

Boom!

The next moment, the majority of players rushed toward Herlous from all directions. A variety of attacks were let loose along the way. The huge numbers on their side gave them assurance, and they decided to tackle Herlous like they would a Boss, outputting as much damage as they muster.

Only a small portion of players did not advance and instead retreated, hiding behind those rushing forward.

Seeing the mass of players rushing at him from all directions, Herlous' expression remained impassive. He raised his blade and spun it around him like a whirlwind, releasing a ring-shaped blade waves around him that shot toward the players, covering almost half the ring. It annihilated all the long-range attacks, and as it approached the pugilists, they could not block the attack, directly being sent flying toward the edge of the arena. Their HP instantly fell about forty percent.

”F*ck me, this AOE is too scary!”

”That was too risky. I almost fell off the ring.”

The vanguard players suffered a huge setback, and their facial expressions greatly changed. The small portion of the players who had stayed outside from the beginning and thus escaped the attack were secretly relieved.

Thankfully, we didn't have a hard head and managed to endure the urge to rush forward.

For the players currently, Herlous' strength completely outclassed them. Han Xiao had long guessed that the players would have the mentality of attacking a Boss when they approached this selection battle. Thus, he had chosen to let Herlous handle the first round, giving off an image of invincibility in his Mercenary Group. As for the next few matches, all those mercenaries involved were also in his elite team.

There was no suspense regarding the result. Even if Herlous went easy, this group of players was still cut down effortlessly, one knife for one person.

The players could only change their thinking of clashing head on, instead frantically scrambling in all directions, roaming at the fringe of the arena to try and survive. This appeared to be extremely stimulating.

Then the two minutes were up, less than ten players remained alive. Only when Herlous sheathed his blade did the surviving players realize, as though they had just woken up from a stupor. Expressions of joy colored the faces of the survivors.

”We… we won‽”

The defeated players had expressions of envy and anger. To actually allow such sneaky b*stards to win the prize, was there no justice in this world‽

Out of the hundreds of participants, not even ten people had succeeded. The percentage was low, but this was deliberately done by Han Xiao. He wanted to push down the success rate, to give off the impression that winners would be rare, before gradually allowing the success rate to increase over time.

”Congratulations to those who have passed. Black Star welcomes you. When we go back to space, we'll register you in the Mercenary Alliance. At that time, you will be actual mercenaries.”

Herlous extended his hand, shaking it with all the survivors present. This was another of Han Xiao's requirements, to reflect the differential treatment between the two parties.

The survivors were exhilarated as they found out their faction interface had come to live. They no longer needed to find Black Star to browse the faction store, and the items within were no longer grayed out. While they did not possess any Enas to purchase the products, the world of colors was definitely better than one of monochrome gray.

Only the mission [Selection of Mercenaries] for this group of survivors was counted as complete, and they obtained 100 Faction Contribution Points. Having seen Bun-Hit-Dog's videos, they understood that for Faction favorability at the [Friendly] Reputation or below, 100 points could only be bought using 50 Enas. All of them felt that they had technically earned 50 Enas!

The few of them turned ecstatic with joy.

The onlookers were envious, and they keenly noticed a key point in the conversation, which was Herlous mentioning, ”Go back to space”.

”Does this mean, as long as we pass the test, we will be able to follow Black Star and leave Planet Aquamarine when this storyline ends?”

”We didn't guess wrong; Black Star is indeed the interstellar travel guide that was sent to bring us in Version 2.0!

The eyes of the players lit up, and they all suddenly felt eager to move, unable to wait to participate in the next selection.

The next selections were carried out step by step, and Han Xiao no longer bothered to keep a watch.

Because of the large quantity of players, Han Xiao's timetable showed a great many selection battles each day. A selection battle would be carried out roughly every twenty minutes, and in the numerous rings around the arena, there would be multiple selection battles being carried out. A rough estimate showed that around four to five thousand people would participate each day, with the pass rate maintained at around five percent.

There were over a hundred thousand players in the Sanctuary, and with every player having a chance, this activity could be carried out for a long period of time. A thin stream would allow the water to flow for a longer period. After all, not only was this challenge novel and interesting, the majority of players held on to the mentality that they would be lucky. The Great Mechanic Han had always believed that this sort of mistaken notion greatly helped in his plan, as it allowed the players to willing jump into his pit.

In another few days, the players will adapt to the selection battles. When they get on the right track and the success rates increase, I won't need to worry about it anymore.

Regarding the plans for his faction, Han Xiao had prepared many methods. However, it was not the time to utilize them—this selection was merely an opener.

Furthermore, the difficulty of this selection process would also create a demand for players to get stronger quickly. This would also allow for an increase in his own sales, killing many birds with one stone.

…

From dawn to dusk, the square was crowded with people. After drowning in sounds for the whole day, Han Xiao prepared to pack up.

In just one day, his experience gained broke past the billion mark.

A total of 1.29 billion experience, I haven't felt this refreshed in such a long time… Han Xiao comfortably breathed out, feeling extremely satisfied in his heart. The last time such a large-scale harvesting had happened for him was two years ago before he left Planet Aquamarine. It felt as though a dry desert was welcoming its first rainfall in a long time.

This amount should be enough for me to level up to 120, with some surplus left over.

Opening his interface, Han Xiao was prepared to level up. At this time, a rumbling sound echoed from the sky.

When he raised his head, he saw a new spaceship descending slowly. This was the spaceship that he had sent to fetch Frenzied Sword and the others. They had finally arrived.

Whoosh!

The hatch opened. Frenzied Sword, Bun-Hit-Dog, Hao Tian, and the other players carried jetpacks on their backs as they descended to the square.

The majority of players present recognized this batch of high-levelled players. They all glanced over, with faces of amazement.

”Hey, you guys are back!”

Many people greeted them warmly. This group of players had performed brilliantly in the Pro League and had garnered a lot of fame. Furthermore, they had also gone off the radar for a long time.