Chapter 1 Double Standard

"Double standard much? Why does everyone else have basic credits, but I don't?"

Mingmei seemed to be staring blankly at the top of the tent, but she was actually looking at her system interface.

The glaring zero displayed for her credits made Mingmei couldn't help but complain about her dissatisfaction.

Ms. Cheshire had said in class that after entering the game, players would receive a base credit amount based on their mental strength level.

She also remembered what Ms. Cheshire had told her after class, besides "good luck," she had also said two other things to her—

[I know about your situation from your uncle.]

Mingmei: Which uncle?

[It's nothing, I believe in your ability, after all, you're Mei Qiu's sister, you must be very powerful too!]

Mingmei: Oh? This is the first time I've heard someone praise my second brother?

Only now did Mingmei understand the meaningful tone Ms. Cheshire had used when saying the second sentence, ha!

What exactly did that little brat, Mei Qiu, do?!

[Because you, Host, are an NPC. So, the way you earn credits is naturally different from others~]

The system, Guigui, already knew about Mingmei's schooling. After connecting with her latest student information, Guigui completely understood Mingmei's current situation.

Other military students earn credits by clearing levels, while she—earns credits by convincing military students to "top-up".

She earns other people's credits.

"Should I be grateful that these military students' credit points are interconnected, or would it be too awkward if I only met students from the Federal Military Academy?"

Mingmei was also helpless, looking at her mission panel. This time, she was still a "boxed lunch merchant," but accurately speaking, she should be a cook now, a cook from the Chuurong cavalry in the grasslands.

"You, come with me. Tonight, the king is holding a banquet, and the royal tent's kitchen is short of staff. Come with me."

Just as Mingmei was in a daze, a burly man opened the tent and shouted at Mingmei. The gibberish he spoke should have been a language Mingmei couldn't understand, but inexplicably, the meaning of his words appeared in her mind.

"Yes, please wait a moment, I'll be right there."

A glint flashed in Mingmei's eyes, and she responded.

Sure enough, it was also a string of gibberish.

After hearing this, the man glanced at the pile of wooden boxes in front of Mingmei, a strange look flashed in his eyes, but he didn't say much. He nodded and left the tent, giving Mingmei time to act alone.

This time, the survival game *Thorned Emperor* was better than *Ghost Marriage* in one way—there were no ghost legends.

The game background of *Thorned Emperor* was ancient warfare.

A hegemon emerged on the grasslands, uniting various tribes and forming a new cavalry power—Chuurong.

However, the Hualiang Empire, located in the Central Plains, was gradually weakening due to years of natural disasters, epidemics, and court infighting.

At this time, the new Chuurong emperor led a large army south on a personal expedition, leaving behind a scene of carnage wherever he went.

Several famous and prosperous cities in the north of Hualiang were directly massacred by this Chuurong tyrant. Now, he was already at the capital of Hualiang, waiting for the Hualiang emperor to personally issue an edict of surrender, open the city gates, and welcome him…

After all, this tyrant had a record. He had already slaughtered many cities in the north of Hualiang while conquering south, making him an unforgivable, cruel, and merciless person.

Hualiang had outwardly agreed to send representatives to present the letter of surrender, but internally, whether it was the emperor or the royal relatives, they were secretly planning to assassinate the tyrant.

However, if the plan failed, it would cost the lives of everyone in the Hualiang capital, including the emperor.

Therefore, the consequences of failure this time were unimaginable.

"This game's general plot introduction feels a bit off, doesn't it?"

Since Mingmei had been fooled by the plot introduction in the novice village, she was now re-examining this plot introduction.

Forget it, give yourself a break.

Mingmei sighed softly and packed up her boxed lunches. However, based on the information provided by the system, she also knew that tonight's banquet in the royal tent should be the main plot point for the assassination.

So… how should she sell her boxed lunches?

…

"Oh my god, these Chuurong soldiers look so fierce, they're not easy to mess with!"

At this time, Lu Xiaoyao, who was actually sitting in the carriage, put down the curtain she had just lifted and spoke to the other player who had come with her.

This player was also an old acquaintance, Bai Xiao, who had carried Lu Xiaoyao in the previous game.

This time, the two of them were playing the roles of two of the beauties presented to the tyrant by wealthy merchants who wanted to curry favor with him in advance. However, in fact, they were assassins in disguise.

"By the way, your boyfriend…"

Lu Xiaoyao remembered that they had teamed up to enter the game last time, so she had high expectations for Bai Xiao's appearance, maybe she would be carried again?

"The game company is immoral now, didn't the official announcement say that we are not allowed to team up in advance to enter the game?" Bai Xiao said, glancing at Lu Xiaoyao, and asked, "Didn't you read the announcement?"

"I read it, but I didn't understand it."

This blunt truth made the corners of Bai Xiao's mouth twitch uncontrollably.

Bai Xiao felt powerless again when she realized why she had encountered Lu Xiaoyao in the same game again, but she still felt that something was wrong.

Could it be that her level could only match teammates like this?

"I don't even know how many players are in this game." Seeing that Bai Xiao didn't speak, Lu Xiaoyao said to herself again, "This game company is really immoral, I can't remember anything to begin with, and now that I've entered, my mind is even blanker."

Lu Xiaoyao, who tapped her head, looked at Bai Xiao blankly and asked, "Do you know?"

"I don't know." Bai Xiao shook her head, because the official website was preventing them from reading the walkthroughs, she simply didn't bother to study them. She entered the game and rolled the dice randomly, whatever came up. She felt a little uneasy about this *Thorned Emperor*.

If Lu Xiaoyao could see the live broadcast barrage now, she would probably see a lot of identical [pity] messages floating by.

[My daughter is so miserable! It was bad enough that she encountered such a terrible novice village once, but now she's entered this hell-level survival game right after leaving the novice village?]

[Can someone explain to me why *Thorned Emperor* is hell-level?]

[Ahem, let's not talk about some pre-update stuff, let's just talk about the post-update stuff… Just think about it, what would it be like if the thousands of NPCs suddenly developed brains?]

[!!!?]

[This game is a five-player game. Think about it, five players have to assassinate the tyrant among these enemies and then escape… You think about it carefully.]

[Damn? What are we playing? Light a candle for the other four players, our baby… forget it.]

[Don't expect my baby to be human~]

…

Mingmei, who was washing vegetables, could clearly see all of the above barrages.

"Wash faster!"

A whip from an NPC colleague struck the ground beside her, scaring Mingmei so much that she almost threw the carrot in her hand, causing Mingmei to grumble in her heart.

These days, NPCs are even bullying each other?

Isn't it just washing vegetables?

Is it really necessary?

Mingmei glared at the carrot in her hand, her temper rising, and turned her head to glare at the kitchen master, who was as big as a mountain.

Seeing the other party's big face with eyes like copper bells and an unceremonious glare, Mingmei inexplicably felt a sense of cowardice.

A wise man submits to circumstances!

"What are you looking at! You're so weak, if you didn't want to be a tea-serving maid for His Majesty, then you should have the awareness to squat here and wash vegetables!"

The kitchen master looked at Mingmei glaring at him, her eyes red, looking like she was being bullied, but then muttered, "There's nothing wrong with this place except that it's a little tiring, what are you feeling wronged about?"

Just as the other party finished speaking, a line of information suddenly appeared on Mingmei's hidden merchant panel—[The tyrant is lecherous and has ideas about all the beauties with a little bit of beauty.]

Mingmei: =。=?

Wait… isn't she an NPC?

Why do some of her character backgrounds have to be revealed by other NPCs?

And she has to unlock it herself?

[This is the power of survival games that aren't in the novice village. You can't easily ignore every word said by an NPC.]

Guigui said very smugly: [Of course, some of your information is hidden in the mouths of these passerby NPCs. If the players can discover your differences, then they will directly follow these clues to find you~ Then you don't have to bother to find people!]

[But these passerby NPCs are all speaking Chuurong, right?]

Guigui: ??

Mingmei: [Are you stupid? Can the players, as people of Nanliang, understand the Chuurong dialect?]

Guigui: !!!

It was careless, it didn't pay attention to this point either?

[Did you see what kind of boxed lunches I'm selling this time?] When Mingmei was washing vegetables just now, she not only spaced out and watched the live broadcast, but also clearly saw the boxed lunches she was going to sell this time.

[1. Grilled Lamb Chop Boxed Lunch (0.5 credit points): Can understand Chuurong language; 2. Lamb Noodles (1 credit point): Allows players to speak fluent Chuurong.]