Interstellar Travel: Becoming a Dress-Up Game Designer

Chapter 183

The result was quite good. Deng Yijun's analysis was insightful. By looking beyond the surface and examining the details, he discovered that the houses were built by removing stones from the mountainside, which is why the village map did not match the actual site at all.

The mission took ten days to complete. Although there were only eight hundred people, their actual strength amounted to several thousand. There were horses, pandas, birds, and guest retainers, among other things; their combined power was considerable. The small mountain village was beginning to take shape, and everyone started planting tea.

Are tea plantations required to only grow mist tea, Maojian tea, and old-tree sweet tea?

The team needed tens of thousands of trees, and it took them four or five days and a lot of money to find them all, with expenses far exceeding what Deng Yijun's caravan earned. He began to doubt whether the mission was even worthwhile.

It's too late to give up now; the bulk of the money has already been spent, and there's nothing we can do.

Because he spent all his money and failed to complete the Grand Tea Merchant quest, he would lose the final limited-edition item. He had no choice but to try and buy it from other players. However, this event only had one limited-edition item, unlike previous events where you could get several. It took him half a month to finally acquire it.

After finally getting my hands on the rare item, my anxiety subsided, and I became even more focused on the task. Having invested so much, I was reluctant to fail.

Soon, the ancient village was built. As if connected by some secret order, a transport team arrived here, captivated by the ethereal beauty of the mountains, shrouded in mist and lush greenery. Even more remarkable were the houses: gray walls with black tiles, bluestone paths, and wildflower fences—everywhere you looked, there was a picture of everyday life.

The sound of horses' hooves clattering on the stone pavement seemed to strike at the very soul.

A mist hangs in the air, ethereal and attempting to conceal the village, which seems to belong to another world.

The sound of the horse caravan entering the village startled the chickens, ducks, and dogs, who began barking from afar. The tranquility was instantly shattered, and the village became lively. The sounds of pots and pans clattering filled the air, and many villagers came out, standing in their courtyards looking down the mountain. The long caravan slowly approached, and many players took photos, excitedly providing commentary.

One of the players in the live stream excitedly said, "Look everyone, we've discovered a new ancient tea route—Qingya Village, which we didn't know about before."

The horse team arrived at the village entrance and asked an old man there, "Grandpa, how long have you been building this village? It's so realistic! If I didn't know the inside story, I would have thought it was an NPC village created by the official team."

As players know, this event features players role-playing NPCs, which is quite fun. Some players' performances are so realistic that they're almost unrecognizable.

The old man was actually a player in disguise, holding a pipe and looking blankly at the player who asked the question. His expression clearly said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' so he couldn't give himself away!

The mission description states that there will be no reward if your identity is revealed.

Ten taels of silver is a small matter; the main problem is that hidden, never-before-seen tea fairy guest!

The Tea Fairy's notes state that this is exclusive to this task; no other task has it. That means there are only 800 available at most. Regardless of their appearance, their rarity rivals that of the top-ranked outfits each season. If you get all the chances but don't get the item, you'll be devastated.

He composed himself, looking bewildered, and asked, "What did you say? Our village has been around for four thousand years. There's an ancestral hall and a plaque in front of us. Go see for yourselves."

The player who asked the question glanced at the old man suspiciously. The old man continued to sit on the rock, smoking, looking somewhat dazed. This was imitating intelligent AI; although the developers set various specific actions and personalities for NPCs, they didn't write their daily lives, hence the somewhat blank expression.

He had carefully observed the players who had served as his retainers, all to avoid exposing himself. It's likely that all the players in the village had witnessed and thoroughly studied the retainers' behavior and expressions.

As the commander, Deng Yijun had everyone learn to be like the Ghost Soldiers. After all, those were common NPCs, and their storylines and expressions would be more monotonous and their behavior more mechanical than that of the Guest Retainers. As villagers, they were more likely to resemble the Ghost Soldiers.

The player became suspicious when he saw that the old man was really ignoring him.

So you're really not a player?

Is it really an NPC?

He thought for a moment and said to the audience, "I didn't expect there to be an NPC village here, it's quite beautiful. What do you guys think about us taking this place?"

Her tone was full of eager anticipation, "They're all NPCs anyway, I wonder if they'll retaliate after I attack them, like rangers who summon others to gang up on me after they die. I wonder if the people they summon are from the main city or new NPCs. The more they talk about it, the more excited I get!"

The teammate in front chimed in, "Let's go in and check it out first. If it's really good, we'll take it down and use it as our future base, hehe. This place is really beautiful!"

After speaking, the player streaming the video subtly shifted their gaze, observing the old man's expression and behavior through the camera lens and while wandering around. A typical player would definitely react to being attacked, either calling for help or immediately launching into a tirade of insults.

The old man calmly continued smoking his pipe, his movements perfectly executed, as if he hadn't heard a word he said. This made him even more suspicious—was he really an NPC?

The old man has a "whitelist" tag above his head, indicating that he will go to jail for the attack.

Moreover, the white name made him even more suspicious that this was an NPC village, the same village and exotic town previously played by players, whose identities were gray names, which could trigger war.

"Ahhh, I need to go to the world channel and say that we've actually discovered a Tea Road village with NPCs."

Soon, players on the world channel all knew that there was a village with NPCs along the ancient tea road, and everyone went to search for it.

The newly arrived group found lodging at two of the more luxurious adjacent houses in the village. The elderly women there warmly greeted them, brewing tea, stir-frying tea vegetables and various wild greens. After this whole ordeal, the transport team truly believed this was an NPC village; otherwise, these players would be incredibly dedicated!

The team leader asked, "Auntie, do you have any particularly good tea here?"

The man sitting next to them, who had been serving them, smiled and said, "What a coincidence! Our local misty tea is the best; even important figures from outside come specifically to find it. It's just that it's relatively rare. How much do you want?"

One of the tea merchants in the transport team said, "We'll take any quantity. May we take a look?"

The old woman went back to the kitchen to continue her work, while the old man went back into the house and pulled out a dusty cloth bag. From it, he took out several bamboo tubes: "Look, these are all good teas. This is three-year-old aged tea, with a strong flavor. This is last year's, which is also good. This year's new tea, however, doesn't have enough flavor."

The old lady brought out another bowl of stir-fried cured pork. "They want new tea, green tea, not your aged liquor. I'll go get it."

The tea merchant picked up the tea bag the old man had taken out and smelled it. A rich tea aroma wafted out, extremely fresh and fragrant, with a strong fermented flavor.

"It's good tea!"

The captain asked suspiciously, "What's different about ours?"

The tea merchant said, "Come and smell it. The aroma is stronger, and the fermentation technique is better. The tea fragrance is very rich, completely different from what we make."

The captain also took it and smelled it, but couldn't detect anything.

Currently, only a minority of players in the game can identify teas; most can only roughly distinguish six types by color. They know absolutely nothing about unfermented, lightly fermented, semi-fermented, post-fermented, fully fermented, Maojian, Guapian, or anything like that. There's just too much to cover; they simply can't remember it all.

The tea merchant accompanying the group was an expert in identifying tea, and he quickly determined that the tea was a top-quality fully fermented black tea. Its aroma was rich and pure, soothing and refreshing, truly delightful.

"This is top-quality black tea, fermented for a sufficient amount of time, with a subtle bamboo aroma. It's wonderful. It's completely different from the black tea made by other players."

The black tea made by the player was fermented in a rush, resulting in a lack of rich aroma.

The streamer exclaimed in surprise, "So this really is an NPC village, and not a player-controlled one?"

The tea merchant nodded cautiously: "It should be."

The adorable couple pretending to be husband and wife inside the house, and the gray tree hole, breathed a huge sigh of relief. The boss is amazing!

Prepare the tea leaves in advance, strictly follow the procedures, and be mindful of the timing. Pay attention to every detail to dispel any doubts from passing players, and make sure you yourself believe you are an officially created NPC.

Have you passed the test yet?

The tea merchant asked, "Could you brew a pot for us to taste?"

The old man chuckled and said, "Sure."

The old woman took out several white porcelain bowls, wiped the rims of them repeatedly with a burlap sack, and then placed them on the long bench. The old man grabbed a handful of tea and was about to toss it in when the tea merchant quickly said, "Let me do it! Let me do it!"

How can you brew tea like that?

What a waste!

He glanced at the bowls, enough for one person each, and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go get the props."

He then ran out.

The old woman asked nervously, "Is it because of our bowls? The men usually didn't mind..."

The captain comforted him, saying, "He's just being fussy; it's none of your business."

The complete character traits, dialogue, and actions further convinced the captain that they were NPCs, and he became interested in the house. His eyes darted around, taking in the furnishings.

The roof was blackened by smoke, and the surrounding wallpaper bore cobwebs and soot stains. The furniture showed signs of wear and tear, clearly indicating that this was the original official setting, not a temporary role-playing game.

He had seen other players' villages, and the details were completely unconvincing. Either the benches were brand new, or the houses were decorated in a StarCraft style, empty and without any signs of life.

The attention to detail here is truly remarkable, perfectly reflecting Qingfengyi's style. The tea basket hanging on the wall has been patched with cloth, forming a circle around it, simply sewn together with white thread. There's also a winnowing basket that had fallen over by the door, but it stood upright again when the old lady took the bowl. Such details wouldn't be present if the player were in character.

Most importantly, it was their clothing. The old woman's clothes had a blue patch and were simply made. The other players' characters were all wearing their own modified clothes, which was obvious to many people at a glance.

He didn't see it.

Mengmengda and Gray Tree Hole were nervous inside, sitting there blankly, watching their captain's eyes darting around, afraid he might discover some flaw in their concealment. If they failed at the last minute, it would be heartbreaking; they had never even met their guest advisor before.