Fang sat on the roof of the Potion Shop in Shadow's Rest, his legs dangling over the edge. Below him, the town was alive.
There were twenty-five players now. They were running around, showing off their goblin loot, arguing with the rude Blacksmith, and forming parties to tackle the Crying Caves.
[Current Funds: 1,800 Creation Coins]
He opened the [Global Chat]. He hadn't checked it in a few hours, and the interface had updated.
[Ding!]
[System Update: Multimedia Sharing Enabled.]
[Developers can now share Images, GIFs, and Short Videos of their Worlds.]
Fang raised an eyebrow. "Multimedia? The System is turning this into a social network."
He scrolled through the chat. It was chaos. But amidst the noise, a few users stood out. The "Whales" of the Tycoon world.
[User: DevGod_Zero (Level 5 Developer)]
[Message:] "Honestly, this Tycoon is too easy. I was a Senior Lead Developer at a AAA studio in my past life. Look at this."
[Attachment: Video_Clip.mp4]
Fang tapped the video.
A holographic window expanded. It showed a gleaming, futuristic metropolis with flying cars and neon skyscrapers. The graphics were hyper-realistic. Hundreds of NPCs were walking in perfect synchronization.
[DevGod_Zero]: "My Talent is [S-Rank: Code Weaver]. I can bypass the manual construction costs by writing the code myself. I built this city in two hours for free. Get on my level, noobs."
Fang narrowed his eyes. 'S-Rank Code Weaver. He can build for free? That's a massive economic advantage.'
Another message popped up, pushing DevGod_Zero's post down.
[User: LoveSim_Host (Level 4 Developer)]
[Message:] "Combat games are so stressful. Why fight? I just opened the 'Beach Resort' zone. Look at my player count."
[Attachment: Screenshot.jpg]
The image showed a sunny beach filled with anime-style characters in swimsuits playing volleyball.
[LoveSim_Host]: "I have 1,200 active players. They don't fight. They just chat and buy cute outfits. My 'Swimsuit Gacha' made 50,000 coins in ten minutes. Social games are the meta, guys. Combat is dead."
Fang felt a vein throb in his temple.
1,200 players?
He looked down at his dark, gloomy town. 25 players.
"They want easy dopamine," Fang realized. "The Dating Sims and the Cozy Farms... they attract the masses because they are safe."
"I need to scale," Fang whispered. "If DevGod_Zero can build for free, and LoveSim_Host has the numbers... I am falling behind."
Comparison was the thief of joy, but in this death game, comparison was a survival metric.
Suddenly, the sky above Shadow's Rest turned a violent shade of crimson. The ambient music stopped abruptly.
A deafening horn blasted across the entire server.
[Ding!]
[GLOBAL NOTIFICATION!]
[Attention, All Developers!]
[The Grace Period is officially over.]
[The System requires Entertainment.]
[Event Initiated: The Culling of the Weak.]
Fang stood up, his eyes locked on the massive red text scrolling across the sky.
[Objective: Reach 200 Concurrent Active Players.]
[Time Limit: 7 Days (168 Hours).]
[Reward: Rank Up + 10,000 Creation Coins + Random Rare Asset.]
[FAILURE PENALTY: SERVER DELETION AND HOST ERASURE.]
The chat exploded.
[NoobBuilder]: "200?! I only have 3 players! That's impossible!"
[FarmBoy]: "I need to plant more corn! Free corn for everyone! Please join!"
[DevGod_Zero]: "Only 200? I did that in my first ten minutes. Good luck, fodder."
Fang closed the chat. His expression was grim. He had 25 players. He needed 175 more in one week.
His current marketing strategy—"The Dark Souls of Tycoons"—was working, but it was niche. It was slow. He couldn't rely on organic growth.
If he failed, he died. "I need a multiplier," Fang said, pacing back and forth on the roof. "I need the current players to bring in fresh meat."
He looked at TankTop and DarkElf_Waifu below. They were level 5 now.
"Use their pride," Fang decided. "Weaponize their ego."
He opened the [System Architecture] tab.
He selected a new feature.
[Feature: Guild System (Beta)]
[Cost: 1,000 Creation Coins.]
It was expensive. It would leave him with almost nothing. But he needed social glue.
"Purchase."
[Ding!]
[Guild System Activated.]
[Building: Guild Hall added to Shadow's Rest.]
A large stone building with banner poles materialized next to the town square.
But Fang wasn't done. A Guild System alone wouldn't bring in 200 people. He needed a referral program. A pyramid scheme disguised as a gameplay mechanic.
He opened the [Quest Creator] and selected [Global Event Quest].
[Quest Name: The Legion's Call.]
[Description: The darkness is growing. The Void is coming. To survive the upcoming 'World Boss', the heroes must gather an army.]
[Objective: Recruit a new player to the game.]
[Reward: 'Resurrection Stone' (One-time use item to cheat death) + 'Guild Founder Token'.]
Fang smiled viciously. In his game, death was expensive. Players lost XP and coins. A "Resurrection Stone" that prevented XP loss? That was more valuable than gold. And the only way to get it was to bring a friend.
"Live Patch," Fang ordered. "Push the update."
[Ding!]
[System Announcement: The Guild Hall is open!]
[System Announcement: New Global Quest - The Legion's Call.]
Down in the square, the players stopped.
"Guilds?" GlassCannon, the Wizard, looked up. "Finally! I can make a Wizard Clan!"
"Wait," TankTop read the quest description. "Resurrection Stone? Prevent death penalty?"
"I need that," DarkElf_Waifu said, her eyes wide. "I lost almost a whole level last time I died in the caves."
"Recruit a new player..." TankTop muttered. Then he grinned. He opened his real-world browser interface.
"I'm gonna message my discorb server," TankTop shouted. "I'm gonna tell them this game is insane and they need to join my Guild!"
"I'm streaming this!" GlassCannon yelled. "Chat! Use my invite code! Join the 'Void Wizards'! If you join, I get a Rez Stone!"
Fang watched the numbers. It started slow.
[Active Players: 25]
Then, the messages went out. The players were doing the marketing for him. They weren't just recommending the game.. they were begging people to join so they could get the overpowered item.
[New Player 'HealerPlz' has joined!]
[New Player 'BackStabber' has joined!]
[New Player 'SwordKing' has joined!]
[Active Players: 30... 35... 42...]
"They are inviting friends," Fang analyzed. "But if the friends join and realize the game is too hard, they will quit instantly. And if they quit, the inviter doesn't get the reward."
He needed to change the rules for the newcomers. Just a little bit. The "First Hit" addiction.
"System," Fang said. "Activate [Newbie Buff]."
[Effect: Players under Level 3 gain +50% XP and +20% Damage for their first hour.]
"Make them feel strong," Fang whispered. "Let them taste the power. Then, once the hour is up... crush them."
The square was filling up. New lights beamed down every few seconds.
"Where is the quest giver?"
"TankTop invited me! Said this game is hardcore!"
"Why is everything grey?"
"Whoa, look at that high-level Wizard!"
Fang looked at his [Despair Harvester] status.
With more players, the potential for Despair was exponential. But he had one more problem. The Chat.
[DevGod_Zero] sent him a direct message (DM).
[DevGod_Zero]: "I see your player count ticking up, Fang. 50 players? If you hit 100 players with that manual coding, your server will lag."
Fang stared at the message. He was right. Manual mode required immense mental focus from Fang. Controlling 50 goblins was hard. Controlling monsters for 200 players? It would fry his brain.
Fang typed a reply.
[Fang]: "Watch me."
"System," Fang commanded. "Show me the [AI Automation] upgrades."
[Basic AI Scripting: 2,000 Coins]
[Intermediate Boss AI: 5,000 Coins]
He spent everything on the Guild Hall.
"I need coins," Fang said, looking at the swarm of new "noobs" entering the Crying Caves. "I need them to die fast."
He cracked his neck.
"Time to manual override the Goblin King."
[Ding!]
[Zone Event: Goblin Raid initiated.]
The ground shook. From the cave entrance, a massive, muscular goblin, three times the size of a man, stepped out into the daylight. He dragged a massive bone club.
[Boss: Grognak the Bone-Crusher (Level 10)]
The new players froze.
"Is... is that a cutscene?" one asked.
Grognak roared and charged into the crowd of level 1 noobs.
[-100 HP]
[-100 HP]
[-100 HP]
Three players turned into pixel dust instantly.
[Ding!]
[+150 Coins (Despair Bonus x3)]
"Welcome to the MMORPG Tycoon," Fang laughed, his fingers dancing over the console controls. "Now, give me your money."