The chaos across the Empire did not affect the NPCs alone, as players also faced major difficulties.
For the righteous faction players, the aftermath of the Emperor's death was nothing short of catastrophic, as in just a single day's time with the news of the emperor's death spreading, the capital city came to a screeching halt.
StrongHaven City, which had once been an organized and thriving network of the games strongest guilds and the single location to obtain the games best NPC quests now seemed like a crumbling empire—both figuratively and literally.
The first and most immediate problem that the players encountered was the sudden refusal of NPC workers to cooperate.
Blacksmiths, who had loyally forged weapons and armor for guilds, closed their shops without explanation.
Miners tasked with collecting vital resources abandoned their work posts, leaving the service of guilds that employed them in a mass strike.
Couriers, who once ran across cities delivering important messages and goods for players, simply vanished without a trace as the collapse of critical infrastructure took place right before the players eyes.
However, as if the situation was not bad enough with the infrastructure collapse, the second blow came with the abrupt collapse of all government services.
The royal bounty boards, a vital source of income and rewards for players, stood bare.
A red notification hung over the boards declaring that the 'Service Is Temporarily Unavailable', as Quest-givers who once offered lucrative missions to players were nowhere to be found.
"What the hell! I had an ongoing quest to submit 7 archaic spider fangs… it was going to pay me 30 gold and lots of experience, however, the quest can no longer be submitted! I've been working on it for 15 fucking days…" one player complained, as suddenly he realized that he could not turn his quest in anymore.
Even the stables where one could hire horses to travel out of the city, a service that was almost never out of horses usually, now ran out of horses to rent as they too abruptly closed shop.
This turn of events, unfortunately left millions of players stranded in StrongHaven City, as there were many who had flocked to the city just to take part in the historic hunt of 'TheBoss', however, they now found themselves suddenly cut off from their guildmates and supplies, unable to travel to outposts where reinforcements were desperately needed.
"What the hell is this?" one player shouted in frustration, banging on the locked doors of the stable farm.
"I was supposed to report back to Ipswich town! How am I supposed to move now?"
Another player, equally exasperated, replied, "You think that's bad? My escort quest failed because the NPC just up and left! I didn't even get to turn it in!"
Finally, on top of everything else, the streets themselves turned extremely dangerous for the players.
NPC guards, already spread thin, were unable to maintain order amidst the chaos as groups of looters roamed freely, ambushing players and NPCs alike.
For righteous faction players, this added layer of danger made even the simplest tasks perilous.
Quests that required moving through city streets became an ordeal, with players having to fight off mobs of angry citizens or bandits.
However, perhaps the most surprising backlash came from the NPC commoners.
The righteous faction guilds' decision to loot flour and grain for their defense strategies had come back to haunt them in spectacular fashion, as the moment the Emperor died, so did the patience of the commoners.
In the slums, furious NPCs stormed guild outposts, demanding justice.
As at the Sunspire Vanguard guildhall, one of the stronger guilds within StrongHaven, whose members had partaken in the looting, a mob of farmers gathered, their anger palpable.
"You took our grain to scatter on the streets!" one old man shouted, shaking his fist. "You called it a strategy, but what about us? Our children go hungry while you play war!"
Rocks and debris rained down on the guildhall's windows, shattering the glass as players inside scrambled to figure out how to respond.
"Do we fight them?" one guild member asked nervously, clutching his weapon.
"No, you idiot!" another barked back. "If we attack the NPCs, the entire faction's morale will plummet further. Just stay inside!" his superior replied, as the guild members were forced to hole up within their headquarters, unable to come out.
******
(Meanwhile on the forums)
Across the forums, players from the righteous faction shared in the rising frustration and fear as the situation only seemed to go from bad to worse.
"What's happening to this game? I can't even complete basic quests anymore!"
"This is all because of TheBoss! If we don't stop him, the righteous faction is finished."
"We cannot hunt TheBoss when there's trouble at home… the unrest that started from the capital will soon spread to every corner of Empire controlled territories. If we don't contain it, all the guilds currently holding lands will find it hard to maintain control"
"If we kill 'TheBoss', all of this mess will probably solve itself…"
A heated discussion took place on the forums, with one faction suggesting that the only way out of this mess was to double down and hunt 'TheBoss' at any cost, however, not not everyone was convinced they could stop him.
"Kill him? He's already won. We're down 35% in stats. The NPCs hate us. What chance do we even have?"
The more rational side replied, as many rejected the notion of partaking in yet another grand hunt, after their past failures and decided to cut losses by managing the bad situation as best as they could.
As the chaos continued to unfold, one truth became increasingly clear, that the righteous faction was no longer just losing a war—it was falling apart from within.
A majority of the players struggled to keep their guilds afloat, as the rebels prepared to take advantage of the crumbling empire.
Yet, despite how bad the situation looked already, the fact of the matter was, that the righteous faction's real nightmare was actually only beginning.
—-------
/// Bonus chapter for hitting the mass release target.
We were at 2230, and we have recieved 4050 coins in gifts.
The counter resets at 3780/2500.
Special shoutout to StanleyKun and Haiiko for the 1000 coin gifts.
And Huuhhhh for the 2000 coin gift!///