Ian suddenly recalled what the receptionist told him before the game began:
"This time, the competition spans the entire duration of the game. From the moment players land, they'll be thrown into brutal rivalry—maybe even mutual slaughter. We've also significantly limited the development resources available. Players will have to take extreme risks just to get anything. In fact, many of you might not receive a single reward from the system throughout the entire game. Instead, you'll be constantly scrambling just to survive."
Looking back, that sentence had clearly hinted at how absurdly difficult the main quests would be.
Otherwise, why else say "many players might not get a single reward from the system"?
Ian slapped his forehead.
"If we can't earn points by completing missions, then the only way to avoid being drawn by the random elimination mechanism for low scorers… is to kill other players for their points?"
Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.
Feeling the crushing weight of pressure looming over him, Ian didn't dare waste another second. He quickly flipped through the system interface.
He remembered hearing two alert tones just now when the missions updated—meaning the bounty missions had also refreshed as the match officially began.
---
[Bounty Mission 1: First Blood]
Objective: Achieve the first player kill.
Reward: 3,000 Golden Dragons (2,500 in gold bars), 3 attribute points, 3 skill points, 2 region-specific S-rank NPC recruits.
Note: Completion of this mission will be publicly announced one day after it's finished.
---
"…What the hell?" Ian's breath hitched as he stared at the unbelievable rewards.
So this is what the receptionist meant by 'extremely limited development resources that must be fought over at great risk'?
When the main quests are practically impossible to complete early on, anyone who manages to secure this "first blood" will skyrocket ahead of the competition.
Not being able to gain system rewards is a huge handicap in this kind of game. It's not like those solo transmigration scripts where even without a golden finger, you can still rise through the ranks using your knowledge of the original work and modern sensibilities.
In a hundred-player match like this, everyone is a lore expert. The moment a player shows up somewhere they shouldn't exist, anyone watching that scene will instantly recognize them as a fake.
And if you're not strong enough to back yourself up when your cover's blown, you're as good as dead.
Take the Targaryen siblings for example—every player probably considered allying with them in the early game. After all, if you could hitch a ride on Daenerys's protagonist halo, you might cruise through the whole match.
But that's pure fantasy.
More than half the players are likely eyeing Daenerys. Anyone who gets near her would instantly out themselves as a player. And unless they're already powerful enough to shrug off assassination attempts from the others, they wouldn't even make it to the next chapter.
Even if someone were desperate enough to gamble everything on getting close, it wouldn't work.
Because with the players' mediocre starting stats and zero influence, they wouldn't even get the chance to approach her.
Why?
In the original timeline, only two people from Westeros managed to reach Daenerys in the early to mid-game—Jorah Mormont and Barristan Selmy.
Was it because no one else wanted to go? Of course not.
Once news broke that Khal Drogo would marry Daenerys, countless adventurers, mercenaries, bastard knights, and down-on-their-luck nobles swarmed toward Pentos like vultures, hoping to carve out a future under the exiled prince backed by a Dothraki horde.
Yet none of them made it into the story. Why?
Because Illyrio Mopatis, the Magister of Pentos and protector of the Targaryens, shut the door in all their faces—maybe because he feared assassins, maybe because he just didn't find them useful.
Only two people made it through—Jorah, whom Varys recommended, and Selmy, the legendary Kingsguard.
If you didn't have a solid identity and skills worth exploiting, there was no way Illyrio would let you near Daenerys.
That's exactly why Ian didn't choose to start in Essos.
"…Okay, I might've gone on a bit of a tangent," Ian muttered, shaking his head as he pulled his thoughts back to the First Blood mission. "But I'm confused about something."
"Ask away."
The AI's instant replies reminded him of his first ever relationship—always online, always responsive.
"First of all, this is a real world simulation, right?"
"Correct."
"So players don't have health bars over their heads. And NPCs don't have floating name tags, right?"
"Correct."
"And the organizers gave us all detailed backstories, including contextual memories, right?"
"Correct."
"Then how the hell are we supposed to find other players?" Ian spread his hands in frustration. "Forget that we've been scattered randomly across Westeros—or even Essos—that's like throwing a pinch of salt into the ocean. Whether you run into someone is pure luck. And even if you do, how would you know they're a player?"
Sure, we all know the five most popular player archetypes—everyone probably picked from the same pool—but how many wandering knights or mercenaries are there in Westeros? How do you spot the real ones?
You could maybe avoid being found, but hunting others based on that alone? That's just delusional.
A player only becomes noticeable once they grow strong enough to disrupt canon—then people will start suspecting they don't belong in the story.
By then, the game's already in mid-phase. That doesn't line up with what the receptionist said about the bloodbath starting immediately.
So… what was he missing?
"I'm not authorized to answer that question," Anne replied in her mechanical voice.
Ian didn't expect her to answer. He'd been talking to himself the whole time—chasing that one missing link, the key to finding other players early.
Because the issue wasn't just finding another player. It was recognizing them.
Westeros alone covers over 10 million square kilometers. Essos is several times larger.
Even if you gathered all 100 players in King's Landing—population 500,000—it'd still be hard for them to meet.
Unless… their activity was concentrated in a smaller area… like the same tavern.
"Holy shit. Allies! The ones who agreed to team up must've arranged specific meeting points!"
Ian's eyes lit up as he slapped his thigh.
Because his own teammate had dropped out, he'd completely forgotten about that element.
How do players find each other in the early game?
Under normal circumstances, they don't.
But if you and someone else agreed beforehand to form an alliance—if you'd picked a meeting place in advance…
Then you could.
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