Since they had agreed to form an alliance, they'd obviously chosen a meeting spot before entering the game.
For example, Ian and his two former allies had originally agreed to meet at the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing.
But after they dropped out, he changed his spawn point to the Riverlands.
Now that he was left with no allies, the other players wouldn't be in the same boat. They'd definitely stick to their original plans—meeting up at iconic locations like the Crossroads Inn or Chataya's brothel!
With the "First Blood" quest in play, didn't those rendezvous plans just become free kill zones?
Sure, some players might grow suspicious after seeing the quest and decide to ditch the meeting. But there's never a shortage of risk-takers among humans.
"If a business offers a 20% profit, people will be tempted. If it offers 50%, they'll take risks. At 100%, they'll trample laws. And at 300%, they'll commit any crime, even at the risk of hanging."
So what's the profit from this quest?
Forget stat and skill points—just the gold alone was a whopping 3,000 gold dragons. With that kind of cash and two S-rank NPCs, a player could easily form a hundred-man mercenary band.
In a game where most players couldn't get any resources from the system, whoever secured this early boost could dominate for years. They'd be free from the constant threat of leaderboard assassins and could finally develop at their own pace.
There was no way players would pass up that kind of opportunity.
"But... that still leaves the second problem!" Ian quickly calmed himself. "How are players supposed to see through each other's disguises?"
Let's say two players meet at their prearranged location. With the First Blood quest hanging over them, there's no way they'd use their agreed-upon password to confirm identities.
They'd definitely try to stay hidden while cautiously probing each other.
But any experienced player would be on guard—no one would expose themselves so easily. After all, they all made it through the brutal pre-selections. These weren't amateurs.
From a developer's perspective, if they went through the trouble of designing this mechanic, it means they expected players to be able to see through one another.
Which means... there must be a flaw—something all of them missed.
Suddenly, Ian thought back to the background stories. According to Annie, they were meant to help players blend in.
But clearly, the devs didn't want players to blend in. On the contrary, they wanted them to get exposed and fight.
Which made the whole design seem contradictory...
Unless... there's something wrong with the background story?
Ian quickly closed his eyes, opened the auxiliary system, and pulled up his character background once more to examine it closely.
And he actually found something odd.
He didn't have a surname.
Sure, being born a peasant in the Vale, it made sense not to have one at first. But according to the story, he had been knighted later—which meant he should have been granted a surname.
But his character still had none.
Strange.
Still, that was a minor issue, probably unique to players who chose the "hired knight" origin. Not exactly a dead giveaway.
"To serve as a reliable way of identifying players, the flaw must be universal, or at least common to the majority..."
So what did all players have in common—something obvious enough to give them away?
It's not like they all skip when they walk, right? This was the real world. Who skips around in full armor? You'd pass out from exhaustion!
Ian paced back and forth, deep in thought.
Suddenly, his eyes landed on the set of gear piled in the corner.
A bastard sword, a nasal helmet, a gorget, an old chainmail shirt, a pair of chain gloves, and greaves.
In that moment, the final preview screen from character creation flashed through his mind.
"Damn it! The starting gear—it's the starting gear!"
Every class had its own unique starter equipment. And more than 90% of the players had probably picked one of the five main classes.
Which meant—except for their faces—everyone looked exactly like the default character preview!
The traveling merchant was the most obvious. Four servants, four old pack horses, two wagons, seven mules... basically walking billboards. (Though to be fair, they'd probably be quick to disguise themselves.)
Next up were the hired knights. Fully equipped with gear only landed knights would own, yet lacking even a single squire? That was a red flag right there.
Fallen sailors and Brotherhood hunters weren't much better. One used throwing axes, the other a yew longbow—both highly conspicuous weapons.
Only the wandering mercenary class had decent camouflage. With just some old leather armor, a short sword, and a dagger, they looked no different from native sellswords in Westeros' many taverns.
But aside from them, the moment players from other classes showed up at a meetup point, their gear would instantly scream player.
"This was the real purpose behind those detailed background stories!"
The devs wanted players to focus on the numerous options in character creation, thinking they'd all be different—and forget the final visual similarities from class gear.
They even had the AI explain background stories as "memories to help you blend in," tricking players into thinking they'd be hard to spot.
Human brains tend to latch onto the first piece of information they receive. It forms a cognitive anchor that blinds them to opposing ideas.
Even Ian himself had initially overlooked something as obvious as starter gear!
Since the devs couldn't interfere with the game after launch, they set this trap before it began—to spark early bloodshed and make the game more exciting.
"Damn it! Who knew the first enemy we'd face in this hundred-player death match wouldn't be the other players, but the damn developer's trap!"
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