"Frequency 47hz?" Rover frowned and decided to test it a bit.
He woke Nanoe and Selina up, then began scanning on the walkie-talkie.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
Static crackled, but right after that…
"Moshi~ Moshi~"
A masculine voice rang out, full of flirtatious ease and unrestrained freedom.
Rover: "…"
Selina, Nanoe: "…"
"Oy! Who are you? A newbie?" That voice continued: "Hello, you can call me the super handsome Dark Lord. What's your name? Got something you want to ask?"
"Oy! Why aren't you answering? Are you there? Moshi~ Moshi~"
Rover: "…"
He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling this man was a bit… chunibyo.
Rover took a deep breath and said softly, "Hello, my name is Rover. First time meeting you."
"Ah! Don't be so polite!" Dark Lord laughed. "Which round did you take first place in? 1 or 2, or 3? Am I the first person you contacted? If so, I can answer three questions for free. Of course, from the fourth question onward it's also free, hahahaha…"
Rover: "…"
He truly couldn't understand this guy's train of thought, but he still frowned and asked, "I haven't cleared the first round yet. This walkie-talkie was given to me by someone."
"What?!" Dark Lord's voice was filled with shock. "Are you telling the truth? Was the one who gave it to you wearing cyber-style armor and carrying a blue lamp, right?"
Rover replied, "Yes."
"You really haven't cleared the first round?"
"Right now, I'm waiting for phrase 3."
"Damn it! You… you're so lucky." Dark Lord cursed. "You just met a very special existence."
Rover frowned. "How special? He just came to my room to ask for some food."
"What?!" Dark Lord yelled. "He came to your room for food? Agh!!! Why wasn't it me?! Damn it! Damn it!"
"Can you calm down and tell me who he is?" Rover felt a headache coming on. He hadn't expected the first person he met on this walkie-talkie to have a mindset that made him not even know how to communicate.
"Agh!" Dark Lord sighed, then said, "From now on, if you meet people carrying that blue lamp, try your best to get close to them. If you run into someone with a weird personality, you don't have to tangle with them, understood?"
"I understand, but…"
"They are Lamp-Bearer." Dark Lord said. "You've seen the fog outside. We can only move in areas without fog. If we enter the fog, we'll definitely die."
"But Lamp-Bearer are different. Even though I don't know who they are or where they come from, I only know that they are the ones who govern this world. With that lamp, they can move freely in the fog."
"There's a lot of information saying they're like us too, but they're bound by some kind of curse. They can't enter any room at all. Their whole lives, they can only wander inside the fog."
"They, along with the [Arbiter], maintain order in this world. They kill a lot of monsters, so they possess many rare items. If you can trade with them, you can get a lot of useful information and rare items they have."
After hearing that, Rover glanced at Nanoe and Selina. At this moment, Nanoe nodded lightly and whispered into Rover's ear.
Rover nodded lightly back to her, then asked, "Thank you. Then… can they harm us?"
"Absolutely not!" Dark Lord said. "So far, there's been no information saying they attack Survivors. It's just that… you also don't need to follow them or bother them."
"I understand!" Rover asked softly, "Can I ask a few more questions?"
"Of course!" Dark Lord laughed. "You're so lucky. If I talk with you more, maybe I'll get a bit of luck from you too, kekekeke…"
Rover snorted with laughter, then asked, "In each round, is there a ranking board?"
"That's right." Dark Lord said. "In fact, rankings sometimes aren't only about killing monsters, but also depend on some other conditions. I took first place twice in two rounds. One round was based on killing monsters, and the other round I got lucky and took first place thanks to the [Survival Guide]."
"I can also reveal a bit more about myself… I'm already a level 6 player. I've taken first place twice, and the other times I've always been in the top three."
Hearing that, Rover jolted. Even though Dark Lord's voice and attitude were a bit flirtatious, he really was a terrifying Survivor.
"Ah! One more thing… if you're in the top three, you can comprehensively upgrade your room and have more [Tenant] slots. But if you're an offense-type Survivor, then you don't need too many [Tenant] in your room. It's just a waste of resources."
"I understand!" Rover replied sincerely. "Then… what will the next rounds be about?"
"Hahahaha…" Dark Lord laughed. "I knew you'd ask that, but sorry, I can't say. That's the rule. But even if I told you, it wouldn't help, because starting from round 2, the System will set up a completely different round based on the strength of the Survivors who are still alive, not following any rules at all."
Rover nodded lightly. Of course, he didn't need to force himself to remember it, because he had Selina and Nanoe.
He asked again, "Then… if my room has quite a few [Tenant], what kind of development path is best for me?"
"That depends on your result in the first round. If you take first place, then you can play however you want. But you should buy [Tower] structures when the supermarket opens."
Dark Lord explained.
"You can install those structures outside your door. They can help you kill monsters without needing to go out, or defend the door when other Survivors attack. [Tower] is a very good type of structure. You should save your silver and gold coins to buy them."
Hearing that, Nanoe immediately opened the chat window. Rover didn't know what she was planning to do, but he knew that with her IQ, she understood exactly what needed to be done at this moment.
Dark Lord continued, "You also don't need to stockpile too much food. Right now, if you can trade for items or weapons, or skills, talents, or classes, then you should use food to trade for those things."
"After round 1 ends, food won't be that scarce anymore. The food problem might even disappear. Instead, the scarce thing will be the game's currency."
"Also, one person can learn many skills and possess many classes, so the more you buy, the better. This is information that only by round 3 will the Survivors realize."
Rover felt lucky to hear this information. Otherwise, in later rounds, even if he managed to survive, he wouldn't be able to grasp the game's main development axis.
"Thank you. But… you're telling me so much, is it alright?" Rover asked.
Dark Lord laughed loudly. "Hahahaha… don't worry. We'll cooperate to survive. That's the purpose behind the [Walkie-talkie of the Chosen] being created, not competition and killing each other."
"Besides, in this world, the more people who survive, the better. Otherwise, if only you exist alone, it has no meaning. Have you seen the monsters inside the fog?"
"Not even talking about them, later on, monsters and missions will appear where if too few people participate, it becomes even more dangerous. That's why we will help each other and become stronger together."
After hearing that, Rover felt this was completely opposite to what he had assumed.
He had thought it would be very hard to pry information from these 'Chosen'. After all, they had once taken first place in one or more rounds. They should be extremely arrogant.
But he hadn't expected these people to be easier to talk to than he thought.
Rover thought for a moment, then said, "Thank you. I have something I don't quite understand. I currently have a skill called [Psionics], rank [A-12], but…"
"What?!"
BAM!!!
Before Rover could finish, Dark Lord's shout came through from the other side, followed by the sound of him falling.
After a while, Dark Lord slowly sat up properly, then stammered, "You… you have a rank A skill?"
"Yes!" Rover said honestly.
"Damn it! You… alright. Looks like Otrix giving you that walkie-talkie has his reasons." Dark Lord sighed, his voice carrying a hint of heaviness and jealousy.
"What do you mean?" Rover asked in confusion.
"Fine! Don't worry about it." Dark Lord said. "What do you want to ask?"
Even though he was confused, Rover didn't press it and continued, "I don't know how to bring out its full power."
Then Rover described the situation he was facing.
After listening, Dark Lord replied softly, "I understand what you're feeling. That skill has a very broad range. Even though it's very strong, if you can't narrow its area of effect, you still can't bring out its power."
Rover asked in confusion, "Can you explain more clearly?"
"Ah! That's hard to explain clearly. Alright!" Dark Lord said softly. "I still have a [Power Awakening] card. I can give you this card."
"What?!"