"At most, just over 20,000 players. Even if all these players enter the game at launch and simultaneously take on the Greedy Mole quest, heading to the wheat fields to kill moles, how much total time would that require?" Charles Bennett had no concept of how long it would take to complete the Greedy Mole quest, but he didn't dwell on the question. His gaze was fixed on the bustling crowd in the distance, subtly analyzing whether the number of players undertaking the first quest was decreasing, based on the direction the main group of players was heading.

Charles Bennett had now grasped the meaning of the second rule in the "Beginner's Survival Guide." As a newbie, especially one without any backing from a faction or guild, it was wishful thinking to try to compete with established teams or guilds for monsters. However, a newbie could still judge how many players were currently doing a certain quest and seize the opportunity to head to the quest location when the crowd thinned out. This way, at least, he wouldn't fall too far behind in leveling up.

Moreover, Charles Bennett had deduced from Vanilla Sky's earlier words that the initial adventure area he chose—just outside Wind Whisper Town—didn't have many powerful guilds or studios present. This led him to conclude that leveling up near Wind Whisper Town would definitely be much easier than in other starting areas.

Having figured this out, Charles Bennett felt even more at ease, a look of agreement appearing on his face. This expression made Vanilla Sky even more excited, and he whispered animatedly, "Bro, you really get it. These tricks are probably crystal clear to you. But there's one thing you might not know the real secret behind."

"Oh?" Charles Bennett raised his eyebrows slightly, a look of curious attentiveness appearing on his face.

"You know that 'Night Lord' is a masterpiece jointly developed by the top game companies of six nations, but do you know why, with our Yanhuang Nation's population of 1.2 billion, only 8 million virtual game helmets were released in the first batch?"

Charles Bennett frowned, thought for a moment, then shook his head. "That, I really don't know." In fact, he didn't know anything from start to finish.

"Haha..." Vanilla Sky laughed triumphantly, then said mysteriously, "The real reason actually starts with our Yanhuang Nation's 'Great and Lesser Heavens Rankings' and the international 'Ancient Kings Rankings.'"

"Hmm!?" Upon hearing this, Charles Bennett's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

……

Chapter Six: The First Jet!

"'Great and Lesser Heavens Rankings,' 'Ancient Kings Rankings'..."

Charles Bennett appeared deep in thought. He still had the rankings for these two lists on his external game port, and he knew these were the lists of the top experts in the gaming world—one for domestic rankings in Yanhuang, and one for the top international players.

However, Charles Bennett's understanding of these two rankings was limited to this. As his close friend William Harris had said, a gaming newbie like him was worlds apart from the experts on those lists—there was simply no comparison in terms of skill, so he had never bothered to learn much about these top players. Therefore, Charles Bennett didn't understand how the release of virtual game helmets by the game company could be related to these top gaming experts. The company's goal had always been profit above all else—could these experts really influence or restrict the company's game promotion?

"The open and hidden struggles between the experts on our Yanhuang Nation's 'Great and Lesser Heavens Rankings' and those from other countries have been going on for a long time—it's no secret. Moreover, because our Yanhuang Nation has such a huge player base, gaming geniuses are always emerging, so other countries have always tried to suppress our gaming industry. This time, the first batch of game helmets for 'Night Lord,' jointly developed by six nations, caused intense friction among the major forces in the global gaming industry." As Vanilla Sky spoke, he saw Charles Bennett listening intently, which made him even more pleased with himself. He continued, "The final result of the struggle was that each country was limited to 8 million 'Night Lord' game helmets in the first batch. Bro, you know our Yanhuang Nation has a population of 1.2 billion—only 8 million virtual game helmets in the first batch, heh heh..."

At this point, Vanilla Sky let out a couple of cold laughs. Charles Bennett also frowned, a look of displeasure appearing on his face, clearly understanding the reason behind it.

For the first batch of game helmets, each country only got 8 million. On the surface, this seemed fair, but Yanhuang Nation had a population of 1.2 billion, and the player base was undoubtedly massive. How many people would be unable to enter the game? Even if they waited for the second batch of helmets, those who joined later would be far behind the first batch of players in every aspect.