Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Chapter 48: New Version Update! GM’s Conspiracy!

Mophis felt as if she had just escaped from a bizarre, kaleidoscopic dream.

That resplendent room piled high with jewels, that fiery older-sister type in a red silk robe whose sleeping posture was dangerously alluring, and that domineering command of “sing for me once every day”—each fragment made her nerves twitch uncontrollably.

She had practically crawled down from the second floor using both hands and feet, crossed the silent corridor, and arrived at the vast yet familiar hall on the first floor of the library.

Through the observation window on the massive door forged of obsidian and mithril, Mophis saw a scene outside that could only be described as magical.

The wasteland, which had previously been left pitted and scarred from battle, was now ablaze with lights and bustling with noise, lively as though a grand temple fair were taking place.

Countless Players gathered together, their faces brimming with a kind of fanatical joy she could not comprehend.

They shouted in excitement, celebrating the birth of some so-called “Dragon Concubine CP,” celebrating the arrival of some “Deputy Leader.” Massive magical fireworks bloomed in the night sky, illuminating the entire Western Wasteland as bright as day.

What was more, some Players with life professions had already begun hammering and clanging around the library, making preparations as though they truly intended to camp here and settle long-term.

These people… weren’t they a little too full of energy?

Mophis felt her temples throb again.

Leaning against the cold wall, she slowly slid to the ground and habitually opened the virtual light screen that only she could see—the Player Forum.

She needed to figure out exactly what absurd things had happened outside while she was unconscious and forced into “cohabitation.”

The moment she opened the forum, an overwhelming flood of posts engulfed her sight.

【Breaking News! Dragon King Ignis announces joining the Knights, begins sweet cohabitation life with Lady Wife!】

【(Lots of pictures, beware!) The Princess Carry of the Century! The Queen’s Protection! The CP I ship is real!】

【Rational Analysis: With the Dragon King’s move-in, the library’s security has reached MAX level.

This will become the safest Player stronghold in the entire server!】

【Extra! Extra! The “Dragon Concubine Faction Support Club” is founded! Join now to receive a commemorative badge, with a chance to win fine equipment personally (?) crafted by Lord Dragon King!】

【Dragon Concubine fanbooks limited-time sale! Only 1500 coins for three series sets, no scams!】

【Western Wasteland real estate project launched! Selling stalls within a 500-meter radius around the library! Buy now before land prices increase a thousandfold and you can’t afford it!】

Mophis looked at these posts, her mouth twitching uncontrollably.

Dragon Concubine CP? Cohabitation life? Real estate projects?!

How the hell did your filthy LSP brains even work ? That thing was a world-destroying Boss who could swallow her and the library whole at any moment! How had it become, in your eyes, a CP to ship, a companion to live with?!

And what was this about land prices multiplying a hundredfold? How come she, the “landlord” of this library, hadn’t received a single cent?

The more she read, the more exhausted she felt, as though there were a thick dimensional wall separating her from this horde of Players.

Just as she was about to close the forum and find a corner to shut herself off for a while, a cold, majestic system announcement suddenly echoed across the entire world of 《Aincrad Era》 without warning.

【Server-wide Announcement: Dear Chosen Ones, in response to your enthusiasm for expansion and to provide you with a broader stage for your adventures, 《Aincrad Era》 will undergo a non-stop version update starting immediately.】

【Version Update Content: The official launch of the “Player-Created City-State” system!】

【System Details: When a region’s Player gathering, activity, and contribution levels meet system standards, a “City-State Founding” quest will automatically trigger.

Upon completing the quest, Players will obtain a “City Core,” and using it as a foundation, establish their very own city!】

【New System Features: City planning, building construction, tax management, NPC recruitment, city defense… more features await your exploration, Chosen Ones!】

【The 《Aincrad Era》 Operations Team wishes you happy gaming!】

The announcement was like a bomb exploding simultaneously—within the lively crowd of Players, within the silent Operations Center, and inside the splitting headache of Mophis’s mind!

Outside the library, the deafening cheers fell silent for a moment.

And then came an even crazier, thunderous uproar!

“Holy shit! Player-created City-States?!”

“Did I hear that right? Did the GM take the wrong medicine today? Such a massive feature, and they just release it out of nowhere?”

“City-State! Founding! Quest! The trigger is gathering, activity, and contribution… Brothers, isn’t this very land beneath our feet the most qualified place in the entire server?!”

“Not just qualified! It’s tailor-made! We’ve had tens of thousands of troops stationed here, building stages, making offerings for Wife’s sake, our contribution already maxed out long ago!”

“In other words… we can establish here… a city of our own? A holy city, built around Wife’s library?!”

This thought spread like a virus through the minds of every Player.

Mophis looked at the forum, instantly flooded with posts repeating the words “build city,” and her heart gave a heavy thump, a wave of unease surging up.

With her knowledge of the game she had once designed and of 【Pangu】’s usual methods, the GM would never hand Players such a massive benefit for no reason.

Unusual circumstances always meant hidden dangers!

Her programmer’s brain began spinning rapidly.

Launching Player City-State building… the timing was too perfect.

Too perfect, as if it had been rushed out as an emergency patch to deal with this very situation.

What was the GM planning?

Using a bigger “cake” to divert the Players’ attention?

To lure them away from the library, make them establish their own cities elsewhere, and dismantle the Player power she had painstakingly gathered?

Yes, that had to be it!

This “Player-Created City-State” system, on the surface, was a benefit.

In reality, it was a poisoned arrow shot at her by the GM! He wanted to cut her off at the root!

Understanding this, Mophis’s heart sank.

She knew that the war between herself and that unseen GM had now officially escalated—from “petty bug fixes” to a full-on “version battle.”

Meanwhile, on the Player Forum, the discussion about the new system had already reached a fever pitch.

【LaceSupremacy】 was the first to post, raising her voice in rallying cry: 【Sisters! Brothers! This is the GM’s conspiracy! They want to use the petty lure of city-building to trick us away from Wife! We must not be fooled! Our city must only be built for Wife! Our home will forever be the library!】

This post instantly received countless likes from the “Wife Faction.”

But soon, another voice emerged.

A post from 【Grand Ambition】, the leader of a major guild: 【Everyone calm down! Do you realize how big of an opportunity city-building is? Taxes! Resources! Territory! This is the true essence of the game! The Western Wasteland is barren—what future could a city here have? We should go to the border of the Central Kingdom.

Resources are rich, transportation convenient—that’s where great achievements can be made!】

【Exactly! What’s the point of circling around an NPC every day? We want to conquer the world!】

【Protecting Wife is a spiritual pursuit, sure, but the game must go on! The City-State system is clearly the core gameplay of the future.

Miss this, and we’ll fall behind!】

The two factions clashed fiercely in the forum.

One was the steadfast “Guardian Faction,” believing everything should revolve around Mophis.

The other was the rational “Development Faction,” believing they should seize this version’s opportunity for greater gain.

Mophis read their arguments, her heart rising into her throat.

She knew that the Players’ choice would directly determine her future fate.

If they truly were lured away by the GM’s “open conspiracy” and abandoned the Western Wasteland, she would once again return to being that lonely Keeper of Books—facing that capricious Mother Dragon alone, and awaiting whatever next “sanction” the GM might unleash.

She refreshed the forum page nervously, watching the reply counts on those two towering threads skyrocket.

Deep in her heart, Mophis let out a faint prayer—one so weak that even she herself did not realize it. Content orıginally comes from N0veI.Fiɾe.net