Chapter 77: My Cute Fifth Batch Of Newbies

The square in front of the nursing home was full of people.

The reactions of the newbies who had just entered the game were the same as the previous batch. Looking at the lifelike world in front of them, they rubbed their eyes repeatedly, wishing to kneel on the ground and gently kiss the sand and dirt under their feet.

"This, this, this!"

"Holy cow, is it really virtual reality!? Wait, where's the logout button? Let me find it real quick. I don't want to end up like Kirito, that wimp."

"Haha, don't worry. Find a brick and hit your head with it, then you will log out."

"Wow, can I take a screenshot? This is too shocking."

"Damn son, the game is actually real! This used up all the shock I can feel for an entire year!"

"This place is so big..."

There was a lot of chatter and noise in the square, but the old players of Wasteland Online had long gotten used to it.

After all, the scene was exactly the same as when they first came online.

Stepping on the supposed virtual soil beneath their feet while feeling wind that was incomparably real blowing against their faces... The impact of such a realistic experience couldn’t be described in words!

Appearing as the administrator of Shelter 404, Chu Guang carried a plastic bag and arrived in front of the newcomers. He signaled them to be quiet and handed out newbie gift packs one by one.

"There are five copper coins here."

"You can take them to the warehouse to rent tools or go to the granary to buy food. You can even trade with other players."

Although the newcomers were noisy, they still respected the administrator who had the authority to ban their accounts.

"Administrator, are you really an NPC? I mean, are you really AI? Are you not a human being? I'm sorry, but you look too real!"

"The administrator is so handsome! Are you still single?"

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"How do I check your favorability? Where can I check it? Does this game have no player interface?"

"Where is my health bar? Where is the mana bar?"

"Hey, how do I play this game? Who can teach me?"

"What's the use of money? Can you give me a novice sword?"

Hahaha! Novice sword?!

Chu Guang laughed in his heart but ignored it.

You won’t need a sword for what you have to do next...

As a conscientious and responsible NPC, Chu Guang did not answer any questions and instead, handed out the novice gift pack with practiced ease.

Confirming that everyone received the newbie gifts, Chu Guang then looked at Sword Execution, who was standing beside him with his hands behind his back. He said in a stern tone, "I will leave the defenses of our outpost to you."

Sword Execution responded animatedly, "Yes, Administrator!"

Before those newbies had time to kneel down and kiss the soil at their feet, they were dragged out by the passionate old player to dig trenches.

Chu Guang believed that when the trenches were dug and when they saw the results of their labor, they should have a deeper understanding of this game.

He wasn’t worried at all. After all, that was how their predecessors learned to play the game anyway.

Seeing those new players marching excitedly towards the north gate, Chu Guang suddenly remembered a RTS[1]

game that he had played a long time ago.

It was called

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim

. Because it wasn't popular, not many people heard of it. The sequel didn’t do it any favors either with how much it sucked.

The gameplay was very interesting. It was unlike mainstream RTS games that emphasize micro-management. Players who ruled the kingdom could not directly control every unit.

What did that mean?

Simply put, if a monster appeared in a player's territory, the player couldn’t use micromanipulations to command heroes of various professions in the kingdom to go hack at the monster. Instead, they could offer a bounty on the monster and give out a handful of gold coins as a reward for dealing with it.

Heroes would naturally team up to fight that monster, and the hero who killed the monster would gain experience and gold coins. With the reward from the task, they would go to the tavern in the kingdom to enjoy themselves, buy weapons and supplies in the item shop, or learn skills and magic.

If they ran into a monster that couldn’t be dealt with, heroes would also run away in fear. Of course, that was unless the monster's bounty was increased. Driven by sufficient interest, even if the opponent was a dragon, adventurers holding broken copper and iron weapons would bravely launch an offensive.

Chu Guang would sometimes feel that he was actually doing the same thing.

Although there was no way to mark the marauder's health bar, he could still put a bounty on their heads!

The warehouse of the outpost was surrounded by a group of old players who were above LV2.

Since most tasks were related to the collection of materials, the warehouse had almost become where most people took on tasks.

"Damn! A marauder is worth twenty silver and two hundred contribution points?! And it can stack with the original 5 silver coins reward..."

“Double bonus for a squad leader!”

"Who knows how many people are there in Bloodhand Clan? I'm waiting for an answer, this is very urgent!"

"Brothers, our opportunity to get rich overnight is here! Whether you want to attack them or not, I’m going! Is there a team? I am a strength type player. I'm looking for perception type and agility type players, so let's go fight marauders together! We’ll share the rewards evenly!”

"I still lack one thousand contribution points to upgrade my citizenship. I would need a week of completing normal missions in order to do so. However, I only need to capture five prisoners to obtain the same rewards. This is awesome! However, will those who are on the verge of death count as live captives?”

"It doesn't matter if they are dead! We’ll still get 10 silver coins! I would have to move bricks for a day to be able to earn that much."

The players who saw the reward lost their minds and even suspected that the administrator had mislabeled the reward for the task.

Never in their wildest imaginations would they realize Chu Guang was doing it on purpose.

Regardless of the huge rewards, this task was not something that one person could do alone. The three-person group and the four-person group were standard teams that would be formed. Once the reward was split up, they wouldn’t actually get too much.

According to their intelligence, there were about sixty or seventy people in the Bloodhand Clan. Even if a few squad leaders were counted, there would be no problem in controlling the budget of the missions to stay within the 2,000 silver coins range.

Besides, it didn't matter if he exceeded the budget.

Was it a bad thing for players to have money? Obviously not!

Everything in the shelter belonged to him after all.

The forty players who just entered were enough to fill the vacancies in the basic labor posts at the outpost.

And those older players who had a deeper understanding of the game could use money to buy guns and land, stimulate domestic demand, and develop new gameplay.

Chu Guang felt that he who designed this model might be even more talented than the first administrator who packaged the world into a game.

Everything was simply perfect!

At this time, someone finally noticed the need for levels at the bottom of the task list.

"Huh! There is also a level requirement for the mission? I'm only LV1. How can I level up?"

"Strength type players can go cut trees, perception and agile type need to find a team... Wait, it only says that you need to be LV2 to take the task, but there is no restriction on LV2 players to team up with people of other levels?"

"Boss! Take me with you!"

"What's your genetic sequence?"

"Intelligence!"

"Fuck off."

"Screw you!"

Luca, the new warehouse manager, sat on the chair in front of the door, guarding the account book on the wooden table, and turned a deaf ear to the chatter in front of the entrance.

The day before, his new master explained what he had to do.

Starting that very moment, he no longer needed to do farm work. He only needed to move the things brought by the residents in blue coats into the warehouse, write them down in the account book with a few simple symbols, and then give them their remuneration.

Speaking of which, he was supposed to give out a strange metal coin.

Luca didn't understand the value of the coin and had never heard of a survivor settlement using stuff like that to trade.

However, those blue coats treated it like treasures. Maybe, it was something very important to them.

Luca didn't want to think about all those at the moment.

Years of experience taught him that knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing.

Seeing Chu Guang approaching, he immediately stood up. With his body trembling, he clenched his right fist and placed it on his left chest, and saluted respectfully, "Master, what's your order?"

Ignoring the curious players around, Chu Guang put the wooden basket in his hand on the table.

"I have a few things here. You can sell them for me. Follow the same fuels. If someone comes to buy it, tell them to pay the price according to the label.”

Chu Guang spent all six reward points he received the day before on loot boxes, but maybe because his luck was used up last time, he only got six lollipops.

Fortunately, two of them had attribute bonuses, which was not too bad.

Since his drawers could no longer fit anymore candies, he grabbed two handfuls of them and brought them to the warehouse.

Each lollipop was priced at 1 silver coin, and the ones with buffs were doubled in price.

For them to be listed at such an expensive price, those lollipops may not be bought by anyone, but it could still decorate the store shelves, making the shop look less empty.

"Yes, master." Luca placed the contents of the wooden basket on the shelf aside, and then affixed the label written by Chu Guang.

At this moment, Chu Guang suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, does Brown Farm grow any Sugarcane?"

"Sugarcane?" Luca looked confused as if he had never heard of it.

Chu Guang went on to explain, "A crop that produces sugar."

Hearing the byproduct, Old Luca finally understood and replied.

"I have stayed at Brown Farm for twenty years. I haven't heard of a crop called Sugarcane... But I know a little about the sugar you said. There is a crop called Red Beet on the farm, which looks like a radish. We can squeeze out red sugar juice from it, and after boiling, you can get some small solid stuff at the bottom. That should be the sugar you are referring to."

Can beets produce sugar?

Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully. "Is it sold well?"

"That... I don't know, but whether it is a merchant from the south or from the north, they will all buy a little, but they won't buy too much. I heard that it's cheaper than salt."

In places where sugar was produced, sugar was certainly not as valuable.

In the wasteland, the cost of transporting a commodity may even be much higher than the cost of producing it. The concept wasn’t anything new.

However, having sugar was good.

Not only was it edible, it could also be used to make wine, and it could even be used as a weapon.

In the coming spring, I have to find a way to get some seeds.

Chu Guang immediately thought of Boulder Town.

Among their neighbors, that was most likely where he could get the things he needed.

"Master, do you have any more orders?"

"No, you can carry on."

"Yes, master." Old Luca watched Chu Guang leave, then returned to his chair and sat down.

At this time, many players became interested in the new products on the shelves and gathered around.

Luca was nervous, afraid that someone would steal it.

However, they seemed extremely honest. They just gathered around and discussed excitedly, but no one reached out to touch the items.

"This lollipop can add attributes?! Really?!"

"Chocolate flavor has a ten percent strength boost for ten-hours. Fuck, this is like steroids for strength type players."

"Strawberry flavor is perception, apple flavor intelligence... At present, these three kinds of lollipops that boost attributes are twice as expensive as other lollipops!"

"Huh? It's only twice as expensive, then it's really cheap! Here, these are 2 silver coins, old man, give me one!"

"I'll have one too!"

"Fuck! Why are there only intelligence lollipops left? Forget it, I'll buy it for Teng Teng."

In a short while, only three lollipops with added attributes on the shelf were sold, and twelve lollipops with no attributes were left behind.

"... They were really sold out?" staring at the 6 silver coins on the table, Old Luca muttered quietly.

He couldn't understand what was happening, but he was shocked.

1. Real Time Strategy ☜