Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 99 - 94: Busy Players

Chapter 99: Chapter 94: Busy Players

More and more people began gathering around Li Weiyi to discuss, among them were obviously those knowledgeable in architecture, as well as pure enthusiasts of city-building and farming gameplay.

The discussions, naturally, were led by professionals, but since everyone there was a player, there was no sense of hierarchy. Therefore, even the whimsical suggestions by ancient architecture enthusiasts were seriously considered and discussed by the professionals.

The completely unfeasible ideas were, of course, immediately rejected, but there were a few occasions where they could inspire the professionals.

Soon, waves of people came to look at the announcement, and in waves, they left.

Not many stayed behind, as most people in reality do not understand the principles and details of city construction. For them, engaging in this discussion was a waste of time; it was better to leave the city to do something else and earn money for better armor and equipment.

Zhao Haiping then approached the announcement to read its specific content.

"Although there are many clauses, to sum it up, there are just a few points," he said.

"Hunting demons, gathering minerals, and submitting domain resources can all enhance the construction value of the Reclaimer’s Citadel. This value can be used to harness the power of the Reclaimers to transform the entire historical slice."

"There’s a concept of prosperity for the Reclaimer’s Citadel. Generally speaking, the stronger the city defenses, the more merchants and laborers, the more complete the variety of goods, the more reserves of weapons and food, the higher the prosperity."

"Prosperity determines the grade of the city; the current grade... hmm, is undoubtedly ninth grade."

"But the emphasis is here, the transformation we can trigger isn’t limited to the citadel itself, but the entire historical slice!"

"That is to say, not only can you use construction values to build city walls, residential buildings, and other structures, but you can also transform the terrain and topography of the entire historical slice, even changing the location of mines, rivers, and mountain ranges."

"Of course, altering the terrain consumes far more construction value than building a city wall. The terrain changes have a degree of randomness, and such changes don’t increase the prosperity of the city."

"So many players initially overlooked this option."

"But as that designer from the institute said, those cities in history that were hard to conquer, whether in the East or the West, their impregnable nature is secondary; it’s mainly their location and terrain that made them so. Without the right terrain, building a city on a vast plain, even with the ancient construction level at its peak, the defense is only so effective."

"Therefore, despite the great expense of transforming the terrain of a historical slice, it is still the most critical step that cannot be overlooked."

"After all, such matters should be left to the professionals. With an intelligence of nine like mine, it’s better not to get involved and just wait to vote."

Zhao Haiping edged closer and overheard the players energetically debating how to transform the terrain of the historical slice.

Some argued that the more treacherous the terrain, the better, it should ideally be surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one, or water on three sides and mountains on one.

Others felt there was no need to go to such extremes; leaving an opening that could be blocked by city walls was also viable. After all, walls could serve to transport troops and allow for sorties at the right times.

Although the players couldn’t directly decide on the transformed terrain, they could adjust certain values within a broad range, such as overall elevation differences, the number of mountain peaks, the number of rivers, the amount of arable land, and many other parameters, which would then be randomly generated.

Even if only professionals could participate in the discussion, these parameters were already enough for them to repeatedly deliberated over for two or three days.

Zhao Haiping listened briefly, felt a headache coming on, and left the citadel planning to stroll outside the city.

Just as he reached the city gate, he heard someone shout, "Hey, isn’t that Zhao? Come join our team; we’re just one person short!"

Zhao Haiping looked over and saw four players at the gate: two Rangers, an assassin, and a scholar.

Leading them was Huo Yun Ying, with the rest being strangers, presumably a temporary team.

"What are you planning to do?" Zhao Haiping asked.

Huo Yun Ying replied, "I heard that every once in a while, bandits randomly spawn outside the city. They’re quite strong, but clearing them gives equipment drops, and you can exchange the number of enemies killed for bounty in the city..."

Zhao Haiping’s eyes immediately lit up: "Oh? Then what are we waiting for, let’s go!"

...

At the same time, Meng Yuan was not observing the Reclaimer’s Citadel as a player but was watching the movements of the players from a god’s perspective.

Before him, the entire historical slice appeared as an immense sandbox, like a continent floating in the air, surrounded by the chaotic and disorderly torrent of time and space.

At the center of the historical slice was the once-small county town, while the edges were dotted with elements such as mines and borders with other historical slices.

As for the players, they were bustling about like a colony of ants.

Inside the Orderer’s Fortress, dozens of players were sitting together, fiercely debating how the fortress should be built. Although they were currently only at the terrain planning stage and far from discussing specific construction blueprints, the players were already heatedly engaged in the discussion.

After all, for those players who specialized in architecture, this was not a mere home renovation for clients but the real deal of mobilizing massive resources to build a city!

This was way more interesting than their day-to-day jobs.

As for other players, they engaged in all manner of activities.

Combat enthusiasts like Zhao Haiping, Yun Ying, and Fan Cun had already organized their own teams and were patrolling around the Orderer’s Fortress, ready to hunt down demons that appeared due to the disorderly time-space flows.

There were also players exploring nearby mines, clearing them of monsters and assisting the workers in transporting ore to the city without cease.

Some players strolled around the city, trying to converse with the NPCs, hoping to trigger some hidden plot or unlock professional skills.

For example, they wondered if talking to market vendors or chefs might improve skills such as fishing, skinning, or cooking.

But they soon discovered, somewhat disappointingly, that there didn’t seem to be such a mechanism.

Yet these players were not discouraged; they simply started trying to cook themselves to see if the food they made could enhance attributes.

After all, in this 100% realistic game, a living person can’t be killed by holding in urine—as long as their spirit doesn’t falter, there are always more solutions than problems.

It’s just a pity that the historical slice was not the real world after all, and many precious resources were absent. It seemed these hardcore players might genuinely have to try and create a steam engine from scratch.

There were even some players who joined the workers in transporting bricks from brick kilns and quarries—it was unclear whether they did so because it paid well or because they genuinely found it enjoyable to haul bricks in the game.

Of course, there were many players who, after taking a turn around the Orderer’s Fortress, felt it was dull and returned to their own domains.

What fun was there in fighting demons and bandits? They’d had enough of that in the Trial Illusion. Wasn’t it more enjoyable to plant vegetables and fish in their own territory?

In any case, they were all earning money for better equipment. The method didn’t matter; they simply chose whatever way they liked.

Of course, there were also some players who were playing catch-up in the Trial Illusion, preparing for the upcoming new challenges.

All in all, it was a scene of thriving prosperity.

Participating merchants still assumed the function of a multi-purpose monitor, observing the state of players in the various Illusion Realms and Orderer’s Fortress.

"Your method is really not bad!

"I originally thought players would not be interested in activities like fighting, mining, or farming, and I advised you not to waste the Orderer’s power. But who would have thought these people would actually get so addicted?" exclaimed Participants Merchants admiringly.

Meng Yuan chuckled, "Of course! I might be the least adept among all the Orderers, but when it comes to understanding the players, I am second to none!

"You might think that going through such a roundabout way to pass the Orderer’s power to the players is superfluous, but soon you’ll see that it’s a necessary form of selection.

"Through this method, we can categorize players into different types such as combat, lifestyle support, builders, etc., establishing specialized roles to lay a foundation for the future.

"Our Orderer’s journey is to the stars and the sea!" exclaimed Meng Yuan, filled with pride and grandeur.

Even if I don’t know anything, with the players’ might, isn’t that enough?

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