This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 103: Hardworking Little Players Can Take Care of Themselves

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: Hardworking Little Players Can Take Care of Themselves

After Chu Guang left, the second floor’s underground hall erupted with shouts.

Xiao Xiaosha Chong: "Any new Perception types? Old driver’s team, front row Strength Type LV3, one Agility, one Constitution for damage output. Perception types just need to scout, nothing else to worry about, we’ll make you cool and take you flying!"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "Any Strength type teams? Team up to chop trees wow, I’ll help you level up to LV1 in one day!"

Spring Water Commander: "Damn! Doesn’t anyone want Intelligence Types? So cold!"

Gnome King Riches: "Brother, it’s not that we don’t want to carry you, we just don’t know how to level up the Intelligence System!"

Elena: "I can teach you, comically."

Naturally, the most sought-after newcomer was the white bear, but there was only one bear, and it was quickly tricked into being a tank.

Next in demand were the Perception types, with the greatest team benefits, followed by the easiest to level up, the Strength types, and the Agility and Constitution systems that could fit any position.

The most pitiable were still those of Intelligence.

In the current version, though life professions were on the rise, not all life profession roles required intelligence.

Indeed, the higher the Intelligence attribute, the more it slightly sped up skill learning, but this benefit wasn’t very noticeable during the novice phase.

Roles like brick-moving, plastering, digging, stone-carrying, and cement-making in life professions actually demanded Strength.

As the Intelligence system players wandered helplessly, a 1.5-meter-tall Intelligence system girl stood up and raised her small hand.

"This is Vine Cottage, recruiting newbie apprentices who want to be tailors, Intelligence system preferred. Come and sign up fast!"

A group of newbie Intelligence players seemed to see a bright light in the dark world.

"Mom, I saw an angel!"

"Coach! I want to learn tailoring!"

"Wah wah wah, from today onwards, scissors and needles are my life!"

"Hold on, can Strength types sign up too? I suddenly find life professions quite interesting!"

"I think intuition is important for making clothes, I’m a Perception type!"

"Nonsense! Tailoring definitely needs Agility! Being fast is crucial!"

Not just the Intelligence system newbies, but newbies from other systems also joined in.

Eventually, not just newbies but even VM’s veteran players came over to join the fun, hoping to cling to a rich and powerful benefactor.

Overwhelmed by the crowd, Teng Teng couldn’t help but laugh and cry, quickly waving her hands.

"Don’t all rush over here, I can only take three people."

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Tail scratched his chin and clicked his tongue.

"Damn, the bear was snatched away."

Standing nearby, Si Si sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Stop cursing, let’s hurry up and find a big leg to carry us."

"Big leg?"

His head seemed to sprout an antenna.

With his neck stretched, Tail scanned the area, his eyes suddenly lit up, locking onto someone with long legs at the edge of the crowd.

"Si, you’re a Body Constitution type, right?"

"Yeah."

"I’m Agile System, faster!"

Right fist met palm, Tail stared at Crow in the distance, eyes gleaming.

"That’s the one!"

Si Si looked at Tail skeptically.

"...Can that guy really do it?"

"Definitely! He’s bigger than both of us combined!"

"...Are we talking about the same thing?"

"Big means strength!"

Watching as Tail bounced off, Si Si sighed.

"That guy must be crazy."

...

Having handed over the newbie training to the veteran players, Chu Guang spent his newly freed time training those rescued from the Looter’s dungeon.

There were thirty captives in total.

Previously, Chu Guang had instructed the Warehouse Manager Luka to register their identities, clarify how each person had been captured, what they did before being captured, whether they had any professional skills.

Furthermore, he also asked where they came from, whether they had any relatives still on the Wasteland, and whether anyone was willing to ransom them back, among other things.

These were all necessary procedures.

Chu Guang needed to decide their jobs based on their personal histories.

Of course, if anyone expressed a desire to go home, he would generously let them go, although he wouldn’t provide travel expenses, and he certainly wouldn’t try to keep them.

Forced loyalty isn’t sweet or necessarily quenching, and these slaves couldn’t be stronger, more capable of fighting or working than the players.

Chu Guang needed loyalty from the heart.

Only genuinely loyal NPCs could become his assistants and help him guide the players to play the "game" correctly.

Although Old Luka was illiterate and had only learned some basic phonetics, VM had a recording function, and oral recordings could be converted into text saves.

"Sir."

Seeing Chu Guang approaching the warehouse, Old Luka, who was teaching the survivors to follow rules, respectfully came forward.

Chu Guang glanced at the survivors.

They were wearing ripped coats and leather jackets stripped from Looters, mostly appearing malnourished, undernourished, and emaciated.

Chu Guang had previously settled them near the brick kiln, and recently he had moved them into the Outpost Base, allowing them to build shacks to live between the south gate’s Enclosing Wall and the trenches.

Every day, Luka would stew a pot of barley porridge for them, adding two liang of raw meat and one jin of cabbage from the Looters, minced up and thrown in, which was a supreme delicacy for them.

Indeed, it could be considered a delicacy.

After all, when they were in the dungeon, not to mention having clothes to wear, even a slightly fatter rat or cockroach could be considered delicious.

Where could they have gotten hot steaming food?

"How come there are only 25 left?" Chu Guang counted the number of people and noticed some were missing, so he looked towards Luka and asked.

Luka, with his head lowered, replied,

"Five didn’t make it through... When they were brought back, many were severely injured, even crippled. I found some herbs to dress their wounds, but they still didn’t survive. I took it upon myself to send their bodies into that furnace. Please, sir, punish me."

Taking initiative, huh.

Chu Guang found that this Old Luka and Xia Yan were the complete opposites—one was sensibly heartbreaking, while the other one needed a whip behind him to even move.

"No need, you did the right thing," Chu Guang nodded and continued, "Have the identities of these survivors all been accounted for?"

Luka nodded and replied,

"Already accounted for!"

The recordings were organized into data and uploaded to the computer. Xiao Qi retrieved the files, organized them, and sent them to Chu Guang’s VM.

Chu Guang’s VM, unlike those of players and NPCs, had the highest authority and could directly connect to the mainframe of Shelter No. 404. As long as he wasn’t too far from the Outpost Base, he had signal.

Looking at the names and data on the VM, Chu Guang roughly understood the identities of these survivors.

Among them, two had previously been serfs at Brown Farm, and two had been hunters on Bet Street; the majority of the others were from the Survivor community near the North Suburb of Qingquan City or were simply nomads wandering nearby.

"... Zhao Shu and Yang Ergou?"

Tsk.

What kinds of names are these.

But now Chu Guang understood, if the survivors from Bet Street ran out of zodiac and common animals’ names, what would they do?

When short on people, they could always use numbers.

Hearing the Manager call their names, two skinny survivors hastily stood up, timidly saying,

"Here, sir."

"How were you captured by the Blood Hand Clan?" Chu Guang looked at them curiously and asked, "Your Old Leech—I mean, your mayor, didn’t he pay the Blood Hand Clan protection money?"

Both looked baffled.

"Protection money..."

"No, we don’t know."

"Sir, the mayor wouldn’t discuss these things with us."

"Yes... We were captured last month while hunting."

It seemed these two hadn’t considered why the looters of the Blood Hand Clan had spared Bet Street.

The military strength of Brown Farm was decent; supplying them was probably to buy peace, but Bet Street, with its few guns and walls that couldn’t even keep out rats, wouldn’t need more than a Centurion to take down.

It looked like protection money and ransom were two different concepts, and they didn’t ensure their safety while scavenging outside. Moreover, the mayor of Bet Street didn’t seem to have plans to redeem them.

Chu Guang looked at them for a while and spoke,

"Do you have family in Bet Street?"

Both nodded repeatedly.

"We do."

"Good, now I’m giving you two choices—one is to go back and reunite with your family; the other is to stay and work for me."

The pair exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, and then looked at Chu Guang and said,

"Sir, I want to stay."

"I... me too."

Chu Guang watched them and smiled.

"Are you sure?"

Both nodded simultaneously.

"Sure!"

It’s hard to hunt in winter, and they knew exactly how little food was left at home. Going back now would mean just another mouth to feed, and a big eater at that, only worsening the situation at home.

Having a place to live, a fire to warm them, and food to eat here, they were already satisfied. Even if they were to return, it would have to wait until next spring.

Chu Guang was well aware of what was on their minds, but it didn’t concern him much.

Whether they carried the benevolence of Shelter No. 404 back home or stayed here to help build the Outpost Base, both were useful to him.

Looking at Luka, Chu Guang continued to inquire,

"These serfs from Brown Farm, do you recognize any of them?"

Luka humbly replied,

"Rest assured, sir. I am your servant, and no matter where they are from, I will treat them all equally."

Chu Guang spoke with a smile,

"Just tell me if you recognize any."

Luka quickly nodded,

"I do know the names of those two, although we didn’t talk much."

Chu Guang nodded and continued,

"Those two will stay. Take them and familiarize them with the Warehouse Manager’s position. Once they are competent at warehouse management, assign them to take care of the granary and warehouse."

"After this task is done, I will arrange more important duties for you."

Receiving important tasks from his master, Luka was overjoyed, yet he still humbly bowed his head, solemnly promising,

"Yes, sir! I’ll make sure they’re well-trained for you. If they make any mistakes, I am willing to be punished alongside them!"

The serfs from Brown Farm were easy to train; they were the most obedient.

Looking at the remaining survivors, Chu Guang pondered for a moment before saying,

"Have the rest pack up, taking fuel, food, and other supplies, and set out."

"While the snow has stopped, I need them to head northwest to the edge of the river and set up camp. There’s a brick kiln there, and I will assign them tasks."

Later, pick a couple of sharp survivors to act as foremen, give them a VM, and make sure they communicate with the players while supervising the work of the other survivors.

VMs have a location feature that is passively activated; Chu Guang wasn’t worried at all about them losing the valuable device, and damaging it wasn’t easy either.

Luka nodded respectfully, receiving the command and saying,

"Yes!"