This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 173: The Work of the Refugees

Chapter 173: Chapter 173: The Work of the Refugees

Niubi Game Club.

Quit Smoking: "Have you guys seen the content updated on the official website? The background stories for the three major powers have all been laid out!"

Fang Chang: "Saw it earlier, we’ve already discussed it in the group."

④Who Understanding It Wrong: "Ah Guang said that he just made a folder, and your excitement makes you look really dumb."

Scrambled Tomatoes & Eggs: "They’ve even got the full maps for the three big powers before the beta, and the ’Giant Stone City’ regional power’s map isn’t even open yet. I have my suspicions that seven great overlords will come out after the public test."

④Who Understanding It Wrong: "Ah Guang says this is like a big snow sealing off the city, hoping you’re not ungrateful, or you might push me to delete the new folder I created. (side-eye)"

Night Ten: "And then it turns out there are actually eight people in the seven overlords? (funny)"

WC Full of Mosquitoes: "Too small, too narrow-minded. Just wait for version 8.0 when the Manager burns down the refuge shelter, don’t we have to use two expansion packs to bring it all back?"

Wild Wind: "Old jokes are banned."

Old White: "Speaking of which, they suddenly added an Academy Faction NPC in the refuge shelter. Are they planning to introduce the implantation function?"

Fang Chang: "Hard to say, I just logged in and checked. The new NPC doesn’t have the function to sell mechanical prostheses. No matter what you say to him, it only triggers the dialogue asking if you want to undergo surgery."

Night Ten: "+1, I just tried it too. If you annoy him, he’ll ask if you want to have your brain checked. As expected, Little Fish is still the cutest. (funny)"

WC Full of Mosquitoes: "Why Little Fish? Don’t you think the stammering lady boss cursing is cute too?"

Wild Wind: "Didn’t expect such a small game group to attract two kinds of weirdos."

Fang Chang: "Anyway, even though they’ve updated with an NPC who can perform surgery, Wild Wind needs to be careful, the surgery fee to reinstall an implant is 50 silver coins. And that’s without any damage. Fixing mechanical prostheses costs extra."

Night Ten: "Do you think Brother Guang will arrange a plot-driven event to test if there are any bugs with the reinstallation function of the implants? (funny)"

Old White: "Eh? That’s a pretty novel angle... Now that you mention it, why else would they let Wild Wind get an arm for free?"

Wild Wind: "Fuck, don’t be like that! (terrified)"

Fang Chang: "Ahem, alright, alright, let’s not scare Wind so he’s afraid to go out."

Quit Smoking: "Hahaha!"

...

Level B2 of the refuge shelter.

Yin Fang sat eating his meal in the dining hall.

Today’s food was corn and shredded pork fried rice. It tasted really good, probably the best meal he’d had in half a year.

The only downside was that he was surrounded by a circle of people.

They looked at him with curiosity, as if watching a monkey in an ecological park, as if doing so would benefit them in some way.

Considering the Manager had told him to ignore them and it would be over in a couple days, Yin Fang didn’t mind; he just thought of them as local natives who had never heard of the Academy before.

After quickly finishing his meal, he took his plate to the tray return where an automatic washer would clean off the food residue and grease, then sanitize with ultraviolet light.

With nothing else to do, Yin Fang decided to take a detour to the communal showers.

The shower rooms there were gender-divided and required a fee. Chu Guang gave him a daily living allowance of 10 silver coins, which was enough for him to live normally in the shelter.

However, something intolerable happened soon after. Not only did these stalkers want to watch him eat, they even wanted to watch him shower!

Watch my ass!

Don’t you have your own?

"Enough, if I see you following me again, I’ll remember every single face, and I swear I’ll make sure the next time I use a knife, I’ll attach that face to an ass! I swear I can do it!"

Chu Guang had taught him that sentence.

It was for self-defense.

If someone consistently followed and harassed him, all he had to do was say that sentence, and they would immediately scatter. However, he was advised not to use it too often—once a day at most—because if overused, it would lose its effectiveness.

Yin Fang guessed that the statement was probably some sort of offensive curse, given its excessively long rhythm. If his memory weren’t so good, he doubted he could have remembered it.

What Yin Fang didn’t know, however, was that after those players left, they went to the forum to mock him.

"This new NPC is pretty impressive! He can attach a head to an ass!"

"Holy crap, what’s the big grudge?"

"According to my stats, tracking for 31 minutes and 71 seconds triggers that dialogue."

"What kind of experience would it be to have a head growing on an ass?"

"Emmm... want to try it?"

Refuge shelter Level B1.

The number of players had now reached five hundred. The lobby was always bustling with people coming and going. To prevent players from secretly using his computer, Chu Guang had moved all his stuff into the next empty room.

After ordering a set of simple, solid wood furniture from a carpenter, he turned the space into his own "Manager’s Office."

Even NPCs need a bit of privacy, after all.

Always being watched by players made Chu Guang feel uncomfortable.

"I’m so done with this! Don’t your residents have anything else to do? No matter what I do, they just follow me around, pointing and making comments without any manners!" Yin Fang entered the Manager’s Office with a look of utter exasperation, complaining to Chu Guang.

"Calm down, it’s their way of showing enthusiasm. They’ll get over it in a couple of days... would you like some milk?" Chu Guang gently tapped the electric thermal pot on the corner of the table, which held heated milk.

"Thank you, I’ll have a cup... Do you have any capsule coffee here? Or even freeze-dried coffee would do, I’m not picky."

"No," Chu Guang said as he picked up a disposable cup to pour him some milk and handed it over, "Things are a bit rough here; we’re in the start-up phase, bear with us."

Taking the cup of hot milk from Chu Guang, Yin Fang held it in his hands, and after taking a sip, he felt a bit more relax.

Actually, life here was pretty good, at least much better than the days he spent on the run.

Once he accepted the situation, he found that moving in wasn’t as bad as he had imagined.

There were almost all advantages here, just too few people to talk to.

"Speaking of which, it’s hard to believe, your shelter code is in the three digits. It shouldn’t be this short of funds."

"What does the code have to do with that?" asked Chu Guang casually.

Yin Fang nodded.

"Of course, there is some correlation. Generally, shelters with single-digit codes have higher budgets than those with double-digit codes, and double-digit shelters have more than those with triple digits. As for shelters with four or five digits, and private shelters without any codes, their budgets are usually pretty pathetic; some don’t even have full recycling, only managing half-cycling."

As a Class D explorer, he knew this all too well.

Those valuable treasures were usually found in shelters with double and triple digits codes. Those with four- or five-digit codes, on the other hand, would be quite lucky just to scrounge some leftover resources. The majority of materials had been exhausted by the survivors who lived there decades ago.

Chu Guang, who had been staring at the computer screen, looked up.

"Listening to you, I’m starting to get curious about what happened at the end of the Prosperity Epoch."

The numbers have already lined up to five digits, and that’s not even counting those who didn’t get a number.

How many refuges did the United Human build in their last few years?

Amidst his musings, Chu Guang adeptly maneuvered the mouse and lobbed a few nuclear bombs, which had taken several turns to create, into the home of his neighbor Old Man Gan.

With a lack of good games to play recently, he could only download "Barbarian 6" again to pore over.

Of course, it was mainly for gathering material.

Hearing Chu Guang’s words, Yin Fang showed a helpless expression on his face.

"We’ve been investigating that as well, the war seemed to have happened suddenly, without any warning."

Chu Guang, "There’s no one left alive from that era?"

Yin Fang, "There are quite a few, in fact. At the Academy, there are even some from that era who have been in cryogenic sleep until now, but they can’t clarify what really happened either, continuously asking us when they can go home... We speculate that some information must have been controlled, or perhaps United Human didn’t expect the war to really break out, otherwise the number of refuges would probably be even higher."

Chu Guang gave him a puzzled look, "That sounds contradictory. Even if there was information control, didn’t anyone question the nearly ten thousand refuges?"

Yin Fang made a helpless expression.

"You have to understand it in the context of the era. After entering the Prosperity Epoch, this planet hadn’t seen war for a very long time. The crises we imagined included unexpected solar flare activities, the impact of lunar exploration on tidal effects, ecological crises caused by excessive urban expansion, or even third-kind encounters with extraterrestrial civilizations... but we had never thought that one day in the future we would repeat the stupid mistakes of the distant past."

He paused before continuing.

"Plus, there’s a limit to the amount of information a human brain can process each day. When you’re in an age of information explosion, there are millions, even billions of things more worthy of attention, and it feels like..."

"Being in a cocoon room?"

"Exactly. It seems you understand quite well," Yin Fang said, surprisingly giving Chu Guang a look, "Speaking of which, I’ve been wanting to ask... what kind of refuge is yours? Cryogenic sleep? Or communal?"

Chu Guang’s gaze drifted, giving an evasive answer.

"I think it’s neither. It’s probably better not to delve too deeply into this question."

Seeing that Chu Guang didn’t intend to discuss the matter with him, Yin Fang helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright then... you go on with your work; I’m heading back to my room to rest."

Returning his focus to gathering material, Chu Guang nonchalantly responded.

"Go ahead, and close the door behind you."

Drawing out the words, Yin Fang adopted the tone of others in this place.

"At your command—"

"Respected Manager."

...

The following morning.

Changjiu Farm.

Old Luka arrived early at the Refugee Camp and found Jiu Li, the person in charge, saying to him,

"We need 30 strong young laborers capable of working. We will pay them a daily wage of 2 silver coins, plus three meals a day."

Though the Refugee Camp also provided meals, the watery porridge only managed to keep people from starving and wasn’t particularly nutritious.

Just yesterday, the farm employed a butcher from their camp who apparently moved into a heated house and even got meat in every meal.

Such a divine lifestyle would be worth it even without a salary, let alone the added 2 silver coins.

Jiu Li didn’t hesitate and immediately nodded in agreement.

Still, out of responsibility for those who trusted him, he asked,

"No problem. What kind of work is it exactly? Are there any specific requirements?"

Old Luka said,

"There aren’t any particular requirements. As long as they have the strength to do heavy work. Our leader plans to build a cement factory to the south to produce cement for building houses and roads. Besides that, we need some hands to clear obstacles from Changjiu Farm to Wetland Park and transport salvageable items to a designated location for processing. I will arrange the specific tasks, you don’t need to worry about that."

Relieved that it wasn’t dangerous work, Jiu Li said,

"Give me ten minutes; I’ll bring the people you need."

Old Luka nodded and said,

"Hmm, once everyone is gathered, take them to the east gate. I’ll wait for you there."

Jiu Li was prompt about his task and quickly summoned his brother Nine Searches, selecting thirty strong young men from the camp to do heavy work and led them to the east gate.

By the time Nine Searches arrived with the people at the east gate, there were already about twenty people gathered there.

Seeing those people, many refugees, including Nine Searches, showed a mixture of anger and fear on their faces.

"They’re from the Army."

"Is that for real..."

"No mistake, look at their noses... The Army people have that bump in the middle of their bridge, these guys must be at least Centurions."

"Bastards!"

As for the captive soldiers from the Army, they were befuddled by the hostilities and fears displayed by the refugees—weary of the misunderstandable scene on their faces.

They could assure that they had never met these people before.

Why does it feel like a grudge as deep as patricide?

Noticing the unrest among the group of refugees, Wrench stepped forward and raised his voice,

"On our land, anyone who works earns respect, regardless of whether they are free folk or a war captive. Whatever grudges you had before, you must abide by our rules here. Anyone who breaches our law, no matter who they are, will receive no leniency from us."

The refugees fell silent.

They already realized that these twenty-odd Army Centurions were captives of that respected Manager.

To capture more than twenty Army Centurions... That would mean annihilating at least two hundred-man teams, or even a thousand-man squad.

And such an annihilation would have to be a crushing victory, completely breaking the enemy’s will to fight, prompting them to abandon their weapons and surrender.

If it were a battle of evenly matched forces, the Army wouldn’t surrender so easily.

The power of these Survivor Forces might be even greater than they imagined!

Standing at the forefront of the labor force, Nine Searches felt relieved, thankful that there had been no conflict between the two parties that night.

Even the Army had lost to these people.

He couldn’t even begin to fathom how his side could have any chance of winning, or any reason to believe it possible...

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(Next Chapter by 11 pm at the latest!)