This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 176: Thanks to the Gifts of Nature

Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Thanks to the Gifts of Nature

On the way back, Yin Fang held the holographic tape tightly in both hands, looking solemn as if he were holding his own child.

That right hand repeatedly rubbed over it, almost polishing the cover to a gloss.

Damn it...

Lucky I remembered the password.

Chu Guang felt his eyes burning and turned his face away like an old man with a mobile phone. However, just at that moment, Yin Fang suddenly looked at him intensely.

"If I bring this thing back, do you think the Academy might let me off the hook? You can have the box; I don’t want anything."

Chu Guang rolled his eyes at him.

"Am I a sucker just because I treated you a bit nicely?"

Yin Fang’s expression faltered.

Chu Guang easily stretched out his hand and effortlessly took the holographic tape from his embrace.

"You know? The fact that I didn’t silence you already speaks volumes."

Looking at the young man whose face was turning pale, Chu Guang didn’t scare him any further and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Do you know what I encountered the first time I woke up in this world... cough, I mean, when I first woke up?"

Yin Fang swallowed, his voice trembling slightly.

"What did you encounter..."

"A two-headed dog that seemed to have sprinted out of Hell to greet me," Chu Guang said offhandedly while stuffing the holographic tape into his pocket, "If I had been a bit slower back then, I might already be dead. In fact, I later found out that running east or north would have led to the same dead end. It’s purely by luck that I survived. I’ll cherish this life, so I advise you not to make me perceive you as a threat."

To the west was a lake, a dead end. Heading north would have meant bumping straight into the Looters, and running east would have meant ending up in the cooking pot of the Mutants, all dead-end scenarios.

Even now, recalling it, Chu Guang couldn’t help but shudder for himself.

Yin Fang opened his mouth, his expression looking somewhat dazed.

Chu Guang ignored him, folded his arms, closed his eyes to rest, and sorted through the information he had gathered from the tape as well as planned how to edit and update this segment of holographic imagery on the official website.

Sitting in the truck, the few players gave each other looks, their expressions like those of people who had watched a foreign language movie without subtitles for too long, completely bewildered.

Spring Water Commander gestured to Brother Battlefield to come over and whispered.

"How should we hint to the Manager to give us a reward?"

Brother Battlefield was clueless.

"I don’t know... Ask directly?"

Both felt embarrassed to speak first.

At that moment, I Max Black finally spoke up.

"Mr. Manager! Is our mission completed?"

Looking up at the hopeful eyes, Chu Guang realized he had forgotten to distribute the rewards.

With a dignified expression still on his face, he nodded gravely,

"You all did very well, superbly."

After thinking it over, Chu Guang finally decided to give the players a little sweetener and selected a pre-edited mission reward on the VM, clicking send.

[Notification: Hidden side quest triggered.]

[Reward: 10 silver coins, 100 contribution points]

As for the several sleep cabins on the truck, that was the Warehouse Manager’s job. Chu Guang wasn’t responsible for helping them count how much that trash was worth.

Seeing the notifications pop up on the VM screen, the players’ faces lit up with excitement.

silver coins are one thing, but getting 100 contribution points for a storyline!

That was too awesome!

Seeing them so happy, Chu Guang felt delighted too.

If only everyone in the Wasteland were as lovable as his little players.

The truck kept heading toward Changjiu Farm.

However, just then, a gunshot suddenly cracked loudly in the distance. Bullets whizzed past the truck, one even hitting the front window.

"Enemy contact!"

"It’s the Looters!"

There were quite a few antagonists; the volley of gunshots must have reached at least thirty. However, these novices, poorly equipped and firing from such a distance, hadn’t hit anyone.

The player driving, a ruthless individual, quickly identified the direction of the bullets. Unfazed, he slightly turned the steering wheel and expertly drove the truck’s nose into the snow.

In an effort to protect the engine from being damaged, he pulled the handbrake and used the snow to stop smoothly, then grabbed a rifle and leaped from the vehicle.

"Those with bolt-action rifles stay back, brothers with assault rifles follow me! Let’s flank them!"

"Ao ao ao!"

"Here we come!"

Seeing the opportunity for heroics at hand, the players’ eyes gleamed green as they grabbed their weapons and jumped out of the truck, leaving only Spring Water Commander on board.

He wanted to join in too, but unfortunately, only having a Ten-Husband Long Pistol which couldn’t hit anyone at such a distance and fearing losing his equipment if he got too close.

In a flash of inspiration, he shouted loudly.

"Go on without me! I’ll hold the fort!"

Saying this, he fired a symbolic shot toward the front. Whether he hit anyone or not didn’t matter; at least he was now officially part of the combat.

Bullets whizzed by, and Yin Fang, who sat up in the truck with his head covered, looked around nervously.

"What’s happening?!"

Could it be the people from the Academy have tracked us down?!

"Don’t panic, it’s just a small scene."

Chu Guang’s right hand grasped the hammer, but after seeing the situation on the opposite side clearly, he turned up his lips and released the hammer to hold the Gauss Rifle instead.

The magazine was loaded with imitation ammunition.

Armor-piercing was a bit doubtful, but it was more than enough to handle these low-level soldiers...

Meanwhile, three hundred meters in front of the truck, behind a pile of snow, lay about thirty men in navy blue uniforms.

They held uniform iron pipe rifles, and at first glance, they all looked like Centurions from the Army, but there was not a single soldier under them, and they were all malnourished and ugly.

A man with tattooed faces held a loudspeaker made from rolled-up sheet metal, shouting from behind the cover.

"Listen up, everyone ahead! Do you see our uniforms? You are surrounded by the Army! Surrender and drop your weapons if you are wise! Otherwise, you’ll face the punishment of the army!"

They shouted for a long time without any response.

It was as if the other side hadn’t heard them, bullets still whizzed over their heads or thunked into the cover in front of them.

A man with a Mohawk cut nervously turned to a bald man beside him, his eyes panicking,

"Boss! These guys... are tough!"

Their morale attack strategy had no effect at all!

He even felt that after the loudspeaker announcement, the firing from the other side intensified.

The bald man cursed and slapped his head.

"Useless fools, what are you afraid of? They’re just nine people including the driver, and we have thirty-two guns—can’t we overtake them? Start shooting! Don’t let them escape!"

Then he added,

"And, don’t kill them all, damn it! Leave two hostages; we still need to ask for ransom from their base!"

The bald man’s name was Tu, originally an active looter in the central part of River Valley Province. As for why he was now at the southern edge, that was a long story.

The Army had been fighting with the people of the Grand Canyon to the north for a whole year, without much progress, suffering a significant defeat recently. Under General Kras, men died, got injured, or fled; it was a complete collapse.

According to people who fled from the north, the retreating soldiers of the Army were like locusts, leaving nothing alive in their wake, even the Variants took detours to avoid them.

Tu naturally didn’t believe such absurd stories, assuming those idiots were just scared witless, spewing nonsense to save their lives. He ordered them to be dragged out, bled dry, and thrown into a pot to serve as a drink.

The Army?

Hah, weren’t they just the defeated underlings of the Grand Canyon?

Coming here was just like delivering equipment to him!

However, Tu himself probably did not expect that on the third day when he bragged about making a night pot from the head of the Army commander, the Army’s fleeing soldiers really did appear at the small town by his doorstep.

The incoming group was not large, just nine Centurions without a single Clone Slave. These people were perhaps driven insane by the shelling from the Grand Canyon, or maybe by the shelling from their own side; regardless, their eyes were red, shooting anyone they saw without a word of warning.

Tu, with about a hundred men under him, naturally wasn’t afraid of them. He led his men to surround them and swiftly dealt with the group.

However, something baffling happened to Tu. Over a hundred people fighting nine, yet they suffered a one-to-one casualty ratio, enraging him so much that he killed the only prisoner he had captured, completely forgetting about the ransom!

It didn’t take two days for another wave of deserters to arrive. This time, there were slightly more Centurions, totaling twelve, who also brought along seventeen or eighteen clone slaves. Unlike the previous batch of lunatics who killed anyone they saw, these soldiers chose a survivor settlement and took it over directly.

The settlement had paid Tu a protection fee, and seeing his revenue source disappear, Tu obviously couldn’t bear it. So, he took his men and surrounded them again.

However, this battle turned out disastrously—they lost a third of their forces. It became an almost lost battle before the enemy even ran out of bullets.

This time Tu was genuinely frightened by the fight, finally appreciating the formidable force of these locusts. In less than a week, dozens of his men had died with countless more injured.

Even for them, who lived by plundering, such drastic losses were unsustainable.

Hearing that more soldiers fleeing the army had arrived, Tu was so scared he felt like he lost his soul, not even daring to fight this time. Instead, he gathered his confidants and fled towards the south with his belongings.

After enduring many hardships along the way, half the group had scattered, but they finally found what seemed to be a prosperous survivor settlement.

However, the people there did not look easy to meddle with. All the soldiers standing on the enclosing wall were holding identical rifles, and the smoke wafting through the camp was constant. With only about a hundred people visible outside, no one knew how many were inside.

Tu didn’t act rashly; he didn’t even dare to get too close, but rather found a high ground to the north and used a telescope to watch.

After waiting anxiously for two full days, just as his men were becoming restless, they finally got a chance to take action.

A truck headed towards the northern abandoned urban area with just a few people on it.

Seizing the opportunity without hesitation, Tu led his men to ambush them on their way back, ready to pounce.

However, to Tu’s surprise, things didn’t go as smoothly as he had anticipated. After being ambushed, instead of panicking as expected, some of the enemy even started flanking them.

Just then, something nearby exploded with a loud "pop," startling Tu just as he was about to peek out from cover and fire.

"Damn, what the hell was that—" Tu violently turned his head, and to his horror,

he saw one of his men’s heads blown off as if hit by a cannon, brains blasted away, leaving only a lone half-neck standing, blood spurting out.

Before he could even register what had happened, another explosion echoed from close by.

This brother fared worse than the last; with a huge hole blasted through his chest along with the cover, he struggled on the ground for a while before he swallowed his last breath.

This time, not only was Tu stunned.

The Looter brothers standing next to him were equally dazed, and for a moment, they even forgot to shoot.

"What kind of weapon is that!?"

"It’s someone from the truck!"

"Shit! A Gauss rifle?! How do they have Gauss rifles!"

The Looters had heard rumors of the Gauss rifle, although they didn’t understand the principle behind it, they knew it could penetrate power armor with a single shot, even more effective than the army’s anti-materiel rifles.

Hearing that it was a Gauss rifle, everyone panicked and didn’t dare to return fire, but the more they hesitated, the more dangerous their situation became.

A Looter with a Mohawk looked towards their boss, fearfully suggesting,

"Boss, let’s retreat!"

Better safe than sorry; if they continued fighting, they might end up annihilated. While four-legged sheep are scarce, there are plenty of two-legged ones. If they couldn’t take this survivor settlement, they could simply find another.

Tu was still hesitating. Reason told him he should retreat, but he couldn’t bear to let go of the easy prey right before him. Even with a Gauss rifle on the other side, they still had the numerical advantage. If he could send out some men to endure, and flank from the sides—

Just as he thought so, gunshots unexpectedly came from another direction, followed immediately by a barrage of bullets whizzing past their backs.

Caught off guard, a few Looters positioned at the rear screamed as they were hit and killed.

Tu was startled and quickly turned around to see a group of people who had inexplicably arrived from the direction of the Elm District.

And there were quite a few of them!

At least about ten!

"Boss, their reinforcements have arrived!"

"Shut your damn mouth, I don’t need your reminder—fuck!" Tu, both shocked and angry, quickly designated some men to head west to stop the reinforcements from advancing further toward them.

He couldn’t for the life of him understand how these people managed to provide support so swiftly—it had only been about ten minutes since the gunfire had started.

Even reactions should take a moment, right?!

The situation had instantly reversed, with both groups positioned east-west, trapping them on a gentle slope running north to south!

With humans on both the west and east sides, regardless of which inclined slope they used for cover, they were being caught in the crossfire from the opposite side.

After a short time, several more men fell to the ground, with a few blasted to bits by Gauss Rifles.

In just over ten minutes, the casualties had approached thirty percent, and this disorganized group had lost the courage to continue the fight.

Tu could no longer control his men.

They all abandoned their fighting positions and fled northward, running frantically. However, in terms of stamina and physical condition, they were far inferior to the players who ate three meals a day.

Especially in the players’ eyes, these fleeing Looters were like walking silver coins and contribution points, as well as regional reputation!

This was an encounter battle triggered near Changjiu Farm, so it wasn’t excessive to give a couple hundred regional reputation, right?

The benevolent and generous Manager was on site, and even if Dog Planner Ah Guang pinch pennies, the server-empowered Mr. Dawn certainly wouldn’t be stingy with this little reward!

Watching them flee, the chasing players looked like hungry wolves with green light in their eyes, eagerly pursuing them.

"Don’t run!"

"Drop your weapons and spare your lives!"

"Hands on your head, get down!"

During this time, some old players had still learned a few words that the NPCs could understand, and through a burst of shouting, indeed a few Looters understood, dropped their weapons, and crouched on the ground with their hands over their heads.

Throughout this encounter, the players’ side had zero deaths and three lightly wounded, one of whom had tripped over a tree root buried in the snow in his overzealous chase and bumped his nose.

In reality, that surely would have hurt for half a day, but in the game, even if left unattended, it was no big deal.

As for the Looters, it was a terrible outcome: 11 dead, and 26 captured.

Every player involved in the fight was awarded 50 silver coins, 50 contribution points, and 100 regional reputation. Chu Guang then instructed the jubilant players to escort the prisoners to the open space in front of the north gate of Changjiu Farm, where they crouched with their hands over their heads on the ground.

Accompanied by two guards, Chu Guang walked up to the prisoners and glanced at their dark blue coats, asking,

"Are you with the Army? Who is your commanding officer?"

Tu, who was bruised and battered from the fall, attempted to raise his hand to answer, but before he could speak, one of his subordinate lackeys nervously replied,

"We, we are not, sir."

So they were just ordinary Looters.

Understanding, Chu Guang continued to inquire.

"Where did you get these clothes from?"

Crouching nearby, Tu hurriedly responded,

"The Army suffered defeats in the north. It is said that General Kras of the Expeditionary Army was executed by the folk of the Grand Canyon. The fleeing soldiers of the army, moving like locusts, killed anyone they encountered. Our clothes and weapons were picked from those fleeing Centurion soldiers."

These clothes were very useful, especially a bit further north, where many survivors would turn tail and run at the mere sight of the dark blue coat.

Tu was puzzled; weren’t these people afraid?

The Armies had lost?

Chu Guang felt a twinge of surprise but not shock.

Such heavy snowfall was definitely unfavorable for those with long supply lines. If he were a general of the Expeditionary Army, he would also consider launching a decisive battle before the situation worsened further, to settle the outcome once and for all - losing meant returning home, winning meant taking the enemy’s place.

The appearance of Vanus further confirmed his guess that these people could no longer continue the fight. However, Chu Guang had not expected the Expeditionary Army to lose so thoroughly that even General Kras was killed.

The disorganized Army soldiers were wreaking havoc everywhere, forcing even the Looters to move southward.

This winter was going to be tough...

Seeing Chu Guang lost in thought, Old Luka thought he was unsure about how to deal with the prisoners and came forward, suggesting softly,

"Sir, if you are undecided on how to handle them, perhaps you might consider my suggestion."

"Speak."

"We are currently in need of labor, and it would be a waste to kill them outright. Why not send them to do hard labor, and come next spring, we can decide whether to keep using them or sell them to the mines in Red River Town."

That was a good idea.

Chu Guang nodded.

But there was still one problem.

"We’re running low on guards in the security team; what if someone tries to escape?"

Old Luka continued,

"This can actually be easily resolved. Mix the new prisoners with the old, assigning two to a cell. If one goes missing, hang the remaining three."

Chu Guang’s eyes lit up, "That’s not a bad idea; how did you think of it?"

Luka blushed slightly and replied respectfully, his head lowered,

"Sir, this isn’t anything novel... many survivor settlements with slavery systems operate this way."

Well, okay.

It seems I was too merciful.

Chu Guang sighed softly to himself, then turned to look at the Looter, displaying a stern expression and said from above.

"I originally planned to hang you all on the gallows, but killing captives isn’t a just act."

Looking at the shivering captives, he continued.

"Starting today, you will undergo reformation through labor, striving to become something useful to society, civilization, and humanity."

After finishing, Chu Guang didn’t look at them but turned to Old Luka.

"These people are now your responsibility."

Old Luka nodded respectfully.

"Yes, Sir."

...

Official Website:

[Announcement: Academy forces information has increased, connecting Shelter No.117 and the Grand Canyon, version 0.9 is in production, stay tuned for new gameplay!]

[Recommended Recipe of Today: Today, the Manager also doesn’t know what to eat, it’s up to you guys to decide.]

[Base System Announcement: Looter activity spotted in the northern part of Changjiu Farm (Prosperity +10)]

Quit Smoking: "Wait, why does the prosperity increase when Barbarians appear?"

Fang Chang: "Because those people are too weak, almost like serving their heads on a platter. But I do think +10 is too little; it might be considering the impact of looter activities on local security and immigration."

Night Ten: "Thanks to the bounty of nature. (facetious)"

Quit Smoking: "I see, no wonder you’re Elder Brother Fang Chang, I didn’t think of that—planning bigwig impressive!"

Fang Chang: "...?"

Night Ten: "Pfft."

Construction Youth and Brick: "Crow Boss, why have you stopped selling mushrooms recently!"

Crow: "How can you find mushrooms in such cold weather! Gone, all gone, no more until spring! QAQ"

Makabazi: "Damn! My life is so bleak."

Less Nonsense: "+1, I’m gonna die without Crow Boss’s mushroom soup."

Crow: "Is it, is it that severe?"

Si Si: "Don’t believe it, you’ll get conned this way."

Tail: "Yikes! Si Si, how did you know Tail was thinking about scamming the unemployed Crow Boss to put on a maid outfit while calling him master and pouring wine for Tail!?!! ∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ"

Si Si: "...?"

Teng Teng: "?"

Night Ten: "Asking because I don’t understand, is this content we can see without paying? (facetious)"

Elena: "@Canyon runaway Mole, you know (nosebleed)"

Crow: "I could devour you guys. ^o^"

After returning to the shelter, Chu Guang browsed the official website, especially checking the progress of strategies on the entrance of Shelter No.117.

Brother Mole worked reliably, together with Mosquito they developed a toxic gameplay, which is—find a newbie from the Agile system to lure monsters, bring them up and team up to kill.

The monsters in "Wasteland OL" don’t have a chase range limit; theoretically, if you’re cunning enough, monsters can chase you to the ends of the earth.

They had already used this method to kill two Crawlers!

Brother Mole thought he’d found a bug, didn’t dare to make it too clear on the forum, but what he didn’t know was, VM recorded their conversation information and secretly uploaded it to the cloud.

Chu Guang figured it out even without Xiao Qi’s help.

Besides Brother Mole, another active beta tester on the forum today was "Exalted" Spring Water.

This guy found 10 Sleep Cabins all in good condition, amassed a total of 700 silver coins, splitting it with two teammates, averaging 233.3 silver each.

That doesn’t include the earnings from a battle and narrative progression afterwards.

Moreover, Spring Water even opened a thread promoting Mosquito’s "Steel Nail 1.0" as a divine melee artifact.

"Brothers, trust me, occasionally Mosquito does knock it out of the park. I swear, I’ve never seen a better melee weapon! While being pounced on by a Crawler, it was about to bite my neck off, I instantly clenched my fist, then *bang*, a hole right through the Crawler’s head! Simple and brutal, one-hit kill! I’d call it the strongest in this version!"

Night Ten: "Speak up, how much did Mosquito pay you to advertise with a straight face? (facetious)"

Actual Mosquito Presence: "Dammit! What do you mean ’occasionally can be reliable’, aren’t my Hellfire and Storm already strong?"

Pick up trash 99 level: "I testify! Mosquito can indeed occasionally be reliable, but he’s a bit tough on people, last time I charged into the trenches carrying a boiler and enjoyed myself so much I didn’t log on for three days."

Actual Mosquito Presence: "Pay up!"

Pick up trash 99 level: "QAQ"

Peeking at the screen, Chu Guang couldn’t help but comment.

"These guys are really something."

Just then, a knock came from outside the door.

Chu Guang didn’t look up, simply responded.

"Come in."

Thinking it was Boss Xia coming to bother him again, he was surprised to see Yin Fang entering instead.

The young man didn’t speak at first, stood there with his head lowered for a while before finally opening his mouth with a full face of shame.

"I..."

"Owe you an apology."

-

(Today was also incredibly tiring, my back can’t take it much longer, updates next week might be unstable, will continue the daily challenges the week after...)