This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 216: The New Awakeners and Preparations for War

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: The New Awakeners and Preparations for War

In recent days, Chu Guang’s luck had been pretty good.

Up until the 10th day since the War Time Regulations came into effect, his little players had created a total of 371 reward points for him, even exceeding his expectations a bit.

Logically speaking, as the harsh winter continued with incessant blizzards, the players’ range of activities should have decreased.

However, the completion rate for daily active missions hadn’t lessened in the slightest.

Moved, Chu Guang resolutely decided that he must make good use of the wealth his little players had created for him.

Considering that he had enough medicine for now, besides three advanced blind boxes, Chu Guang used all the remaining 71 reward points to exchange for basic blind boxes.

Not that he was still believing in metaphysics.

It’s mainly because Chu Guang had once casually pulled a single blind box out of boredom and got a high-yield rice seed packet.

That was the second time he had gotten seeds from a blind box, the first being cotton seeds.

Without a second thought, Chu Guang used that packet of seeds in a soilless planting unit that had just harvested a batch of baby bok choy and carried out breeding tasks.

As for which rice seeds, the ones he just pulled out or the ones given for free on B3 floor, would have higher yield, he would know after a comparison when the time comes.

Continuing with the results of this lottery draw, though he hadn’t gotten any seeds, it was still quite delightful.

Out of the 71 reward points, apart from 25 lollipops, 15 chocolate bars, and 8 cans of meat, there were also 10 packets of 500g salt, 8 bottles of soy sauce, 2 bottles of vinegar, and 3 bags of 3-pound corn flour.

Although these supplies couldn’t fundamentally solve the food crisis, they were undoubtedly a blessing for those little players who ran stores.

New condiments were now available.

The life career players get an epic enhancement!

The three advanced blind boxes didn’t disappoint Chu Guang either.

A Type Five "Light Cavalry" exoskeleton, a Hummingbird drone, and a carbon nanotube bulletproof vest.

Honestly, the shelter system was so generous this time that he could hardly believe it.

He now had three Hummingbird drones; while overseeing Outpost Base and Changjiu Farm, he could also spare one for hunting in the wild.

After pondering for a moment, Chu Guang decided to put that Type Five "Light Cavalry" exoskeleton up on the NPC store’s shelf.

Since every performance aspect of the "Type Five" was more than double that of the Miner Type I, Chu Guang simply added a zero to the sale price of the "Miner," making it 20,000 silver.

As for the purchase threshold.

It remained Awakening (LV10)+Citizen.

Just as Chu Guang was basking in the joy of his bountiful harvest, admiring the "Administrator’s Allowance" coming out of the conveyor belt, Xiao Qi’s voice suddenly came from the speaker by the wall.

"Master, two more of your little players have reached LV10."

"Two?"

Chu Guang was slightly startled and immediately opened the Administrator System and switched to the player list.

In the list, two names were marked with a gene sequence level tag of LV10, with the same log-in status of "Locked for 5 hours."

"Long Days Ahead and Midnight Chicken Killing?"

It turned out to be these two gentlemen.

Midnight Chicken Killing’s awakening was expected, as he was one of the early players who entered the game, also a Strength Type, and very dedicated.

Chu Guang still remembered the feat of this guy chopping down more than two hundred trees in three days.

"Strength Type is indeed easier to level up."

"Agile system seems secondary."

Currently, Wild Wind has the highest Intelligence level in the entire game, having just reached LV9.

Night Ten of the Perception system has been stuck at LV9 for a while and probably won’t take too long to awaken either.

Thinking of this, Chu Guang was filled with emotion.

His little players were so powerful; he needed to work harder, too!

Otherwise, people would always think that the five months he spent alone surviving in the Wasteland were a complete waste, as if just any "Grandpa Ao" could assassinate him.

What was he thinking.

Playing a game with the console activated, thinking he was invincible?

Not to mention the "God Equip" his players had helped him grind for, even the newbies with their slow arms and legs, fluttering like mosquitoes, could hang if they stripped off their gear.

So far, Chu Guang was the only one in the entire game who genuinely tore apart a Crawler, and the abundant martial virtues of Shelter No. 404 were not just a boast.

However, maintaining a level advantage was still necessary.

Not entirely out of caution, but mainly for the care of the players’ gaming experience.

After all, it is a well-known fact that in MMORPGs, the leaders of factions NPC are always the highest level.

If the faction leader NPC’s level isn’t even as high as the players’, then the game is too unrealistic!

...

Official Forum:

Stop Talking Nonsense: "It’s the 10th day, brothers! Only the last 50 days until the end of winter!"

Gnome King Riches: "giao! There are still 50 days left!"

Tail: "Since we can’t go out and fight, let’s have snowball fights! (｀∀´)Ψ"

Si Si: "Oh, that’s nice."

Night Ten: "Hahaha, then aren’t Strength Types really bugged（Slide face）?"

Tail: "Doesn’t exist, Tail is super fast!"

Peak offline time.

While everyone was running on the official website to exchange strategies as usual, a notice suddenly popped up on the forum.

[Worldwide Announcement: Congratulations to the player "Long Days Ahead" for becoming the first Agility LV10 player in the game worldwide!]

[Since the player has chosen to make it public, this achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Fame.]

As soon as the announcement was released,

the atmosphere on the forum instantly boiled over.

t

Tail: "!! Someone is actually faster than Tail! w(ﾟДﾟ)w"

Si Si: "Wake up, Tail. At least they’re a T0 big shot, what do you have to compare with?"

Tail: "QAQ"

Gnome King Riches: "Damn it, damn those cheaters! I, the Gnome King, am not the fastest! (Rages)"

Thunder Mage Professor Yang: "Damn! You’re all fucking cheaters, okay? I didn’t even get into the game! T.T"

Silver Hand: "I strongly demand that the officials reset the data after the beta goes live! (Voice cracks)"

Silver Sword: "Agreed! (Voice cracks)"

Edge Shoveling: "Get lost, get lost, get lost, don’t even think about it!"

Debt Giant Eye: "Exactly! Do you know how hard Brother Shui had to work to get killed? (Sarcastic)"

Edge Shoveling: "Roll away!"

On the issue of data resetting, players and Backseat Drivers could never reach a consensus.

Today was no different.

The two sides were divided into factions, arguing vehemently over whether to reset the closed beta data or not.

Neither of the two Awakeners showed up from start to finish, probably avoiding the heat.

After scanning through posts on the forum, Chu Guang, peeking at the screen, revealed a smile characteristic of an indulgent father.

Reset the data?

Nonexistent.

That’s for legitimate game companies to do, when did I ever say I was a legitimate game company?

All these accounts are my property!

However, players who entered the game early have already begun to "awaken" one after another.

It is foreseeable that in the next two months, there will be a peak of player awakenings.

Just wait until winter is over; he might be able to round up a company of Awakeners.

With this quality of individual soldiers, as long as the equipment keeps up,

it’s thrilling just thinking about it!

...

Steel Factory No. 81.

The production is in full swing, a bustling scene all around.

With the mobilization under "War Time Regulations," more and more refugees are involved in production work. The workforce of Steel Factory No. 81 has expanded to ninety people, divided into multiple workshops based on different production tasks.

Workers who have mastered production skills were promoted to foremen, leading apprentices with no experience to learn how to use the factory’s equipment to turn scavenged junk from the Wasteland into needed resources.

At this moment, in Workshop No. 1 of Steel Factory No. 81, a 20mm caliber autocannon was on display at the center of the workshop.

Box-type mechanism with simple shock absorbers on both sides, and an air-cooling jacket at the root of the barrel.

The magazine slot is located directly behind the mechanism, near the trigger, for easy reloading by the gunner. It is so convenient that one person can operate it.

To ensure the safety of the gunner and the ammunition rack, the front end of the mechanism has a slot allowing for the installation or welding of a 20mm steel plate.

This thickness is sufficient to withstand most bullets and explosive fragments, providing a relatively safe firing environment for the gunner.

Standing next to Chu Guang, Brother Levin, one of the foremen of Steel Factory No. 81, proudly pitched to him.

"20mm caliber, 1500mm long barrel, 1300mm rifling length, a magazine that fits 10 rounds of ammunition, which can all be fired in less than 5 seconds! As you can see, this piece of equipment can definitely be the bane of helicopters!"

Brother Ciso, standing on the other side, also spoke excitedly.

"That’s right, Manager Sir, not only helicopters’ bane. I dare say even Crawlers and Mutants on the ground can’t withstand a direct shot!"

If by some miracle they did withstand it.

Then fire another round!

"Considering various combat needs, we’ve also designed phosphorus incendiary shells, steel-core armor-piercing shells, and high-explosive bombs! Unfortunately, we couldn’t come up with proximity fuses. High-explosive shells with impact fuses have a small chance of dud, but it’s not much of an issue!"

"Good, but are 10 rounds in a magazine too few?" Chu Guang asked, looking at the cannon with keen interest.

As if anticipating this question from the Manager, Brother Levin chuckled and replied.

"No problem! We can assemble four autocannons together, firing intermittently! That’s 40 rounds!"

Brother Ciso added,

"Exactly, if the firepower isn’t enough, we can even use an eight-barrel mounting! Tow it around with a truck!"

Chu Guang nodded in approval.

However, at that moment, he suddenly remembered something and asked,

"By the way, what about that 88mm gun you guys were working on? Wasn’t there an experimental model? I haven’t seen it."

In addition to anti-aircraft fire, he now also needed a reliable support weapon.

The support referred to here wasn’t a Mosquito’s remorseless rocket.

It was the kind that could work in tandem with the infantry at the front, precisely dropping explosives onto the enemy’s head.

For some reason, upon hearing Chu Guang’s words, the expressions on Brother Ciso and Brother Levin’s faces became somewhat ambiguous.

The latter cleared his throat and said.

"The projectile velocity of that cannon just couldn’t be increased... We had originally planned to convert it into a howitzer, but we simply did not find the time. Then Mosquito came over, made an offer, and said he intended to continue our research, so we packed up all those barrels that hadn’t had the rifling done and sold them to him."

Brother Ciso spoke of this matter with a face full of indignant displeasure.

"As it turned out, he had no intention of continuing our research. It was only later that I found out he had cut the barrels into smaller sections, planning to make short-caliber 88mm mortars."

Brother Levin shook his head as he spoke.

"Absolutely fanciful!"

Chu Guang was momentarily stunned when he heard this sentence.

Then his face showed a dumbfounded expression.

Anti-aircraft cannon changed into mortars.

Is that even possible?!

...

Southern outskirts of Tianshui City.

The abandoned Beipo Industrial Area.

Here, decrepit factories and buildings were everywhere, with pieces of concrete scattered on the ground as numerous as the snowflakes in the sky.

In one relatively intact factory building.

Dressed in tattered clothes, emaciated slaves were under the watchful eyes of the Looters armed with weapons and whips, moving supplies from the storeroom into the factory.

Suspended above was a very large furnace.

The furnace was filled to the brim with boiling molten iron, and nearby slaves were endlessly shoveling coal into the heating chamber, making the entire room as hot as summer.

The adjacent factory was just as torrid.

Over thirty iron anvils were arranged within the spacious building, where bare-chested slaves swung hammers vigorously, pounding the glowing hot castings on the anvils.

After these roughly formed castings were heated through forging, they would be taken to another workshop, where a group of skilled craftsmen would process them with simple tools such as files and then transported to the final factory room for assembly.

The overseers watched the slaves with a gaze that instilled an instinctive fear in them, causing their calves to tremble involuntarily.

Their eyes did not seem to see humans.

But meat upon a cutting board.

However, the ability to work here meant at least they would not be eaten. As long as they did their work well, they would stay alive... That was the "promise" from the overseers.

As for those survivors kept in the dungeons, their fates were much worse.

They had only two outcomes.

Either become Cannon Fodder or become food.

And in winter, the latter was much more likely than the former.

The office on the second floor of the factory was as warm as spring.

Sitting behind an old desk, a man dressed in a leather jacket and unkempt in appearance had a wooden pipe in his mouth.

The smoke from the burning Spirit Leaf induced him to blissfully squint his eyes.

His name was Black Snake, a Centurion of the Chewing Bone Tribe, who had been ordered to lead a thousand team to raid down south and had stopped here due to a heavy snowstorm.

His Snake Tribe’s standing within the Chewing Bone Tribe wasn’t as high as the Ya Clan, but it was still of the main lineage, with nine underlings who were fierce warriors each one a Centurion in capacity.

Originally, there had been ten.

But one named Card, a Centurion on the way to establish an Outpost in Qingquan City, encountered an attack by local survivors and went missing.

Black Snake did not mind losing a mere Centurion; he could elevate another at any time if he wished.

What truly pained him was the loss of nearly one hundred and fifty brothers and almost a hundred 100mm shells and dozens of tons of food during that battle.

Each time he thought of this, Black Snake would become enraged.

Those wastrels!

To think they poured his nutrient paste down the drain and even set fire to his dried rats and meat strips!

Waste was a shameful act.

He swore he would reclaim the lost supplies from these people, undiminished.

"The sound of that blacksmithing, how splendid it is... Once winter is over, we will be able to equip two more hundred-man teams!"

Using nearly a thousand slaves to solve the logistics for one thousand five hundred people.

These slaves could serve not only as labor but also as food.

Black Snake thought himself nothing short of a genius.

Standing to one side, the strategist Vedes looked at him, his expression less optimistic.

"This battle should not be drawn out too long. You must have noticed when your troops attacked the local survivor settlements, they encountered strong resistance twice... Clearly, those survivors have become aware of the danger. They have likely formed alliances and moved the external settlements."

"That’s just right."

Black Snake’s eyes narrowed slightly, a plume of smoke wafting from his nose as he continued.

"Once they gather together, we can wipe them out in one fell swoop, saving us from having to chase them around!"

Hearing this, Vedes shook his head.

That idea was far too idealistic!

He had learned from Kevin that the survivors on the northern outskirts of Qingquan City were suspected of mastering the technique for producing stamped metal receiver boxes.

This meant they could produce reliable weapons and ammunition in large quantities at extremely low costs within a short time.

In contrast, due to the lack of production facilities and effective logistical support, their side, although the slaves were somewhat effective, truth be told, it was very limited.

The longer the war dragged on, the more dangerous it became for them!

However, compared to Vedes, Black Snake, being a Centurion, was rather optimistic.

"Relax, my friend,"

"I know they might be tough to deal with, but we’ve got that guy."

100mm howitzer!

A 20kg shell falls, within a 30 meter radius not a blade of grass remains, and it could easily shatter half a meter thick concrete fortifications!

That terrifying firepower was enough to make any survivor settlement of less than ten thousand people despair!

And they had two of them.

Black Snake leisurely added some sun-dried Spirit Leaf threads to his pipe, since there wasn’t much else to do in the winter anyway.

Just then, there was a knock at the office door.

After being granted permission to enter, a Looter clad in a fur coat walked in and awkwardly saluted, humming as he spoke.

"Report!"

"Thousand Chief Lion Tooth has sent a message inviting you to join them at Far Creek Town, where they have built infantry fortifications, inviting you to join the spring hunt!"

"Far Creek Town?"

Black Snake glanced subconsciously at the map on the wall but didn’t see that place marked.

Vedes, standing by his side, spoke up to remind him.

"Far Creek Town is located directly north of Qingquan City, about 10 kilometers away from the Elm District of Qingquan City, and about 20 kilometers from the concrete fortifications built by those survivors in the ’North Suburb’."

Their current location in the southern suburbs of Tianshui City was roughly to the northeast of Qingquan City.

After a moment’s pause, Vedes fulfilled his duty as an adjutant and offered a suggestion.

"The survivors in the north suburb of Qingquan City are tough to deal with; concentrating our forces against them is a good choice."

With two thousand-team armies, the problems he was concerned about wouldn’t exist.

With so many people, just by sheer numbers, they could crush the survivors in the north suburb of Qingquan City!

However, his superior obviously didn’t think so...

"Why should we join them? We can take the north suburb of Qingquan City on our own," Black Snake’s eyes narrowed slightly.

According to the rules of Looters, whoever conquers the territory has the right to plunder!

Acting with the people of the Ya Clan, he could at best get a sip of the broth.

But if he took the north suburb of Qingquan City alone, that would be an opportunity to eat his fill.

He had cannons, armor, and enough infantry to more than handle a bunch of Scavengers.

Why allow others a share of the glory that belonged to him!

"Although Lion Tooth is also a thousand chief, they are the direct lineage, and if we act together, he outranks me by half a level."

"The survivors in the ’North Suburb’ are easy to deal with, but that Giant Stone City is a tough bone to chew. If we act together with them, we might just end up being used as Cannon Fodder."

Narrowing his eyes like a poisonous snake, Black Snake methodically continued.

"Not only must we not follow them, but we must also get ahead of them, and take down our prey in the shortest time possible!"

Vedes looked resigned.

He was well aware that this man wouldn’t listen to him when it came to strategic decisions.

Looters were mostly the same; their eyes only saw loot, driven by savage nature and ferocity ingrained in their bones, not by anything else.

Even if the Chewing Bone Tribe seemed to act a bit differently, there was no fundamental difference.

Just like a dog cannot change its habit of eating feces.

Seeing Vedes fall silent, Black Snake smiled easily and comforted him a few words.

"Relax, my friend, I’m not underestimating our opponents; I’ve understood their strength from the brothers who withdrew from the front line before making this decision."

He did respect this strategist who had helped him win many battles.

If it were someone else, their graves would be overgrown.

"Care for a puff? You’re no longer with the Army; no need to follow their rules anymore. With us, you can enjoy all the glories and riches you desire."

Looking at the pipe Black Snake was offering, Vedes shook his head.

"No thanks, I need to keep my mind clear at all times."

Army men don’t smoke.

At most they drink.

For him, the trio of gold, beauty, and wine was enough.

Black Snake laughed and waved his pipe.

"That’s the beauty of it; Spirit Leaves can make you incredibly sharp, but if you don’t like it, that’s fine."

Leaning back in his chair, Black Snake looked at him.

"I need you to come up with a plan, help me win this war in the shortest time possible."

Vedes pondered for a moment before answering.

"How about mid-January?"

"By then the blizzard should have eased off; the climate won’t have too severe an impact, and we can give them a surprise before the spring starts."

The harsh winter had just ended, and those survivors would probably not have prepared too many defense fortifications; the effects of this cold winter were the same for everyone.

Both for the defenders and the attackers.

Black Snake snapped his fingers.

"Let’s do as you said!"

——

(sorry... I shouldn’t have jinxed it.)