This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 247: Brother Fang Chang’s "Market Research

Chapter 247: Chapter 247: Brother Fang Chang’s "Market Research

The towering walls made Giant Stone City a famous utopia, in comparison to the distant Province of Yúnjiānxíng and Ideal City, this place seemed within easy reach.

However.

This grandeur did not benefit everyone here.

On the way to the main gate of Giant Stone City, what first came into view was a huge slum.

Ramshackle shanties clustered like ringworm at the foot of the towering wall, stretching into the distance like an unending filthy gutter.

Most of the people living here were pale and thin, sitting idly in front of their homes wrapped in clothes worn for who knows how long, or preparing to go out scavenging.

There was hardly any garbage left to pick up nearby, to find anything worthwhile, one would have to go to higher floors, or further afield.

The ever-present sewage and waste dyed the otherwise white snow into various colors. One could imagine, once the snow melted, the situation would get worse. It seemed a miracle no epidemic had broken out.

Fang Chang, who had never seen so many NPCs in this game, stared blankly at the scene before him and asked.

"How many people are here?"

Xu Shun repeated his question, and Qian Lai responded dismissively.

"Ten thousand, twenty thousand, maybe a hundred thousand. Anyway, the population here has never seemed to decrease. Who would bother to count; it’s utterly meaningless."

A look of surprise appeared on Xu Shun’s face.

Tens of thousands?!

That seemed exaggerated.

At this moment, Fang Chang, who was intently observing the VM screen’s subtitles, was thinking about something entirely different.

"Tens of thousands of people?!"

"...What do they eat?!"

Certainly not from farming.

There didn’t seem to be room to farm here.

The view of the slum was dominated by a crooked electricity pole, around which a few loudspeakers were tangled, cycling through a few dull channels.

One hundred meters ahead was the main gate of Giant Stone City.

There, clean concrete roads, militia on guard duty, ready-to-go commercial teams, and poverty-stricken residents seeking work could be found, many of them rather young children.

For the vast majority here, life hinged on two hopes.

One was to be noticed by a commercial team or a traveling merchant, and the other was to catch a factory hiring.

If neither of those came through, and if they couldn’t let go of their last bit of dignity to beg or sell their soul, then the only option left was to become a mercenary.

Ride the tides, and one wouldn’t even need to buy their own gun.

Because they were carrying goods from Outpost Base, Fang Chang and his group were quickly noticed by potential traders.

A small boy with curly, dirty hair closely followed Qian Lai, speaking in a shrill voice.

"Sir, do you need a servant? I can do math, wash clothes, move things... I can also smell rats and cockroaches hidden in the cracks. I can do any kind of work."

His perception was sharp; he identified at a glance the person who looked most like a businessman.

However, abilities like his were a dime a dozen in this slum.

"No need."

"Sir—"

The boy tried to persist, but Qian Lai interrupted him irritably.

"I said no once already."

Facing his unfriendly look and the pistol at his waist, the boy stepped back, not daring to press further, and ran off to find another target.

Xu Shun watched the boy’s disappointed figure but said nothing.

He wasn’t one to overflow with sympathy, certainly not naive enough to consider helping the child. Such actions only begin endless troubles.

Who isn’t pitiable in this wasteland?

For him, the task given by the Manager was the top priority; everything else had to step aside.

However...

Looking at that towering wall, Xu Shun couldn’t help feeling impressed.

The wall was high, providing a sense of security.

But it still was the Manager’s "North Suburb" that made him feel warm...

Across the street from the Giant Stone City’s main gate was the Hotel Wind From Afar, its sign hanging over the magnificent entrance.

But the guests there seemed to have a slight disagreement with the hotel.

In front of a hotel servant, a man in an old leather jacket, his face red with anger, was standing next to a suitcase. From the scattered belongings, it was evident he had been thrown out the door.

Behind him stood other guests who had been expelled as well.

"Wasn’t it agreed to be one chip per day?"

The hotel servant dug at his ear annoyedly.

"Yes, our manager did say that, but that was in winter, prices have gone up now. We aren’t stopping you from renewing your room, are we?"

"Ten chips a day? Are you robbers? Why is it more expensive after the winter?!"

"It’s to free up space for guests from afar, why do you think it was cheap in winter?" the hotel servant scoffed, "All right, take your luggage and you can leave."

"What if I say no?" the man stared at him fiercely.

"What does that have to do with me?"

The servant yawned, not even glancing at him, and turned towards the front door.

Passing by the entrance, he gave a look to the security guard.

"It’s up to you now."

The fully armed guard nodded emotionlessly, standing motionless like a statue, eyes fixed straight ahead.

The ignored man angrily reached for his waist.

However, just as his hand touched his waist, a gunshot sounded. A bullet hole appeared on the man’s forehead, and he fell backwards with a thud.

A woman nearby screamed.

The other guests hurried back, gathering their luggage to leave the place.

Fang Chang, who had witnessed the entire scene, was surprised and looked towards the city gate’s militia, only to see them uninterested even to glance this way.

Walking beside him, Xu Shun voiced his surprise.

"Those people... don’t they care?"

Qian Lai gave him a strange look.

"Those people? You mean the militia?"

Xu Shun swallowed.

"Mm."

Qian Lai smiled and said,

"The militia doesn’t care about disputes outside Giant Stone City, they only manage the gate area; law enforcement has its boundaries. The Wasteland is vast; surely, we cannot supervise every area. If we manage this street, should we manage the next one too? This hotel has a good reputation; the owner is a noble from the Inner City, and the Manager is quite capable, with good relationships with several gangs from the slums. If you’re here for business, they will introduce you to clients... they only take a 10% commission, and it’s only charged once."

Taking out a rusted pocket watch to check the time, Qian Lai continued,

"It’s noon now, not very crowded. If it were evening, it would be busier here, but I wouldn’t recommend you find your amusement here."

"Amusement?"

"Never mind, if you’re not interested, forget it. If you are interested, you could ask the servant at the door just now; he can introduce you."

"...?"

Xu Shun looked bewildered.

Qian Lai urged him,

"Come on, we should line up at the city gate now... Oh, did you prepare the entry tax?"

Xu Shun was taken aback.

"Entry tax? There’s a tax to enter?"

The Manager had told him that after selling these goods, the Commercial Team would get a share, and they could use some of the remaining money as the team’s operating budget.

But the goods hadn’t been sold yet, and he had no chips in his pocket.

He wondered if they accepted silver coins...

Smiling, Qian Lai said, "Of course, it’s three chips per entry, so most people don’t enter and exit frequently. It’s okay if you didn’t bring any; I’ll pay for you this time."

There would be more chances to interact later on.

From the boss’s reaction that evening and the Manager’s attitude afterward, Qian Lai felt it was necessary to build a good relationship with them.

It was a long-term investment.

Three chips each for him and his boss was just a small amount.

The line didn’t take long.

They primarily checked if the goods contained any dangerous items.

Worth noting was that while dynamite over 300g was contraband, bullets and rifles were not. Perhaps with absolute confidence in being able to eliminate troublemakers instantly, the militia seemed entirely unconcerned about whether people brought weapons inside.

It seemed reasonable.

Several heavy machine gun barrels could be seen on the huge wall, and it was plausible for hidden snipers or similar measures to be in place.

However, when they checked Fang Chang, the militiamen unexpectedly took a few extra glances at him and the bow on his back, whispering among themselves before making a note in a book filled with writing.

Of course, Fang Chang was doing the same, calmly writing in his notebook.

"...The head of the militia at the Giant Stone City gate is very strong, can feel the dangerous aura, probably an Awakener, not sure of the level."

"Also, Awakeners entering a Survivor Base would be registered."

"[But from the reactions of the people around, ordinary Awakeners shouldn’t warrant special treatment. Registration was just routine.]"

The militia let the group pass.

Looking up at the towering giant gate above him, Xu Shun, with his backpack on, could not help but be moved.

The giant wall was very high and gave a sense of security.

But indeed, it was the "North Suburb" under the Manager’s control that made him feel warmth...

"... We followed the Commercial Team into Giant Stone City. The head of the team paid the entrance tax for us, totaling 6 chips."

That night.

After logging off, Fang Chang immediately opened a thread on the official website, taking the firsthand data of Giant Stone City to the Forum.

Not only were the players curious about what "Dog Plan" had implemented in the new map, but even the planners themselves were extremely curious about what Giant Stone City was really like.

No secret about it.

Chu Guang had saved up chips for five months, planning to run there from Bet Street.

Had he not discovered Shelter No. 404, he might already have been screwing bolts there.

Since it was a serialized post and Brother Fang Chang wasn’t very fast at typing, Chu Guang, sitting in front of the computer, clicked on the "View Only Author’s Posts" option to temporarily filter out the nonsense from other internet users.

"The conditions inside the city are completely different from outside. Here the streets have been renovated, and the buildings are reconstructed over demolished ruins. The buildings get taller the deeper into the city you go, but none surpass the giant wall."

"Nice hotels are expensive. Cheap inns and taverns are tucked away in complex alleys, hardly better than the slums outside. But worth mentioning, because of the constructed drainage system, they don’t smell too bad."

"Perhaps the planners are hinting that we should also consider adding some civic facilities to the surface bases?"

"Regarding clothing, the residents mainly wear cotton and linen, so the textile industry must be quite developed. For those who work in the city, clothing isn’t much of a problem, though one outfit is worn for quite a long time. Mercenaries prefer leather or specially made bulletproof vests, so even if they hide their guns, they are easy to distinguish."

"A few hospitals and schools are sparsely located on the edge of the inner city. The people living there have a completely different spirit and stronger purchasing power."

"Inside the city center, there’s another enclosing wall. That is the Inner City of Giant Stone City, where more than ten pre-war high-rises have been renovated, forming the peak of Giant Stone City’s pyramid. The ruler over all of this is a man named Fang Ming. He rarely shows himself in public, mostly appearing through holographic images. Most people hold him in awe, but a significant portion don’t care."

"It’s worth mentioning that Giant Stone City isn’t exactly short of materials, and productivity isn’t low either; several technologies have even reached the domain of science fiction, but the vast majority of people still live wretched lives. Especially for the uneducated lower classes, there are only two paths to wealth: join a Commercial Team or become a Mercenary."

"After sorting out where we’d stay, we went with the Commercial Team people to take devil cloth and spirit leaf to the trading post. All the main commodities of Giant Stone City are traded there with hundreds of stalls, just like a market. The stall owners were amazed by our weaving skills—here’s a shout-out to Miss Teng Teng—but I could feel that they were clearly more interested in the spirit leaf."

"In the end, 10 bolts of devil cloth traded for 5000 chips, and 100 kilograms of spirit leaf also sold for 5000 chips... This was the result after bargaining; originally, they planned to offer only half that amount. The weight of the items was roughly similar, but personally, the latter seemed easier to obtain and obviously more profitable."

"After the trade was completed, I walked around with a Guard NPC, conducted a brief survey of the market, and found that there is a very stable demand here for rubber and biomass oil, the volume surprisingly high, and most importantly, the prices are transparent! The only downside is that the prices aren’t high, getting so much rubber and oil is a problem."

"Cotton, linen, and grain are also traded here, as well as materials like steel, aluminum, and even precious metals such as sterling silver and gold."

"The following is merely speculation!"

"Considering that Giant Stone City highlights the characteristics of the "Merchant" and "Mercenary" professions, the next version might open up commercial and mercenary gameplay."

"If planning to become a merchant, be aware that the residents have weak purchasing power, and delicacies might be hard to sell at a high markup!"

"However, in contrast, the mercenaries have strong purchasing power and clear needs. Cheap weapons, armor, auxiliary equipment, stress-relieving alcohol, even spirit leaf, medical gauze, and dry food can all fetch good prices here!"

"Maybe we should run a store in Giant Stone City? It’s clear our weapons supply has already exceeded demand!"

"Of course, if any Brothers of the Strength Type are interested, they could also go to the factory to screw bolts? But currently, the way to trigger this is unknown, and the earnings are very low, the process presumably exceedingly boring."

"Unless you’ve never worked in a factory, strongly not recommended!"

-

(Got bogged down researching, felt much better after organizing the outline, but ran out of time. Not having backup posts is indeed tough... Just one update today.)

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