This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 361: The Daily Lives of Players and Messages from the Corporation

Chapter 361: Chapter 361: The Daily Lives of Players and Messages from the Corporation

Holding the roughly made press ID in her hand, Dolly walked out of the newspaper office with a bewildered expression.

Ten minutes ago, she had completed her joining formalities with Hal’s help and was then told to report here promptly at 7 am tomorrow.

Everything had happened so suddenly that she hadn’t fully recovered yet.

Looking at Brother Fang Chang walking half a step ahead of her, she suddenly looked up and asked.

"...Wait, why do I have to be a journalist?"

Faced with the girl’s question, Brother Fang answered casually.

"Because I think you’re pretty good at digging up information."

"But... I’ve never done this kind of work before," Dolly said, looking somewhat uneasy.

In her view, she got this job purely through his favoritism.

What if she messed it up?

Wait a second...

Dolly’s heart suddenly skipped a beat as she pieced together the events of the day.

Could it be...

The reason he took on that commission of 25 chips wasn’t to get close to the bank manager’s daughter but because of Hal’s favor, to help me land this job...

When this abrupt thought flashed through her mind, her brain felt like a boiling kettle.

A hot blankness.

"Isn’t everything a first time? The first time I used a Bow and Arrow, I almost missed a Hyena that wasn’t even moving."

Brother Fang didn’t notice the changes in the young girl’s thoughts and continued with a smile.

"...Besides, didn’t you say it’s all the same anywhere in the world? Why not change the environment and try, maybe life will give a different answer."

"With a stable job, you’ll also have time to pursue some healthy hobbies... like growing succulents? That’s how the word is pronounced, right?"

His United Human language was still not very proficient; often, what he meant and what others heard were two completely different things.

But with enough time spent together, guessing what he meant shouldn’t be too difficult.

Brother Fang believed that this young girl must understand the meaning behind his words.

The newspaper salary was based on New Alliance standards, minimum wage 1 Silver Coin an hour, 12 hours a day that’s 12 Silver Coins. Converted into chips, that’s 180 chips a month.

That was almost twice the income of working in the Boulder City Factory!

This money was enough for her to pay off a 50 chips monthly loan and cover 52 chips for rent.

After the trial period was over, her salary would increase. If she gathered important news, there would be an additional bonus.

However, Hal’s description of "important news" was pretty vague, just mentioning it as "things people care about."

Clearly, the rookie president himself wasn’t quite sure what people were concerned about.

No newspaper had ever been designed for common people outside the city.

Everyone was exploring.

Whether it was the newspaper or its employees.

But right now, Dolly wasn’t thinking about work, Brother Fang’s description of future life, or the succulent that hadn’t been placed in front of the window yet.

Dolly stared blankly at Brother Fang for a while, listening to him talking vividly in imperfect United Human language, and suddenly a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"I get it now, you don’t want me working at the bar, do you? Worried about me getting hit on?"

Without waiting for the stunned Brother Fang to speak, she continued on her own.

"Don’t worry, other than weird people like you, no one would find the smell of engine oil on me appealing."

Brother Fang watched her, dumbfounded for a while, and then said with a mixture of laughter and tears.

"Did you listen to anything I just said?"

If he had to admit, seeing this young girl working in a bar did indeed worry him.

After all, the bars on that street were not exactly reputable places.

But that clearly wasn’t the main reason.

Of all the people he knew, it seemed like only Night Ten, that bratty kid, had the potential to be a tween fanatic.

For someone his age, of course, a big boost would better suit his taste.

However, Dolly didn’t care about Brother Fang’s reaction.

With a slight smirk, she walked behind him, stretching out her hands and pushing on the back of the guy in front.

"Let’s go!"

"Go... where?"

"Obviously to eat, to celebrate my new job! Aren’t we having a drink together?"

With a radiant smile, Dolly spoke cheerfully.

"I’m treating! Let’s not dawdle, I know a really good restaurant!"

Watching the girl walk briskly ahead, Brother Fang was slightly stunned, a smile inevitably spreading across his face.

It seemed he had done something good.

Cheerful as well, he joked with the NPC before him.

"Then I won’t hold back."

Dolly chuckled mischievously.

"Please don’t, it’s a really cheap place anyway!"

...

At the same time, North of Dawn City.

In Elm District, which players considered a monster-hunting hotspot, an explosion of fire shot into the sky.

A Multilegged Beast flailing its tentacles was shattered into pieces by an RPG’s high-explosive grenade and thunderously fell at the edge of the forest, raising a cloud of dust.

Standing far away as a spectator, Jiujiu clapped her hands excitedly, cheering.

"Whoa, Big bro, you’re amazing!"

Her ID and Internet handle were the same, named "Jiujiu Loves Pineapple," and she was fortunate enough to have secured the last Intelligence System sequence in the current version without any "summoning accidents" like turning into a rat or something else.

Lowering the smoking launcher in his hand, Night Ten arrogantly raised his eyebrows.

"Basic skills, nothing fancy."

The explosion attracted other nearby players.

Many newcomers who hadn’t awoken yet saw him using an RPG to hunt monsters and exclaimed in disbelief.

"Damn, using high-explosive bombs on wild beasts... and he even used two, has he gone mad?"

"The materials disappeared along with the monster."

"Such a waste! It’d be a miracle to break even!"

"Speaking of which, who is that female player?"

"Never seen her before, a new face."

"Holy shit, wait, could it be Exalted?!"

Holding a hoe and standing next to the farmland, Makabazi couldn’t help but sigh and complain.

"Damn Europeans! A blatant dark curtain! Is this a distortion of human nature or—"

Up Mountain to Beat Tigers couldn’t take it anymore and rolled her eyes.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Aren’t you also a closed beta player?"

Makabazi was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized and broke into a silly grin.

"Oh right, I am too... Hahaha! Then it’s all good!"

Tiger: "..."

Ignoring the cries of the salty fish, Night Ten was about to brag a bit when he noticed his little sister standing about ten meters away, keeping her distance and just clapping.

"Damn! Don’t just watch, help out!"

Jiujiu said with a wronged look.

"But, that monster is so ugly... And those tentacles look so scary, can we switch to another spot to grind mobs?"

Night Ten said irritably.

"This is already the most suitable spot for newbies to grind mobs. What’s there to be scared of, you need to kill it to get stronger!"

Jiujiu pouted defiantly.

"But aren’t we in the same team? If you grind, I should get experience too, right?"

Watching the chatty siblings, Wild Wind sighed and explained.

"...There’s no such rule. All we can do is pull you back when you’re in danger to protect your experience gains for the day. As for gaining experience, you need to participate in the fight."

It’s been almost three days since Jiujiu logged in, and by all accounts, she should have been at LV3 by now.

However, due to Night Ten’s overprotection, always intervening, it conversely hindered her experience gains.

This is where the game gets its realism.

If you just stand in the backlining and observing, after all, while you can scrape together the monetary and points rewards from quests, there would be no advancement in the "experience points" sequence.

Unless you’re in the Perception System.

Being the only sequence that can leech experience, the Perception System allows for slight growth just by locating enemies with the mind.

These are the lessons they’d learned starting from the alpha 0.1 version, and despite many versions upgrades, these core settings hadn’t changed.

Of course, Wild Wind felt, part of the reason might be that compared to the Beta version, the alpha was not as harsh.

When they first entered the game, there were no Ripper Rifles or PU-9 submachine guns; a bolt-action iron pipe rifle was enough to graduate.

T1 tier players even used axes and lances to fight, needing the Manager to personally handle a small group of mercenaries.

Assault rifles?

Rocket launchers?

What are those?

Facing death every day, their leveling speed was naturally much faster.

Jiujiu nodded, seemingly understanding.

Although she didn’t quite get it, it sounded impressive.

Especially since her game avatar was 5 centimeters taller than her real self, giving her an almost model-like stature.

Just that alone was awesome, right?

This game is simply fantastic!

The only regret was that face customization wasn’t possible, so she couldn’t show off her artistic skills.

"So, do you guys usually play games together?" Jiujiu asked curiously, her gaze shifting between her brother and the player said to be a physics professor.

Wild Wind nodded.

"We’ve been in a group together for a long time."

"Group?" Jiujiu’s eyes brightened, eagerly asking, "Can you add me?"

"No problem, once we log off—"

"No! NO! We can’t let her join!" Before Wild Wind could finish, Night Ten let out a miserable scream not far away.

Watching her brother’s strong reaction, Jiujiu frowned.

"Why can’t I join?"

Night Ten obviously couldn’t mention the ID issue, scratching his head anxiously trying to persuade her.

"Jiujiu... listen, our group is all adults, and people speak without much filter—"

"Pretty racy, right?" Jiujiu didn’t wait for her brother to finish, her eyes sparkling, "It’s okay, I’ll just look and not talk!"

Crap!

Night Ten raised his right hand to cover his face.

As he watched Night Ten’s constipated expression, Wild Wind cleared his throat.

"It’s not that exaggerated... we hardly ever share risqué images actually."

Night Ten glared at him fiercely.

"Think about your own ID before you say that!"

Wild Wind was taken aback, his expressionless face suddenly flushed, he cleared his throat again and turned his face away.

"...That was just playing on a joke."

"ID?" Jiujiu asked curiously. "Isn’t it Wild Wind?"

"...It’s better for kids not to ask too much," Wild Wind coughed, looking at a corpse billowing with blue smoke beside them, changing the subject, "The leveling efficiency is too low, this won’t do."

Night Ten sighed.

"If only Brother Fang Chang was here, he’s full of bad ideas."

"Indeed," Wild Wind agreed, pondering for a moment before suddenly speaking, "But... I do have a suggestion."

"What suggestion?"

"Besides combat, the Intelligence System allows for careers in lifestyle... I heard your sister is into drawing in real life?" Wild Wind looked at Night Ten, "Why not let Teng Teng guide her?"

At that suggestion, Night Ten, who was previously rather loud, softened his voice instantly.

"Ah... This isn’t too good, right? I’ve already taken up the task of passing the torch, and now I’m letting someone else mentor my apprentice..."

"It doesn’t matter, we often help each other anyway."

"But..."

Watching the elder brother suddenly becoming somewhat shy, Jiujiu’s eyes sparked with mischief as she adopted a pitiful tone.

"Brother, I’ve suddenly become quite interested in lifestyle professions too..."

You’re interested in lifestyle professions, really?

Night Ten couldn’t help but roll his eyes, not buying her act.

However, he could not resist his sister’s pleas and sighed with a headache.

"Alright... I’ll ask around for you."

Jiujiu excitedly made a victory sign.

"Yay! Brother, you’re the best!"

"Then later you help me take out the trash."

"Hehe, no problem! I’ll do it once I’m offline!"

Watching the playful siblings, a smile couldn’t help but appear on Wild Wind’s face.

Being young is great.

...

"Achoo!"

Vine Cottage, Wetland Park’s old shop.

Teng Teng sneezed behind the counter, rubbed his little nose, and muttered softly, "Who’s cursing me now."

Seeing Little Fish worriedly looking over the counter, Teng Teng straightened her petite frame, her gentle and kind smile rising above the counter.

"...Your ordered clothes are ready. I’ll get them for you now."

Little Fish’s face broke into a joyful smile.

"Thank you!"

"...You’re welcome. I should be thanking you for always supporting our family business."

After retrieving a package of clothes from the back, Teng Teng, with a gentle smile, handed them to Little Fish.

"Boss Xia’s clothes are ready too, please take them to her as well."

"Okay!"

Watching Little Fish take the clothes, Teng Teng suddenly remembered she hadn’t seen her at the bank for a long time and asked curiously.

"Speaking of which, I haven’t seen you at the bank recently. Why is that?"

"Little Fish is going to study abroad!"

"Study... abroad?" Teng Teng looked at her in surprise. "In Giant Stone City?"

They have universities in the wasteland?

That’s incredible.

"No," Little Fish shook her head crisply, "it’s in Camp 101 in West State City! Brother Chu said I could learn a lot of great knowledge there so I can help everyone more when I come back."

Looking at the sensible young girl, Teng Teng couldn’t help but reach out and fondly ruffle her hair.

"You’ve always been a great help to everyone, whether it’s now or in the future... Go on, be careful out there."

She suddenly felt like a worried old mother, although with her small stature almost being surpassed by Little Fish, it felt rather incongruous.

This game is just so frustrating.

Not being able to add a couple of centimeters from real life to here is so annoying!

But Little Fish didn’t mind; she and the locals were really good friends.

She looked at Teng Teng earnestly.

"Okay! Little Fish will be careful! Teng Teng, you be careful too!"

"Of course, I will. See you next time."

Watching the young girl walk to the door, Teng Teng smiled and waved gently in farewell.

Next time they met, Little Fish might be taller than her.

But then again, did NPCs with nearly human-level intelligence notice that their world was virtual, and that these players were actually immortal?

A strange thought suddenly crossed Teng Teng’s mind.

Maybe Little Fish did know; they were a group of people with immortal bodies.

Even if their heads were chopped off or they were blown to pieces by shellfire, they would just climb out of their cultivation chambers three days later as if nothing had happened.

Yet even so, she would still treat them as her best friends, healing everyone with her warm smile, cheering for them, and worrying about their safety...

Was this something a game setting could achieve?

Teng Teng rubbed her chin and muttered quietly.

"...That’s strange."

Though it wasn’t really a matter of great importance.

...

"I... I’m leaving now."

At dusk.

At the train station platform, Xia Yan stood by the train door with a complex expression.

The usual carefree, openly lazy Boss Xia was now feeling sentimental.

Watching her unlike herself, Chu Guang cracked a joke.

"It’s just over a hundred kilometers; you’re not gone for good. Why the sentimentality?"

Xia Yan frowned, about to say something, but then heard him suddenly change his tone.

"Be careful on the road. It’s fine to slack off at work, but don’t slack off while studying."

"Oh... got it, such a nag." Although she complained, her heart warmed.

Being looked after this way didn’t seem too bad.

"Slacking off?" Standing next to Boss Xia, Little Fish tilted her head, confusion apparent in her bright eyes.

Chu Guang coughed lightly and explained.

"It means being lazy."

"?"

Little Fish, tilting her head, was clearly more confused and didn’t understand why touching herself was considered being lazy.

However, there was no time to explain now, as the train had already sounded its whistle.

The doors closed.

Pai, leaning against the train window, excitedly waved at Chu Guang standing on the platform.

"Goodbye, Mr. Manager of Shelter No. 404! I’ll take good care of Little Fish!"

Chu Guang smiled and said,

"I trust you, and don’t forget our agreement."

Pai energetically gave a thumbs up, her eyes expressing reliability.

"Leave it to me with confidence!"

Watching Pai who had stuck half her body out of the window, Little Fish, sitting opposite, curiously raised her head and asked,

"What did you agree on with Brother Chu?"

"Heh heh, it’s a secret!"

Pai ducked back inside from the window, her voice low but her face unable to hide her smugness.

The manager of Shelter 101 is a "Forerunner," and by that logic, so is the manager of Shelter No. 404.

Being involved in the "Forerunners’" affairs gave her a feeling of helping "grown-ups."

Even if it was just running errands.

Little Fish nodded somewhat understandingly, not pursuing further questions. However, Boss Xia, sitting with arms crossed nearby, frequently cast cautious glances this way.

The train began to move forward.

On the platform outside the carriage.

Watching the chimney spewing white smoke disappearing into the distance, Chu Guang smiled and waved farewell to every reluctant face on the train.

There were thirty students heading to Camp 101 to study, half of whom were elites who had emerged from various fields within the New Alliance, aged between 16 and 30.

The remaining part of the students, aged between 14 and 16, were excellently performing students selected from full-time schools.

When conditions permitted, more people would arrive successively.

Regarding this matter, Chu Guang had already discussed it over the phone with the mayor of Camp 101.

When Hoene, the old man, heard that Chu Guang was willing to pay a tuition of 10,000 silver coins for each student per year, he merely pondered briefly before agreeing to this proposal.

They clearly had some understanding of the New Alliance’s pricing, and they had a clear concept of the purchasing power of 10,000 silver coins.

After witnessing the abundance of products in the New Alliance, their attitudes had shifted from their initial wariness.

As for whether this tuition was too excessive?

Obviously, that wasn’t the case.

Not to mention that Chu Guang had just taken a 200 million chips loan from the Giant Stone City Bank, and a continuous flow of goods and consumer products were streaming from Giant Stone City to the North Suburb of Qingquan city. Even without substantial financial support, he would squeeze out this money from the Alliance’s fiscal budget.

Education is a long-term investment, whether it’s basic or higher education.

A single lithium battery technology could help him recoup 3 million silver coins, the 300,000 silver coins scattered would aid the New Alliance far more than one antique-level technique.

Besides talent cultivation, there was also the introduction of talents and technologies.

In fact, these activities were already underway.

The drainage system of Dawn City was redesigned by that old man named Button.

The electrical engineer, Yuan Feng, who had visited City of Dawn with Pai, also planned to stay and help them plan the construction of the electrical grid from Dawn City to City of Dawn, preparing for the repair of a controllable fusion reactor.

All work was progressing methodically.

Whether it was the construction of Dawn City or the New Alliance’s arrangements in Giant Stone City.

As the chimney disappeared into the forest’s edge, Chu Guang withdrew his gaze.

"Are you not going back with them?"

The faceless android quietly stood on the platform, still looking northward.

Chu Guang remembered its name was Tianqin, originally from Shelter 101, serving as Pai’s guard.

Of course, it might also be to protect the chip in the girl’s brain.

After all, once a chip was used, one less was available, far more valuable than the ordinary wrist-worn computers like VM.

Hearing the voice nearby, Tianqin turned its head, replying with a flat electronic tone,

"Mr. Manager asked me to stay here, observe, and protect if necessary."

Surprise flickered in Chu Guang’s eyes.

"So you can speak."

Tianqin nodded.

"If I hinder your work, please tell me, and I will leave on my own."

Chu Guang: "That won’t be necessary; just do as you please, but try not to scare ordinary people."

Tianqin nodded again, adjusted the brim of its hood, and concealed its face in the shadow.

Chu Guang did not inquire further, walking away from the station with his guard in tow.

After all, there was nothing to hide here; let it Obscurely Behold (OB) if it wished.

Just as an animated statue added to his territory, occasionally it could even watch over his home.

If this guy had truly intended harm, it would have acted by now.

Regardless, the likelihood of shelters clashing with each other was exceedingly low.

Intuition told Chu Guang that this fellow’s strength might be formidable, especially since it never seemed to recharge.

According to the intelligence gathered and arranged by Elder Fang, Huge Rock Military Industry likely possessed a secret army composed of Awakeners and modified humans, disguised as mercenaries hidden within the city.

Just as he sent players into Giant Stone City, this broken-down troop, hiding in shadows, might well infiltrate right under his nose.

This scenario was not impossible.

However, that wasn’t a consideration for the moment.

This morning, Chu Guang had received a message from afar.

Later on, a commercial team from Ideal City was expected to arrive in North Suburb of Qingquan city.

Accompanying them would be reinforcements sent by The Enterprise faction to the west.

They would make a brief stop here and then follow the footsteps of Pioneer into the western deserts.

Shelter No. 404 was The Enterprise’s "permanent partner," and both sides had established profound friendship during their brief cooperation.

As the saying goes, isn’t it a delight to have friends coming from afar?

As Shelter’s Manager, Chu Guang naturally had to prepare for welcoming these friends from a long journey.

And perhaps seize any opportunity to deepen cooperation...

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.