This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 76: New Instance Gameplay

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: New Instance Gameplay

Official Website:

[...]

[5. Shelter No. 404 B2 level content will be unlocked after completing the "Blood Hand Clan" dungeon.]

[6. Wasteland Tip: The weather is getting cooler, everyone remember to dress warmly. Additionally, if you see the weapon shop owner dozing off, please remember to wake her up so she doesn’t catch a cold.]

That day, as usual, six o’clock struck and the official website timely updated the announcement. The comment section below the announcement was quickly taken over by those players who had bought virtual real estate on the official website.

Tail: "Throne!

Quit Smoking: "First!"

Quit Smoking: "Damn! My first floor!"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Damn, I thought there was an update!"

Spare people under the knife: "Got excited for nothing!"

Elena: "Speaking of which, more new players are entering. What batch of new players is it that’s coming online tomorrow? (sly)"

Don’t bullshit: "The fifth batch! A total of 40 people! I’m so thrilled haha, I couldn’t sleep last night from the excitement, tomorrow night’s going to be great!"

Makabazi: "Brother, don’t get too excited too early. This game ain’t your ordinary grind, I’m telling you!"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "Strength Type group up, any newbies want to chop trees together? Come chop trees, the axe is forever godly!"

Spare people under the knife: "Nobody fight me for them! Hahaha, the newbies are all mine!"

Night Ten: "Brother Knife! Hold steady, your mature and dependable image is crumbling!"

Old Timer A Bin: "This person is terrifying. (ﾟДﾟ*)"

Xiao Xiaosha Chong: "Is this game serious? It’s serious, right? Nervous."

The official website was as joyous as ever, filled with a lively atmosphere.

Tomorrow marks the fourth day since the launch of Alpha 0.4 version, and 40 new players will arrive in the game world.

And the population of Shelter No. 404 on the surface will rise to 90!

Chu Guang glanced at the reservation numbers, which had just broken the eight hundred mark. This time it was thanks to the illustrations a certain Mole drew on the forum, attracting many onlookers who were there just for the buzz.

Chu Guang clicked on the post to take a look and found out that the drawings were actually of himself.

Hey, not bad, the drawings were quite handsome.

No, rather, they were quite accurate.

Mole on the run: "What else does everyone want to see? There seem to be only these few NPCs."

I Max Black: "Doujinshi! I want to see doujinshi!"

Rainy Night Without Umbrella: "Sure! I want a doujinshi of Teng Teng and Crow! (nosebleed)"

Teng Teng: "No, you don’t! (#`Д´)ﾉ✄╰ひ╯"

Matchstick Girl: "Crow and Leech!"

Mole on the run: "F***, you’re a pervert."

Chu Guang watched and chuckled to himself.

How nice, his game was getting more and more lively.

Today’s announcement on the "Wasteland OL" official website, although it lacked any new information about development progress, and was instead filled with some settings that were gradually released as the game’s plot progressed, many astute players still read a lot of important information from it.

Cattle and Horse Club Group.

Old White and the other Cattle and Horse Club players, who usually log off and wake up promptly at six, have a daily routine that’s fairly normal.

After logging off, the first thing these people do isn’t to wash their face or brush their teeth, but to grab their mobile phones and start boasting in the group chat.

And right now, the topic of conversation was centered on today’s announcement from the official website—

Old White: "Damn, this update’s got a lot of content!"

Quit Smoking: "Good brother, spill it! T.T"

Old White: "In a nutshell, they added a new NPC! They added a ’faction relationship’ feature! And there are new ’background stories’ and ’character traits’ for NPCs! In any other game, this stuff would be enough for the dog planners to boast for three versions!"

④ Who Knows: "Too bad Lord Arrogant Brother left the group, otherwise there’d be so much fun right now. (gritting teeth)"

Night Ten: "Who knew he was so weak mentally, I just called him a barking dog, and he bailed. (sly)"

Wild Wind: "Isn’t the focus on getting silenced?"

There Are Mosquitoes in the WC: "(sly)"

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "(eating melon)"

With Grandpa Ao gone, there was less fun in the Cattle and Horse Group.

But the guy was soaring high now, from being the beloved of the Cattle and Horse group to the pampered pet of the Wasteland OL forum.

Fang Chang: "Forget that guy, let me share my analysis. Although the official website didn’t release new content in the form of ’Alpha 0.5 version,’ this soft update is substantial enough for a version’s worth of content! My guess is, perhaps because this part of the content doesn’t require adding new beta players? That’s why the official site didn’t update the version number."

Old White: "Makes sense, every time they update the version number, it seems they give out beta testing qualifications. Not updating the version number means that this content test is still within the frame of version 0.4."

Fang Chang: "Exactly! Actually, you might have noticed, since the last version, our frequency of interaction with NPCs has almost doubled. First, there were visits from commercial teams, then the nearby natives came to cooperate, and today there was even an organization of players forming a commercial team to go to Brown’s farm. Who wants to guess what this implies?"

Seeing no one taking up the conversation.

Estimating that everyone was listening intently, Fang Chang didn’t wait any longer and began to type, answering his own questions.

"This means... a broader world! Think about it, from the game planners’ perspective, why would they update the ’faction reputation system’ at this time?"

Night Ten, "Uh, I can’t figure it out, can you elaborate?"

Fang Chang, "I still remember the very first thing Brother Guang said, ’Wasteland OL’ aims to create an entirely realistic world! If it’s supposed to be a realistic world, then NPCs will definitely evaluate players’ behaviors and react accordingly, right?"

Night Ten, "That seems to make some sense, but what does this have to do with the ’broader world’ you mentioned? NPCs already had a reputation system in place."

Fang Chang, "That’s a big connection! Players, as members of Shelter No. 404, are not only in relationships with NPCs but also face evaluations from NPCs towards the players as a whole. For example, if one of us kills a local today, it’s improbable that the locals’ relatives, friends, and neighbors will still welcome us with open arms tomorrow, right? Neutral won’t change to hostile but it will turn to cautious!"

Night Ten, "Holy shit! You mean, collective responsibility?"

Wild Wind, "This is tough, it’s okay when the circle is small, but once it’s big, it’s hard to make sure everyone is sane."

Fang Chang, "No worries, troublemakers are rare amongst the veterans, it’s mostly rookies. Such newbies without guns, money, attributes, or skills, if there’s any conflict, they are just hammered by NPCs. Spotting and dealing with issues early is the way. After grinding for some time and developing, the save files become valuable, then they have sunk costs— you get what I’m saying, right?"

Wild Wind, "Makes sense."

Night Ten, "??? What what what? You understood what?"

Fang Chang, "The issue of rookies causing trouble is a problem for the server maintenance staff after the closed beta test, we don’t need to discuss it here. In any case, the introduction of the faction reputation system means the planners are consciously guiding players to consider issues from the shelter’s collective interests. Why do such a thing all of a sudden? Obviously, it’s to lay the groundwork for adding broader ’NPC factions’ for the ’New Map’!"

Old White, "I agree with Fang Chang’s view. Did you guys notice, the fifth item in today’s update announcement mentioned that Shelter B2 will be unlocked after passing the Blood Hand Clan instance! What does this imply? Obviously, the new map is already pre-loaded, just not open yet."

Night Ten, "Damn, are they testing the AI or us again?"

Fang Chang, "I think both! After all, the game is made for people to play, so if they want to build a community close to the real world, they have to test the players’ behaviors in this community and adjust the server rules and gameplay accordingly. I can’t help but praise the production team, their approach is unbeatable!"

Old White, "Alright, enough praise, what ideas do you have? What do we do next? Continue hunting?"

Fang Chang, "After winter starts, there are fewer hunts, and it’s not very profitable. Since the war with the Blood Hand Clan has begun, I predict the Manager will soon increase the bounty on Looters, and the next phase of gameplay will revolve around this."

Wild Wind, "That sounds reasonable."

Night Ten, "Right, we bought the land but haven’t started building yet, when do we build the house?"

WC Really Has Mosquitoes, "Yeah, I’m waiting to start the workshop. (joking)"

Wild Wind, "No rush, building ourselves is too inefficient, better to hire some people to do it."

Fang Chang, "That’s what I’m thinking, let’s have players with life skills handle the building; we should focus on making money, leveling up, and upgrading equipment."

Chu Guang, who hadn’t checked his Penguin account for a long time, felt a wave of emotion looking at the computer screen.

Elder Brother Fang Chang surely understands this version better than myself, the planner.

"Starting from tomorrow, increase the bounty on Looter targets."

"Capturing an enemy faction target, after confirming their identity as a Looter, on top of the initial reward of one silver coin, an additional bounty of 20 silvers and 200 contribution points will be awarded. Bringing back a Looter’s body, on top of the initial 5 bronze coins reward, an additional bounty of 10 silvers and 200 contribution points will be awarded."

"If the target is a Centurion, the additional reward will be doubled!"

"Right, to prevent newbies from throwing themselves at the enemy, we also need to restrict the level required to take bounty missions. Hmm... Let’s tentatively set it at LV2 for now, and we can adjust later based on the situation."

Most first-tier players have already reached LV2 gene sequence, and veterans like Old White who entered the game early have even reached LV4.

If someone could reach LV2, it shows they have a certain understanding of the game, and the enhancements from basic attributes wouldn’t put them at a disadvantage against Looters.

Of course, the key part is that players of this level have savings, and with a little bit more effort, they can afford the cheapest lead pipe rifle from the weapon shop.

Chu Guang checks the storage locker daily.

And for every silver coin that was handed out, Xiao Qi kept a record, so Chu Guang even knew better than the players themselves how much money they had.

In fact, the land itself isn’t expensive, only 10 silver coins per square meter.

By now, most players have saved enough money to buy land; they are just struggling to reach 2000 contribution points to upgrade to Citizens.

Perfect, don’t save it, those with money should hurry to buy guns, with guns, they can fight bandits, earn money and gain contribution points.

Once the instance is passed, this opportunity will be gone!

"If there are not many buyers tomorrow, I’ll have Xia Yan give a 10% discount at the weapon shop."

Of course, the promotion is only for lead pipe rifles and revolving rifles, not including bullets.

A steel-core copper bullet produced by Giant Stone City costs 1 silver at the weapon shop. A rolled copper shell bullet produced by Red River Town costs 5 bronze.

If it’s an "inferior" bullet made with black powder by the weapon shop’s proprietress, it’s a bit cheaper, 2 bronze per piece.

Too expensive?

Complain to the proprietress, what does it have to do with me, the Manager?

It’s not my shop anyway.

A smile filled Chu Guang’s face.

Finally, he didn’t have to worry about the players’ ammunition.

Let them buy the guns and waste their ammunition as they please; after all, it’s their own money being spent.

Shivering unexpectedly as she studied in a corner, Xia Yan felt suddenly cold even though the vent was blowing warm air. She always had the feeling that the man sitting in front of the computer was plotting something "wicked."

His lips were curled up to his ears...

—

(Thanks to "Xiao Xiaosha Chong" for the generous support~~~~~)

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