I'm Begging You, Let Me Log In and Haul Bricks!

When the player count climbed from single digits to double digits, it wasn't just productivity that surged, but a whole host of new problems following right on its heels. Take login times, for instance. Chu Guang realized he seemed to have overlooked something: not everyone had to go to work or school during the day. Especially within the single-player gaming community. What they lacked least of all were those bros who remained active in the group chat twenty-four hours a day, leaving everyone utterly bewildered as to how they made a living in real life. Having lurked in the chat until late at night, he had forgotten to turn off the computer. Chu Guang, dozing off in his chair, was jolted awake in the middle of the night by the chiming alerts of a direct message window popping up. Damn it. Who was it in the middle of the night...? Rubbing his eyes awake, Chu Guang squinted as he clicked open the private message. It turned out to be from "Scavenger Lv99" of the Ox and Horse Club. Scavenger Lv99: [Brother Guang! What's the earliest I can get online?!] Scavenger Lv99: [I really can't wait any longer. Please, I beg you, let me log in and haul bricks!] Good grief. Why was there someone like this? Not fully awake yet, Chu Guang gathered his thoughts for a moment before typing a reply. Guang: [I was catching up on sleep... Don't you have to work during the day??] Scavenger Lv99: [Heh heh, work for what? This game is definitely going to make big bucks in the future! Might as well seize the time to grind levels, heh heh!] Chu Guang: "..." Was it really fine to say that right to the game developer's face? Whatever. Better just pretend he hadn't seen it. Guang: [You'd better pace yourself. The open beta date hasn't been set yet. For all we know, closed alpha could last a year or two, followed by three to five years of closed beta.] Scavenger Lv99: [Doesn't matter! If a big company like yours isn't worried about going bankrupt, why the hell should I worry? Haha.] His reasoning was clear. Even clearer than that of the vast majority of players who had secured closed beta spots. Compared to this game, none of the titles currently on the market could hold a candle to it—they were all complete garbage. If nothing else, simply reclaiming nighttime alone made it ridiculously overpowered, didn't it? Who would turn down having an extra eight hours of life every day? What did enduring a bit of exhaustion during the closed beta matter? It wasn't as if it would always be this exhausting; could they really haul bricks all the way until the servers shut down? Only fools would assume the closed beta content was all the game had to offer. Scavenger looked further ahead. Although he didn't know when the open beta would launch, once it did, it was bound to become a massive hit, no doubt about it! Getting to play early was pure profit. Starting a day ahead of others meant holding a day's worth of advantage, not to mention that the game itself was captivating enough on its own. Guang: [...Suit yourself.] Scavenger Lv99: [So dev bro, what do you say, can you let me get online? Heh heh. I promise, whatever you tell me to test, I'll test!] Guang: [I don't care what you do, as long as you follow the rules. But... logging in this late, you won't have anything to do, will you? Game time is synced with real time. It should still be the dead of night in-game right now.] That was also the reason Chu Guang hadn't had the survivors work overnight. Even he wouldn't dare stay out in the wilderness for an entire night. Scavenger Lv99: [That's precisely why! You might not know this, but my gene sequence in the game is Mutant! Strictly speaking, the night is my home turf, whereas daytime is when I should actually be sleeping! Heh heh, dev bro, just let me log on.] Guang: [Let me put in a request.] Scavenger Lv99: [Thanks, Brother Guang!!!] Chu Guang sighed, stood up from the chair, and smoothed out his messy collar and buttons. He had never seen a player this enthusiastic. Still, the guy's reasoning made some sense. Strictly speaking, night truly was home turf for a mutant. For Scavenger Lv99, who was a lizardman, darkness didn't necessarily mean danger—in fact, it could serve as cover. Having made up his mind, Chu Guang opened the player roster and changed Brother Scavenger's equipment status from [Locked] to [Active]. Almost the instant he did so, the sound of a hatch opening came from the adjoining room. Good grief. That fast? Watching the lizardman emerge from the room, Chu Guang reined in his surprised expression, clasped his hands behind his back, and faced him with a solemn expression. "Awake? Perfect timing." "I just happen to have a mission for you." A quest triggered?! Scavenger Lv99 snapped to attention, full of vigor. "Please give your orders, esteemed Administrator!" Chu Guang cut straight to the chase without wasting words. "On 76th Street directly opposite the east gate of Wetland Park, there is a mutant tribe. During the day, we also discovered traces of marauder activity along the elevated expressway leading out of the city to the north. I suspect there is a marauder outpost in the north." "I need you to scout north along the elevated expressway and search for any signs of survivor activity within a straight-line radius of three kilometers. If you spot a suspected survivor outpost, mark it on the map and report back immediately." "Remember to keep yourself hidden and avoid all unnecessary combat." "Additionally, if you find suitable targets, you can take on side hunting quests while you're at it. The rewards remain valid at all times." Hearing Chu Guang's orders, the two-meter-tall giant immediately bowed his head respectfully. "Understood! Esteemed Administrator!" Having finally obtained permission to log in, Scavenger Lv99 didn't delay for a single second. After exiting the shelter, he stepped onto the elevator leading to the surface and quickly vanished into the darkness outside the sanatorium. Chu Guang could sense the approximate position and distance of every player. After confirming that Brother Scavenger hadn't run off aimlessly and had instead followed his orders, heading north the entire way, Chu Guang returned to the shelter, closed the door, and sat back in his chair to continue dozing. ... The next morning, just before six o'clock. Except for Yaya, who had thrown away her life yesterday and whose clone was still being recreated, the other players climbed out of their incubation pods one after another. As for Brother Scavenger, who had headed out earlier, he hadn't returned yet. However, Chu Guang could confirm through the player roster that he was still alive and not too far from Wetland Park. "Esteemed Administrator, may I ask what the arrangements are for today?" Lao Bai was the first to step forward and inquire respectfully. Although it was meaningless small talk, he said it every single day. What if it triggered a storyline? Even if it didn't, it didn't matter—he could just treat it as building rapport and making his presence known before the manager. Chu Guang performed his duty as an NPC as usual, replying routinely: "The same as yesterday. The missions are posted on the notice board. Aside from that, you are free to act as you see fit. The outpost is in urgent need of food and building materials... as well as fortifications." One side of the outpost's perimeter wall had already been completed. The remaining three sides should be finished within two days. What worried Chu Guang right now was that the growing noise at the outpost might alert the mutant tribe on 76th Street to the east. The outpost currently had only three firearms in total, two of which were merely 5mm peashooters. Against those green-skinned bundles of muscle, they couldn't say they were completely helpless, but they would certainly get beaten senseless, and probably only he alone would manage to escape. If anyone were captured by those beasts, it would truly be a fate worse than death; typically, one's mind would break before the body... Of course, if players were captured, they would probably just suffer a forced disconnection; no matter how curious they were about what happened next, they wouldn't feel it anyway. The group went up to the surface in batches, brimming with energy as they prepared to start a new day of work. "Where's Scavenger? How come I don't see him?" Ye Shi looked around and noticed that the big lizard wasn't among the crowd. Chu Guang glanced at him and said, "He set out early. I assigned him a special mission." Hearing this, envious expressions spread across the nearby players' faces. A special class really was different. While they were still hauling bricks, this guy had already triggered an exclusive quest. Curse that lucky bastard! "Ye Shi, you'll be traveling far with me in a bit... and Fang Chang, you come too." After much deliberation, Chu Guang decided to bring along someone with brains. Flattered, Fang Chang decisively abandoned Lao Bai, who gave him a resentful glare, and trotted over with an eager bounce in his step. Although he and Lao Bai had agreed before logging on to research crude steelmaking today, how could making steel compare to doing quests alongside the boss? Not to mention the lavish rewards—just the fresh, firsthand intelligence was tempting enough! "Bro, wait for me to get back!" "Get lost, don't come back." Ignoring the exchange between the two players, Chu Guang took off the two 5mm pipe rifles slung across his back and tossed them into Fang Chang's and Ye Shi's hands. At the same time, he distributed twenty rounds of ammunition to them. He didn't expect these two rookies to hit anything with smoothbore junk that didn't even have rifling, but firing a couple of shots to scare the other side at a critical moment and keep up appearances would be good enough. What if they actually hit something? Even landing a single shot would be pure profit. Of course, avoiding combat altogether was best. "The safety is on the right side of the trigger. Familiarize yourselves with its position, but don't touch it unless I tell you to disengage the safety." Looking at the two players excitedly fiddling with the weapons in their hands, Chu Guang paused before continuing. "In a little while, we are heading to a nearby survivor outpost to trade with the locals for some supplies the outpost needs." "No matter what happens, you must follow my commands. Remember, do not take matters into your own hands under any circumstances—especially remember not to fire at will or commit any hostile acts of your own accord." "Remember, we represent the entirety of Shelter 404." "Understood?" "Understood, esteemed Administrator!" Fang Chang stood straight at attention with excitement and gave a clumsy, improper salute. "Your command is our mission!" Ye Shi's reaction was a bit slower, but his brain worked fast enough; he hurriedly imitated Fang Chang's salute. "Me—same as him!" Chu Guang: "..." What novel had they learned this from? Saying it out loud was so cringe! However, as the Administrator, he naturally couldn't say such things. In a sense, his authority over the players was positively correlated with their sense of immersion. The more the players identified with their status as "shelter residents," the more inclined they were to obey his orders rather than cause trouble. "...Very good, full of spirit!" Chu Guang cleared his throat lightly and looked solemnly outside the sanatorium. "We need to bring 50 kilograms of smoked meat, 20 kilograms of smoked fish, 10 mutant hyena pelts... and a handcart for hauling." "The two of you, go get everything ready." "We head out in ten minutes!"