Tricks Up His Sleeve

Night fell. One after another, the players logged off. Returning to Shelter 404, Chu Guang sat before the computer and smoothly logged onto the official website. As always, he lurked to check the forum before getting down to the duties of a game designer. Unsurprisingly, the players on the forum were all discussing the day's events. Spare the Life Under the Blade: "Holy crap, am I the only one who noticed? A ton of wild NPCs popped up today! Usually, you don't run into a single one all day!" Construction Boy and Bricks: "Yeah, yeah! A group of two arrived at noon, and three more came in the afternoon. Just wanted to ask: is open beta coming soon?! (Excited)" That Touch of Longing: "Open beta is probably still far off. We'll get a closed beta first, but marketing hasn't even begun, so we're probably in for a long wait. (Eating melon)" Scavenger Lv99: "Holy shit? What did I miss? I only got back this evening!" Elaina: "No worries, I completely missed the daytime events too, but I trust the bros on the forum will fill us in. (Funny)" Proud Grandpa What Can You Do: "Lol." Ye Shi: "(Funny)" The earliest threads were always devoid of substance; the big shots were all quietly cooking up their masterstrokes. Chu Guang browsed the forum for about half an hour, and after waiting a bit, he indeed saw several high-quality posts go up. For instance, Brother Fang Chang's thread. Perhaps worried that a certain fugitive rat might undermine his towering image as the "Wasteland's Number One Pro Player" in the minds of the playerbase, Ample Time Ahead, silent for days, finally dropped an "ultra-hardcore technical" guide on the forum! Not only did the guide detail his insights on every gene sequence, but it also revealed the Cow and Horse Squad's ancestral quadrilateral tactic. Chu Guang opened it, looked through, and pinned it as a featured post without hesitation. Holy cow! The guy had laid out all of his prized secrets! If Chu Guang didn't pin this as a featured post, even he would feel guilty toward these hardworking little bees! "...Having played for so long, I figured I'd summarize a guide. As usual, conclusion first: Perception-type is truly the golden child of this patch! Whether hunting or scavenging, every team should bring one along. "High-Perception characters can sense danger early and track down enemies. The death penalty in this game is insanely harsh, so when it's time to play it safe, you've got to play it safe. After all, nobody wants to spectate on the website for three whole days, right? "If Perception-type is the favored son of the patch, then Strength-type is second in line. In the early game, when Constitution and Agility can't show much of an advantage, Strength provides the most direct melee edge and gives teammates a complete sense of security! "By the way, don't listen to those obsessed tree-chopping maniacs raving about axe builds. Axes are for chopping wood, and they're really, really terrible for hunting! If you're Strength-type, javelins are forever your god! "Under the spear tip, all are equal! If you really can't get the hang of a bow, consider a spear. Within five meters, you don't need much aim. And if you truly can't hit a throw, charging in with a two-handed thrust works too! "You're asking about rifles? What even are those? They cost more than my damn life! Why not just rob someone instead? Let me say it again: this is early game, early game! Unless a crafting player is willing to drop enough money to buy a house just to sponsor you, then never mind what I said! For instance, if you manage to hook up with rich lady Tengteng. (Funny) "There's not much to say about Agility-type. I'm Agility myself. Evasion is indeed high, and sometimes you can dodge incoming attacks on pure instinct, but that's about it. "This stat doesn't actually give a big bonus to archery or throwing. While dynamic vision offers a slight boost to shooting, accuracy is still mostly governed by proficiency and experience. Perhaps Agility-type is actually meant for melee? Like a stealth assassin, or sword and shield? "Using high evasion instead of Strength's brute suppression to serve as a frontline tank might be a viable approach. But I'm just throwing ideas out there. Honestly, I haven't tried it, but maybe some of you can! "As for Constitution-type, this sequence is pretty confusing. The recovery bonus and damage resilience are there, but they aren't prominent. As a result, players of this sequence struggle to gain any immediate advantage in heated battles, and the recovery advantage only really shows after the fight is over. "Also, high-Constitution players seem less prone to wound infections and have higher resistance to toxins and even radiation. Looking at it this way, Constitution-type might be better suited for scavenging rather than hunting, with Perception-type still being the recommended best partner. "Finally, I must set the record straight for Intelligence-type! The Intelligence gene sequence isn't completely trash. It's just that under the current patch, this class really isn't meant for the front lines; instead, it's far more suited for life professions. "The advantage of high Intelligence mainly lies in gaining skill proficiency faster. However, in this game, proficiency is a rather abstract concept encompassing muscle memory, skill experience, and many other elements, meaning this stat doesn't grant the character bonuses as direct and intuitive as the other four. "So when choosing your 'preference,' you must think carefully about whether your playstyle truly suits this stat. If you've already decided before entering the game to be a laid-back life-skill player, then Intelligence-type is your best choice. "Additionally, without guns, the optimal setup for a hunting team is the quadrilateral formation: Perception acts as scout, Strength as frontline, Agility as marksman. For the last spot, adjust according to your needs—either bring another Agility for support, or another Strength for a frontline beatdown!" At the end of the post, Brother Fang Chang also used the digital map from the official database to craft a simple guide map, marking out relatively safe "grinding spots" around the shelter. The entire post was packed with pure substance—it could practically serve as a beginner's guide! Chu Guang nodded repeatedly as he read, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. All his nurturing hadn't gone to waste! Compared to troublemakers, his favorites were naturally players like this who possessed a deep understanding of the game and the current patch. Ideally, even more knowledgeable than himself, the game designer. "Speaking of which, the Cow and Horse Squad's total savings seem to have officially surpassed 200 silver." These four veteran players were certainly fierce; they had already wrecked a wooden bow and worn out roughly a dozen javelins. At first, they would buy knives and axes. Later, they didn't even bother equipping knives, directly switching to salvaged steel pipes, rebar, and rebar bundled with concrete. Clearly, they had grasped the essence of this "game." The truly "practical" weapons were often whatever lay conveniently at hand, followed by things modified from salvaged scraps, and only dead last came the items displayed on store shelves for them to browse. Besides Fang Chang's guide, "Mole on the Run from the Canyon" had predictably updated with a guide of his own. However, rather than discussing class builds, it analyzed the game content itself. "Hello everyone, I'm your Big-Nosed Mole. The wasteland is as tranquil as ever today! But my nose has already caught the scent of gunpowder! "Don't ask why—my nose is just that sharp! Earlier, the manager ran into a marauder squad near the northern townhouses; Scavenger discovered a marauder camp at the northern tire factory; and there are rumors of a mutant tribe entrenched deep in 76th Street. The dev team is clearly setting the stage and dropping hints that our home isn't safe! In fact, the situation could be called downright critical! "Before, our activity was confined to Ling Lake Wetland Park, but now our footprints have clearly ventured beyond the starting area, spreading out one—or even two—kilometers into the urban ruins around the park! Even with the cover of ruins and brush, it's only a matter of time before other nearby NPC factions discover us! "Furthermore, the traveling merchant who came earlier today and the natives who arrived this afternoon both prove my hypothesis: the frequency of interactions between the player faction and neutral factions is determined by player activity in the game! "Honestly, the attention to detail in this game has exceeded my expectations. If my deductions are correct, conflicts with marauders or mutants will trigger very soon! "I suggest the dev team try running a marauder siege event, which would also test our construction quality to see if it's as sturdy as it looks! Otherwise, having finished the perimeter wall without any chance to use it would be a real shame, wouldn't it?" Reading this post made Chu Guang's eyelids twitch. What a jinx! Don't fucking jinx it into reality! Spare the Life Under the Blade: "Holy shit, are you the devil?!" Fang Chang: "Please no, bro. We only just saved up enough to buy land, and we haven't even bought guns yet—what siege are we testing? Rushing through the woods? That's just asking to get wrecked!" Scavenger Lv99: "Hurry up! Let me scrap with a mutant before it snows! (Going crazy)" Elaina: "In such a rush to deliver yourself as a mutant snack? (Funny)" Elven King Fugui: "Hahaha." Proud Grandpa What Can You Do: "Lol." "..." Chu Guang wished he could be as carefree as them, but he genuinely couldn't bring himself to laugh. After all, this was a game to them, but not to him. Just as Big-Nosed Mole said, as the outpost expanded and players explored deeper into the ruins, running into their neighbors was inevitable. Even if they didn't, there was no guarantee the neighbors wouldn't track their trails back here. Daytime was manageable: the players were all online, the weapon shop had guns and ammo, and there was gunpowder made by Brother Mosquito. Mobilizing the players, a fight wouldn't necessarily be lost. Night, however, was another story. An empty fort strategy wouldn't work forever. Once or twice might scare intruders off, but over time, they would inevitably realize this outpost was virtually undefended at night... At that thought, Chu Guang immediately opened the system and checked the reservation numbers on the player list. [Current Pre-registrations: 612] "Xiao Qi." "Present, Master." Crouched in the corner charging, Xiao Qi lit up. The sudden voice startled the weapon shop proprietress, who was sitting nearby memorizing her lines. "Help me open another fifty cans." "Master, you only have forty-nine cans to open." Chu Guang froze for a second, only then recalling that to revive Yaya earlier, he had appropriated a canister of active substance from one of the unactivated incubation pods. Fuck! What a spendthrift. "Then open forty for now." The remaining nine would be kept in reserve just in case. The generator wouldn't arrive for another two days. In the extreme event of being spawn-camped at the entrance, he could at least stage a comeback with the remaining nine units of active substance. Regardless of the circumstances, Chu Guang always kept a Plan B ready—a habit he had developed long before transmigrating. "What are you two talking about?" There were only three mouths in the room, and one was an AI. When a man and an AI suddenly began conversing in a language she couldn't understand, anyone would feel uneasy. Xia Yan was naturally no exception, watching Chu Guang nervously from where he sat before the computer. "Nothing to do with you." Chu Guang brushed her off casually, then fixed his eyes on the monitor, typing away rhythmically on the keyboard. [Alpha 0.4 Patch Notes] A faint smile curled at the corner of his lips, and his furrowed brows relaxed slightly. Chu Guang had already formulated the draft for this update in his mind. After all, he had so many little geniuses brainstorming for him. Watching his profile flicker in the light of the monitor, Xia Yan swallowed hard, her tense nerves tightening even further. She had a nagging feeling that this guy was plotting something sinister again. This man... was unfathomably deep!