Chapter 29: A brand new life in wasteland starts with labor work

From the moment he spoke, all the gamers closed their mouths and stared at him intently, afraid to miss any detail.

Light Chu was satisfied with the gamers' reaction and looked around the hall.

However, his expression froze for two seconds when he saw the lizardman standing in the corner, and his hand almost reached for the gun on his back.

Why is there a mutant here???

However...

Judging from this dumbfounded expression, there should be a gamer underneath this lizard skin.

Then there's nothing to worry about.

In terms of combat experience and panel data, these newbies were completely overshadowed by him. Light Chu might be concerned about survivors lurking in the shadows, but he wasn't really afraid of these gamers causing trouble.

Kicking them out, banning them, or revoking their qualifications—all of that wouldn't take even a second. So, what could he do in that one second?

He decided to study the lizardman later and shifted his gaze away from it. He looked straight at the players in the hall and continued speaking.

"First, I have to tell you some good news: the war is over."

"But the bad news is, our world has been completely devastated. If you expect to pack your bags and go home to find your mom immediately, it's clearly not possible."

"Now it's been two hundred years since the apocalypse, and we should consider ourselves lucky to have survived the most difficult years. Being able to stand here makes you luckier than 12 billion people. Now I need you to quickly understand the current situation and fulfill your declaration under the banner of the Humanity Alliance—to rebuild our homeland!"

"This is my assistant, Qi, standing beside me. If you have any questions about the sanctuary or any areas you don't understand, you can ask it."

He had said this routine opening statement once before, word for word.

When the next batch of gamers arrived, he would say it again unless there were serious bugs or plot holes. He didn't plan on changing it since it took a lot of effort to come up with.

After a brief pause, Light Chu continued.

"In addition, the Sanctuary Resident Manual has been updated to version 2.0, which includes the Resident Convention, Code of Conduct, and requirements regarding public order, morality, and prohibited acts. I urge all residents to review it promptly."

"For residents who violate the regulations, the punishment can range from mandatory hibernation or confinement to exile and permanent expulsion. I hope everyone will strictly abide by the rules."

A commotion spread among the gamers.

Isn't this NPC's authority a bit too great?

However, everyone didn't have any particularly strong reaction to it.

Since they chose to make a reservation, it meant they had already accepted the game's setting.

Before logging into the game, they had already read the "Resident Manual" on the official website, and it didn't have overly strict provisions.

The new additions only restrained behaviors such as "PvP combat," "harassment of other gamers," "unfair trading," and "malicious destruction of in-game facilities."

These provisions were in line with the interests and demands of the majority of "normal" gamers. Some of these provisions were even discussed and proposed by the gamers themselves on the forum, and the cunning planners adopted them.

For example, the "malicious destruction of in-game facilities" proposed by Tomorrow and White, as well as the "prohibition of coercive coitus behavior" suggested by a female gamer who hadn't received a reservation yet.

These opinions were quite good.

After all, this was a game about working rather than a nuclear bomb simulator, let alone anything explicit.

Even if it was a game that emphasized freedom and sandbox concepts, it wouldn't allow a gamer to recklessly destroy others' gaming experiences.

Not only did Light Chu accept these suggestions, he also made more detailed provisions for these rules.

For example, maliciously destroying facilities would result in "forced labor punishment," and engaging in forced coitus behavior would result in "permanent confiscation of crime tools."

It's very humane.

What?

Can't accept it?

Go back and play CSGO, and leave the helmet for those who need it.

After explaining the important matters, Light Chu led the 24 gamers out of the sanctuary in two groups, taking the elevator to the surface.

The visual impact that greeted them left the new gamers speechless.

It wasn't just their vision; their hearing, smell, touch, and even taste—every cell in their bodies told them that this was a completely real world!

"Insanely incredible..."

"Is this really a game world?"

"Oh my god, I'm blown away!"

"Awesome!!!"

Seeing the excited gamers dancing with joy, a smile tugged at the corner of Light Chu's mouth.

He really wanted to tell them that they were still too early to be happy.

...

After familiarizing the new gamers with the outpost facilities, especially emphasizing the prohibition of defecating and urinating around the outpost, Light Chu brought them all back to the sanatorium and handed them over to White and the others, who had been eagerly waiting.

The construction site at the outpost was in need of manpower, so there was no worry about these gamers having nothing to do. Pros would tell them what to do.

Some of them were called to carry bricks and repair walls.

Another group, led by Tomorrow, went to the construction site in the northeast direction of the wetland park to transport and burn cement materials.

As for the compensation...

It was 10 contribution points per hour.

Although they weren't clear about the specific use of contribution points, each gamer was filled with enthusiasm and eager to start working immediately.

Why bother with so much during the closed beta?

The developers said it wouldn't be wiped, so just get on with it!

The enthusiasm of these gamers made Light Chu feel a bit embarrassed.

Of course, not all gamers were assigned to the construction site. Jobs like making dried meat, tanning fur, fishing, hunting, and gathering also required people to do them.

For example, there was a 1.8 meter tall female gamer named [Raven_raven], who was assigned the job of gathering.

Her genetic sequence was Perception, and although the initial value of her main attribute (Perception) was 1 point lower than Nighten's, with only 6 points, she had an additional initial talent called "Toxin Intuition."

According to the system's explanation of this talent in the gamer list, players with this talent could perceive toxicity solely based on biological instincts, bypassing knowledge and experience.

On the other hand, before obtaining "Toxin Resistance," the "poisoning effect" itself would have more negative impacts on her.

Furthermore, the positive enhancement effect of this talent was influenced by the perception attribute.

It was suitable for her to take on the role of a gatherer.

In addition to that, there was the lizardman.

After assigning the roles for the gatherers, Light Chu called the gamer over to the side.

"You're [Level_99_trashpicker]?"

What a stupid name!

Seeing that the Governor was speaking to him, Trash-kun thought he had triggered a hidden storyline and immediately stood up straight, nodding excitedly.

"That's right, it's me!"

Light Chu nodded and was about to assign him a task when Trash-kun suddenly seemed to remember something and handed him a note voluntarily.

"Respected Governor, when I woke up, I found this note. I can't understand the words on it. Could you please tell me what it says?"

"Let me take a look."

Light Chu took the note from his hand.

The note was slightly damp, as if it had been soaked in water, but it hadn't been completely soaked through. It seemed to be made of waterproof material.

The notes looked familiar, and they were written in the language of this world. Light Chu immediately guessed who had left this thing.

"Where did you get this?"

"My butt."

Light Chu's hand trembled, almost dropping the note.

Seeing the Governor's exasperated expression, Trash-kun quickly realized what he had misunderstood and explained with a wry smile.

"What I meant was that it was in the cultivation chamber. When I woke up, it was stuck there."

"It's fine, I was just asking casually."

Light Chu continued to read the contents of the note.

[Congratulations, you've won! This is the Easter egg I left for you! The genetic sequences stored in the gene bank are not entirely human genes; there are also a few special gene sequences. To be frank, I did it, although there are also unexpected factors, I don't intend to apologize. How should I put it? Don't you think this is also a part of natural selection?]

[Speaking of which, should we call it a "special mutant" or a "different variant"? Well, it doesn't matter what you call it, you decide.]

[-The First Governor.]

This guy must be out of his mind.

Light Chu was speechless.

He didn't feel like ridiculing a dead person, so he opened the system interface and confirmed the lizardman's five-dimensional data and talents in the gamer list.

Just like his tall and burly body, his strength and physique were unbelievably strong. If it weren't for the injection Light Chu gave himself, his strength would have even surpassed his own Level 5.

Moreover, he had the talents of physical regeneration and cold-bloodedness, making him a formidable combatant!

Although he had debuffs like difficult leveling, cold resistance, and difficulty operating complex machinery, they weren't fatal flaws.

In a word, there was no major problem.

Light Chu was already thinking about whether to equip this guy with brass knuckles or steel claws.

Or maybe turning him into an tanky iron can seemed like a good idea?

As the Governor stared at him with an appraising gaze, Trash-kun felt a little uneasy.

But the NPC didn't keep staring at him for too long and quickly assigned him a task different from the other gamers.

"Starting today, you'll go hunting with me."

Light Chu decided not to worry about weapons anymore.

These gamers weren't necessarily less intelligent than himself, so he might as well let them figure out the gameplay on their own.

Trash-kun clenched his fists excitedly and exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, filled with enthusiasm, "I am at your service, dear governor!"

"Very good, very spirited."

Light Chu nodded approvingly and continued, "Wait for me at the entrance of the sanatorium."

"I have some things to arrange, I'll be there shortly."

"Understood!"

Trash-kun happily left.

Light Chu then turned to another female player who was anxiously waiting by his side.

Her ID was [Vine-vine], and her genetic sequence belonged to the intelligence category. She looked somewhat petite, standing at about 1.5 meters tall.

Genetic expression was inherently unstable, and even with perfect design, it was inevitable that there would be omissions and result in her current situation, but there were also some positive aspects to what happened to her.

Similar to that Raven_raven, she had a very special initial talent in her talent bar called "Nimble Hands."

[Talent: Nimble Hands (enhanced muscle memory, faster accumulation of proficiency in repetitive tasks)]

If she remembered correctly, her real-life profession was a fashion designer?

If that was the case, then this talent was tailor-made for her.

"Do you know how to make clothes?"

Facing the Governor's question, VV nodded nervously.

"Yes! If I have materials and tools... I can give it a try."

Although her primary job was design, mainly working on a computer, she did have some hands-on abilities and was much stronger than the average person.

"Materials won't be a problem, but we might need to think of a way for the tools... but for now, come with me."

Saying that, Light Chu led her to the backyard of the sanatorium and pointed to the rows of fur hides hanging on wooden racks.

"Are these enough?"

Looking at the rows of fur hides on the racks, VV's eyes widened in amazement.

Although she wasn't sure from which animal these furs were taken, the texture and luster of the fur indicated that they weren't cheap.

"These... are all mine?" VV's eyes sparkled.

Light Chu nodded and said, "Yes, if you can, you can start by handling these furs. The chef in our group usually deals with them, but he's not very knowledgeable about it."

"Okay, leave it to me!" VV nodded vigorously and said excitedly, "Any specific requirements for the design?"

Light Chu replied, "There aren't any specific requirements for the design, as long as they provide warmth... Do you need any tools here? Sewing machines might be a bit difficult to find, but we do have some basic tools like needles and scissors."

VV said, "Although having a sewing machine would be better, if you only require warmth... these tools should be sufficient!"

Good!

Light Chu liked gamers who were diligent and didn't fuss around.

He nodded in approval.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"In the next few days, I should be able to get some games... I plan to go north along the elevated road outside the city. I heard there's a migrating herd of deers there."

"If luck is on our side, we should have a good harvest!"