Chapter 49: Light Chu is mastering a big game of chess

Not only Tomorrow noticed this, but many gamers had also realized it.

The significance of this update went far beyond just improving the economic system and integrating contribution points into the honor system.

Its greatest significance was emphasizing cooperation between gamers!

With the increase in the number of gamers, this step was inevitable.

A well-developed social system not only enhances the gaming experience but also increases user engagement and daily activity.

Although the latter may seem unnecessary for a technically advanced game like "Wasteland OL,"

So far, the gamers selected by Light Chu were a hardcore group who practically wanted to stay online for 24 hours a day. They were reluctant to log out even when it was time for forced downtime.

It seemed like they had disciplined lives with no sexual activity.

Regardless, for most gamers, this update had far-reaching implications for cooperation.

Although the official had not updated the social system, many settings had already laid the foundation for teaming up and guild systems.

For example, the most typical one was the ability for gamers to share land usage rights with their friends.

A 5-square-meter plot of land might not be able to accomplish much, but if four gamers combined their efforts and gathered 20 square meters, they could build a small apartment.

Isn't this the embryo of a guild?

"Qi, do you know what the soul of a game is?"

"What is it?"

Standing on the third floor of the sanatorium, looking at the busy gamers inside and outside the outpost, a slight smile appeared on Light Chu's lips.

"It's mathematics."

"Mathematics?"

"Yes, to be more precise, it's the design of numerical values. It is an art, and excellent numerical design can even become a gameplay element. In comparison, the plot, graphics, and settings are just the added value that art brings to the game."

Baidu wasn't completely useless.

Occasionally, it could provide some useful nonsense.

After a brief pause, Light Chu continued calmly.

"Through the design of numerical values, we can keep the contributions and money that the majority of regular gamers can earn in a reasonable range throughout the day."

"For example, under normal circumstances, it takes two to three weeks for a gamer to go from being a resident to a citizen. This time shouldn't be too long, as it would make gamers lose confidence, but it also shouldn't be too short, as easily obtained things become meaningless. When gamers become citizens, our core users, we immediately set new goals for them, such as buying land."

Qi tilted her head.

"Buying land? But it seems like the land prices you set aren't expensive."

"That's right," Light Chu nodded. "For those who have already obtained citizen status, buying land itself won't take long, maybe just a matter of opening their wallets. But after buying the land, they will need to build something on it, right?"

"To build a house, you need cement, bricks, and for a more sturdy structure like a small western-style building, you also need steel. If we build a few more houses, the production capacity of these construction materials will increase. I don't believe these gamers would be happy to see their in-game homes looking like pig shacks. Why would I only give them 5 square meters with their citizen status? If I give them 10 or 20 square meters, soon our safe area will be filled with useless shacks and garbage."

Qi: "Ah, I see."

For an AI, it seemed difficult to fully comprehend and empathize with these things.

But Light Chu didn't mind.

He smiled faintly and continued.

"After the houses are built, they can't be left unfinished, right? We'll need beds, tables, cabinets, carpets, curtains, and once electricity is available, we can even install light bulbs. We'll need some furniture at least. Wood, fur, handicrafts... With this back and forth, both production capacity and consumption will increase together."

Whether it was selling land, building houses, or furnishing them, all of these required money, right?

And where would the money come from?

Sorry, this game is still in beta testing and doesn't support microtransactions at the moment. If you want to make money, you'll have to do tasks, grind dungeons, or work in the game world.

Through the leverage of the task system, Light Chu could easily control the flow of money and indirectly influence the gamers' behavior.

For example, if the sanctuary ran out of food, he could increase the rewards for gathering or hunting tasks. If gamers needed to build houses, he could increase the earnings for bricklaying, plastering, and cement mixing.

If the mutants or raiders come knocking on the door?

That won't be a matter of money.

Light Chu would mobilize a "never retreat" war effort in the form of "in-game activities" and temporarily waive the death penalty for gamers during the event, providing them with weapons.

Facing a group of fearless calamities.

Even the mutants who know no fear would be intimidated.

"...When they've had enough fun, I'll open up new identity levels for them to play. Behind citizens, there will be intermediate citizens, and the available land for purchase will increase to 25 square meters. By then, the second round of walls will also be built, and we won't be short on cement, bricks, wood, or steel. Without any surprises, they will build a bigger house and do it all over again."

"When they get tired of building houses in front of their doorsteps, I'll give these veterans a noble title and assign them a slightly more distant fief, letting them handle it themselves. Weapons, ammunition, food, fuel, building materials... They can produce whatever they need, and if they can't, they can import from the homeland. It's a good way to keep the newbies occupied."

"As for what comes after? Let's worry about that later. Damn it, I've only unlocked the B1 floor of the sanctuary myself. I'm worrying about them from quite a distance..."

The number of cultivation chambers stored in Sanctuary 404 was still unknown. He might have to figure out a way to create more of them in the future.

He was certain that the mighty first-generation governor had accomplished some unprecedented great technology within this sanctuary.

And after he uncovered all the secrets, he would be informed of the truth.

However, although the future was unpredictable, Light Chu was confident in the implementation of the Alpha 0.3 version's grand update.

He was mastering a big game of chess.

In his Phase 1 plan, gamers who had received nine years of compulsory education were all high-quality labor. Skipping the agricultural society and advancing directly to industrialization was not a problem.

With the completion of the basic industrialization, they would have the prerequisite for survival in the wasteland.

In Phase 2, as the number of gamers increased, Light Chu would attempt to recruit a group of wasteland natives into the outpost to engage in basic production jobs such as farming, logging, and cement production. If there were any special talents among these natives, he would assign them to special positions.

As for the gamers who had upgraded to citizens, they would be freed from basic physical labor and could invest more in challenging and enjoyable work such as creativity, combat, and exploration, fully utilizing their advantage of being able to resurrect and iterate.

In Phase 3, the final stage.

Ideally, the wasteland natives, who were NPCs, and the gamer clones would have formed a special symbiotic social relationship.

Complementary advantages with mutual constraints.

If everything went smoothly, gamers who owned property, wealth, equipment, friendship, and even love in Wasteland OL would consider it their "second life" and become advocates of order rather than challengers, forming a healthy game ecology.

Such games also existed in reality.

Commonly known as "server environments."

Of course, Light Chu knew that plans never kept up with changes, so he prepared many Plan Bs to deal with sudden situations.

But at least for now, the implementation of the Phase 1 plan was going quite well.

Gamers selected by Light Chu for the closed beta test were obviously enticed by the promises he made and were even more cooperative than he had imagined.

With the camera in her hands, Qi looked at her master standing beside her and whispered softly.

"Master, do you know, you look like a villain when you smile like that."

"A villain? Have you ever seen a villain as kind-hearted as me?"

Light Chu glared at the silent companion.

"I have freed them from boring daily lives and given them an extraordinary extra 12 hours in life. And all they need to pay is a little sweat and their dreaming time. Apart from that, they have no losses, not even spending a single penny!"

Damn it.

Saying it like that, it was quite a loss to me.

This helmet should have been charged!

But after thinking it through, Light Chu didn't know what he would do with the money. Online purchases couldn't be delivered, and he didn't need to pay for the server's electricity or the cost of the helmets.

At least for now, collecting money would be troublesome.

Shaking his head, Light Chu turned away from the window and yawned, facing away from Qi.

"It's windy on the rooftop."

"I'll return to the sanctuary. I'll leave this place to you."

His most promising "Shachuko Squad" had set off with the equipment they collectively purchased—bows, javelins, and rations. They were probably going hunting.

Light Chu had been deliberately nurturing a gamer named Nighten, teaching him the experience of surviving in the wasteland, how to use "senses" to track prey and sense danger. He even accompanied him in successfully finding the footprints of a deer.

If they couldn't bring back any game from this, it would be a shame for his cultivation.

Besides, he was running low on 9mm bullets, so Light Chu decided to take a break today.

Qi moved the camera and obediently obeyed.

"Qi Understood, master."

....

It was noon.

From the partially open cultivation chamber next to the residents' hall, a hoarse sobbing sound emerged.

"Sob sob, I'm finally alive!"

Being too excited, Raven_raven had bumped her forehead on the still partially closed pod lid. Rubbing her reddened forehead, she sat up from the cultivation chamber.

Looking at her tender skin and attractive figure in the mirror in front of her, her eyes filled with tears.

Half of it was due to pain, and half was due to excitement.

Before going online, she had already undergone three days of closed beta testing on the forum!

Three whole days!

No one knew how she had endured those sleepless nights without a helmet.

Wiping away her tears, Raven_raven quickly put on the clothes stored in the pod compartment, pulled the zipper tight, and walked briskly towards the room.

The lights were on in the residents' hall.

Light Chu, who had just returned from outside, was sitting in front of the computer browsing the internet.

Hearing footsteps coming from the next room, he casually closed the web page he was viewing, released the mouse, and looked at the gamer entering the hall.

He saw the newbie bowing her head and apologizing in a repentant tone.

"Respected Governor, please allow me to apologize for my hasty and reckless actions!"

Although the game designer had told her that apologizing had no meaning, this NPC's performance was too realistic.

Especially when he looked at her, she felt that she couldn't forgive herself if she didn't say sorry.

"No need to apologize to me. You have disappointed the trust of the organization and those who are still sleeping underground, awaiting their turn."

Light Chu glanced at her clothes.

If he remembered correctly, there were only two sets of these blue jackets per cultivation chamber. If this guy died again, he might have to go naked.

Although Vine_vine had made some warm fur coats, they were only suitable for wearing outside. If she didn't wear anything inside, it might be a bit inappropriate for minors.

Especially considering this gurl's figure was a bit special...

Light Chu continued without expression.

"According to the rules, I should deduct 500 contribution points from you, but unfortunately, you don't have any contribution points to deduct."

Raven_raven lowered her head in shame and said, "I'm truly sorry. I am willing to accept any punishment!"

"Punishment is to make you learn a lesson. To survive in this wasteland, you need not only courage but also intelligence. I hope you cherish your life and the hard-earned opportunity to go to the surface."

Light Chu paused and continued.

"I'll give you a task. Go outside and gather 100 kilograms of food, including but not limited to wild vegetables, berries, and mushrooms. Until the punishment task is completed, your identity will be downgraded from 'resident' to 'criminal', and this identity won't be able to receive normal tasks or receive any rewards."

"Remember, your balance is not enough to pay for the death penalty. If you die again, I will permanently send you back underground."

"Take care of yourself."

Permanent banishment meant depriving the gamer of game privileges.

In the fictional game setting, all gamers came from the deepest part of the sanctuary—the hibernation center that froze thousands of people—as the advance force to return to the surface.

When Raven_raven heard the words "permanent banishment," her body trembled, and she quickly said, "Yes! I promise I won't do it again!"

Satisfied with her attitude of reflection, Light Chu nodded lightly.

"Go."

Raven_raven, with her head hanging low and dejected, was about to walk towards the door. But at that moment, the manager sitting at the desk suddenly called out to her.

"Wait."

Rara stopped and turned around.

"Do you have any other orders?"

"Well, wait a moment. I'll show you something."

Saying that, Light Chu took out a metal-packaged can from the drawer, pulled the ring tab, and tore off the lid of the can.

Fragrance wafted out from the can.

Light Chu was stunned when he saw it.

He didn't expect that this can, which had been around for so long, not only had no oil separation but also looked as if it had just been produced.

Could it be freshly processed...?

Light Chu's expression was a bit strange.

Do I still need to test it for poison?

I feel like it's unnecessary.

Raven_raven, who had just revived, didn't think so much. Her stomach was empty at the moment, so she wasn't hungry, but when she saw the delicious canned food, she couldn't help but salivate.

She looked up at the respected manager, her face filled with disbelief and gratitude.

"Is... is this for me?"

Light Chu didn't answer, but asked, "Do you want to eat it?"

Rara quickly nodded.

"I want to."

Light Chu continued to ask, "Is there anything unusual about the color? Like... a green light?"

Rara vigorously shook her head.

"No!"

When hungry, everything looks delicious. Her attention was completely captivated by the food, and she couldn't help but salivate again.

My governor is really considerate!

Although he had just punished her, but but but—

"Alright, I understand."

Light Chu took back the can.

"I just wanted to show it to you, don't think too much."

Rara: "???"

In the end, this little gamer ran out with tears in her eyes.

Sitting in the chair, eating the canned food, Light Chu also felt that perhaps he had indeed been a little bit excessive this time...