While other Lords hunted rats in desperation, Evan hunted markets.
From Race Chat alone, it was clear: the majority of human Lords were floundering. They were chasing rabbits with sticks, fighting over edible roots, and losing support citizens to starvation or monster ambushes.
Meanwhile, in the village of Dawnlight, a different rhythm ruled.
The sun had barely cleared the trees when three hunting teams fanned out beyond the walls, each group of twenty marching in formation. They weren't just soldiers. Tailors, bakers, coopers, and brewers marched side-by-side with blades at their hips and baskets on their backs—tools in the morning, traders by night.
This wasn't survival. This was infrastructure.
At the edge of the village, Tassa, head of logistics and storage, stood in front of a massive slate board mounted to the warehouse wall. It was scribbled full of quantities, symbols, conversion formulas, and marketplace values.
"Leena, tell Garin we're running low on flax stalks for rope bundles. And Rourke needs to allocate at least one squad to drying kilns this evening—we can't keep losing herbs to moisture."
Tassa barely looked up as she spoke.
Across from her, Leena, head of internal affairs, was distributing bundles of parchment stamped with assignments: who worked what shift, where they moved, what goods they'd produce, and which routes they'd stay off for safety.
"Copy that. Also, six requests came in for advanced boots—most from hunters who've contributed consistent loads. I've already assigned cobblers to begin prepping leather. You'll see it in the ledger."
No wasted breath. No drama. Just systems.
And Evan?
He sat calmly in his Lord House office, sipping broth and reviewing the sales report from the Human Race Market.
[Race Market Sales Log – Dawnlight]
▸ 100x Basic Rope Bundle – Sold @ 8 Bz each → +800 Bz▸ 40x Dried Root Packs – Sold @ 12 Bz each → +480 Bz▸ 12x Handmade Tool Sets – Sold @ 35 Bz each → +420 Bz
📌 Total Earnings: 1,700 Bronze Tokens
"Good," he muttered. "Repeat cycle. Double rope production. Focus on bulk and weight-light items."
He flicked over to the purchase tab.
[Purchasing from Human Market]
▸ 300 units of Leather – 900 Bz▸ 200 units of Iron Ore – 600 Bz▸ 120 Spools of Thread – 100 Bz▸ 50 Units of Resin Glue – 80 Bz
📌 Remaining Funds: 20 Bz
With one tap, Evan confirmed the bulk purchase. Within moments, the delivery queue updated—his warehouse would receive everything within the next hour.
He didn't even need to touch the battlefield anymore.
"Why risk injury when you can outsource power?"
Instead of warriors, he trained crafters.Instead of conquering land, he conquered margin.
That afternoon, Evan gathered his council under the growing canopy of the Town Hall courtyard.
"Starting tomorrow," he said, "we stop sending out random goods. No more gambling on what might sell. From now on—Tassa tracks profit-to-effort ratios. Leena assigns roles based on sale value. We create supply chains."
Leena nodded. "Already started categorizing citizens by productivity type: Yield, Speed, and Quality."
Tassa added, "We can double rope output if we switch two cloth-weavers to braiding. One's already trained. The other is being shadowed."
Evan turned to Garin. "What about raw materials?"
"Herb fields are expanding. We've found a river for fish. I'll need a drying house near the east fence."
"Approved."
And like that, the engine turned faster.
That evening, Evan introduced a new mechanic—one he'd built from scratch in the system's flexible management tab:
📜 Contribution Point System – Activated
Citizens now earn Contribution Points (CP) based on:▸ Quantity and quality of items produced▸ Value of items sold on the market▸ Assigned task difficulty and completion consistency
CP can be exchanged at the Contribution Depot for:▸ Personal items (clothes, tools, equipment)▸ Small luxuries (pillow, mirror, hair oil)▸ Upgrade Tokens (when unlocked)
Evan posted the announcement across town and gave the first demonstration that night.
He handed a local hunter—Bo, a humble weaver who had stitched 300 feet of rope in a day—a pair of hardened leather boots from the warehouse.
"You earned these," Evan said. "Not because I favor you. Because you earned them."
The system confirmed it:
[BO – CP: 89 | Redeemed: +50 – Leather Boots (Durable)]
The crowd watched in silence.
Then the applause came.
Then the competition.
The next morning, production doubled again.
Meanwhile, far from Dawnlight, Race Chat remained a theater of despair:
[IronFist_91]: Anyone know where to find food that isn't poisonous?[NoobSlayer]: I sold my Lord Ring for 1 Bz. I think I lost the game.[Windflower]: Has anyone found a blueprint yet? Everything's locked behind rank 3 BS.
Evan scrolled past the chaos, then typed one sentence—anonymously:
[Anonymous]: Merchant is the king.
Then he opened the marketplace, tapped into the Rare Listings, and found exactly what he was looking for.
Two new blueprints.
One practical.
One strategic.
Both game-changing.
The marketplace shimmered in Evan's eyes—like a wall of code laced with possibilities.
Under the "Rare Listings" tab, the prices were brutal, the competition fierce. Listings refreshed every two minutes. Each item remained visible for just sixty seconds before it was either bought or expired. No Lord could afford to linger.
But Evan didn't hesitate. He had earned his tokens by hand, and now he spent them with intent.
[ITEM FOUND]
Blueprint: Archery Hall▸ Cost: 800 Bz▸ Function: Produces basic archers▸ Recruit Type: Bow Unit▸ Unlocks Skill: [Archery Mastery I]▸ Population Requirement: 100+
[BUY] ✅
[ITEM FOUND]
Blueprint: Weapon Factory▸ Cost: 750 Bz▸ Function: Produces Blacksmith Units▸ Output: Swords, bows, spears, armor▸ Unlocks Skill: [Weapon Forging]▸ Requires: 200 Metal, 300 Stone
[BUY] ✅
Tokens Remaining: 170 Bz
Evan leaned back in his chair, breathing slow and steady. His eyes gleamed as the confirmation rolled in.
[Items Acquired – Delivery in 4 hours (Auto Build Slot Reserved)]
He didn't want archers.
He wanted their skill.
With SHARE Level 2, every archer trained in the Archery Hall would spread [Archery Mastery I] to everyone.
Cooks would shoot rats out of trees. Tailors could defend walls. Farmers could fire volleys during the weekly monster raid.
A village of crafters was about to become a village of armed artisans.
The Weapon Factory was a second stroke of genius. Not only would it spawn blacksmiths, but once their forging skills triggered the SHARE effect, every citizen would gain baseline weapon familiarity.
It was an arms race, but not between nations.
Between ideologies.
Let the other Lords chase kingdoms, Evan thought, staring through his interface.I'll take the market, then the people, then the world.
By midday, construction began.
The Archery Hall rose beside the Barrack—leaner, longer, with a timber-framed roof and a practice yard already marked by the system's auto-build tools.
The Weapon Factory grew more slowly. It required materials from the warehouse—stone, metal, glass panes—but Evan had prepared for this. Tassa had already routed every resource.
"Three days of steel backlog," she said. "But once the first two blacksmiths are recruited, they'll process it 40% faster than we can."
"How's morale?" Evan asked.
"Leena says the Contribution Point system is working too well. Half the population isn't sleeping."
"We'll stagger shifts," Evan replied. "Reward balance."
He turned to Garin. "And agriculture?"
"Three new plots opened. Got beans, grains, root bulbs. Enough to support 150 heads within a week."
"Excellent," Evan said. "Prepare ration conversion for trade packs. We're selling excess food."
That evening, the council gathered again.
Rourke arrived late, face serious.
"We've got a problem," he said. "We're running low on fighters."
Evan raised an eyebrow. "We have twenty soldiers."
"And only twenty," Rourke replied. "We can't recruit more until the Barrack upgrades again, and the Archery Hall isn't ready for combat-ready troops yet."
"Then we adapt," Evan said simply. He tapped open a new panel—Combat Allocation Grid.
[NEW UNIT ALLOCATION PLAN]
▸ 60 Support Citizens split into 3 Hunting Teams▸ Each member now receives passive: [Basic Sword Mastery] + [Knife Proficiency I]▸ Upon Archery Hall activation, passive: [Archery Mastery I] will be added
Effective Combat Strength (Simulated): 45% of trained soldier
"Meaning," Evan continued, "we turn cooks, cobblers, and coopers into backup infantry. Rourke, train them in evening shifts. Use wooden arrows for now. Keep injuries low."
Rourke's eyes gleamed. "You want to fight with a village?"
"I want the world to learn that 'support' doesn't mean 'weak.'"
Three hours later, the Archery Hall activated.
With a deep hum, its core lit up, and system text flickered over the village:
[NEW STRUCTURE COMPLETE: ARCHERY HALL – Lv.1]▸ Recruits: Basic Archers (2/day)▸ Skill Unlocked: [Archery Mastery I]▸ Skill Shared to all citizens via SHARE Lv.2
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED – Archery Mastery I]Shared with: 106 CitizensBase Effect: +10% Accuracy (Ranged), +5% Draw SpeedScaling based on Role: 25–50%
System Message: "The tailors have just learned to kill from range."
Then came the flood of notifications.
[Mila – Tailor Lv.3]→ Learned: [Archery Mastery I]
[Boro – Farmer Lv.2]→ Learned: [Archery Mastery I]
[Nara – Cook Lv.2]→ Learned: [Archery Mastery I]
[Bo – Rope Maker Lv.1]→ Learned: [Archery Mastery I]
Evan closed the windows and stepped out into the street.
Support citizens gathered in rows before the training yard, each holding a training bow. The scene was surreal—aprons and tool belts paired with quivers and bracers.
But not a single person looked confused.
They knew their place.
And they aimed true.
By dawn, two blacksmiths had spawned inside the Weapon Factory.
A hammer struck metal.
Sparks flew.
[Skill Created: Weapon Forging I]→ Shared to: 108 Citizens
Effect: +10% Durability on crafted weapons→ Applies to supporting roles with crafting permissions→ Shared durability effect on bows, knives, spears, axes
Now even their tools became weapons.
Rourke watched it all from atop the gate, arms crossed.
Leena joined him quietly. "You ever seen anything like this?"
"No," he said. "This isn't war. This is… doctrine."
Later that night, Evan stood in the central square as two more buildings rose in the background.
The moonlight gleamed off fresh rooftops. Sparks from the forge bounced across the stone roads. The practice yard rang with arrows and cheers.
He didn't smile.He didn't gloat.
He just whispered:
"Let the others chase kingship…I'll own the market first."