Early the next morning, Liang Chuan woke up and began directing the six remaining Hilichurls to work.
Thanks to their tireless labor,
the base now had 30 units of wood and 20 units of stone.
Metal, however, was still at zero—no metal deposits nearby.
It would still take quite a while to gather enough materials to upgrade the Bio-Energy Terminal,
but now that he could summon players, he could assign them gathering quests.
That would speed things up enormously.
After setting up the Hilichurls' tasks, Liang Chuan walked to the Workbench and began crafting Beginner Supervisor Collars.
The materials dropped from last night's Large Electro Slimes were enough to make ten of them—
perfect for replacing the labor he'd lost.
The level-1 Workbench could also craft dull iron swords and wooden armor.
But without metal, the sword was impossible.
Wooden armor was viable, but had low defense and restricted movement—
usually not worth making.
However, after nearly getting wiped by Slimes last night…
even wooden armor was better than nothing.
While hammering out the collars, he also crafted a set of wooden armor for himself,
using 10 leather, 10 Electro Slime condensate, and 5 wood.
"Shame the Workbench can't upgrade yet…
I need to level the Terminal first.
Right now, the only useful item I can make is the beginner collar.
Everything else is pretty trash."
While mumbling to himself, a "player login" notification popped into his mind.
A moment later, a startled voice sounded behind him.
"Holy—! T-this… is this really a game?!"
A tall, muscular player stepped out of the Bio-Energy Terminal, stunned.
"The graphics! The touch! The smell!
Li Huowang, pinch me—
I need to know I'm not dreaming!"
SLAP!
Huoyanyan smacked him—
but the tank player was completely fine.
Huoyanyan, however, clutched his hand in pain.
"AAAH—your face is made of rock or what?!"
"That's how tank players are…"
The new player rubbed his cheek and laughed.
"Actually kinda hurts. Man, this realism is insane!"
"Tank player?"
Liang Chuan opened the new player's stats.
Name: IReallyEatBeef
Race: Human
Level: 1 (0%)
Class: Shield Guard
Constitution: 40
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Spirit: 5
Unused Points: 0
"How the hell is his Constitution this high?
Must be tied to a skill."
He opened the player's skill page—
and saw the passive class talent:
[Robust Physique]— Constitution ×2
Meanwhile, Huoyanyan's Fire Mage talent was Condense Fire Element,
which explained why he could only produce a tiny flame with low Spirit.
"I should be able to copy his skill too…"
Liang Chuan thought.
The moment he willed it,
his own skill list gained [Robust Physique].
His Constitution doubled from 16 to 32.
His combat strength jumped a whole tier.
He was now both mage and tank.
"Damn… a stat-doubling talent is way too strong.
If I get more players like this…
all my stats will double!"
"Is he the NPC?"
The tank player pointed at Liang Chuan in awe.
"Seems like a friendly NPC. He's been smiling at us since we arrived."
"Don't judge him by appearances…"
Huoyanyan sighed.
"Just wait until he sells you a paper-thin slice of bread for ten copper."
"Food costs that much?!"
"Maybe only this NPC charges like a scammer…"
"Then can we rob him?"
"Other NPCs maybe.
But Brother Chuan is our BOSS.
You can't rob him. You have to raise his affection.
If his affection drops below zero, you get banned."
Thud—!
The tank player dropped to his knees in front of Liang Chuan.
"From today on, you are my sworn foster father!!
Don't you dare kick me from this 100% realistic game! Father!!"
Liang Chuan: "…???"
"Dude, he said to raise affection, not… whatever this is…"
Huoyanyan held his forehead.
"Just do the quests he gives you."
"Brother Chuan! Please give me a quest!"
"There is one…"
Liang Chuan handed out the ten newly made collars.
"Bring me back ten Hilichurls.
If you can capture stronger creatures, even better."
Both players received a quest window.
Quest from BOSS — Capture Creatures
Objective: Capture 5+ Hilichurl-tier creatures and bring them back.
Reward: 5 EXP, 50 Copper
Accept / Reject
"No thinking—when Chuan gives a quest, just hit Accept."
Huoyanyan urged.
Beef nodded and accepted.
"Brother Chuan, we won't bother you then.
We're heading out to hunt!"
He dragged the hungry Huoyanyan out of the base.
Huoyanyan's satiety was falling,
and if he didn't find food soon,
the first person to die on launch day would be him.
Beef carried Huoyanyan north.
After nearly an hour,
they finally encountered a wild boar.
The boar slammed into Beef,
knocking him to the ground and drawing blood.
The two engaged in a fierce fight.
A boar that could be one-shot in the game
was now giving them hell.
Thankfully, Beef's massive 40 Constitution let him tank the hits,
while Huoyanyan ignited the boar with fire.
Together, they finally killed it.
But before they could celebrate,
a cold voice echoed above their heads—
"Do you two not know
that you're not supposed to use fire in the forest?"
Huoyanyan looked up—
and his eyes widened.
"HOLY SH**—SPEAR RIDING?! HE'S FLYING?!!"
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