CH 100

Chapter 100: The Exploration of Enthusiastic Players and the Entrance of the Caravan in the Wind and Snow

"Okay, stop playing in the water and come out, all of you."

Chu Guang walked into the public bathrooms in Zone A on the basement's second floor, knocking on the doors one by one and chasing the players out like ducks out of the bathrooms.

"Wait, wait, I just got in!"

"Hurry up and get dressed."

"Okay, okay, don't open the door."

"I will give you a minute."

"!!!"

When driving these players out, Chu Guang suddenly felt like a charter landlady in the movie "Kung Fu".

But he had no choice.

He couldn't rely on those players to leave by themselves. There was already a long line of people at the entrance of the public bathroom.

Almost every player in the shelter came here to line up, and there was barely anyone working on the surface, which was simply outrageous.

After gathering the players crowded in the public bathroom of Zone A in the lobby, Chu Guang looked around the players majestically and spoke in a serious tone.

"There's a piece of good news. Just half a day ago, because of our outstanding performance, the organization has increased our funding."

"From now on, the second underground floor of the shelter has been opened to our advanced teams. Your dormant cabins will be available in the future. They will also be transferred to Zone B to live with the next batch of reinforcements."

"Though there are nearly complete living facilities here, far superior to those on the B1 floor, I still hope you don’t overindulge in the excellent living environment in front of you. You should take a long-term perspective."

"Rebuilding a utopia in the world is our objective and oath."

"In order to save the valuable energy and water resources of the shelter, we now need to pay for the use of drinking water, showers, and public toilets."

"The bathroom needs to consume 1 copper coin for each use, and an additional copper coin is paid for every 10 minutes of use for periods of more than half an hour. The shower room consumes 3 copper coins per usage, and an additional 3 copper coins are paid for every 10 minutes of use for periods of more than half an hour. The drinking fountain consumes 1 copper coin per 200ml of water, and both cold and hot water are charged at the same rate."

"Before using the facility, you need to pay the fee to the administrator's assistant, and the permissions will be bound to the VM device. The camera will record the user's identity and the length of use. It is forbidden to use the same device for two or more people. Using the device outside the rule will cause the device to be locked and the offender will be punished. In addition, if arrears occur, it must be paid within 24 hours, otherwise it will affect the next use."

The access permission of the cameras has been given to Little Seven.

It could accurately identify the duration of a facility usage of each player. Little Seven could operate directly in the background, and deduct the pre-deposited fees as required.

Management by AI is much more efficient than manual management.

What’s that? Arrears are troublesome to manage?

Don't have them then.

In his territory, hard-working players are unlikely to be short of money to spend.

Although the players felt that it was a shame after hearing the Administrator's announcement, it was not unacceptable.

As we all know, luxury VIP value-added services all require money. Taking a shower in the shelter is indeed much more comfortable than taking a shower outside, and they do not need to worry about running out of water while taking a shower.

At least the generous administrator did not copy Tencent’s business model, creating a membership service where there would be an entry fee, water fee, and even a queueing fee.

"Damn it! I was kicked out just halfway through the shower. I feel like I suffered a huge loss. Wuwu." 

"You suffered my ass! At least you’ve experienced it. I haven’t even gotten a chance to use it yet!"

"3 copper coins per use?! This price is three times the outside price. I'd rather go to the lake."

"Are you crazy? It's freezing outside, and you want to take a bath in the lake? Are you not scared of wild monsters?"

"Wait, you can finish washing in half an hour?! This is very unreasonable. Why do I have to pay 3 copper coins every 10 minutes after half an hour?"

"You can also come out and go in again. But that will only work if there is no one outside. If there are too many people, you may have to line up again."

"I also think it is unreasonable. I can finish washing up in 10 minutes. Why do I have to pay 3 copper coins? Can’t I only pay 1 copper coin?"

Looking at the chattering and noisy players, Chu Guang clapped his hands and ushered them to the elevator.

"Now, go upstairs and move your culture chambers down."

"Rooms 1-100 are currently released in Zone B on the second floor of the basement. Starting from the player with the highest contribution points, everyone can have a room as your resurrection point."

"Hurry up, and don't just stand here. You can still pick your room now, but it will be randomly assigned later."

At the urging of the administrator, the players finally dispersed and ran back upstairs to carry their culture chambers down.

Soon, the hall on the second basement floor was filled with the culture chambers.

Including the 10 players who had just entered the game, almost all 81 players without missions gathered here.

Each of the culture chambers had a specific number that corresponded to the player's own UID, so they would not get confused.

Then started the segment of the players choosing their own rooms.

As veteran players who entered the game the earliest, the 4 people of Bull and Horse Squad undoubtedly had the highest contribution points, and successfully got the first four rooms labeled 1 to 4.

Then came Mosquito and Teng Teng; one took number 6 and the other took number 8.

After them came Brother Scrambled Egg, who was a chef in two versions of the game and a butcher in one version of the game, and Ya Ya, who made a fortune from the leech lair.

The two found out that all the lucky single-digit numbers were all taken, so they decisively chose 66 and 88.

The numbers were a little bit far down, but they were great.

The others’ decisions? Not important!

In less than half an hour, almost all the rooms were allocated. As for the players who were on duty at the outposts and abandoned tire factories, their rooms were randomly allocated.

Then the players happily dragged their own culture chambers to their corresponding rooms.

As for the extra beds, Chu Guang asked the players to move them upstairs.

In the future, the B1 floor would be reserved for himself and the core NPCs who needed to go to the surface frequently.

As for the remaining 100 rooms in Zone B on the B2 floor, he could consider taking in some technicians or special talents gathered from the wasteland to occupy them.

It was best to gather the people who came from shelters so that the "blood" would be purer and the knowledge system would be relatively more complete.

After settling all the players, Chu Guang came to the surface and found Hein pacing back and forth in the open space of the nursing home.

Seeing Chu Guang, the merchant from Red River Town's eyes lit up, and he immediately greeted him with a smile. "My friend, you finally woke up. I almost wanted to go down to look for you."

Chu Guang smiled faintly. "I'm afraid you won't be able to use this elevator."

"I know, that’s why I didn't even try," Hein smiled and continued, "Just now, I got a piece of good news from my most powerful assistant, Wen. The caravan from Red River Town has already set off, and it is expected to arrive within three days. We can complete the transaction at the tire factory!"

Chu Guang did not ask how Hein got the news.

Radio was not a very high-end technology, and besides radio, there were obviously many other communication methods in this world that he had never heard of.

For example, the signal transmission between the player's helmets, the clones, and the culture chambers was obviously not carried out by using radio as the medium.

Otherwise, it was impossible to achieve no latency at all.

"I hope you have brought what I want." Chu Guang said while looking at him.

"Of course, this was what we agreed upon." Hein took off his hat and bowed, his face filled with piety and respect, "Honesty and trustworthiness is my motto."

Chu Guang had already gotten used to his acting skills, so he just smiled faintly without giving any comment.

‘If I believed your nonsense, the weeds on my grave would be two feet tall already!’

‘If I’m not lucky, I might not even have a grave.’

...

With the destruction of the Bloodhand Clan, the largest marauder group in the northern suburbs was completely destroyed.

Now there was a 404 flag planted on the roof of the abandoned tire factory, and the people holding iron-barreled rifles that stood guard on the wall were all dressed in blue coats.

Until new marauder forces targeted this area, the survivors in this area would get a short period of peace.

In game terminology, it could be summarised as follows: due to the heroic battles of the players, the local area’s "looting level" has dropped by three levels, and its prosperity has increased by one level.

At the same time, the regional reputation of No. 404 shelter has increased by 100, neutral survivor power relationship has increased by 10, caravan frequency has increased by 10%, neutral NPCs are 10% more likely to join the shelter...

These were the contents updated by Chu Guang on the official website for only players and non-testing players to brag about and be proud of.

In fact, he also discovered that not everyone in the forum believed that this game really existed, and many people simply thought that they were playing a "setting game".

But even so, so many people were still discussing the game so seriously, and it was quite interesting to read their thoughts. Just like the early MUD games, more than 90% of the content was supplemented by people’s imagination.

However, as one of the most widely circulated urban legends in the current gaming circle, even if it was necessary to fill in a lot of personal information to apply for a test qualification, there were still many new players enthusiastically signing up.

Their motives were actually very simple.

The closed alpha qualification meant that they would also have a special icon in the forum. That means that when chatting with other players, their words would be more convincing than non-testing players without a special icon.

Though, the expressions on their faces when the helmets appeared at the doors of their houses must’ve been very interesting.

Enough with the parallel world. With the introduction of the "VM" equipment, players' enthusiasm for exploration has almost reached its peak.

Even when the snow got heavier outside, it still could not stop them from exploring the map. After all, watching the map fog disappear little by little from the screen was a pretty stress-releasing thing in itself.

The key was that it was quite convenient to operate. They just needed to walk along the line.

If it weren't for Chu Guang limiting the exploration area, forbidding them to go northward into the wilderness and deep into the city, maybe they would’ve explored all the way to Boulder City.

Of course, there was an even higher possibility that they would die halfway.

There were almost no roads to go to Boulder City from Shelter 404. Players either had to follow the wreckage of the viaduct and detour to the west, or find a way to pass through large tracts of ruins and collapsed tall buildings.

The cold winter would only make all this more dangerous.

Their deaths would be a trivial matter. The trouble was that he would have to release a corpse-running mission and find a way to retrieve their corpses and VM equipment.

Especially the VM equipment; it is more valuable than the player's corpse. It costs 40 silver coins after all!

In addition to the players, the only two aboriginal "NPCs" in the outpost—a weapon shop proprietress and a warehouse manager—were also equipped with the NPC-specific VM by Chu Guang.

With the help of a teleprompter, the work efficiency of the two of them has really improved a lot. At least they don't need to ask the players to repeat what they want again and again when buying and selling things.

"The snow is getting thicker." 

On the wall of the abandoned tire factory, looking at the silver frost-covered streets, street lights, broken vehicles, and buildings, the heavily armed Chu Guang suddenly sighed softly.

Such heavy snow would definitely affect the industrial production of the outpost.

Even if the players are not afraid of the cold, feel no pain, and can beat the severe cold with the will of workers, they will still suffer frostbite or even more serious problems.

But he couldn’t let them make steel in the shelter.

Standing next to him, Hein couldn't guess what Chu Guang was thinking, but he smiled and offered his compliments.

"This year is estimated to be colder than last year. The survivors in this area will have a hard time. But you don’t need to worry, this won’t affect your shelter."

Chu Guang did not respond to him, but just kept looking north.

The cold north wind howled, rolling the falling snow in the sky.

Behind the misty snow, the figures of people gradually appeared.

Hein's reaction time was faster than Chu Guang's. His eyes immediately lit up, and his face was full of joy as he looked at Chu Guang who was standing next to him.

"Sir! Our caravan is here!"

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