Eating Dirt

"Then go on and get busy yourselves. Build the dormitory."

Ning Zheng felt words stuck in his throat, impossible to utter. In the end, he could only sigh.

They had paid to be guests, and he had even taken -2 Luck Value from them. How could he make things difficult for his guests?

Whatever they did, he only needed to observe in secret.

"Brothers! Family! Time to claim the newbie quests!"

Having received approval, Jiu Cai Rong became as excited as a construction foreman, directing everyone to get to work.

He personally set up a large wooden board as a Quest Board at the entrance to the Mountain Villa, then designed a batch of quests with copper-coin rewards based on the difficulty of each job.

It was obvious that he had plenty of organizational experience.

Then work began.

Fortunately, the sky was overcast and there was little sunlight. Some were recutting wood, some weaving iron strips into Iron Netting, and some rebuilding the walls.

A hundred people gathered around to build the dormitory, an imposing and orderly sight, working with blazing enthusiasm.

Still, they chatted as they worked.

After discussing it, they immediately felt that this dormitory design was simply insane. What the hell—this was genius.

It rivaled the Minister of Justice!

Never mind the comfort level; they acknowledged its practical value.

But some people strongly demanded private rooms. Being clipped between bare Iron Nets was like a row of broiler chickens on an assembly line, fed and hosed down. Was that dignified?

They were cursed out on the spot.

Jiu Cai Rong said, "Private rooms? What private rooms? Haven't you played games before? We're poor in the newbie phase, with no money, so we sleep in a Dormitory. Once you make money, you can live however you want. You don't have to live here at all. And you, giant baby, can choose to put on your diaper before logging off."

His offensive power was astonishingly strong.

"If you're loaded, just have the players around you farm gold for you and build you a luxury room. With money, you get a private suite; without money, you get the Dormitory."

Everyone present silently continued working.

Hmph. Easy for you to say when you don't know the pain of standing and talking. You lived in the Steward's Room, all luxurious and grand.

Inside the Mountain Villa, once that little interlude passed, everyone got back to work and began building the dormitory.

Everyone started completing quests. After all, nobody wanted to fall behind in the early stages.

Besides, Jiu Cai Rong, the temporary steward, was strutting about arrogantly as though he had disciplinary authority. If he complained to the Old Steward and got someone locked up, that would be downright ridiculous.

Yet amid the blazing construction work, a new problem arose: from time to time, they suffered mysterious aerial drops.

"By the way, why are there so many Crows here? Why are they specifically targeting people?"

"I can't take it anymore. I need to weave myself a straw hat."

"Why are there so many bugs here? It's so itchy. This reminds me of those miserable days when school organized us to weed and reclaim wasteland."

"What did you expect? The real ancient world was like this. How good did you think the sanitation was?"

"Brothers, this is a Crow Spawn Zone! We need to clear it out! They should drop equipment, right?"

"Clear what out? Obviously the Crows' nest isn't inside the Mountain Villa—it's in the forest map outside. We can't get there. We'll have to wait until later, make weapons, and shoot arrows into the sky. Maybe we can eat crow meat."

Ning Zheng lounged leisurely in his rocking chair, watching the group of craftsmen working in the distance while quietly taking out a diary. Written on its cover were the words, "Local Sinister Records Archive."

It recorded the traits and abilities of those absurd monsters at the foot of the mountain. It could be called the work of his heart and soul.

At that moment, he opened to a new category page.

Under a new heading, he wrote "Blacksmith Species Observation Diary," then quietly penned a row of observations. As a scholar, he naturally had such habits.

A gentle breeze drifted by, and the sun set into dusk.

Six or seven hours had already passed.

The wall bricks were bonded with this world's unique mud adhesive, and bricks and stones were used to rebuild a large dormitory.

Although Money Boys were quite strong and were natural-born construction laborers, their work only involved repairing the broken walls. The Iron Netting could not be finished in a single day either.

Jiu Cai Rong directed them from the side and said to Ning Zheng, "My lord, progress is a little slow on the first day, mainly because of the Iron Net weaving. Once we get proficient, the speed will improve greatly. We should barely be able to move in by noon tomorrow."

"We've been busy for quite a while now. Next, Steward, may I ask about the food?"

Their stomachs were growling with hunger.

After such high-intensity labor, they were so hungry their chests were sticking to their backs.

Ning Zheng nodded from the recliner. "As for food, just solve it locally."

"Locally?" Jiu Cai Rong froze. Having already been shocked by this game's hardcore style, his mind immediately leaped toward some extremely ominous possibilities.

"The Dirt and metal you dig up can all be eaten." Ning Zheng sat in his rocking chair, gazing at the distant scenery without even raising his head.

He indicated that Money Boys ate such things.

They were very easy to raise, gnawing on mines and ore. They generally lived in groups near mineral veins.

Money Boys liked stillness and hated movement. They were vegetarians, disliked meat, and enjoyed fruit and mineral soil.

Hearing that, Jiu Cai Rong froze completely.

You wanted me to eat Dirt?

I came to this game to eat Dirt? Could it be that our newbie characters survived by eating Dirt?

He was already covered in sticky grime like a construction worker. He dabbed a clump of Dirt from his body with his hand and took a bite.

"You want us to eat this?"

The instant he swallowed it, a texture like meat floss exploded across his taste buds.

Every grain was soft and delicious.

It had the silky smoothness of cream and the large, granular texture of dried fruit. Mixed together, it was like eating sundae ice cream. It was so delicious that words failed him, as though he might bite off his own tongue.

It smelled amazing.

This was not Dirt at all.

This was actually a Chocolate Sundae that merely looked like Dirt.

"The Candy House from fairy tales, where the entire earth is dessert. Is this game pulling this kind of trick?" Jiu Cai Rong's eyes shone brightly as snow, and he grabbed a small stone from the ground and bit down hard.

Crack.

Fresh deliciousness burst over his taste buds.

It was incomparably tasty.

"Family, the food is right here."

With tears in his eyes, Jiu Cai Rong bent down, picked up a clump of mud, and held it high over his head like a sacred torch.

"So this is where the game has been waiting for us! What a massive Easter egg! This innovative gameplay crushes every other game in its genre."

Everyone was stunned when they heard him. They, too, tried licking the Dirt, and instantly the doors to a new world opened before them. Their faces filled with shock as they began swallowing huge mouthfuls.

"Wuwuwu, this is practically a fairy-tale Candy House."

A group of people jumped for joy, shouting that it was time to eat. They gathered around the mound of Dirt excavated during construction and dined as though they were surrounding an enormous cake.

"This is so awesome."

"Who told me this game had a realistic, dark, hardcore style? This is a beautiful fairy-tale art style."

"I've never eaten Dirt this delicious in my life."

"This game is way too fun. No need to lose weight—you can eat without restraint here."

Everyone worked hard to digest the shock in their hearts, constantly staring down at the ground beneath their feet.

Every type of ore and Dirt represented a brand-new dessert.

The Game Planner had secretly turned this place into a Dessert Mountain, then stunned everyone!

Beneath their feet lay cakes, chocolate, candy, and every sort of delicious Gourmet Kingdom.

The art style had changed completely. This kind of creativity was simply too cool!