When the last day of the month arrived, Li Wei handed a pheasant to Phila, bringing their total to two units of game. That also marked the end of his time as head of the family, and the family's Main Quest for the month came to a perfect close.
Lines of information silently appeared.
[Under your wise leadership, all family Main Quests have been completed. The family's overall wealth has increased substantially, as has its ability to withstand external risks. Thanks to your strong support, the family now owns a crude, makeshift Blacksmith Shop, and its tools and weapons have all been upgraded and improved. The family's residence has officially advanced to a Level Two camp. Population +1; total population: five.]
[You will receive a +10% completion rating bonus.]
[You have received 12 Family Contribution Points. Current total: 42.]
[Within the next 24 hours, two new players will join the family. Their identities will be determined by the family's current status and by which family member performed best during the most recent quest cycle.]
[The new players are—George's fiancée, Mixi, and Phila's youngest son, Lyon. The new players' professions are unknown, and their initial attributes are unknown.]
[Friendly reminder: After the monthly summary, the family member with the most Family Contribution Points may become head of the family.]
--
Good grief, my fiancée?
Li Wei was a little stunned, but he was even more curious about what would happen next. The family camp would keep advancing, the number of family members would keep growing, and the family would grow stronger. Would they still all fight for themselves, vote each other out with Plot Kills, and spend every day bickering?
"So what's the ultimate purpose of this game? Assuming it is a game."
Li Wei had to think about it now. But then again, things couldn't get much worse. The game's host actually respected human rights: being eliminated and killed by a Plot Kill didn't mean dying for real. It all felt so out of place. As a proper wage slave, he found it deeply unsettling.
[Professional Craftsman Penny discovered a small Iron Ore deposit twelve li from the family. She decided to donate the small Iron Ore deposit to the family. Since Iron Ore was a special three-star mineral resource in this world, she received 100 Family Contribution Points! However, she must provide the family with at least 50 units of Iron Ore over the next six months. The contribution points will be reclaimed unless she has an unavoidable reason for failing to do so.]
[Friendly reminder: Iron Ore mined during this process will not affect experience or the contribution earned toward Main Quests.]
[Note: Resources of this kind can only be discovered by the corresponding professionals, such as precious medicinal herbs, valuable trees, rare beasts, and seeds produced by farmland.]
Two notifications appeared out of nowhere, leaving Li Wei stunned and making his scalp tingle!
He couldn't help looking up at Penny. For the past few days, she had been like a ghost, coming and going early and late, filthy from head to toe and visibly thinner. He hadn't seen her climbing mountains and crossing rivers to search for Iron Ore, but he could tell how much hardship she had endured!
And now she'd actually pulled off a huge move!
A small Iron Ore deposit, worth 100 Family Contribution Points! That instantly left Phila in the dust, never mind Li Wei. Damn, she'd really gone all out!
Li Wei was thoroughly impressed. He had nothing left to say. What was the point of competing now? Even donating his farmland wouldn't help.
Wait. Hang on. Why weren't Phila and Penny launching Plot Kills like crazy?
A thought flashed through his mind. Without a second thought, he immediately chose to donate his own farmland, where the crops were almost ready to harvest.
[You donated your farmland. Since the crops growing there are nearly mature, you received 10 Family Contribution Points. You now have 52 Family Contribution Points.]
[Friendly reminder: Since your Family Contribution Points have reached 50, your status has changed to Family Elder. This status exempts you from all regular Plot Kill votes and grants you a 5% rating bonus upon completion. Your cumulative bonus is now 15%.]
[Family Elders may initiate special Plot Kills against one another. If a Family Elder makes a mistake that causes clearly serious and harmful consequences, a special Plot Kill—impeachment—may be initiated against them. Each attempt costs 50 Family Contribution Points. If the other family members agree, they will each receive at least 1 and at most 5 Family Contribution Points.]
[Friendly reminder: Exemption from a special Plot Kill costs 50 Family Contribution Points.]
--
So that was how it worked. He'd become a Family Elder. That was a relief!
Li Wei relaxed. Family Elders could launch special Plot Kills against each other, but only if someone made a mistake that caused serious consequences. For example, Phila's failure to complete the Main Quest as head of the family last time would have justified a special Plot Kill.
Under normal circumstances, as long as he didn't compete to become head of the family, what chance would he have to make a serious mistake?
In short, this was a good thing.
Li Wei still wasn't in a position to compete for head of the family, but this would keep Phila and Penny from using a regular Plot Kill to vote him to death. At least, it would as long as he had enough Family Contribution Points to become a Family Elder.
After that, Li Wei waited quietly. As expected, neither Phila nor Penny launched a Plot Kill. Phila didn't even donate her personal possessions to increase her Family Contribution Points.
It seemed she'd accepted her defeat.
Still, Li Wei figured that if Phila donated everything, her Family Contribution Points might reach 70.
It wasn't that she wasn't good enough. Penny was simply too absurdly capable.
There was no suspense left over who would become head of the family.
"Mom, George, it'll be autumn soon. We need to get ready for winter. The house we're living in needs to be expanded and better insulated, and we need to stockpile more firewood. If possible, we should reinforce the yard's wall, too. We also need to store food for the winter and harvest the wheat. All of this is important. We'll have to work harder if we want to make it through the winter."
"What do you think?"
Penny spoke up, and it was practically the same as setting the tone for the Main Quest she would issue as head of the family.
Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Penny didn't lose her mind and insist on devoting all the family's resources to mining Iron Ore, things would be fine. Winter would be a brutal trial for a family like theirs. They couldn't afford to go into it unprepared.
Phila, however, remained silent, lost in thought.
"I'll handle the wheat harvest and plant Winter Wheat. I can reinforce the yard's wall, too, and help with the house expansion. But you'll have to handle the actual work, Sis. I can also go hunting whenever I'm free."
Li Wei spoke up, taking responsibility for the things he could manage. He didn't want to go mining, and Penny probably wouldn't agree anyway. That was her own territory. The professions of craftsman and miner complemented each other perfectly.
"Oh, my dear little brother, you really are the family's pillar. It's wonderful having you here." Penny gave him a big smile. The Main Quest assigned by the head of the family was mandatory, but if a family member failed to complete their share, everyone would lose—including the head of the family.
Especially this time, with two new people joining the family. Since Mixi was George's fiancée, the work he had just taken on would actually cover two people.
"I don't know much about farming, so George, you can take care of that yourself. You can handle reinforcing the wall, too. As for expanding the house, just chop down fifty small logs and bring them back. That'll give us firewood for winter as well."
"For hunting, follow this month's quota."
"Besides that, I'll take care of all the tool repairs and replenishing the Iron Arrowheads."
Penny quickly laid out the scope and amount of work Li Wei would have to handle next month. It was a heavy burden, to say the least, but it had to be done. If they didn't work hard in autumn, it would be too late once heavy snow blocked the mountain passes.
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