Forgiveness Hat scratched his head. "I picked them on the mountain. These two seemed to be growing in a mine shaft up there, and there were a lot more. I just plucked two on the way back, thinking I'd see if they were useful. I know the mushrooms on Earth, but the ones in this game—no! On the wasteland—I don't recognize them all."
Cheng Shaofeng nodded.
"Very good. This kind of mushroom is called an Icefire Mushroom. It has some value, and I can use it. I can give you 0.1 Iron Coin for each one. How does that sound?"
Forgiveness Hat looked delighted. "Huh? These poisonous mushrooms can really be sold for money? That's great!"
"Soldier, your payment will be issued tomorrow. For now, I have a mission for you: collect as many Icefire Mushrooms as possible. I will give you appropriate compensation and grant you Merit Points from Calamity Base."
Ding~ New mission received: Collect Icefire Mushrooms Mission requirement: Collect 10 Icefire Mushrooms. Current progress: 0/10 Mission reward: 10 Iron Coins, 200 Merit Points Hand more Icefire Mushrooms to the Lord to receive more Iron Coins and Merit Points.
A mission!
Forgiveness Hat's eyes lit up.
"Lord, I'll definitely collect plenty of poisonous mushrooms for you. Ah, no—it's Icefire Mushrooms!"
Forgiveness Hat happily carried his half-bag of poisonous mushrooms back. Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something and turned around.
"Lord, I think someone was following me on my way out. But they were very well hidden, so I didn't see what they looked like."
"Oh, I understand. Be careful. Tell me if anything happens. It's too late today; you should all rest. Get back to work early tomorrow morning."
Cheng Shaofeng shook his head, unconcerned.
He didn't think anyone in these mountains would deliberately follow an ordinary player. It was more likely that a nearby hunter had been curious and was watching from hiding. After all, on the wasteland, Mutated Creatures were not the only threat.
Meanwhile, Forgiveness Hat and Xiao Xiao both met with Cheng Shaofeng, backed up their body data, and returned to their little houses to log off.
Only Cheng Shaofeng remained at the base.
After holding it in all this time, Cheng Shaofeng finally burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! I'm such a genius at business!"
Just then, he had come up with an extremely reliable plan. It could both increase the players' enthusiasm and help him complete his initial accumulation of wealth.
Hand out money!
Since virtual points like Merit Points already existed, why not just create a Virtual Currency?
The base came with an information editor. He could edit the interface and text according to his needs, then display them on the players' Smartwatches. He could simply send money directly to their watches!
He would use virtual money to buy supplies from the players, then trade those supplies in town or the city for all kinds of goods. In turn, he would open a shop at the base and sell those goods back to the players at high prices.
A win-win!
Cheng Shaofeng won twice!
Icefire Mushrooms were a great place to start.
He would make a tiny profit off the price difference.
Issuing Virtual Currency immediately solved his problem of having no rewards to motivate players to do missions.
"Perfect! I'll create a money system for the players tonight."
When Ink Dye Sword Xiao logged off and opened her eyes, it was already seven thirty in the morning.
"Ugh, time passed so fast. I spent more than six hours building a house and crafting two pieces of equipment."
"This game is so interesting. I need to find a way to record it and show it to my fans."
"Crafting equipment in the game is no different from doing it in real life, especially the visuals—they're absolutely convincing! And my arms won't get so tired I can barely lift them. Once the equipment is finished, there's even a thrilling appraisal process. The content value would be insane!"
She looked for her miniature camera and tried to install it inside her helmet.
After trying for a long time, she still couldn't capture the view inside the helmet and could only give up helplessly.
She opened the forum and sent Sentinel a private message.
"Mr. Sentinel, the designer, may I ask something? Can the game record videos? I want to film some equipment-crafting footage for my videos. It could also help promote your game. Would that be okay?"
Sentinel replied, "Sorry, the game does not support recording at the moment."
"Oh, okay. What a shame."
But after thinking about it, Xiao Xiao could understand. The game was still in closed beta and they were still looking for bugs, so it made sense for actual gameplay footage to remain confidential for now. Once the Open Beta began, it would definitely be possible.
Xiao Xiao felt a little annoyed. She had originally planned to sleep, play games, and work all at once, but that had fallen through. She still had to make videos properly during the day.
"Right! Since this game's settings follow real-world physics, I can craft the weapons in real life first, then recreate them in the game. Wouldn't that be much more efficient?"
"The game barely has any basic smelting tools. Most of what I've used over the years has been modern equipment, so suddenly working under these conditions is a little difficult. Looks like I need to cram some knowledge on making DIY tools from the primitive Stone Age onward. To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools! Go, Xiao Xiao!"
At eight in the morning, Xiao Xiao ate a quick breakfast and took a taxi straight to the city library she often visited.
There was plenty of information online, but it wasn't precise enough.
After logging off, Forgiveness Hat immediately signed into the forum.
He received a group invitation link from Thin Dog.
After entering, he saw Thin Dog, Demon Fox, and Lin Tang chatting in the forum group.
Sentinel and Ink Dye Sword Xiao were also in the group.
However, Xiao Xiao only said two sentences before saying she had things to do and would chat later.
Thin Dog said, "Brother Green Hat is here! So, so? Did anything else happen in the game after we logged off? Xiao Xiao said she went to the library, so she didn't reply to us."
Forgiveness Hat Wholesaler replied, "...That nickname is weird. I suggest you just call me by my name from now on."
"Didn't I go out to explore the map yesterday? I checked out the mountains around us, picked some fruit and mushrooms, then came back. You guys had already logged off when I reached the base. Later, I..."
Forgiveness Hat briefly described what had happened last night to them in text.
"That's basically it. I have to go to work now. See you tonight."
"Let's see what my first order is... Delivering a large Pleasant Goat plushie to someone's long-distance boyfriend."
Thin Dog, Demon Fox, and Lin Tang: (°ー°〃)
"Go get busy, then. Don't delay putting hats on people."
After they finished chatting on the forum, the three returned to their small QQ group.
Lin Tang said, "Clearly, more game mechanics have emerged. Life Players also have ways to gain experience. Although they can't earn as much as we can directly by killing monsters, it's safer. It seems Sentinel and the other designers want to create a complete player ecosystem, allowing Life Players and combat players to complement one another and form a game model closer to a real world."
"So I've discovered the game's selling point—'Apocalypse OL,' a realistic wasteland game."
Demon Fox said, "Lin Tang's analysis is pretty good this time. From what we've seen so far, this game company really does seem to have that idea. An interesting design."
Lin Tang said, "Now we've also gained a key piece of information: the currency system has been activated. From now on, all our supplies can be measured in money, and transactions between us and other players will become more convenient. If I'm not mistaken, the shop system should be coming soon as well. When we enter the game tonight, we should deliberately farm some materials to sell to the Lord and save up some money. Once the shop appears, we'll be able to buy whatever items we want right away."
Thin Dog said, "Makes sense. If Lin Tang isn't being stupid, he's actually pretty smart."
Lin Tang said, "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
Demon Fox said, "The game is getting more and more interesting. I'm actually becoming a little addicted. It's been a long time since I've felt like this."
"Come to think of it, if everyone has nothing to do during the day, we can think about how to increase our monster-farming efficiency and... how to deal with multiple Raiders. We need to break into the Raider Camp and seize energy. Our Clones are still short on energy reserves."
Thin Dog was a rich second-generation heir, while Lin Tang was self-employed, so both had plenty of free time. They agreed.
Meanwhile, in the Diablo 3 forum, word of the virtual reality game helmet had already spread everywhere.
The forum was filled with discussions about it.
Especially after Thin Dog, Demon Fox, and Lin Tang shared their experiences, even more game details were revealed, leaving those unable to play desperately jealous.
The number of reservations on the official "Apocalypse OL" website climbed from 318 yesterday all the way to 1,822, and that number was still rising every minute.
Newly registered forum accounts Shadow Night God 4 and Shadow Night God 5 also applied for reservations today.
At ten in the morning, the official game website released an announcement.
"Apocalypse OL" Version 1.1 Update Details
There will be another chapter later, but it'll be late. Don't wait up—go to sleep first.
Before you continue