A rift among the players

"Ah... who first awoke from the great dream? All my life, I alone have known..."

After Chris woke from his afternoon nap, the first thing he did was secretly indulge in a little showing off. Only then did he lift the thick, plush blanket, change out of his pajamas in front of the 1.8-meter-tall full-length mirror in his room, and put on his old green military greatcoat and furry hat.

Then he leisurely opened the door and left his room.

In the living room outside, some players were already sitting on the sofa or lying on the floor, chatting with one another. Others stood in front of the fireplace, laughing as they tossed in firewood to make the flames burn brighter.

Chris glanced at them but did nothing to stop them from burning the wood.

However much he wanted to save money, Chris wasn't about to be stingy about keeping warm.

In fact, the plain rice porridge the players had drunk upon arriving was just a little joke Chris had played on them. Although it hadn't tasted very good, it was no big deal to the players, and it wasn't going to kill anyone.

It was now almost evening, and Chris was ready to cook dinner in the kitchen. He planned to make a big communal meal and serve them something tasty.

"Hey... wait, there are only six of you. Where are the other four?"

Chris stopped on his way to the kitchen, turned back, and carefully counted the players in the living room again. Only then did he realize that just six of the ten were there.

Lin Ruoyu, who was tossing firewood into the fireplace, glanced back.

"No idea. Are the other four still outside?"

"I'm going to cook. Go look for them."

Chris wasn't particularly concerned about the four missing players. They were players, after all-there was no telling what they might do. They could still be wandering around outside, or they could have jumped into a river to kill themselves.

So, after leaving them with that remark, he went into the kitchen, picked up two large stockpots, and began heating water.

Chris planned to cook one pot of rice and another of chicken carcasses stewed with potatoes.

He wasn't a particularly good cook, but stews didn't require much culinary skill. With enough seasoning, chicken and potatoes couldn't taste all that bad.

Chris left after that casual remark, and most of the players in the living room didn't pay much attention to it either. One quick-witted player, however, lay down on the sofa and logged out.

Before long, the quick-witted player logged back in. The moment he opened his eyes, he shouted.

"Guys, I know where two of them are! They died outside!"

That immediately drew the other players' attention. Even Lin Ruoyu, who had been playing with the fire, put down the fire tongs and came over.

"Huh? They're dead? You can die just going out for a walk?"

"How did they die? Did they run into some sudden story event? Did they get a quest?"

The quick-witted player explained.

"No. They were going through an alley when someone stopped them and tried to rob them. The two of them fought back unarmed and got stabbed to death."

"How do you know about this?"

"They posted on the game forum. The person who started the thread also said they can't respawn right now and asked me to check with the NPC about what's going on."

Lin Ruoyu didn't join the discussion. After hearing this, he ran to the kitchen doorway and called inside.

"Mr. Chris, two of the four people who went out are dead."

"Dead? Can you bring their bodies back? If their bodies are intact, reviving them won't use up a revival. Without their bodies, they'll have to use one of their revivals."

Chris answered without looking up as he blanched the chicken carcasses.

If they had the bodies, Chris could buy a little frozen meat and patch up the wounds later. Without them, though, he would need two hundred jin of frozen meat, which would cost another two hundred yuan.

There were still plenty of days ahead, and nobody knew how many more times the players would die in this huge city. Chris had to make his money last.

As for two out of the ten who had gone out dying, with another two still not back, Chris thought that was perfectly normal.

The players were all people from the twenty-fifth century. Having lived in a peaceful society for so long, they had no sense of danger and couldn't recognize the threats around them. Now that they had suddenly arrived in another world in its Industrial Revolution era, it would have been strange if nothing had happened.

On top of that, the clothes the players wore were bound to attract the attention of the poor in this freezing winter.

Although the clothes Chris had bought for the players on the Online Shopping Platform were cheap, discounted warehouse clearance stock, they were still products of the industrial age. However poor their styles and materials were, they were still proper clothes.

By contrast, in Inyama, a huge city with a year-round resident population of over three million, just how many poor people couldn't afford winter clothes? And did the city's law enforcers really do their duty?

"Oh, right. Before you go out, check the little room by the door. There are a few things in there you can use to defend yourselves. Take them with you before you go retrieve the bodies."

Lin Ruoyu returned to the living room and explained the situation. The other five players all reacted differently.

Some wanted to go out with Lin Ruoyu to retrieve the bodies, while two didn't want to leave. It was the middle of winter-going outside would be freezing. If other players died, so be it. It had nothing to do with them. They could just use one of their free revivals.

One of those willing to go out-the player who had logged out to check the forum, with the ID Home Alone above his head-immediately argued back.

"If you won't help anyone else, don't blame them for refusing to retrieve your bodies when you get yourselves killed."

The two players lying on the sofa wavered when they heard that, but it really was too cold outside.

At that point, Lin Ruoyu stepped forward and said.

"Why don't you log out and switch to idle mode? This game was made by Hundred House Game Studio. Open the client and take a look. There should be an idle option.

Let your gaming helmets take over your characters, then hand command over to me. I'll take them outside. That way, you won't have to suffer the cold, and you won't miss any quests or story events that might come up."

"That's a good idea..."

One of the players lying on the sofa nodded in agreement, then abruptly changed his tune.

"But I just don't want to go outside. I don't even want to go in idle mode. Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?

If I do whatever you say, wouldn't that make me look bad?"

Lin Ruoyu shook his head. He pulled Little Ghost along and said to the other two willing to help.

"Let's go. We'll get the gear, then head out."

Lin Ruoyu had been careful: when he said they should go look for the bodies, he hadn't mentioned that anyone willing to help could choose free equipment from the little room.

It was a simple little trick, but it successfully showed Lin Ruoyu who he could work with and who was a troublemaker who picked fights for no reason and found fault with everyone.