freeallnovels Chapter 12 On the Brink of Bankruptcy
Chapter 12 On the Brink of Bankruptcy
North of Rainbow Village, a logging camp.
After leaving the outpost, the group of climbing snails gripped their large logging axes tightly, their palms gradually sweating.
According to the unshakeable rule in online games, if an NPC promises to reward players with top-tier equipment afterward, then this place is definitely inhabited by an epic-level boss, or a massive number of monsters comparable to a meat grinder.
The five people and one dog moved forward slowly, stepping on the decaying leaves, not daring to even breathe loudly.
They were even mentally prepared for the possibility of being wiped out at any time.
Not long after, George, who had gone ahead to scout the way, stopped not far away.
"There's something ahead." The scout whispered, making a hand gesture from behind a tree root.
The group parted the bushes, only to be bewildered by the sight before them.
In the open space of the ruins ahead, hundreds of monsters, each more than half a person tall and covered with rough branches, stood out starkly—wood spirits.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
"...If this stirs up hatred and causes a riot, we'll be smashed into mincemeat by these wood sprites." The little snail swallowed.
However, several minutes passed, and the open space remained deathly silent.
The wood spirits had their eyes tightly closed, and the cracks in the center of their trunks were tightly shut, resembling a pile of withered, rotten tree stumps.
Even as they cautiously approached, the other party showed no sign of wanting to attack.
At this moment, a kilometer away, Lynn was sitting cross-legged on the top floor of the outpost, silently observing these little players who were outsmarting thin air using the emblem connected to the system.
In fact, he had already asked old Lucas.
The poisonous mist emitted by the Rainbow Stone Tablet is extremely toxic to plant-type monsters, capable of draining them of their life force.
These wood sprites had long since withered under the corrosive effects of the poisonous fog, becoming nothing more than harmless toys.
As Lynn watched as the coordinates for his escape with the bucket began to be sketched out on the map, he finally couldn't hold back any longer.
With a slight thought, he directly used his authority to forcefully push the mission announcement to the five people's emblems.
On the open ground filled with wood sprites, holographic projections lit up on the left arms of all the players.
[Mission Prompt: Target detected to be affected by poisonous fog and has entered a deep dormant state. Physical defense is greatly reduced, and there is no counterattack mechanism. Please complete the harvest as soon as possible!]
An officially certified cheat? This is practically free experience points!
The little snail instantly turned red, its previously trembling and stifled feeling transforming into a fighting spirit.
He roared and swung his great axe down at the nearest wood spirit.
"clang!"
Wood chips flew everywhere.
Then came the second blow, the third blow...
[Defeat the Wood Demon, experience points +20]
Because the crest on the arm automatically generated a team of six combat units, the other four people and one dog also shared the experience.
Xiaoyu was overjoyed; in terms of physical attack output alone, he had the lowest in the entire team.
Now we can team up and gain experience like crazy, it's so awesome!
"Slow down your attacks! You guys need to be level 10, but I can become a mage at level 8! Don't level me up too much!"
"You keep an eye on things yourself."
At this moment, Lynn was enjoying the ultimate pleasure of being a capitalist.
[Gain experience by climbing the little snail; the system takes a 20% cut, so you get +5 experience!]
[Xiaoyu gains experience; the system takes a 20% cut, so you get +5 experience!]
[Roasting a whole lamb grants you experience; the system takes a 20% cut, so you get +5 experience!]
[Czech public intelligence agent gains experience; the system takes a 20% cut, +5 experience!]
[George gains experience; the system takes a 20% cut, so you get +5 experience!]
[Gain experience by carrying buckets and running away; the system takes a 20% cut, so you get +5 experience!]
Goodness, that means players can share experience when they team up, and Lynn, as their "lord," can take a cut from each wave of team experience.
Although the experience gained from a single instance is limited, the sheer number of attempts makes up for it.
Lynn watched as the notifications refreshed like a waterfall on his retina, his experience bar soaring and breaking through the threshold to reach [Lv.9].
Wow, that's a huge promotion!
Luckily, I'm not a mage who has to change jobs at level 8.
But Lynn soon realized a problem: how should she change jobs?
System, system...
I want to change jobs...
Lynn tried to communicate with the system in his mind.
You are unable to complete the job change.
what?
What does it mean if I can't change jobs?
Does that mean you'll be a novice for your entire career?
...............
By evening, the group of wood spirits had been completely wiped out.
Just as the players were overjoyed at all reaching level 6 or 7, their emblems simultaneously flashed red.
Looks like my stamina bar is about to run out. The higher the level, the more stamina is consumed.
The five exhausted people scrambled back to the outpost with the timber, not even bothering to say much to the NPCs, and hurriedly logged off in the thatched hut, preparing to return to Earth for a meal.
Five blue lights flashed through their minds, and the players' bodies disconnected, falling into a deep sleep.
The world is quiet.
Lynn emerged from the shadows, gazing at the mountain of top-quality shipbuilding timber and feeling the abundant power of his Lv.9 level. Just as he was about to return to his house to study the issue of job advancement, the old village chief Lucas, leaning on his cane, greeted him with a smile.
"Saint, a miracle! This is a miracle!"
Lucas held a tattered parchment ledger in his hands, his beard trembling with excitement:
"This good timber is enough for the shipbuilding you mentioned."
More importantly, the four adorable pigs the warriors brought back yesterday really solved our village's urgent problem!
The old village chief opened the account book, pointed to the rough charcoal symbols on it, and his tone revealed an unprecedented optimism and generosity:
"I've discussed it with the villagers. We'll chop the meat up and cook it into porridge with the coarse noodles from the cellar. With these five brave warriors, our entire village of eighty people will be able to eat comfortably for seven or eight days! In all my years as village chief, I've never fought such a prosperous battle!"
Seeing Lucas's wrinkled face beam with joy, Lynn nodded in satisfaction.
"As long as logistics are in place, thank you for your hard work..."
"Buzz"
Before he could finish speaking, a blinding blood-red holographic warning panel suddenly popped up in the system deep within Lynn's mind.
[Warning: Five higher-dimensional clones of the target have been detected!]
[Data overload: The target clone's level has increased dramatically, and it continues to perform high-intensity operations.]
[Latest camp food consumption estimate: If all personnel remain in a healthy state, the remaining reserves will only last for two days!]
Two days.
These two words flashed wildly on Lynn's retina, almost like a death knell.
Lynn's saintly, aloof smile froze instantly.
He looked at the grinning Lucas, his heart bleeding. This native NPC had absolutely no idea what attribute points or energy conservation were!
Did Lucas think that the muscles that could kill a wood sprite with a single axe blow were magic given to him by the system?
Those are real calories that are burning!
That beast of a beast, who climbs the snail, worked all afternoon demolishing things. His appetite for one meal tomorrow would probably be equivalent to that of ten strong men in the village!
If he doesn't get enough to eat, the system will immediately apply an extremely weak debuff to him, causing him to go on strike.
Two more days... In two more days, the village will run out of food and have nothing to eat.
Lynn turned his head and glanced at the five "human gluttons" sleeping soundly with their heads sprawled out in the thatched hut. The joy of the upgrade he had just experienced vanished, replaced by a suffocating feeling of impending bankruptcy.
"Saint? You haven't slept for two days. Don't you need to rest?" Lucas asked with concern.
This reminded Lynn that since arriving in Rainbow Village and awakening the system, he had been so busy that he hadn't slept at all.
I need to catch up on some sleep while the players are offline.
If someone were to die suddenly from staying up all night, it would be a disgrace to time travelers.
"It's nothing... I just suddenly felt the weight of the world's origin."
Lynn forced a smile, waved his hand, and said, "You go ahead and do your work. Let me have some peace and quiet and receive some divine guidance."
The old village chief bowed reverently and withdrew.
However, the current problem still needs a solution.
As the night wind blew, Lynn stood alone amidst the piles of timber, on the verge of tears.
As a veteran in the gaming industry, he knows these players' temperaments all too well.
They can accept insane bosses and hardcore mechanics, but they absolutely cannot accept playing games on an empty stomach!
If they log on tomorrow and find that this pretentious game can't even afford a meal, he, as the GM, will suffer social death on the spot, and his image will be shattered.
"We absolutely cannot let them find out that I'm about to go bankrupt."
Lynn gritted his teeth, like a gambler who had lost everything, frantically searching through the map database of his brain.
The green water to the east is poisonous, and to the west is a cliff... Suddenly, his gaze locked onto a coastal fissure on the south side of the map.
There are an astonishing number of adorable pigs there, enough to fill the bottomless pits of these five gluttons!
"Since there's no food, then go to Tiger Head Mountain and hunt a million catties of game!"
Lynn immediately brought up the system editing panel and temporarily shut down the players' connection channels.
He wanted to repackage the embarrassing GM crisis of "going to the beach to hunt for food" with the most sophisticated and perilous copywriting.
"These bastards... if they don't wipe out all the wild boars on that southern coast by tomorrow, nobody's getting lunch!"
Under the moonlight, this GM, who had just reached level 9, shed two lines of bitter capitalist tears.