The next morning at dawn.
The area outside the sanatorium's enclosing wall was bustling with activity and calls from all directions.
"Transporting stones from the abandoned construction site, a four-person team with three of one rank and one of another, rental fee for two small carts already paid, hurry up if you want a ride."
"Any Strength Types looking for teammates? Group up to chop wood, make money, and level up!"
"Agile system looking for a group! Perception types preferred, Intelligence types step aside, for scavenging quests at the Northern Terraced Building! GKD!"
"Damn it, do people with the Intelligence System have no rights at all??"
"The Outpost is recruiting a part-time Warehouse Manager with a fixed daily salary of 9 Silver Coins and 100 Contribution Points, working hours from 6 AM to 6 PM, including a 3-hour rotating break. Job duties include checking ledger, inventory count, resource purchasing, and sales; Intelligence System preferred, hiring two people only. Be warned, the Manager is always watching you, and any acts of favoritism or fraud will be severely punished... Oh shit! I'm signing up!"
"The carpenter's hut is also hiring! The guaranteed daily salary is 10 Silver Coins and 200 Contribution Points, with an extra commission for tool-making orders. Uh, carpentry experience required, capable of processing logs, and able to make above good-quality furniture, Bow and Arrow, and Lance... I'm out of here."
After the update, every player received a newcomer's gift packet of 5 Copper Coins from the generous Manager.
What can you do with 5 Copper Coins?
Actually, there are quite a few things you can do.
For example, you could rent an axe for 5 hours from the lumber shack, or rent a flatbed cart, push cart, or other tools from the warehouse for 5 hours.
Besides rental, you could also buy one pound of goat horn tuber, green wheat, or 100g of jerky from the warehouse, so purchasing power is quite strong.
I must say, players are always the quickest to adapt.
If it were the Scavengers from Bet Street, upon hearing that someone wanted to replace their chips, which had been used for nearly a century, with metal pieces, they would probably stand up and fight that person immediately.
But players are different.
They are like particles performing Brownian motion in a bottle, with chaos and order coexisting as dualities within them. As long as they still need to repeatedly put on and take off their helmets, they can never escape this bottle.
The Game has its rules, and updates and adjustments are the norms.
To the players, this is common sense.
In less than an hour, these self-taught geniuses had already familiarized themselves with the new version's rules and started pondering over strategies to adapt to this version of play within the rules.
The open space in front of the enclosing wall.
Fang Chang didn't set off right away but gathered Old White, Night Ten, and Wild Wind together to sit in a circle and start a strategy meeting.
Fang Chang, "The biggest change in the Alpha0.3 version is the overhaul of the Economic System and the Identity System."
Fang Chang, "I just consulted the Assistant to the Manager, and to earn Contribution Points, other than making significant contributions, the only other way is through employment. Taking the lowest entry position of Warehouse Manager as an example, working one day you can earn 100 Contribution Points, and starting with zero foundation, it normally takes 20 days to reach Citizen level."
Wild Wind touched his nose and raised his hand.
"I'd like to add that it's not just through the employment system. There are guarantees with the daily active quests. For example, if you chop 20 trees and haul them to the carpenter's hut, in addition to the pay for chopping wood itself, you also get 80 Contribution Points... however, the daily maximum of Contribution Points you can earn from active quests is only 160 points, roughly two quests will cap it out."
Fang Chang, "Hmm... using the break time from professional quests to do daily active quests, theoretically, the maximum Contribution Points you can earn in a single day is 260, and it would take 8 days to accumulate 2000 points. But for the average person, I guess it's quite difficult."
Night Ten murmured.
"Holy cow, that means... my 3000 Contribution Points are kind of Niubi?!"
Old White scratched the back of his head and chuckled.
"I have 5000."
Night Ten, "Damn!"
The first time they entered The Game, Contribution Points for chopping trees were calculated based on the length and thickness of the wood. For trees as thick as an arm, 1 point per meter; trees as thick as a thigh, 2 points per meter.
Perhaps the game's numerical planner didn't design it well, and as a result, the Strength Type Old White stubbornly chopped wood until he reached 800 points, and even Fang Chang, the weakest in stamina, earned 300 points in a single day.
This was obviously unreasonable.
Sure enough, from Alpha0.2 version onwards, the income from chopping wood was significantly reduced, and now in the Alpha0.3 version, the income from chopping a tree, depending on thickness and length, was only 2 or 4 Copper Coins. Moreover, if you don't have your own axe, you still have to pay an hourly rental fee of 1 Copper Coin and accept credit.
Even if you chop 20 thigh-thick pine trees in one day, the income is just 80 Copper Coins, which is equivalent to 8 Silver Coins.
Plus the 80 Contribution Points for completing 20 trees, the lumberjack profession has been nerfed to an epic degree compared to the very beginning of the server!
However, the Outpost didn't seem to be lacking in wood anymore, and chopping trees is probably for next year's spring planting.
"Thanks to the overflow of Contribution Points data in the early stages of the game, we four are now the highest in Contribution Points in The Game. I have already exchanged for Citizen identity, and later you guys should also upgrade. That way, we have a combined 20 square meters, and can enclose a plot near the sanatorium."
"Enclose a plot for what?"
"Are you stupid? To build a house! A 20-square-meter tiny house with three floors shouldn't be a problem, right? As long as the height doesn't exceed that of the central sanatorium. The first floor will be the storefront, second and third floors divided up, one room each, isn't it great to have a bed and a box in there?"
Fang Chang glared at Night Ten, how could he ask such a dumb question.
"That makes sense..." Old White's eyes lit up, "We could go into business!"
The storefront directly faces the sanatorium's main entrance, the respawn point for players, an absolutely golden location in prime territory, where selling anything would make a fortune!
"Exactly! That's what I considered!"
Fang Chang snapped his fingers, a confident smile appearing on his face as he said,
"The new version is clearly encouraging players to be creative, to organize production and trade on their own initiative! Remember the dog—cough, remember what the planner emphasized at the beginning? The goal of Wasteland OL is to create an Economic System that truly reflects supply and demand, and this will determine a large part of players' equipment and supplies in the future, likely having to be acquired through trade between players!"
If you don't enclose land now, when will you?
Unfortunately, the Identity System limits the amount of land a player can purchase, otherwise Fang Chang would really like to save up and buy all the land around the sanatorium, straight up developing a real estate business in the Wasteland.
Isn't this a better value for money than buying a house in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou?
Could there possibly be any chance that Game wouldn't explode during public testing?
"Niubi!" Even Wild Wind couldn't help but give a thumbs up this time.
The analysis was spot on!
Night Ten and Old White exchanged a glance, their faces brimming with excitement.
"How much does it cost to buy land?"
Fang Chang said with a smile.
"I've checked it out, 1 square meter only needs 10 Silver Coins. What we need to do now is to gather 200 Silver Coins before all the other players, and buy the nearest 20 square meters to the sanatorium!"
Old White hesitated, "What if someone beats us to it?"
Fang Chang made a helpless gesture.
"If that really happens, then we'll just rope them into joining us."
Right now, there were hardly a few people who had leveled up to Citizen level. Even if there were some who were faster, there couldn't be that many, right? A couple more wouldn't hurt.
The three nodded in agreement, seeing no issue with the idea of pulling others into the endeavor.
"I have another question," Night Ten raised his hand and said, "What should we do to save up money? I checked, and working in cement production is the highest paying job among those with no experience requirements. But even then, the daily income is only 10 Silver Coins. Even with a 20% production bonus, that's only 12 Coins at most... and it only requires two people."
Wild Wind pointed in a certain direction, reminding them,
"Moreover, there are no spots left now, look over at the cement kilns... smoke has already started rising, probably filled up with people."
Though the cement kiln had been built by Old White and the rest, after the Alpha 0.3 version update that introduced the land system, every facility inside the enclosing wall had become public property.
As the builders of the facility, Old White and Fang Chang both enjoyed a 30-day priority purchasing right.
But the location of that cement kiln was really too remote – almost against the wall – and who knew when it might be obliterated by a stray bullet from outside invaders.
Neither of them planned to waste their precious "land purchasing quota" on that, especially since the technology involved wasn't that advanced. It would be better to wait for the 30-day mark when the assets were liquidated, and the fixed assets above the ground were officially confiscated, after which the Manager would compensate them with a sum of money and Contribution Points.
They were even hoping for the confiscation to happen now in exchange for a demolition compensation to buy land.
Fang Chang stroked his chin and said,
"Even if it's not fully staffed, I wouldn't recommend taking those fixed positions. To outrun the other players, we must find an alternative path."
Night Ten looked at him and asked,
"Such as?"
"Such as hunting!"
"Hunting?"
Fang Chang nodded.
"Yes, I just saw at the warehouse entrance, a mutated hyena carcass can be traded for 5 Silver Coins, and if the prey weighs more than thirty kilograms, every kilogram over nets an additional 2 Copper Coins."
Night Ten's eyes widened.
"5 Silver Coins? That much?!"
And that was based on the bare minimum!
Mutated hyenas generally weighed around thirty kilograms, but now it was autumn, and most prey were bulking up on fat, so they usually weighed more than usual.
This game executed that detail impressively.
"...Yeah, besides mutated hyenas, mutant reindeer were also on the buying list, and each piece of game was priced at at least 12 Silver Coins! Basically, if the four of us team up and manage to hunt down 8 mutated hyenas in a day, we can steadily surpass the income from four people making cement! Every extra one means more profit!"
This was the quickest way Fang Chang could think of to earn 200 Silver Coins.
"But... where do we find so many prey?" Old White hesitatingly said, "Inside Wetland Park, there seem to be mostly birds and small animals. Don't we have to go out of Wetland Park and into the city to find bigger game?"
Before Fang Chang could answer, Night Ten sitting next to him raised his hand.
"We don't have to worry about that! I've been hunting with the Manager these past days. I remember the dangerous spots and where the prey is abundant. Moreover, yesterday the Manager and I found a migrating herd of deer. As long we follow the tracks, it'll be easy to find game!"
Wild Wind nodded.
"Right, our Night Ten is Perception Type, 9 points in Perception, currently the highest among all players. Searching for game shouldn't be too hard. The real question is, how do we go about hunting? The Weapon Merchant isn't open for business yet."
Fang Chang confidently smiled and stated,
"There's no need for guns. With proper use, spears, slingshots, bows and arrows, crossbows... these weapons perform just as well as guns at medium and close range."
Wild Wind furrowed his brow in enquiry.
"Have you ever used a bow? It's not so easy to hit a target with that thing."
He had tried archery once during a team-building activity at the Archery club in college, even using one of those professional aiming bows.
Nevermind hitting a target 20 meters away; not embarrassing yourself with a bag of 10 arrows was considered a bit of a talent.
Many aiming for their own targets would end up hitting someone else's or even the protective cotton on the floors and ceilings.
Without sights for the bows...
Wild Wind couldn't even fathom how low the hit rate might be.
However, Fang Chang didn't seem worried in the slightest, still wearing a confident smile.
"Don't worry about it. Leave the archery to me. I have some experience. You will be in charge of making traps and finishing blows, Old White as the frontliner, Night Ten on scouting and alert."
"Trust me, this lineup is rock solid!"
[Note: "Niubi" in Chinese is a slang term often equated with "awesome" or "badass".]