The Barbarians of the construction team, following their master's orders, began upgrading the wooden house. A countdown appeared again, showing: 24 hours.
Under the influence of Rudi's Master Builder talent, time accelerated by ten times, but even so, it still required over two hours.
Rudi gently stroked his chin. "Feels like I can't wait that long."
At that moment, he remembered the Construction Time Halving Card he had received as part of an achievement reward. He immediately pulled it out. "Oh right, I almost forgot about this."
[Construction Time Halving Card: Halves the construction time of any building instantly.]
Rudi crushed the card with a snap, and in the next moment, the card turned into a glowing rune that flew into the wooden house. Immediately, something magical happened.
The original 24 hours was reduced directly to 12 hours—actually, it was 1 hour and 12 minutes.
Rudi nodded. "Looks like I'll have to wait for about an hour, but it's fine, it's already been cut down quite a bit."
He languidly waited for his lord's wooden house to complete its upgrade. Since the beginning of the game, Rudi had grown accustomed to incredibly fast building speeds.
Thus, the little over an hour felt unusually long to him.
Bored, he decided to check the chat channel and was immediately caught off guard by some unexpected content.
[That guy called Rudi must've gotten all that lizard meat by completing the hidden cave challenge, right?]
[How did he manage to finish the challenge in a single day? I think the hidden cave doesn't even seem that difficult. We could do it too, why don't we give it a try?]
[Yeah, it's probably really easy. I'm heading out now with my soldiers to take on the challenge!]
[Hey everyone, let's raid the hidden cave together. This way, we can level up much faster, and get a lot of meat—no need to buy stuff from that shady merchant anymore!]
Rudi realized that his previous easy success in the hidden cave had led many players to misunderstand it.
Many believed that the hidden cave was an easy challenge!
As a result, after Rudi, numerous other players rushed to take on the challenge. But soon, the chat was filled with a series of continuous announcements.
[Player George Burt failed to conquer the hidden cave, and has been killed!]
[Player Benjamin failed to conquer the hidden cave, and has been killed!]
[Player Oni failed to conquer the hidden cave, and has been killed!]
...
In an instant, the entire chat channel was in an uproar!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a player named Edri was running alongside his soldiers, his face full of disbelief.
"This damn hidden cave, the difficulty is this high, how the hell did that bastard Rudi manage to succeed?" At this moment, behind Edri, a wild boar the size of an elephant was chasing him down.
Mutated wild boar—this was the monster that had appeared after he chose to challenge the cave!
His Barbarians had already been stomped to death by the wild boar several times. Edri's heart was filled with nothing but regret and hatred. If it weren't for the misleading information provided by Rudi, he wouldn't be in this mess!
Meanwhile, Rudi was having a good laugh. He didn't know the specifics of every player's battle, but he could easily guess how many people were about to have a bad time.
After all, Rudi was a Master Builder with ten times the normal construction speed. For other players, trying to achieve the same was just a pipe dream. The most logical thing for them to do now was to slowly develop their strength.
Suddenly, another idea popped into Rudi's head. "Right, since the Energy Stone has a chance to drop when any creature is killed, there must be quite a few players worldwide who have one by now."
With that thought, he added a new item to his trade inventory. This time, it wasn't food.
[Player Rudi has listed Construction Time Halving Cards ×5]
For other players, this item might be a rare treasure. But honestly, for Rudi himself, it wasn't that useful.
After all, he was a Master Builder. Even when upgrading his lord's wooden house, a single card would only save him one hour. It wasn't particularly impressive, so Rudi planned to sell them.
"I only need to keep four for myself. The rest, I'll sell to get something more valuable—Energy Stones!"
Then, he made a public statement.
[Rudi: I see many players struggling to grow, and as humans, I feel deeply sympathetic. Though the Construction Time Halving Cards are important to me as well, I am willing to part with them and offer them to those who need them more.]
As soon as this message appeared, the other players were shocked.
[Oh my god, it's a Construction Time Halving Card! I can't believe Rudi is actually willing to sell it to us. That's so noble of him!]
[With this, won't our development speed increase dramatically? Rudi the Shady Merchant is no longer shady!?]
[I absolutely must buy one. Even if I have to spend all my construction materials, it's worth it! Rudi, tell me, how much?]
Rudi grinned as he looked at the screen, slowly tapping on it.
[Rudi: Each Construction Time Halving Card is priced at just 1 Energy Stone!]
As soon as this message was sent, the trade channel, which had been buzzing with activity just a moment ago, went silent. After a brief second of silence, everyone began spamming the chat.
[Damn it, I knew it! How could this bastard actually help us out? Energy Stones are the most precious things in this world!]
[As expected, a shady merchant is still a shady merchant!]
Rudi chuckled to himself, but this time, after his five Construction Time Halving Cards had been listed for half a day, not a single one had been bought.
It seemed that the other players weren't fools. They all knew how rare the Energy Stone was.
However, Rudi wasn't in a hurry. If no one bought it, he'd just leave it listed. After all, he wasn't losing anything. He believed that with so many players in the world, someone would eventually take the bait.
After all, Construction Time Halving Cards were a rare and useful item, and only Rudi had them!
After a small delay, more than an hour had passed.
"My wooden house, it looks like it's about to be upgraded!" Rudi turned his gaze toward the wooden house, his excitement suddenly building up.
Finally, with the last countdown ticking down, the five Builder Barbarians simultaneously put down their tools. The entire lord's small wooden house shone with a brilliant golden light. The upgrade was complete!
[Lord's Wooden House level has been upgraded!]
Rudi rubbed his hands together, already eager with anticipation. He focused on the wooden house, and as the light faded, the sight he had been waiting for appeared.
The most noticeable change after the upgrade was the exterior. The tiny wooden shack that had looked like a public restroom was now five times bigger!
It now had windows, a chimney, and the overall appearance had finally taken on the shape of a real house. It no longer looked as dilapidated and crude as before.
Filled with joy, the first thing Rudi did was open the door, eager to see what was inside.
Meanwhile, at various locations around the world, other players who harbored resentment toward Rudi were still venting their frustration.
[That damn merchant, he's definitely going to get his comeuppance. The heavens will punish him! Does he think he can keep staying ahead forever?]
[Right? I'll bet you anything that this bastard is about to face some serious bad luck!]
But the next moment, from every corner of the world, all players once again heard a single announcement.
[Congratulations to player Rudi for becoming the first player worldwide to upgrade to a level 2 territory!!!]
[Achievement unlocked: Divine Protection! For the next three days, all soldiers within the territory will not experience hunger or fatigue, and all damage taken will be halved!]
Instantly, the chat channel exploded!
[What the hell? Did I see that right? I must have misread it!]
[It's Rudi again! What kind of person upgrades to a level 2 territory on the first day of the game?!]
[Goddamn, I can't believe this… I'm about to pass out from anger…]
Rudi didn't care at all about the other players' reactions. At that moment, he was standing inside the wooden house, completely captivated by what he saw.
"Wow, this upgrade is amazing! This is such a drastic change!" Rudi was stunned. Not only had the exterior of the house improved, but the interior was completely different from before.
There was now much more basic furniture—besides the pots and bowls, there were now tables, chairs, and benches. The most basic bed and blankets had also been added, and there was even a fireplace!
The air no longer carried a foul stench, and the room was warm, with no more drafts.
"Although it's still not luxurious, at least now it's a place where people can actually live!" Rudi couldn't even imagine how he'd have spent the night in the old shack.
Just then, a notification bar appeared in front of him.