At this mont, Ji Tang was feeling anxious and uneasy as he followed a few other players in wandering the streets and alleys of Weisshem.
"The scenery on this new map is absolutely amazing. It really feels as if we are walking within a real town," exclaid Tang Jia in amazent. Pointing to a wooden two-story house, she said, "Qingyue, look! That house has such a quaint style! The little fence beneath the attic window is adorable!"
"It looks nice, but I bet it's not so comfortable to live in," the pragmatic Yang Ying comnted. "Wooden houses don't keep insects out. Mosquitoes are everywhere in the sumr, and in winter, people inside would be shivering from the cold. I once stayed at a relative's house like that in the countryside, and I rember it vividly."
"In a ga, only looks matter. It doesn't matter if it isn't practical."
"But it's not practical; NPCs can get heatstroke, so the cold affects them too. The problem with these wooden houses is much worse when it snows in the winter."
"In that case, Tianyong City doesn't have any toilets either. Why don't you make a case with Zhulong?"
"What's Tianyong City?"
"Uh, it's a city inside Ancient Sword 3—"
Ji Tang glanced at the two carefree girls that were chattering about sothing incomprehensible. It would be much easier for him if all players were like that.
When his gaze shifted to the third person, Ji Tang's expression beca sowhat heavy.
Accompanying Tang Jia and Yang Ying to explore the new map was… Unceasing Entropy.
With the in-ga siege quest rewards settled and Earth ti transitioning into the early morning, most student and office worker players had already logged out. In theory, both Unceasing Entropy and Tang Jia ought to have been attending classes at this ti. However, Tang Jia was just so excited that she didn't just skip her class but also went over to Unceasing Entropy's dorm room at a different school and convinced the studious Zheng Qingyue to skip the morning lecture and ga instead.
As a result, Ji Tang's crisis period ca ahead of schedule…
In the two previous "ga maps," the combined total of "human NPCs" in Exile Town and Desolate Outpost was just a little over three hundred, and the interaction intensity with players wasn't considered particularly high.
But now, this "new map" of Weisshem was bustling with nearly ten thousand "human NPCs," and the degree of close interactions would increase exponentially!
Ji Tang had already logged out, but when Tang Jia clamored about going to explore the new map in the WeChat group, Ji Tang logged back in anxiously…
He hadn't been wrong to worry. After just half a lap around the town's residential area, Unceasing Entropy had beco notably silent, her gaze constantly scanning households, courtyards, and various other places along the street…
Ji Tang, who appeared as steady as ever, was growing increasingly uneasy deep down.
Traces of daily life by actual living people were, in fact, easy to detect from one aspect that most people would easily overlook—garbage.
This world being masqueraded as a ga had a certain level of civilization. It wasn't as bad as dieval Europe, where the streets were strewn with human and animal excrent, but it wasn't exactly clean.
Garbage from everyday life was all over the place, and on their little stroll through town so far, the group of players had yet to see a sewage drain that wasn't clogged.
Perhaps it was fortunate that resources were scarce in Weisshem, and the townsfolk didn't have the luxury to be wasteful. Otherwise, Ji Tang would have started to wonder if the town's garbage might eventually overflow the streets…
Noticing Unceasing Entropy had been staring at a certain pile of garbage for over five seconds, Ji Tang mustered up his strength and muttered, "Hmm, doesn't this feel like it could be a hidden quest?"
Tang Jia and Yang Ying, upon hearing the word "quest," imdiately ceased their banter and turned to Ji Tang curiously.
"What quest?" they asked in unison.
Ji Tang pointed to the garbage pile that Unceasing Entropy had been scrutinizing for quite so ti and said as naturally as he could, "Have you guys noticed that this town is different from our Exile Town? You can see garbage heaps everywhere."
Unceasing Entropy turned around as well and stared at Ji Ting intently.
"And so?" Tang Jia still couldn't catch on.
"Didn't the system display a notification in yellow after we received the siege quest rewards? Weisshem we conquered is Taranthan's new territory. Our player faction leader, Lord Yang, is now the lord of this place and responsible for governing Weisshem, right?" Ji Tang continued. "Weisshem's livelihood is the red-light district, but we got rid of it after taking over. Wouldn't this lead to many people losing their jobs? So, if players suggest to Lord Yang to establish a sanitation bureau here and hire the townspeople as sanitation workers, wouldn't it solve a part of the unemploynt issue?"
"Damn! Can the ga be played like this?!" Tang Jia was taken aback. "Qingyue, Qingyue, is what Brother Ji says reliable?"
Unceasing Entropy didn't say anything, her gaze still locked on Ji Tang.
Ji Tang, feeling quite uncomfortable under her scrutiny, tried to act nonchalantly. "This ga offers such a high degree of freedom, so maybe it could work? With enough reputation with the Undead rchant Association, players can hire NPCs to form trade caravans or even buy land and establish factories. I think it's worth a try."
Unceasing Entropy finally shifted her gaze away from Ji Tang, rubbing her chin as she mused, "Right… Now that you ntion it, Rex did issue an assistance quest to get players to help Mia out. It seed to imply an effort to revitalize the town's economy and livelihoods. By focusing our efforts in this direction, we might be able to trigger a hidden quest."
Tang Jia, who couldn't stand long-winded analysis, leaped up imdiately. "What are we waiting for? Let's go find Old Yang and ask for the quest! Let's go, hurry up!"
Ji Tang breathed a sigh of relief. But unexpectedly, Unceasing Entropy, who had already been pulled away by Tang Jia, turned back to give him one last glance.
Ji Tang: "…"
This lady isn't so easily fooled, it seems…
As Yang wasn't at the Town Hall, an impatient Tang Jia led her companions to the resettlent point to find Rex. Rex was viewed rather favorably by warrior players, and he was generally seen as more reliable than Hal.
Rex appreciated the proposal put forth by the players that would use Yang's funds to employ townsfolk to clean the streets and maintain environntal hygiene. He was also receptive to the players' opinions and promptly provided the regulations for establishing the sanitation bureau and employing sanitation workers.
There were also occupations similar to that of sanitation workers in this world. However, unlike back on Earth, this sort of sanitary work often fell to local officials who subcontracted the tasks to local street organizations.
Well, these organizations were basically street gangs…
In Indahl, for example, aside from the affluent districts (typically managed by dostic staff responsible for the surrounding area's cleanliness), the street cleaning, garbage collection, disposal, and incineration of street blocks with comrcial activities were managed by street gangs. These street gangs not only received sanitation fees from local officials but also collected protection money from business owners operating in the area.
Ordinary residential areas that had no comrcial activities nor dostic staff overseeing them, on the other hand, were basically neglected.
If the local municipality had enough money and cared about the city's image, they could allocate extra funds every month or two, allowing the gang mbers to clean up the accumulated garbage in the residential areas.
In places where finances were tight and local officials had limited funds, things were left to run their course. If residents couldn't stand living amid heaps of garbage, they had to figure sothing out themselves.
In Weisshem, there were two streets that could barely be categorized as comrcial districts—the red-light district and Martin Street.
The red-light district had each of its brothels take care of their own premises, while Martin Street was where those that had so influence or connections set up shop. Protection fees also couldn't be extorted from farrs who ca into town to sell their produce; they would simply refrain from entering the town and instead set up shop at the town gate.
On top of that, there were another two key factors:
Firstly, the town lacked civil officials. The town mayor was basically a position that didn't do much besides raking in dirty money with the certain baron that owned the town. Employing a sheriff to maintain law and order, along with a small militia to address security issues, was all that was required, so there had never been a need for additional civil officials.
Secondly, Weisshem was situated quite close to Indahl. There were better opportunities to thrive in the militia here, and if one wanted to get involved in street gangs, it was much easier to make a na for oneself in Indahl than to struggle in this poor town.
With these two factors combined, it was clear that Weisshem didn't provide fertile ground for the survival of traditional street gangs.
But of course, garbage didn't magically disappear when no one attended to it. Even if most townsfolk lived frugally and ticulously, every household would produce a pile of garbage every month.
Consequently, disputes over issues related to garbage, like one's garbage spilling into another's yard, arose, and such quarrels could be occasionally heard.
In short, forking out so funds and hiring townsfolk to work as sanitation workers could indeed significantly boost the townspeople's favorability toward the new lord.
After resolving the territory ownership and deed issues, Yang Qiu didn't rush back to Weisshem right away. Currently, he was holding on to a considerable amount of gold and was busy purchasing magical materials at the Indahl Free Market.
The three existing teleportation points weren't actual teleportation circles; they were simply fraudulent undead summoning arrays. Players could teleport between the three locations because they functioned as "summon entities."
However, this unique thod of teleportation wasn't accessible to living beings…
Since the players themselves took control of Weisshem, establishing a new storyline and map, Yang Qiu naturally wouldn't be willing to let go of the territory uncontested. And to ensure this, a legitimate teleportation array was needed.
Legitimate teleportation arrays demanded not only magic dust but also an abundance of magical materials. Having looted the red-light district and also plundered the town mayor's little treasury, Yang Qiu found himself extrely well-off, allowing him to purchase what he needed.
When he received the request from Rex about establishing the sanitation bureau, Yang Qiu, who was still in the middle of negotiating a trade, was surprised.
Well done, players! You guys even thought of sothing I hadn't even considered yet!
Yang Qiu was rather pleased, and after making so calculations and realizing the next Earth date would also happen to be the day of prestige settlent, he promptly sent out a system announcent:
[System Announcent]: The position of Weisshem Mayor has been integrated into the Taranthan Territory's Mayor Election. The two players with the highest territory prestige at the end of each monthly settlent date will assu the roles of Exile Town Mayor and Weisshem Mayor.
Reviews
All reviews (0)