---Viktor's POV---
Although 50 players had left, the influx of 200 new ones completely made up for the gap. The town showed no signs of being sparsely populated. Players and townsfolk alike bustled about in an orderly fashion, busy mining and transporting resources. The clanging and banging sounds filled the place nonstop.
I quickly found the person I was looking for among the crowd.
Hawkes was standing with so players, wielding a shovel and spitting words in anger as his face turned as red as his beard. "Ridiculous! Binding lightning within a tiny iron loop is utterly impossible! Even if you could, do you think you could withstand the wrath of the God of Thunder?"
ProGar_Daddy, standing with arms crossed and shaking his legs nonchalantly, shot back, "A decrepit deity who's been dead for centuries, do you really think they'll spring up from their grave to strike down? I've already told you, conducting electricity and using lightning wood are scientific phenona. It has nothing to do with divine punishnt! You're supposed to be so master craftsman. Could you try broadening your horizons a little?"
Hawkes, pounding a nearby iron ore with a sound as loud as a drum, replied, "In any case, such magic devices are extrely dangerous and utterly useless. They hold no research value whatsoever."
"Hey! I've already told you, it's not a magic device, it's an electrical device!"
"There's no difference, they're both impractical tools!"
"We can't make them now because our resources are poor, but that doesn't an we never will!"
"Leave it! I'm not approving this, period!"
"Damn—" Just as ProGar_Daddy was about to retort, he caught sight of approaching. His eyes lit up like he'd found a savior.
"Lord Viktor!"
I nodded slightly to the two of them as a greeting, glancing at the papyrus Hawkes was holding.
Papyrus was one of the notable goods NeverShowOff and his group brought back from Nary Town. It was cheap and abundant, quickly replacing parchnt as the most popular dium for players to use for recording notes, announcents, and applications. However, the drawback of papyrus was its fragility, it couldn't withstand rough handling like crumpling or folding.
"What's this?" I asked curiously.
"It's like this, I want to apply for a batch of iron ore for my weapons factory, about…" ProGar_Daddy boldly put his hands on his hips and began listing Hawkes' faults. "I only asked for 30 tons of iron ore. That's already a bare minimum! Once it's all slted into refined iron, it'll shrink significantly anyway! And why can't we try making electrical devices? Sure, we don't have steady supplies of copper or tin yet, but if we search more, we'll find them eventually! Do you know how much mining efficiency an electric drill would improve?"
He went on a long rant in one breath.
Hawkes stood there stone-faced, as immovable as a rock in a latrine, not even flinching. This only made ProGar_Daddy more exasperated.
I didn't know why, but I found it all quite amusing.
In short, ProGar_Daddy, seeing iron ore available, wanted to upgrade his factory and ca to apply to Hawkes, who managed the town's iron resources. Hawkes, as usual, asked him what the iron was for. ProGar_Daddy initially said it was for making iron tools but then casually ntioned wanting industrial machine tools.
Intrigued, Hawkes asked further, and ProGar_Daddy answered. But the mont the topic shifted to electricity, Hawkes imdiately snatched back the application he had already signed and refused to approve it.
After venting his frustration, ProGar_Daddy glared at Hawkes, who responded stiffly, "Utterly preposterous!"
ProGar_Daddy's eyes widened.
Resting my chin on my hand, I nodded in agreent. "Indeed, discussing electrical devices now is premature."
ProGar_Daddy's eyes widened even further. "No way, you too?!"
I continued, "Electrical devices are important, but can you build a generator now? With the bits and pieces of copper ore you've collected, I doubt you could even produce wires to connect to Honeyvale."
At this, ProGar_Daddy deflated completely. "That's just the current situation…"
Even Hawkes, who thought he had the upper hand, was montarily stunned and couldn't help but ask, "Lord von Vinesse…"
I raised my hand to stop him from continuing. Retrieving paper and a pen from my storage space, I suspended ink mid-air and began writing swiftly. Half a minute later, I handed the half-dried parchnt to ProGar_Daddy. It was a spell and formation designed to store and channel magical lightning.
"We can't solve the wiring issue for now, but you can try using this spell and formation, it might substitute for a battery."
ProGar_Daddy accepted it, confused, but grew increasingly excited as he read.
I added, "When resources are limited, we can try solving problems from the source."
"I get it! Magic is the answer to everything!"
Clutching the parchnt, he couldn't wait to rush back and start experinting. But he hadn't forgotten his original request.
"What about my three tons of iron ore…?"
"Approved."
"Yes! Haha, I win again!"
Before running off, I stopped him one last ti. "Aside from the iron ore, is there anything else urgent that needs resolving?"
ProGar_Daddy tilted his head thoughtfully. "Not really. This amount of ore will keep busy researching for a while."
Before they could clash again, Hawkes had already promised to craft a specialized slting furnace for refining iron based on his specifications.
That issue was resolved.
"It'd be great if we had pre-made molds for components, though. Otherwise, working with the ore is still slow."
Molds for making items like iron nails or iron plates, for example... ProGar_Daddy ntioned it casually, but as I lowered my head in contemplation, he had already run off cheerfully.
"I'm off to study circuits, I an magic formations! See you later!"
Finally, after holding it in for so long, Hawkes spoke hesitantly, "Do you truly believe… electrical devices are a good thing?"
"Didn't you join The Watchers because you wanted to learn to harness the power of steam?"
I flipped through ProGar_Daddy's application.
No doubt about it, the guy's ideas were wildly bold, even if a bit dangerous during experints. But in terms of accelerating technological progress and reaping rewards, they were invaluable.
Professional minds for the win!
"One uses water, the other uses electricity. It's all the sa."
Hawkes mumbled softly, barely audible, "But… it's not the sa... Harnessing steam is just borrowing the power of fire, leveraging one force against another. But electricity, using it ans truly taking the power of the God of Thunder for oneself!"
"Not at all." I closed the application form and smiled faintly as I spoke to Hawkes. "Since you've joined us and abandoned your original beliefs, why not forget about divine punishnts altogether and refra how you approach your forging career? Actually, you're just one small opportunity away from a breakthrough."
Hawkes' expression froze in astonishnt. "Could this be Master Serkan's forging secret?"
"No, it's just that believing in divine punishnt is utterly embarrassing for a mber of the Watchers."
Hawkes' face imdiately cracked in disbelief.
"Rember, don't embarrass us," I said, already walking away and waving a hand without turning back, leaving him standing in bewildernt.
---
After inspecting the iron ore vein, my next stop was the two busiest comrcial streets near the church. On my shoulder, Luminaris was restless and chattering nonstop.
"What do you an by saying believing in gods is embarrassing? The wrath of the gods isn't sothing a lowly undead like you can withstand! Oh, great God of Light, when do you plan to unleash your divine punishnt?"
I walked along, jotting down sketches and notes on paper, recording the town's flaws and potential risks, and replied casually, "Perhaps by using sunlight to burn this evil undead?"
"Even without sunlight, thunder could reduce you to dust!"
"Got it. Engraving magical artifacts with thunder arrays is common enough; you don't need to worry."
"Who-who's worried about you!" Luminaris puffed up imdiately, his glowing threads trembling, and flew off toward the church in a huff.
I rely glanced up. No wonder the players enjoyed teasing him. Unfazed, I continued with my planned inspection of Honeyvale Town.
So players who were naturally sociable greeted warmly.
"Hey, Lord Viktor! Check out my new wind blade skill, it chops wood like a pro!"
"Care for so food? I've got the ultimate mushroom soup!"
I politely declined each offer. Since players had minimal demands for rest, most opted to stay in player apartnts where closing the box was enough for sleep. Thus, the town didn't have many buildings and could be seen in its entirety at a glance. However, thanks to life-focused players, shops had begun to pop up along the streets.
There was a woodworking shop run by crafting players, a flower house with transplanted wildflowers from the forest, and even a sculpture shop, which was essentially just a group of players gathering to play with clay.
To be honest, I struggled to understand the profitability of such ventures.
While the piranhas by the river made fetching water a challenge without so skill, water wasn't scarce enough to justify opening a shop solely for playing with mud.
Oh well, as long as they enjoyed themselves.
I continued walking toward my ultimate destination: the largest square building on the street and the only tavern in town. If other shops averaged the size of one grid, this building took up four. Made entirely of wood, it combined various types, standing out from its surroundings in both quality and craftsmanship. Judging by the stacked wood and the partially completed black ironwood sign outside, the tavern was still under construction.
But players weren't picky. They simply opened the tavern for business, unfinished as it was.
Since it wasn't alti, the tavern was empty when I entered.
Three or four players sat on high stools behind the counter, animatedly discussing sothing.
"Yes, that's it! Only by making it this way can the final product beco irresistibly addictive!"
Addictive?
After confirming their sanity values were above average and the system was functioning normally, I hesitated before speaking, "What exactly are you doing…?"
Knight and GaLord420 looked up from the crowd and exclaid in unison, delighted, "Lord Viktor!"
Knight glanced at my stomach, hidden under my black wizard robe.
"Are you here to eat, too?"
"Eat?" Now it was my turn to be confused. "Isn't this a tavern?"
GaLord420 ca over and stood next to Knight, explaining, "Brewing takes eight or nine months. Until the wine's ready, of course, we need to run so side businesses."
Knight rubbed his nose without a hint of embarrassnt. "Ahem, we're doing snacks now, fried potatoes, sausages, sweet fruit ice cream, all super popular. Want to try so?"
"Uh, about the ice cream…" I started to ask.
"Rember when we made gunpowder and had leftover saltpeter? A player figured out how to use it to make ice."
Knight sighed with regret.
"Too bad autumn's almost here. Ice cream sales will definitely drop, and the profit window will close."
If you're so concerned about ice cream sales, why not open an ice cream shop instead of a tavern?
"No need. I don't eat. I ca to ask you sothing else."
I had issued 50 exploration slots, but not all veteran players had chosen to go out. The two before were pri examples.
They were well-known life players and had a deep understanding of Honeyvale Town's developnt.
"What do you think the town is lacking? Any ideas for improvent?"
The two exchanged puzzled looks. Knight hesitated. "Well, uh…shouldn't you ask what we have right now?"
After so thought, he said, "Expanding our territory should be the priority. We lack minerals, copper, tin, lead, silver, gold, coal… Once the territory is larger, everything else might resolve itself. Who knows, we might even strike oil."
"Oh, and we need more people!"
Without enough new players and NPCs to delegate tasks to, it felt like starting a business in real life. There was no ti to enjoy the fantastical ga world.
Knight counted his experiences over the past few days on his fingers.
Initially, he and his girlfriend had planned a carefree journey to explore the world and collect achievents. But fearing they'd run out of funds, he invested his earnings from discovering potatoes and building a blacksmith shop into buying land and opening a store, hoping to capitalize on the limited number of beta testers and dominate the comrcial market.
The store succeeded and turned a hefty profit.
But with too few players and NPCs to entrust with managing the tavern, they couldn't delegate the work and had to oversee the business themselves.
Their dream of traveling the world was cut short by the tavern's skyrocketing revenue.
A truly heart-wrenching tale for anyone to hear…
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