Summoning Players into My Game Chapter 5 - 3: Calm Down, I Know This Routine
Previously on Summoning Players into My Game...
"All tests completed."
"What a hassle, we’ll need to begin anew and perform it once more."
Fang Zhen’s form gradually crumbled into dust across the floor as Lin Qi observed, letting out a deep sigh—truly, serving as an NPC proves incredibly grueling. Afterward, he checked the timer on his wrist and scribbled a few notes beneath Fang Zhen’s entry in his notebook.
Limit time: 2 hours 23 minutes 14 seconds.
Body perception: Poor.
Overall evaluation: Kindergarten prep class.
"Without any safeguards, this marks about their maximum endurance against contamination. Seems I must acquire some protective gear." Lin Qi pondered his dwindling supply of Bits, and a headache began to throb.
Dangers in the wilderness stem not just from beasts but also from vast swaths of radiation-tainted zones. Typically, lacking resistance to radiation pollution for five or six hours makes wild survival nearly impossible.
Furthermore, individuals with sharp body awareness endure far longer out there.
These folks, when stepping into contaminated regions, swiftly pull away and avoid death from extended contact.
Yet Fang Zhen and his ilk obviously don’t qualify.
Earlier, Lin Qi had taken out a loan of thirty thousand Bits from the Gorilla Gang. Expenditures on weapons, settling debts with Luo Qi, and funding the Martial Arts Hall’s generator drained 18,500 Bits.
Toss in the food and water for body recovery during these past days, adding another 495 Bits.
On top of that, monthly hospital fees hit 2,500 Bits, totaling 21,495 Bits spent.
Employing players for farming demands handling their everyday meals and hydration, requiring at minimum one pack of high-protein cookies and a water bottle daily per player, around 3 Bits each, which remains quite affordable.
His current funds could easily sustain not just ten players, but twenty or even thirty, without issue—even if they merely watched him battle the Gorillas.
Cultivating Blood Essence Rice changes everything, however.
Ordinarily, growing a single stalk of Blood Essence Rice demands 4 square meters of energy land. Each stalk produces 10 grams of Blood Essence Rice.
Crafting one pound of Blood Essence Rice calls for 200 square meters of energy land.
Hitting thirty thousand Bits monthly income requires tilling at least thirty thousand square meters in the wild. Split across three harvests, that’s ten thousand square meters per cycle, excluding seeds and irrigation expenses.
Energy lands in safer wilderness spots are already rare, while those close to the city fall under control of Chasing Light City’s powerful gangs. Only tiny, fragmented patches remain, fiercely contested by countless black-market drifters, rendering concealed energy land a nightmare to locate.
City-proximate sites tend to be tiny or dispersed, rendering farming obvious and oversight a challenge.
Venturing distant from the city brings rampant monster activity, heightening travel perils—a mere ambush could spell utter ruin.
Factoring in extra protective gear expenses now elevates profit-farming dangers for players. Outdoor deaths mean gear loss, but skipping it hampers field operations entirely—a true dilemma.
"Good grief! Even second-hand outdoor protective suits run 3,000 Bits?" Lin Qi eyed the price on his watch and promptly shut it off, his eyes stinging. Flipping open his notebook, he muttered, "Guess Plan B it is; higher casualties, sure, but far safer overall."
Once Chasing Light City’s bustling heart, Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall transformed into the Abandoned Area amid beast tides and rampant radiation pollution.
Though pollution ravages much of the Abandoned Area, its status as the old city core means plentiful underground energy ore veins persist below, depleted yet brimming with residual power.
Devoting time and labor to underground agriculture pays off handsomely in viable spots, even if pollution renders many sections worthless.
Lin Qi personally recognizes its worth, inferior to surface farming yet steadier and reliable.
"Now for incentives to spur those players on."
This thought prompted Lin Qi to pat his pockets instinctively. As a game tech firm founder, he grasps player psychology perfectly. Free labor from them is a pipe dream, but solid rewards...
No force in existence rivals players for sheer madness and tireless drive.
Despite rummaging extensively, nothing suitable turned up, and as Martial Arts Hall head, stinginess wouldn’t do.
Right as Lin Qi moved to activate his watch for used goods browsing, his side glance spotted elementary textbooks strewn along the hallway.
Fitness Breathing Technique!
"Ideal! Exactly what I need!" Lin Qi marched straight there, snatched the partially worn Fitness Breathing Technique, and grinned approvingly. "Fortunate that new arrivals here can’t read the language. A simple copy with a rename to Shocking God Breathing Technique suffices. Poor practice results? Blame their aptitude."
...
Within Fang Zhen’s streaming channel, he gawked at the Descent of High Martial emblem glowing in the virtual pod, lost in stunned disbelief for ages.