Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 265 08: Guild System

Watching the fox village chief frantically working in the fields like a wound-up toy, Uesugi and Taki looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Village chief?" Uesugi Hitomi called out tentatively.

"Busy!"

Without even raising its head, Sanhua's claws moved so fast they were just blurry. Having just harvested the tomatoes, it loosened the soil, planted seeds, and watered them all in one go, as if being a second slower would mean missing out on a fortune.

It couldn't help but feel nervous, as the harvest of these crops was not only related to its performance, but also to its status in the heart of its master, Dongshan Shen.

It dared not forget how its fur had become so mixed colors!
Coupled with his own personality of liking power, he naturally tried his best to climb the ranks.

“Village Chief, we’d like to learn more about the rules from you.” Muramasa Takii stepped forward, his voice tinged with helplessness. “Could you tell us how long the maturation cycle is for different crops? And how are the profits calculated?”

"Waaah! (Of course, the more expensive ones are more valuable, but cheap ones have their advantages too, like quick harvests. Anyway, hurry up and plant them, and bring them to me for inspection after you've harvested them.)"

Sanhua managed to respond with a few words while her claws continued to move.

It has been cultivating the fields here for a month, and has gained some experience.

Currently, there are only three types of crops. Generally speaking, the more expensive the seeds, the longer the growth cycle, and the higher the quality of the water used for irrigation, the higher the points and contribution value obtained from the harvest.

Sanhua, who was guided by Dongshan Shen's orders and was determined to implement them, was preparing to squeeze every last penny out of the villagers' players' harvest.

It certainly hopes to provide the highest value crops it can, which is also related to its performance.

Having just finished tending to the three fields, it began waving its paws excitedly, whimpering as it pointed to the land where the seeds had just been planted, and then towards the lighthouse, its movements vigorous.

However, players cannot understand its fox language.

"Is it expressing a chronological order? Judging from the frequency of the claw waving, it seems to refer to the growth cycles of different crops?"

Uesugi tilted his head: "It seemed to point to the place where it was planted, and then to the lighthouse. What does that mean?"

"Village chief, can we communicate by writing?" Iwasaki, who had been observing for a while, asked.

Sanhua's movements froze instantly, and her whimpering stopped abruptly.

It had never learned to write and was illiterate.

A feeling of shame and annoyance welled up inside it, and it snorted in dissatisfaction. It turned around, strode back to the lighthouse, and slammed the door shut, leaving the players standing there.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, their gazes instinctively turning to Iwasaki.

“It seems the village chief is illiterate.” Iwasaki showed no remorse, however, the village chief’s actions themselves were information, and his strategy was correct.

Tomatoes are probably the most profitable crop right now. Didn't you see that even the village chief, who takes his fields so seriously, is growing tomatoes?
This information is quite valuable; it wasn't a wasted trip.

It's a bit of a shame that Yui has already planted the seeds, and the crops can't be destroyed, so they can only wait for the harvest.

However, Yui only has 60 points, so she planted only tomatoes and then had trouble even watering them.

Planting one crop of each now leaves you with 15 points. Using the cheapest river water to irrigate them, it can last for 5 days, which is already quite risky.

If she waters the plants more than once a day, she won't last three days.

[Peach Blossom Village Announcement: With nine players, a new area, "Pine Forest," will be opened. Trees in the forest can be felled without wasting resources.]

A patch of fog on the notebook map dissipated, revealing a forest.

"A logging permit? Is this to encourage us to build houses?" Uesugi speculated, this being the only main use she could think of for the moment.

"Maybe."

Takii wasn't quite sure.

This game definitely feels completely different from other games; it's entirely devoid of the atmosphere of fighting and killing.

As a player, the game naturally takes priority; real-world matters can be put aside for the time being, and the tasks within the game must be completed.

A group of players who had finished cultivating their land picked up axes and headed towards the pine forest to start chopping down trees.

Chopping down trees is easy; apart from a few players who have little combat ability, other players can chop down trees all day without getting tired.

The problem is that not all players know how to build houses.

In particular, this game does not have a blueprint system that can automatically generate buildings based on materials.

However, this doesn't stump players with initiative. If they don't have a blueprint, they can quit the game and search for tutorials online, although it's a shame that it takes a long time and the finished product isn't perfect.

Yui is a player whose physical attack methods are rather weak, and she doesn't even have any bonuses to stamina, so she puts all her points into spirit.

This is also an important reason why she chose Iwasaki as her teammate. Her own body is too fragile and she has no means of defense, so she needs a strong teammate.

All night long, until dawn, Iwasaki helped her chop wood and build a house, while she wandered around the map, occasionally digging in the dirt, squatting on the ground in a daze, or licking something.

"Is this all you got for one night?"

Iwasaki looked at the pile of inconspicuous crumbs that Yui had packed back and asked.

Yui nodded and picked up one of the slightly larger fragments.

Although the fragments are small, upon close examination under sunlight, subtle artificial textures can be discerned.

“These are remnants of some kind of metal,” she rubbed them carefully. “I’ve tasted them; the fragments all have a similar texture, so they might be weapons.”

Iwasaki didn't dwell on why she could taste it.

Weapons, huh?
He looked around at the pastoral scenery with a thoughtful expression.

"So, Peach Blossom Village is actually an ancient battlefield?"

As expected, the game was not so simple. It also contained puzzles waiting for them to solve, but the answers would only be gradually revealed after a sufficient number of players and the amount of crops they contributed.

Yui casually buried the wreckage at her feet: "If that's the case, this must be just a very remote part of the battlefield, otherwise we wouldn't be unable to find even a relatively intact weapon."

Iwasaki shook his head, dismissing Yui's guess: "It makes no sense for weapons to turn into fragments, even in a border battlefield. It's more likely that some mechanism in this place accelerates the corrosion of metal."

Yui simply said "oh" and didn't argue.

To confirm whether his idea was correct, Iwasaki even used his points to redeem a hoe, then buried it in the ground to see if Peach Blossom Village would really accelerate the erosion of metal, just as he had guessed.

It was already several hours into the day, and it was close to noon. After observing the condition of the planted plants, Iwasaki prepared to continue building the house.

In reality, he could easily have used a clone doll to get by.

Right now, the most important thing is the game content. He has already decided that before the first batch of crops grows, he will live in Peach Blossom Village, except for necessary physiological needs.

Anyway, Tokyo is still a mess in reality, so his true form can just find any empty house to live in for a while.

"Hao."

A voice interrupted his work. Ethan, dressed in samurai armor and carrying a hoe, walked over to greet him casually.

Iwasaki stopped what he was doing. He knew that this guy always had a purpose in doing things and wouldn't come over just to say hello for no reason.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the direction of his land. Its location was rather ambiguous, maintaining a certain distance from the land where Nobi and the others were gathered, but closer to his side.

"Knights and the others are officially forming a guild," Ethan began casually. "There's been a lot of response; you could say most players have joined."

"It seems you're ready to confront them." Iwasaki knew what he meant after a moment's thought.

He carefully reviewed the newly added guild system and understood that the updated guilds were recognized by the game system, which meant they would be protected by the game system.

Or rather, constraints.

This is completely different from the loosely organized player support associations of the past.

The prerequisites for establishing a guild are that there are at least three players, a guild leader unanimously confirmed, and 100 points.

After a guild is established, it can formulate three rules that will be enforced on all guild members.

The guild founded by Nobita retained its previous name, the Player Mutual Aid Association, and even its rules were inherited.

1. Association members shall not harm each other unless it is to save the other from more serious harm.

2. Association members must not inquire about or disseminate information about the abilities or identities of other members. 3. Members must not intentionally harm ordinary people who have not committed intentional homicide, attempted homicide, or seriously violated moral principles (such as framing others, refusing to correct mistakes, or engaging in arrogant mockery).

Upon learning that these three rules of the association would be written into the guild regulations, Ethan immediately expressed his regret, stating that he could not accept the third rule (in fact, he could not accept any of the three), and then promptly withdrew from the association.

Nobita simply stared at him for a long time before giving up the last shred of hope he had for him.

It's certain that all the cooperation and closeness he showed before were just a facade. The next time they meet, they might turn from former teammates into enemies.

Unexpectedly, "Tian," a player who had previously been absent from the community and had no further contact with them, agreed to join the guild.

Of course, joining a guild has its advantages, quite a few.

The guild leader can purchase items that can only be used by the guild in the shop, such as group healing banners and damage-sharing formations.

After joining a guild, you'll have the game's rules and regulations to back you up, so you don't have to worry about being betrayed by other guild members, either in the game or in real life.

If there is a real-world task that is difficult for one person to complete, guild members can be invited to assist.

Team games will prioritize pairing players from the same guild.

The guild has a dedicated meeting and lounge area.

Within the guild, players can trade daily play counts, etc.

Currently, the player mutual aid association has attracted most of the players.

Only Ethan, Yui, and Iwasaki remained who hadn't joined.

And coincidentally, if they were willing to form a guild, they would have enough people.

Ethan came with this in mind.

He reminded Iwasaki that he could start his own guild, and that as long as there weren't any overly virtuous rules, he would be quite willing to join.

Despite Ethan's hints about forming a new guild, Kosuke Iwasaki remained unmoved, his gaze calmly fixed on Ethan beneath his black mist form.

"A guild that cannot guarantee that its members will not attack each other is meaningless."

Ethan remained silent for a moment.

His plan to play both sides has completely failed.

He once thought that with his vision and skills, he could easily control these players from ordinary backgrounds.

Looking back now, he realizes that his actions were not clever, that he had left many flaws, and that he had lost the cheapest but most invaluable trust.

No one can truly trust a so-called ally who is two-faced and cannot even make the most basic promise not to harm their companions.

Ethan has never been one to dwell on regrets, and now that the plan has failed, he might as well just be himself.

After figuring out the key point, Ethan seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden, and a smile that others couldn't see appeared under his mask.

“I understand.” Ethan’s voice regained its usual ease. “So, can you accept maintaining a purely transactional relationship?”

“Sure,” Iwasaki replied succinctly.

Ethan nodded, said nothing more, and turned back to his plot of land, as if the probing had never happened.

"The guild doesn't offer us any real benefits right now," Iwasaki explained briefly to Yui.

He believes more in stable relationships based on mutual benefit than in relying on rules and regulations.

Rules always have loopholes, but it's hard for people to betray their core interests.

Of course, fools are an exception, so even if he's certain that someone like Hayato wants to join his team, he won't agree.

Yes, on this point, he thinks Yui, who has a mental illness, is more reliable, at least she behaves normally.

Over the next few days, Peach Blossom Village entered a relatively peaceful farming season. Most players were preoccupied with various matters in the real world and could only log in occasionally to check on their crops.

If you stay in the player lobby or the rest room of the meeting room at night, your sleep efficiency will be higher. If you stay in Peach Blossom Village and don't sleep, you will feel like you haven't slept at all when you wake up.

After Uesugi discovered this, there were far fewer players keeping watch here at night.

Except for Iwasaki.

After building two houses, this guy really settled down here.

Every day, they would stay up until dawn and dusk, observing the subtle changes in the fields, without ever getting bored.

To get him out of this state, we'll probably have to wait for the new game to be released.

Or perhaps he'll figure out the growth patterns of the crops before making a decision.

The third night.

After weeding Yui's and his own fields, Iwasaki sat on the wooden chair he had assembled himself, his gaze fixed on the soft glow emanating from the lighthouse in the distance.

All around was quiet, with only the rustling of the grass in the breeze.

Da da da.

An incongruous sound was mixed in.

Iwasaki's scattered thoughts suddenly sharpened as he heard very faint footsteps.

It was that fox village chief who came down.

The dog's paws sank into the mud with barely a sound, and it seemed to be deliberately moving quietly, making it appear furtive.

After confirming that it was the fox village chief, Iwasaki's wariness dissipated, replaced by curiosity.

It has come down to check on things occasionally these past few days, but only during the daytime; it spends most of its time at the lighthouse.

It's not that there's no communication; occasionally, when players ask questions, it will try its best to answer them with actions, although whether the player understands depends entirely on their abstract comprehension ability.

Perhaps because he held a grudge, the fox never spoke to Iwasaki, and every time he passed by, he held his head high and didn't even look at him.

Even Iwasaki couldn't have imagined that he would offend the village chief so badly by asking just one question.

I don't know what the consequences will be.

Fortunately, it doesn't hold a grudge against Yui, so it shouldn't miss any crucial information.

The fox village chief clearly hadn't expected any players to be online at this time. When he saw Iwasaki, he was visibly taken aback, as if he'd seen a ghost. It wasn't that it was afraid of ghosts.

It was a little surprised, but quickly returned to normal, still ignoring Iwasaki's presence, and casually passed by his door, heading straight for Yui's plot.

Just as Iwasaki was about to get up and go over to take a look, he saw the fox suddenly leap into Yui's field with lightning speed. The next second, the white radishes in the field turned into a ripe state, shimmering with a faint light.

The three-colored fox used all four paws, its movements so fast that it left only a blur. It easily dug out a carrot, put it in its mouth, and then rushed to the next player's field without stopping!

Iwasaki stood there stunned, taking several seconds to come to his senses.

"Can we steal these vegetables?"

After regaining his senses, Iwasaki first sent Yui a private message, and then followed the fox's agile figure as quickly as possible.

Hayato, Uesugi, Oshima.
Almost all white radishes grown there mature around the same time, since they were planted around the same time.

Without exception, they have all now fallen victim to the poisonous hands of the Three Flowers. Uh, let's add one more, Iwasaki. No, we have to add one more, Yui. Okay, Ethan has joined us too.

They swept through the vegetable garden like a tornado.

When Uesugi, who was in the player lobby lounge, came to check on the situation as usual, he was met with a vegetable patch that looked like it had been dug up by dogs.

She suddenly understood everything; the sky had fallen!

"You beast, meow—!!!"

A piercing scream shattered the tranquil night sky of Peach Blossom Village, filled with deep despair and disbelief.

(End of this chapter)