Strategy game? Then I'll have to control you properly.

"call……"

Lin Miao sighed.

They were attacked during their break just as they were finishing their workday.

However, it seems the matter was resolved smoothly. The injured person doesn't appear to be seriously hurt, so there's no need to spend points to initiate a treatment procedure.

Perhaps that's why, even when it was time for the villagers to go to bed, they still walked around with their lamps lit, as the afterglow of the battle had not yet dissipated.

Although seeing everyone's joyful expressions of victory brought Lin Miao some relief, he couldn't completely calm down.

"Perhaps even more and stronger malfunctions will appear. Speaking of which, where did these monsters come from?"

The questions I had temporarily forgotten while engrossed in the game these past few days have resurfaced in my mind.

Faulty entities are entirely different from invading monsters or external enemies.

When other enemies attack, the system usually just stands by and watches with an attitude of "you'll have to deal with it yourself," but this time it personally issued a warning.

It's obvious even to a fool that the monsters invading today are not all of them.

The highest level of enemies currently displayed is only LV2.

We need greater power.

Whether considering Lin Miao's judgment or the perspective of the residents in the game, the current situation is unsettling.

Indeed, residents equipped with proper armor and weapons are no longer at a disadvantage against ordinary wild beasts.

They can also gain the upper hand in battles against external enemies.

The problem is that this is the ceiling of the residents' power.

Unless we forge them with mineral equipment that's even more advanced than iron armor in the game, but even if we did that, ordinary humans still have their limits.

I need more people like Lillie.

An individual with special characteristics and exceptional strength.

While some members, such as Allen and Uso, have already gained certain traits in the unlocked sandbox survival game, traits like miners or farmers seem to be of little use outside of the game.

"Isn't there any way... huh?"

[The Tribal Chief's Dilemma: Traits]

Just then, Lin Miao noticed that Attila was standing outside his house, staring blankly at the grassland, with a similar troubled expression on his face.

Lin Miao naturally right-clicked on his troubles.

Although I've discovered some of the conditions required to acquire traits, I realize that each trait requires a specific talent to meet the conditions and obtain it. I'm currently struggling with how to explain this to the Lord of the World.

"So that's how it is..."

After reading about Attila's troubles, Lin Miao muttered to herself in a daze.

This was something he hadn't considered at all before.

Those who gained special abilities all awakened their abilities within half a day.

Being the only one among their peers to awaken a trait indicates that person possesses the corresponding talent.

Conversely, those who fail to acquire the characteristic within the time limit are at least not talented in that aspect.

There's no point in clinging to people who lack talent. With over sixty residents already in the village, quickly rotating and selecting talented individuals would be far more efficient.

"It's rare to see a character in a game who actually notices these things and is even bothered by them..."

Lin Miao couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Attila's initiative to think about and worry about these issues that he had overlooked due to distraction warmed his heart.

Therefore, Lin Miao removed four of the eight villagers who had not obtained special traits from the list and re-registered four new villagers.

I sincerely hope that these newcomers can awaken their special abilities soon.

"One is not bad."

The next day when logging into the game, it was discovered that one of the four newly registered players had unlocked the Miner trait, so the remaining three players were sent back and three new players were brought in.

"People are quite self-disciplined now."

While other villagers get up early to gather food, tend livestock, or repair the village in the forest or by the water,

For them, going through the portal in the village to work in Minecraft is a daily routine.

Whether they were villagers who had already acquired special abilities or novices following Attila through the forests, mines, and farmlands, they all worked diligently as if they were pioneering new land, trying to unleash their potential hidden talents.

Currently, only two characteristics have been discovered: those of farmers and miners.

Lin Miao secretly hoped that others would awaken their martial arts traits while fighting monsters, but none of them did.

"Is this the limit?"

It's understandable that Lin Miao would have doubts after witnessing all of this.

Although this game is touted as all-encompassing, allowing players to experience everything from production and combat to resource gathering, if all these features could be obtained through this single game, then other games would lose their meaning.

The system that originally prompted Lin Miao to collect achievement points also guided him to combine and use its numerous functions by unlocking various programs.

In other words, to obtain more advanced items, you need other media, whether it's other games or something else.

"More achievements must be unlocked."

With this in mind, Lin Miao only needed to take one action: to acquire achievement points.

Looking at the mine, which was now bustling with activity due to the increase in the number of miners, Lin Miao suddenly tapped Lillie, who was dealing with the monster that was threatening the miners.

When Lillie turned around with wide eyes in fright, Lin Miao pointed to the passage blocked by stones to prevent the necromancer from passing through.

Lillie, who was rubbing her arm, suddenly changed her expression, as if she understood Lin Miao's intention.

The game seemed to be getting a little strange, something Lin Miao noticed from the very beginning.

With the system's intervention, the game's residents began to visit, which was perhaps a necessary measure in the first place.

After all, this is equivalent to coordinating two different worlds, and the fact that all the items the residents come into contact with will materialize is evidence of this.

The iron sword prop will turn into a real iron sword, and the stone bricks will turn into real stones.

Therefore, the game has undergone adjustments similar to balance patches in many aspects.

For example, residents from outside no longer have HP bars, and mineral resources, which should have been more abundant, become slightly scarce.

Moreover, there may be more of these adjustments in areas that Lin Miao has not yet noticed, such as those monster AIs that were not very smart to begin with.

"It's definitely better to confirm this."

Before teaming up with Lillie to defeat the boss necromancer, Lin Miao decided to first confirm whether this necromancer was different from the one in the game.

All the monsters that Lillie battles are no longer simple game models made of blocks, but have become monsters that seem to exist in reality.

While the zombies and cave centipedes encountered so far haven't changed significantly, the boss-level monsters might be different.

Speed-boosting potion.

Lin Miao handed her a potion he had taken from his inventory. It was a special potion made from monster loot and herbs gathered by the villagers.

It can temporarily increase movement speed after use.

Actually, they've only managed to make one bottle of this precious item so far, but Lin Miao plans to give it to Lillie in an emergency.

"—?!"

Lin Miao grabbed the potion bottle and threw it directly at the panicked woman. It had to be thrown when used on others, which was a system setting that Lin Miao couldn't change.

With the sound of shattering glass, she was stunned and soaked by the medicine. Her wide-eyed expression clearly showed her shock at Lin Miao's actions.

However, that was all the commotion was about.

Lillie seemed to sense the effects of the potion taking effect in her body. She stared blankly down at her body and tentatively moved her arm.

"We've done everything we could."

Lin Miao nervously swung his pickaxe and began to break down the rock blocks blocking the passage.

Although Lin Miao was just sitting in her room playing games, she was immersed in this extraordinary game, which made her heart race more than any other game she had ever played before.

"...!"

The moment the passage opened, the necromancer, who seemed to have been waiting for Lin Miao to appear ever since the road was blocked, let out a strange hiss and charged straight toward them.

"Leave the grunts to me."

The necromancer gave Lin Miao no chance to stop him, instantly summoning all the nearby skeletons.

While praying in her heart that Lillie would understand her intentions, Lin Miao controlled her character to face the skeleton minions who were charging at her with swords raised.

The skeletons kept attacking his character, but Lin Miao paid the price with his health, slashing them down one by one.

"very good."

Fortunately, Lillie did understand his plan.

When the dozen or so skeletons that had gathered around all had their aggro drawn to Lin Miao, who was leaping around and wildly swinging her sword, she immediately charged straight at the necromancer.

To achieve this, she must personally kill the necromancer.

Lin Miao, who had successfully drawn the aggro of all the monsters, was surrounded and beaten like a punching bag, but her eyes never left her battle.

Lin Miao still felt uneasy, but Lillie was now a battle-hardened warrior.

This seemingly frail and thin girl is holding a sword and shield, facing the necromancer who has transformed into a crazed monster and is constantly casting spells.

The speed-up potion I just used really came in handy.

The skeleton necromancer emitted a chilling shriek unlike anything Lin Miao had ever heard in the game.

It waved its staff, causing the ground to tremble violently, and sharp stone spears shot wildly from the ground, heading straight for Lillie.

Lillie suddenly stomped on the ground and leaped into the air, using her amazing reflexes to twist her body in mid-air and dodge all the stone spears.

The panicked necromancer summoned another thick stone pillar in an attempt to stop her advance.

Lillie merely swung her blue-glowing longsword in an instant, shattering the stone pillar, and then slammed her shield into the necromancer.

The necromancer, staggering and falling to the ground, struggled in his death throes and unleashed a shockwave, which she deftly dodged with a subtle head shake and waist twist.

Lillie gripped her sword in a reverse grip and thrust it fiercely at the necromancer's body.

"Off-center?"

The attack was slightly deflected due to the opponent's struggle, and failed to pierce its chest, only severing one of its leg bones.

She only needed to finish her off quickly, but in her panic, Lin Miao subconsciously controlled her character to rush towards her.

The necromancer's final attack is about to begin.

Even though Lillie was dressed in excellent equipment, Lin Miao didn't dare to gamble that she could withstand this attack head-on.

"Holy crap, this is going to kill me."

His intuition was instantly proven correct.

Lin Miao shoved her away, but was instead pierced by the spear that was imbued with dark energy.

"This is outrageous! They even popped up a death scene!"

Lin Miao truly felt the malice of this game.

Despite being fully armored, he was instantly killed by a single blow, losing all his health.

The damage was ridiculously high, it was practically bug-level power.

◆◆◆

"Ugh!"

Just as Lin Miao used his body to block the necromancer's fatal blow, Lillie was thrown away by the violent shockwave and fell heavily to the ground.

"don't want!"

Before she could even finish uttering a cry of anguish, a white light exploded before her eyes.

Lin Miao's body suddenly disintegrated, and her belongings scattered on the ground with a clatter.

In a fit of extreme panic, Lillie suddenly scrambled to her feet and beheaded the necromancer with a single sword strike.

Even though the achievement notification lit up in front of him, and even though the skull tumbled in the air, Lin Miao's figure did not reappear.

Even after she cleared out all the remaining skeletons in the cave, they still did not come back to life.

Lillie, panting heavily, stared blankly at the props scattered all over the ground, her mind a complete blank.

"Ahhh..."

She couldn't produce a complete sound; her thoughts had completely stopped.

In this world, how could someone who always displays incredible power be killed in a single blow?

And it was all to protect her.

She reached out her trembling hand, wanting to touch the object on the ground, but her fingertips recoiled violently as if electrocuted just before they touched it.

"Ugh!"

However, at that very moment...

Just as her attention was completely drawn in, someone appeared from behind and patted her on the back.

Lillie staggered forward, hurriedly gripped her sword, turned around, and pointed it directly at the person who had ambushed her from behind.

"what……"

But the next moment, she slowly lowered her sword, stunned.

The person patting her back wasn't an enemy, but Lin Miao, who had just been resurrected and rushed back.

"Luckily I managed to get back before the props disappeared, phew..." Lin Miao looked at the items on the ground and let out a long sigh of relief.

That person... can even transcend death!

Lillie stood frozen in place, her heart churning with turmoil.

In stark contrast to her, Lin Miao had already taken advantage of the moment to quickly pick up all the items scattered on the ground, including the necromancer's loot.

[Necromancer's Orb: Grants mages special traits]

Lin Miao held the pixelated blue bead, looking at the item description and muttering to herself, "Wait... this game actually has things like this?"