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

"All that's left is the boss fight; I'm afraid we won't make it today."

According to the original plan, the action-oriented third chapter should have ended after the battle inside the fortress.

However, the existence of a malfunction means that the walkthrough video is no longer reliable.

After glancing at the time, Lin Miao decided to call it a day.

Anyway, I'll be able to finish Chapter 3 tomorrow.

"A parasitic glitch that simply parasitizes and enhances the host's strength; its individual combat ability doesn't seem to be that great."

After sending Lillie, who was looking at him with even brighter eyes than before, back to the village, Lin Miao made a point of recording the characteristics of the malfunctioning entities he encountered that day, including their habits and the forms they exhibited.

This was both to provide intelligence for Li Sushang, who came later, and because they had learned that these things were infiltrating the real world.

Lin Miao believed that one day, these records would come in handy.

Attila was still trying to win over Bjorn, Theodore's envoy.

In fact, Lin Miao could guarantee that this recruitment would be quite successful.

Bjorn, who was originally a hostile unit but has now been switched to neutral, is now fully displayed as a friendly unit.

This means that Lin Miao can drag him with the mouse, deploy him into the game, or view his detailed status bar, just like she would with any ordinary villager.

"Smooth diplomatic relations are never a bad thing."

After some consideration, Lin Miao supported Attila's proposal.

Although glitches in the game complicate matters, it is ultimately just a game.

Although she felt sorry for the residents in the game, if Lin Miao hadn't deployed them in the game, it would have just been a virtual space that had nothing to do with them anymore.

The most important thing is that desktop world, which is where the residents depend on for survival.

We are still fighting against enemies whose true nature is unknown. If we were to go to war with local forces, it would probably be a losing proposition.

If normal communication is possible, the problem of increasing the population will not need to be solved through war.

Since the existence of those faulty entities not only harms us but also others, they should not dare to rashly become our enemies.

[Li Sushang: Are we just going to keep playing defensively like this?]

"Defense?"

[Li Sushang: Although I understand that the purpose of training residents is to fight against those monsters called malfunctions, I always feel like we're being attacked unilaterally.]

That night, while chatting with Li Sushang, after Lin Miao mentioned parasite-type malfunctions, she was the first to express her anxiety about the current situation.

[Li Sushang: According to the intelligence we've gathered so far, those guys will attack us in various ways. We have no warning and know nothing about it; we can only passively defend ourselves.]

The malfunctioning entities appear and attack the player at will. Whether they open rifts or build nests, it's all up to them.

Players can only discover them and rush to stop them. They can neither fight back nor know when they will arrive; the only thing they can do is to be prepared at all times.

"This is so inefficient."

Lin Miao nodded in deep agreement.

Just now, Lin Miao was also worried about what would happen if the main force went out to fight and a malfunction occurred, causing massacres of the residents left behind.

If conditions permit, I might even take the initiative to hunt those guys.

[Recommended Map Program]

[Wallpaper Folder Recommendations]

"what?"

The system clearly detected the conversation between Lin Miao and her.

The sudden pop-up app recommendation left Lin Miao staring blankly at the screen.

[Li Sushang: Map app and wallpaper change...? I never expected that!]

Li Sushang, who was talking with them, said she hadn't received any such recommendations, even though she clearly had those apps installed on her computer.

"I see. The map application costs 10000P, and changing the wallpaper costs 5000P. It seems they decided not to recommend it because they felt some players couldn't afford it for the time being."

Looking at the price of the referral program, Lin Miao couldn't help but smile wryly.

Recently, with the increase in active games, the number of residents has also increased, various achievement tasks are progressing smoothly, and the income from points is quite considerable.

I was originally planning to save up 60000P to activate the firewall.

[Li Sushang: Want to give it a try?]

"If we could use these programs to give those crazy monsters a go first, why would we refuse?"

It's exciting to imagine that every time it's a passive counterattack, being attacked on the spot.

Of course, the actual fighting still depends on the residents, but ultimately it also concerns their lives.

What exactly does "changing the desktop background" mean?

Compared to other features, the ability to change the desktop background file particularly caught Lin Miao's attention.

Lin Miao's desktop background is now a vast and beautiful grassland, where the residents actually live.

Even if you swipe the screen, you will only see other grasslands connected to the grassland, or scenes such as rivers and forests.

Perhaps this is to be expected, after all, the desktop has now become a complete world.

Therefore, changing your desktop background is like changing the world. Although Lin Miao has witnessed all sorts of bizarre events, this kind of thing is still hard to believe.

"What will the residents do?"

Lin Miao couldn't help but worry about the safety of the residents.

They still don't know Lin Miao's true identity, but the bond they've built is growing stronger every day.

Having finally established the system and gradually stabilized it, Lin Miao was terrified that it would all collapse.

If something goes wrong, not only will he be in danger, but the residents will be the first to suffer.

"But what if we don't continue developing..."

Lin Miao frowned and sighed softly.

The reason for convincing myself is simple: I must never be content with the status quo; this is the most fundamental and ironclad rule.

From the moment he met the residents, he has been constantly fighting against enemies to survive and grow stronger, at the cost of sacrifice and effort, and continuously driving the development of the world.

"It's natural to be afraid. It's only human to feel uneasy, but if we can't overcome these emotions, we will all die at the hands of the enemy."

"Everything we have achieved today is the result of this courage."

As Lin Miao hesitated, the figures of residents having dinner together emerged in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Smoke rose from all directions.

Attila designated all the grain harvested from the game world as public property and stored it securely in warehouses.

The others seemed to have no complaints. After all, food was plentiful, and Attila was always generous in distributing it.

Some people were laughing and chatting because of the abundant food, while others solemnly held a memorial service for the fallen soldiers. The two atmospheres coexisted in a strange way.

"If you are not prepared to lose, you cannot gain anything."

As an ordinary newcomer to society who grew up in a conventional way, Lin Miao had not actually experienced many storms.

They had never truly lost anything, nor had they ever risked their lives to protect anything.

But after witnessing their way of life, Lin Miao's thoughts completely changed.

This change becomes inevitable when people realize that every choice they make is a matter of life and death for them.

They were just tiny strangers who suddenly appeared on Lin Miao's computer desktop one day.

From some perspectives, they could even be described as an uncivilized and barbaric race.

"But they are by no means foolish."

Those who taught Lin Miao were all exceptional individuals.

[Desktop Folder Activation]

Lin Miao finally made up her mind.

After exhausting all the accumulated points, a program was activated.

"What exactly is this thing?"

Lin Miao carefully examined the folders controlled by the system.

It was originally just a regular folder used to store wallpaper images or video files.

This remains true today.

Lin Miao, who rarely pays attention to her desktop, found these files unfamiliar.

But in essence, it is still a folder that stores several files.

At first glance,

These are just ordinary documents about natural scenery.

[Entrance to the Dwarf Kingdom (Contaminated): 1000P]

[Elf Village Entrance: 1500P]

……

"what?"

When Lin Miao moved the mouse to view the file name...

His eyes widened in surprise.

It's clearly a seemingly ordinary forest picture,

The filename, however, is rather strange.

Making a fuss over a strange filename might be an overreaction.

However, this situation should not be taken lightly.

"It feels like I've seen this somewhere before..."

Among the items forcibly confiscated from the residents at the time, there appeared to be one labeled "dwarf".

I was distracted by other things at the time and dealt with it casually without thinking much about it.

"Are they really dwarfs?"

Lin Miao chuckled to herself, then muttered to herself in a daze.

The dwarves he knew were a race that appeared in fictional works, but even if that world really existed, he couldn't refute it.

They are usually depicted as a short but robust race, but it's uncertain whether they will be portrayed that way there.

"pollute."

Moreover, the problem is not simply the possibility of the appearance of dwarves, an alien race.

The part of the filename marked with "(contaminated)" made Lin Miao very concerned.

I recently saw a place marked with a (contamination) symbol, which was the area where those insects nested and multiplied malfunctions.

What was originally an ordinary plain has been polluted by insects that killed the natives and occupied their territory.

Since the area is marked as having dwarves, it must have encountered the same situation.

"If I activate that desktop background... could it teleport the residents there?"

Lin Miao suddenly realized the purpose of this program.

Changing your desktop background means changing your space.

"This way, we can send residents to attack the places where the insects nest."

This means we can finally fight back; before that, we could only passively take hits.

This area cannot be replaced.

Lin Miao, having made up her mind, paid the points to try replacing the file, but a prompt popped up saying that the village area could not be operated.

Lin Miao immediately had a flash of inspiration and turned the screen to another location to try again.

Do you want to replace the file?

When Lin Miao switched the view from the bustling village to the nearby plain, it indeed showed that it was operable.