Chapter 34
“Forced task completed: ‘Assist in Defending the Village Against the Wild Boar Herd’ and ‘Assist in Defending the Village Against the Wolf Pack Invasion.’”
“Blackstone Village Reputation has increased by one level, from Somewhat Notable to Household Name. Relationship with all Blackstone Village villagers has improved.”
The moment he heard the system prompt, Su Wangchuan let out a long breath of relief.
It was finally over.
So cold.
So hungry.
From yesterday afternoon until now, he had not eaten a single grain of rice. His stomach in the real world had long since started rebelling.
He did not even bother checking the benefits brought by the reputation increase. After quickly informing Captain Zhao Heiniu that he was going to rest and receiving permission, he immediately entered the wooden house and logged out of the game.
Outside, his phone had nearly been rung to death.
Instructor Yu had even arranged for a robot to wait at the door, holding the wide noodles, fried eggs, and rice noodle rolls that Su Wangchuan usually liked. “Wow.”
“Instructor Yu really is considerate. I was starving.”
Su Wangchuan eagerly took the food and began eating heartily.
Instructor Yu came in right after, his voice loud and urgent.
“Are you okay?”
“What happened in Blackstone Village this time? Tell me everything.”
While eating, Su Wangchuan recounted everything that had happened in Blackstone Village over the night, from beginning to end.
Hearing that Blackstone Village had nearly been overrun during the heavy snow, Instructor Yu’s expression grew grave.
Su Wangchuan tried to reassure him.
“Don’t worry, Instructor Yu. The wild boar herd and the wolf pack have both been repelled. Everything’s fine now.”
“…”
Instructor Yu shook his head. There was no sign of relief on his face. Instead, it darkened further.
“What I’m worried about now isn’t you or Lin Dahai. Since you’ve both logged out, it means the crisis in your village has already passed.”
Su Wangchuan paused, chopsticks in hand, his face full of confusion.
“Instructor Yu, what are you worried about?”
Instructor Yu sighed.
“We have people stationed in six villages across Huishui County. Last night, I arranged for more than one person to log back into the game. All of them encountered the same situation. Once they entered the game, they completely lost contact. Up until now, none of them have come back out.”
“…”
Su Wangchuan sucked in a sharp breath.
“Their villages ran into danger too?”
“Yes.”
Instructor Yu nodded. “Most likely something went wrong. I just don’t know whether they can repel the attacking beasts like Blackstone Village did.”
Su Wangchuan glanced at the time.
A little past five.
At this hour, people should soon be waking up to start work.
He asked tentatively, “What about everyone else? Should they log in safely, or stay offline to be safe?”
“It’s useless.”
Instructor Yu shook his head and sighed.
“Once a village is breached, the protective effect of the houses disappears. No one survives. The beasts will ransack and destroy every house. Anyone who logged out inside a wooden house will be forced back into their character and instinctively engage the enemy in free combat. Most of them will still die. So…”
At this point, Su Wangchuan finally understood why Instructor Yu had been unable to sleep all night.
Six villages were attacked simultaneously in one night.
If any one of them was breached, all players with villager status in that village would be forcibly pulled back into the game and made to fight invaders until death.
Once a village fell, it was almost guaranteed that every player in that village would suffer forced account deletion, losing everything they had built up.
For the Warring States Game Studio, this was a massive loss.
Only now did Su Wangchuan truly grasp the severity of the situation.
“So what do we do now?”
“There’s no choice.”
“I’m notifying everyone to log in immediately, and I’m also informing our teams in Huishui County to rush to the nearest villages for support.” At this point, Instructor Yu stood up, his expression bitter. “Let’s just hope things don’t really deteriorate to that extent.”
With that, Instructor Yu turned and strode out.
Su Wangchuan suddenly found his breakfast tasteless.
If a village fell, all game characters could die… forced account deletion.
He could not help but feel grateful for his own choices.
Learning Archery had been the right decision.
If Blackstone Village had relied solely on Captain Zhao Heiniu, he might not have been able to handle the wild boar herd. Moreover, the village might not have been able to stockpile large numbers of armor-piercing arrows.
“Hopefully everyone’s okay… Forget it. I’m not management. Why am I worrying so much? If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.”
Sleepiness washed over him. After hastily filling his stomach, Su Wangchuan collapsed onto the bed.
Outside, a major upheaval was unfolding at the Warring States Game Studio.
By mid-morning, the usually quiet seventy-fifth floor was packed with people.
More than a dozen men and women stood before Su Wan, filled with indignation, arguing passionately:
“We logged out normally to rest and sleep.”
“The village being breached has nothing to do with us!”
“Exactly! We work all day grinding resources to generate profit for the company! On what grounds can you terminate our employment over something like this?”
“We went to sleep! Are we not even allowed to sleep now?”
“Director Su, isn’t this going too far?”
These people had all been called up early in the morning and told to log into the game, only to find their characters already lying dead in spirit realm, their villages breached, corpses scattered everywhere, and beasts still feeding on the remains.
Many of the women had been so frightened that they fainted on the spot.
Everyone had lost control of their characters.
All the silver ingots and copper coins they had accumulated were gone.
Everything was gone.
It was the first time they had encountered such a situation. Panicked, they all sought out Su Wan to ask how the matter would be handled.
The answer they received was cold and merciless:
“According to the terms of the company contract, once a game character dies and the account is deleted, it constitutes a massive loss to the company. We have the right to terminate the contract immediately. You may leave.”
Naturally, the group refused to accept this.
More than a dozen people felt deeply wronged.
This was not their fault.
They did not want to lose such a high-paying job.
Someone suggested the company give them another chance…
But from beginning to end, Su Wan did not say a second word.
After a while, the company’s security robots appeared.
The group was ‘escorted’ out of the Warring States Game Studio.
As they were leaving, a text message arrived on their phones:
“After termination of the contract, the confidentiality agreement you signed with the company remains in effect. Any disclosure of game-related content to the public will result in legal action, with liquidated damages of no less than 100 million RMB.”
The faces of the newly unemployed group could not have looked worse.
There was nowhere to vent their grievances.
They took one last look at the towering Warring States Building, filled with bitterness and despair.
“Forget it.”
“At least we earned tens of thousands here.”
“Sigh.”
“What kind of mess is this?”
“Playing a game, and even the safe zone gets breached.”
Some left resigned.
Others were unwilling to give up.
“I don’t believe it. I’ll find another way to get back into spirit realm.”
“Exactly! With our understanding of this game, starting over and farming money will definitely be faster than for newcomers!”
“Let’s go!”
As the group dispersed, Su Wan stood alone before the floor-to-ceiling window, her face heavy with worry.