Chapter 35 Safe House
On the streets of Ibis, the desperate sand city, players hid in the shelters they had found.
As the core area of the Sand City dungeon, there is a perennial shortage of water here, and all kinds of monsters made of sand and gravel emerge from every corner every night.
The players are of humble status and are the slaves thrown out by the city lord in the middle of the night to clean up monsters.
Their biggest difficulty is how to survive at night.
Since they had not brought back enough sand monster corpses for many days, everyone not only had no food, but also very little water.
The sand monster is not a particularly difficult monster to deal with.
Their weakness is very obvious, it's water.
However, when players log into the game, they cannot judge which game they are about to enter, so they have no idea how to bring enough equipment, let alone prepare plenty of water!
Who would spend points to buy water from the mall when doing a dungeon?
Therefore, escaping from the sand monsters is extremely difficult, let alone killing a few of them and taking them back.
Players currently face two choices.
Collect all the drinking water and go all out; kill the weakest new player who can't leave the dungeon at first glance, and use his blood instead of water to attack the sand monster.
Just when they were about to fight over the two options, the player broadcast sounded in everyone's mind.
[【City of Sand】Safe House Refresh]
[There is no limit on the number of entries, players in need please hurry up! ]
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared with eyes wide in disbelief. After the surprise, they no longer worried about who to kill, but ran quickly to find the copy safe house!
Inside the old house, Xu Zhiyan was cheering Qu Ji on.
"Take a deep breath and relax!"
"When I'm not around, you will be in charge of the safe house in Yunshan Old House. Of course, you need to familiarize yourself with the situation in advance."
As he spoke, Xu Zhiyan took out a yellow safety helmet and put it on the other person's head.
There is a little yellow duck printed on the safety helmet, holding a flag to remind people to be safe, but because the colors are too close, from a distance it looks like two flags hanging in the air.
What Xu Zhiyan said was only one aspect. Another reason why he didn't want to show up was that the one million bet during the previous live broadcast was too high-profile, and many players knew that there was a newcomer like him.
If any of the players who come to the safe house have watched the live broadcast and recognized him, it might cause unnecessary trouble. After all, he considers himself an honest businessman, but it seems that everyone in the barrage does not agree with him?
What kind of bandit is this? What kind of person is this? Does he look like one?
This is clearly slander!
When he was counting the money for the ghosts and gods, he deliberately set aside 10,000 as interest. A real bandit wouldn't keep a penny, okay?
Thinking of this, Xu Zhiyan was almost moved by his own generosity and honesty.
Qu Ji pursed his lips and nodded.
It tried to take a deep breath, but the more it relaxed, the more nervous it became.
In less than three seconds, it lost its temper and said with its head down, "I... I can't do it. How can they listen to me?"
"You are the face of the safe house! Cheer up!" Xu Zhiyan was very disappointed.
He is a social phobic. In his eyes, these players are no different from fat meat, so he cannot empathize with why Qu Ji is so timid about the upcoming players.
But thinking of the boy's past experiences, he tried to cheer Qu Ji up again.
"You think so. You all have comfortable bedrooms, but I'm not a monster. Now I'm the only one left in the entire safe house sleeping in a broken, cold and simple room..." The more Xu Zhiyan spoke, the more he felt that he was really pitiful!
Qu Ji is a simple person, and after thinking about it, it seems to be true.
The person in front of it was so kind to it, rescuing it from the copy and giving it a place to live. How could it not repay the other person?
It seems like I suddenly have the courage to face the players!
At this time, a panel popped up in front of Xu Zhiyan, indicating that the player was nearby.
[Logged into the Sand City dungeon]
[Instance star rating: ★☆]
[Safe house broadcast has been activated]
[Players detected within 100m...]
"Come on!" After saying that, he stuffed the design drawings in his hand into Qu Ji's hand and returned to the building.
He was busy all day today.
In addition to purchasing decoration materials, he also purchased a lot of home appliances and furniture.
According to the system, the Yunshan Old House is a connection point between the game and the real world, and all ordinary people who enter here will be pulled into the game.
For the safety of the delivery boy, Xu Zhiyan didn't dare let anyone in, so whether it was measurement or splicing, he had to personally direct the ghosts inside to do it.
After shouting for a whole afternoon, his voice is almost hoarse, he needs to take a good rest.
There were no lights on in the hall. Xu Zhiyan sat at the long table, quietly observing the movements in the yard.
If Qu Ji is not suitable to face the players, or really doesn't want to, then he will have to think of finding something else for Qu Ji to do.
The system is a little worried.
[Host! Is it really okay for you not to supervise in person?] It always felt that this new ghost employee was a bit soft and not very suitable.
Xu Zhiyan shook his head: "This is already a one and a half star instance. The players should not be fools."
He didn't believe that there would really be players as stupid as pigs who would judge people by their appearance and take advantage of Qu Ji because he thought he was easy to bully.
[But host, think about it, don't you often encounter brainless humans in the real world? And the level of this copy is not high, you can't always use your thinking to compare with other players.] The system has seen too many players, and there are many brainless players.
"I can't believe anyone could be so stupid."
Xu Zhiyan blurted out: "Let's make a bet."
[Okay! If I win we'll get a red mailbox!]
"no problem."
In the courtyard, Qu Ji, wearing a safety helmet, heard a hurried knock on the door.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
"Is anyone there? Please let me in!"
"Why is it still locked? Can I climb over the wall to get in?"
"No, the entrance to the safe house must be through the door."
"How do you know?"
"I just climbed over the wall!"
There was a lot of noise outside. Qu Ji thought to himself, "Oh no! I forgot to open the door in advance," and hurried to open it.
“Squeak—”
As soon as the iron gate in the yard was opened, the players rushed in instantly.
Xu Zhiyan modified the number of people in the safe house, so this time after the players arrived one after another, the safe house was not closed to the public.
The rules appear on a panel in front of everyone.
【Welcome to the dungeon safe house. 】
The rules that prohibit players from killing each other and shutting down live broadcasts are written at the end.
[Based on the difficulty of the dungeon, the free stay time is 45 minutes. Players are requested to pay the stay fee as soon as possible. ]
[Points, items, souls...]
The basic rules, except for the modification of time, are no different from the previous time when receiving players.
The players looked at each other after reading the information on the panel.
Just forty-five minutes was not enough for them to survive the long dark night, but the feeling of the panel data slowly recovering was really comfortable, and even hunger and thirst were not so unbearable.
Only then did they begin to look around the courtyard of the safe house.
The yard is large and overgrown with weeds.
Although it was night, the deliberately installed lights made it as bright as day.
A dozen players were standing inside and it was not crowded at all. The person who opened the door for them was a young man with a scar on his face. He had a bookish air and wore a safety helmet. He looked very timid, as if he had not yet entered society.
What made them feel strange was that this place seemed to be...undergoing renovation?
Buckets of paint, coatings and cement were piled in the corner, along with all kinds of tools such as shovels, spades, hammers, etc.
If they had not actually received the reminder about the safe house in the copy, it would be hard to believe that the safe house before their eyes was the legendary one ruled by ghosts and gods!
The short man in front of me can't be a ghost.
At this time, Qu Ji finally recovered.
It glanced at the dozen or so players in front of it, nervously tugged at the corner of its clothes, cleared its throat and said, "Players can rest here by themselves. I will come to collect the reward in forty-five minutes."
It remembered that Xu Zhiyan said that the cows should be allowed to rest well before working.
After saying this, before Qu Ji could find an excuse to slip away, a player raised his hand and expressed his dissatisfaction.
"But we didn't have anything anyway."
"Please, can you please give us some water first? I haven't had any water for several days..."
This sentence seems to have touched the hearts of the players.
Others followed suit, asking for some water.
Seeing that their lips were indeed chapped and they looked dehydrated, Qu Ji hurriedly pulled out two bottles of mineral water and invited everyone to drink, one bottle per person.
This is what Xu Zhiyan brought back from the supermarket this afternoon. He said it was for the decorators... no, the players. It should be okay to take it out now, right? Anyway, I have to give it to them later, otherwise these people will be short of water. I am worried that the players will faint in the middle of their work.
The players were very grateful after getting the water and started to drink water and rest.
Half an hour later, the two players who had just spoken boldly looked at each other, and seemed to suddenly realize that the person in charge of the safe house in front of them was not that strong.
Unlike the other players who took a few sips and saved the remaining water, they drank the entire bottle in one breath and walked to Qu Ji with the empty bottles.
"This water is too little, not enough to drink!"
"Is there anything to eat? Can you give me something else to eat?"
"That's right! We can't recover from this little bit!"
Qu Ji scratched his hair, looking confused.
"But, but the remaining water can only be given to you after you finish your work, and the same goes for food..."
Xu Zhiyan, who was sitting at the long table, felt a pang in his heart, and felt that he might really have to install an out-of-place red mailbox in his new home.
The atmosphere in the yard became a little strange.
The other players just watched the two men embarrass the person in charge of the safe house, and no one spoke out to stop them.
Even if someone felt that the two's behavior was inappropriate, they were held back by their companions and did not step forward.
A safe house that can provide supplies and avoid danger is like a treasure chest. If there is not enough military protection, which player would not want to come in and get some benefits?
The two players listened to the young man's speech and suddenly laughed, as if they had discovered some new world.
The older man tilted his head back and said, "Work? Paint the walls? I can't do that. I'm too tired. I just want to sleep now."
He looked at the gate of the yard with lingering fear, then at the thin boy, and estimated that the other party would not be able to drive him away when the time was up, and his confidence instantly increased a little.
Qu Ji didn't know he was being looked down upon. He looked at the time and said, "There are still six minutes of free time. If you don't plan to work, you will have to pay extra money later."
After saying this, it did not speak again no matter what the other two said.
Time passed little by little, six minutes was not a long time.
After the 45 minutes of free time was completely over, Qu Ji took a sip of water and told the players the rest of his plan.
"You can pay item points or souls in exchange for rest time in the safe house."
"But it's being renovated right now. If players are willing, they can exchange their work for time."
After saying that, it took out a lot of printed paper, on which were printed detailed decoration tutorials found on the Internet, even clearly stating how to dig a pond in the yard.
A female player wearing a red shawl stood up first after hearing this, raised her hand and said, "I choose to work!"
This is the legendary dungeon safe house! She doesn't think the boy in front of her is as harmless as he looks.
And if painting walls and decorating can really earn her survival time, then she is willing to do the decoration until the end of the dungeon. Isn't this a hundred times better than going out to die? She loves painting walls!
After her, several more people expressed their willingness to work.
Qu Ji took the lead in arranging jobs for them.
Soon, construction of the garden began!
There were a few players who originally wanted to wait and see, but after some hesitation, they honestly expressed their willingness to work. They took the tools and started working according to the tutorials sent to them.
Only the two people who made a lot of demands at the beginning, looked down, refused to work and didn't want to pay, looked at each other, and started to act miserable.
"We have nothing."
"Yes! Please, we really need to rest in the safe house!"
Other people who were working were also watching this side quietly.
It is human instinct to seek profit and avoid harm. Although these jobs are not particularly hard, they would still prefer to slack off if they can.
“Pah—”
A crisp slap was heard, and the older player who had just been playing badly felt a black screen before his eyes, and was slapped and spun in the air.
"Ahhh - fuck, oh fuck, who hit me..." He was wailing on the ground, but suddenly found that the yard, which had been noisy just now, had become quiet.
He was knocked back to Qu Ji by the sudden attack.
But when he raised his head and was about to continue cursing, he found that the guy carrying the bucket opposite him had a serious expression, as if he had seen something terrible.
The lights in the yard flickered and dimmed considerably.
A strange, eerie gurgling sound came from behind him.
An inexplicable fear came over him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw his companion kneel on the ground with a thump.
The boy's voice behind him changed.
It was no longer the clear boy's voice, but instead had a gravel-like tone.
"Since you don't plan to exchange, I will collect payment from you for the water just now."
Qu Ji said slowly that he remembered Xu Zhiyan had taught him that when facing people who were cheating and dishonest, you must charge more.
"500ml of water requires 5000ml of blood."
The player who was knocked to the ground turned around and collapsed completely to the ground.
The young man in front of him still looked as weak and vulnerable as he looked, but he had countless strong limbs growing from his back, as if he was carrying a deformed demon on his back, creating a strong visual impact contrast.
What just hit him was the big hand that appeared from behind the opponent!
The two players lying on the ground could no longer hold back and immediately knelt down and begged for mercy, promising that they could scrape putty and beautify the joints of bricks, and were qualified skilled workers, and begged the other party not to kill them.
Qu Ji let out a long sigh.
Great! Finally completed the task successfully!
The other players who watched all this tightened their grip on their tools, stopped standing around and just worked hard, fearing that they would be outdone by the two skilled workers.
In the lobby of the old house, Qu Ji came to Xu Zhiyan with the remaining printed paper to report on his work.
"The overall work in the yard has been arranged, and all that remains is the renovation of the house!"
Its eyes sparkled as it exclaimed, "The players are really good. I just went to take a look. They are working very hard. Let's get some more food and water for them later."
"Good, you did a good job." Xu Zhiyan wanted to touch Qu Ji's head, but when he saw the limbs that had not been retracted yet, he retracted his hand.
It's quite scary, let alone the players, he looks very cool.
Qu Ji, who was given the role of supervisor for the first time, was affirmed and laughed happily. He was so excited that the deformed limbs behind him began to shake.
"Then I'll go out and supervise them! Make sure they do the job quickly and well!" After saying that, Qu Ji returned to the courtyard again.
Looking at Qu Ji, who had become more confident, and the players who were trembling while working, Xu Zhiyan's conscience was slightly touched, and he decided to give the decorators an extra sausage.
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