Chapter 164 The Joy of Life as a Professional Gamer

Deep inside the North Peak Mine, mist was rising from the Demon King’s magic workshop, and grape-sized bubbles were bubbling in the crucible on the stove.

As Luo Yan chanted the spell, the knife engraved with underworld words flew up and down on the chopping board, expertly removing the head of the toad and the tail of the scorpion...

When the materials were dismembered into thumb-sized pieces, a bony hand reached out from the shadows and pushed all the materials on the chopping board into the mortar on the laboratory table.

As the dark characters on the base flickered, the obsidian pestle floated into the air as if it was held by an invisible hand, grinding the material in the mortar into powder with a steady rhythm.

The whole process was completed in one go! Looking at the automated medicine refining device in front of him, Luo Yan had an approving expression on his face and put away the magic wand in his hand.

This is one of Ouke's masterpieces.

With this set of automated equipment, his efficiency in preparing potions has at least doubled, which is equivalent to having two apprentices!

Moreover, it is obvious to the naked eye that there is still room for further improvement in the efficiency of the entire equipment.

Luo Yan, stroking his chin, thought for a long time, then took a pen and paper from the side and wrote hurriedly.

"…you can consider integrating the mortar and crucible on the laboratory table and installing a conveyor belt to increase the efficiency of material flow, as well as installing a six-degree-of-freedom skeleton hand or rock and soil hand on the corner of the table."

When writing to this point, the tip of the pen in Luo Yan's hand paused slightly, then he turned the pen and continued writing.

"…In addition, a set of pens with automatic writing function can be added to facilitate users to record experimental inspiration at any time."

After writing down all the requirements he could think of on a piece of paper, Luo Yan threw the notebook aside, intending to instruct his subordinates to pass it to Ouke later.

Whether it can be achieved is something for Oak and his little players to consider.

He is only responsible for making demands.

Just as Luo Yan poured the prepared potion into the reagent bottle and sealed it, Youyou's slightly excited voice suddenly floated into his ears from the side.

"Good news! Lord Demon, immigrants have moved into your territory on the surface!"

During this period of time, Youyou has been secretly observing the professional players active on the surface.

I remember that the Demon King once said that humans are like weeds, and they will grow out of the ground if you are not careful.

At first, Youyou still had some doubts about the Demon King's prediction. After all, how could humans be the same as plants? But she didn't expect that in just over a week, the Demon King's prediction would come true!

It's amazing! After listening to Youyou's report, Luo Yan was slightly stunned, with an expression of obvious surprise on his face.

So soon? Although he had expected that the refugees who could not survive might choose to sell their souls to the devil, he did not expect that this day would come so soon.

After all, according to his original idea, the latest wave of immigration would not occur until the spring.

It seems that the situation at the Brass Pass is worse than he imagined...

“How many people came this time?”

Hearing the Demon King's question, Youyou said excitedly.

"Two! Little kids!"

Luo Yan frowned slightly.

"Could it be the villagers nearby?"

"No, no! I heard from the players that the two children were villagers from the eastern part of Dusk Province. They migrated to Thundershire of Campbell Principality with their parents and other villagers, and unfortunately got separated near Silverpine Forest!"

Looking at the Demon King with a thoughtful expression on his face, Youyou continued excitedly.

"Master Demon! A large group of immigrants is nearby. Now is the time for us to show our strength! I suggest issuing tasks to the players, letting them take the initiative to attack and snatch those people away!"

Whenever it comes to expanding her faith, Youyou becomes extremely enthusiastic, so much so that the bad ideas she comes up with don't seem to have been thought through at all.

Luo Yan didn't want to complain about this guy, so he just rejected his bad idea.

"Don't do anything unnecessary. Just give the promised rewards to the players who took in the new NPC."

"But but——"

Looking at Youyou who was spinning anxiously in the mirror, Luo Yan explained patiently.

"Calm down. We need people who join us sincerely, not hostages. Some things will only backfire if we act too hastily. And it's not just the refugees who migrated to this area who need time to build trust with us. The same goes for our players... They also need time to prepare."

"Especially since they are doing quite well now and are finding the fun of farming and harvesting little by little, issuing tasks to urge them at this time will not only not have a promoting effect, but will affect their gaming experience and reduce their sense of immersion."

"On the contrary, if we can let them do something on their own initiative, it will not only motivate them better, but also save us from paying them task rewards."

The meaning of the mission is to guide.

He prefers to give players the opportunity to explore the fun of the game themselves after proper guidance, allowing them to find their own way of enjoying the game.

Youyou looked at Luo Yan in surprise, and it took her a while to comprehend the deeper meaning of those words... although she didn't grasp the main point at all.

"As expected of the Demon King, you can even talk about freeloading in such a refreshing and refined way."

Luo Yan rolled his eyes at the guy.

"What's freeloading? It's doing the right thing at the right time... Anyway, you just need to watch them from the sidelines, and you don't have to do anything."

He is the devil.

The devil must have the demeanor of a devil.

"Yes, sir!" Youyou replied excitedly. Just as she was about to switch the view back to the players, Luo Yan suddenly called out to her.

"Wait a moment."

Youyou turned a circle in the air and floated back, asking curiously.

"What's wrong, Demon King? Do you have any other instructions?"

Luo Yan reached out and took out a tube of dark green reagent from the test tube rack, screwed the cork on it, and placed it on a silver tray beside him.

"You arrange for a palace guard monk to come here and have him take this magic potion down the mountain and deliver it to the two children."

Even an adult would get frostbite after staying in the snow for so long, let alone two children.

Even without seeing them with his own eyes, he could guess the situation of the two people just by thinking about them.

Youyou looked at Luo Yan in surprise and blurted out.

"Is the animal medicine from Hell okay?"

Luo Yan looked at Youyou in the mirror speechlessly. He wanted to complain but felt that there was nothing wrong with it. Finally, he sighed and said.

"…This is my improved recovery potion. Although its efficacy has been weakened, it can still be used by ordinary humans without any side effects."

The heavy snow this year was beyond everyone's expectations, and many frostbitten adventurers came to the church in Silverpine Town to seek help.

However, the embarrassing thing is that Father Matt does not know how to cast the holy light.

To put it more bluntly, there is not a single human priest in the entire church. The five priests are all zombies planted in the cemetery.

Although it was okay to ignore the needs of those adventurers, it was not a long-term solution. In addition, Father Matt considered this an opportunity to spread the reputation of the Flame King, so he proposed to Luo Yan to see if he could use other methods besides Holy Light to help those adventurers, and then count this favor on Luo Yan's vest.

Luo Yan thought his suggestion was very good, so based on his own experience in configuring and taking potions, he made some improvements to the Hell's recovery potion, such as replacing the more toxic ingredients in the recovery potion with neutral herbs.

Although the recovery speed of the improved recovery potion has been greatly weakened and it is difficult to use in battle, its healing effect in the "out-of-combat state" is still quite good.

Especially for treating frostbite.

The most important thing is that the medicinal materials needed for the recipe are all cheap materials that can be easily found in both the Silver Pine Forest and the Misty Forest, and are affordable for ordinary people.

Once Luo Yan improves the production process and hands it over to the little moles in Tieya City for mass production, the cost can be further reduced.

Since he did this not for the purpose of making money, but purely to poach Saint Sith's talents and lure the "lost lambs", these potions were basically sold at a price slightly higher than the cost price.

It is the same as the "Soul-Releasing Cross Amulet" produced in the Nightmare Land.

Youyou looked at Luo Yan in surprise, as if she saw the sun rising from the west.

"Unbelievable... Lord Demon, you, you actually think about humans?~"

Luo Yan was too lazy to explain again what he had said before, and said impatiently.

"You talk too much nonsense. Just do whatever I tell you to do."

"Okay!" She misunderstood Luo Yan's reaction as shyness, and turned around in the air with a playful smile, then floated away like a gust of wind.

On the other side, at the foot of the mountain outside the Beifeng Mine, in a wooden house with a gable roof, bubbles were also bubbling in an iron pot placed on a charcoal stove.

Maggie, who had fainted earlier, has woken up from her coma and is now sitting with her brother in front of a warm charcoal stove to keep warm.

The dancing charcoal fire made her face red, like two apples hanging on the treetops. She stretched her hands forward, touching the edge of light and heat, feeling the warmth in her palms, with a healing smile on her face.

Just a dozen minutes ago, a robed lizardman acolyte came here and brought them a potion to heal their injuries.

It is said that the magic potion was prepared by the Demon King himself.

At first Maggie was very scared, especially after hearing that it was a potion prepared by the Demon King. She refused to drink it no matter what, until she saw her brother bravely drink it. Then she closed her eyes and took a sip.

And just after that, as the strange taste spread along her taste buds, she soon felt a warm current flowing through her body, as if she was soaking in a hot spring.

Not long after, the frostbite on her body was dispelled by the warm current. She no longer felt any pain and recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Looking at the pair of little hands that had regained consciousness, Maggie felt indescribable gratitude in her heart and deeply ashamed for her previous misunderstanding.

In the stories she had heard, the devil and his minions had always been symbols of disaster and evil.

She had never even thought about it.

I was actually saved by the minions of the devil.

The same was true of her brother Andy, who was sitting next to her. His face, which was red from the firelight, was filled with happiness of surviving the disaster.

Especially when he saw his sister regained her energy, he finally let go of his worry, and all his attention was focused on the bubbling iron pot in front of him.

There were spices and red oil floating in the iron pot, and I didn't know what was stewing.

The aroma of mutton fat wafted out of the pot, making him swallow his saliva continuously with hunger. His eyes flashed with desire and he could hardly hold back the urge to pounce on it.

The chef [Emotionally Stable] stood aside, put his index finger into the pot to test the oil temperature, then looked at the two children who were swallowing their saliva and said with a smile.

“You can eat now.”

Andy and Maggie looked embarrassed. They wanted to eat but didn't know how to start, let alone how to use the wooden stick-like cutlery.

Seeing the embarrassment of the two children, Shark immediately grabbed the chopsticks and demonstrated to them. He skillfully picked up a piece of cut beef and put it into the pot. After taking it out, he placed it on the crystal clear steamed rice and took a big mouthful.

"Just like this!" She said in an unclear voice before swallowing the food in her mouth.

Watching the little devil's actions, Andy clumsily picked up a piece of meat with two chopsticks, but as soon as he put it into the pot, it was rolled up by the bubbling meat.

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"I'll help you!" The urban slave who was rubbing his hands finally found a chance to help and stretched out his hand to the bubbling hot pot.

Before he could put his hand in, he was slapped away by [Chi Zao Shu in the Office] who was standing beside him.

"Don't use your hands anymore, or it will turn into bone soup!"

"What does it matter? I washed my hands!"

“Is this a question of whether to wash your hands or not?!”

Just as the two were arguing, Jing Luonanbei smiled and scooped out the piece of beef with chopsticks and put it in the boy's bowl.

"Don't worry, take your time."

Andy hummed with a red face, lowered his head embarrassedly, and almost buried his face in the bowl.

He used chopsticks to push the food to his mouth, tasted it with curiosity, and the next second his eyes widened and he almost bit his tongue.

Smells so good!

It was so delicious that he had never tasted before, so he couldn't wait to put another bite into his mouth before he even swallowed it.

"Eat slowly, don't choke." Jingluo Nanbei said with a smile, and fed Maggie a piece of freshly cooked beef into her bowl.

Seeing her brother eating so happily, the little girl named Maggie couldn't hold back her greed and couldn't wait to have a taste.

Then, without any surprise, she couldn't stop just like her brother... Even though she was sweating all over from the spiciness and her little mouth was as red as if she had put on lipstick.

Under the careful guidance of a group of players, the two children learned quickly, and after some hard work they finally mastered the essentials of using chopsticks.

Looking at the two children wolfing down their rice, the players crowded in the room felt extremely healed and satisfied in their hearts!

Although the bodies were cold, their hearts were warm and their faces were filled with smiles like old mothers.

The feeling of being needed is hard to describe in words.

It was as if they had saved not two pieces of cold data, but two fresh lives. Because of their efforts, the shaky fire was able to glow again in the ice and snow, and gave those cold stones and wood a meaning they had never had before.

This highest level of spiritual satisfaction can never be given by simple numbers, and it is something they have never experienced in other games.

Robert, who was floating nearby, kept sipped the food, curious about what kind of delicious food it was, but he couldn't taste it.

Andy, with his mouth full of food, raised his little head excitedly, suppressing the urge to dance.

"What is this! It's so delicious!"

He really wanted his parents to have a taste of this delicacy! They must be starving! "This is called hot pot, and it's a popular food in our place." The urban slave laughed and couldn't wait to show off.

If it tastes good, it must taste good.

This stuff is cooked with spices. Not to mention meat, even shoe horns are fragrant.

Not to mention that in Ossland, spices were only enjoyed by the nobles and the rich in big cities. For Andy, who came from the inland area, the most delicious food he had ever eaten was just a roasted deer leg sprinkled with salt.

Seeing the two little guys devouring their food, the skeleton soldiers surrounding them all felt hungry. [Want to be a corpse] He touched the ribs on his body and couldn't help muttering.

"Damn... I'm hungry just looking at this."

Emotionally stable: "I'm hungry, let's order takeout!"

Want to be a corpse: "How can it be the same!"

Emotionally stable: "What difference can this make..."

[I want to be a corpse] sighed and said slowly.

"You don't understand. On a snowy day, having a plate of mutton hotpot and a can of beer is simply the ultimate enjoyment in life!"

[Chi Zao Shu in the Office] scratched the back of his bald head.

"Why don't you just go outside and find a roadside stall?"

Want to be a corpse: "But the problem is that it doesn't snow where we are!"

Emotionally stable: "..."

[Chi Zao Shu is in the office] couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"You are such a difficult guy."

Listening to the conversation between those skeleton brothers, Shark couldn't help but feel moved and cast a longing look at Xiao Wan.

"Xiao Wan! Brother Jing and I will go play with you!"

Xiao Wan tilted her head, puzzled.

"Looking to play with me? Am I not right here?"

Shark dropped something and said excitedly: "Offline! I mean offline! I have never been on a sled pulled by a polar bear in my life!"

When Xiao Wan heard about meeting offline, her shoulders suddenly tensed up. She looked aside with a subtle expression, feeling so uncomfortable that she even forgot to complain.

"Well... there's no need for offline activities. I-I have social phobia."

Whale Luonanbei also tapped Shark Luo's head gently and scolded him.

"How can you meet someone in person just after you've known each other for so long? You'll scare others like this."

“Woo…”

Shark covered his head with his hands, and his face, which was full of expectation a second ago, now looked deeply shocked.

Xiao Wan felt a little soft-hearted, hesitated for a while, and spoke in a low voice.

"Can it be done after a while? It's not very convenient this year, maybe next year."

"Really?!" Shark suddenly regained his energy and grabbed her hand excitedly, "Will I be able to see penguins next winter?!"

Feeling embarrassed by the enthusiasm that lacked a sense of boundaries, Xiao Wan leaned back a little and said with a red face.

"Just maybe... I didn't say for sure."

Shark dropped the thing and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and said with a touched look on his face.

"It doesn't matter! As long as Xiao Wan is willing to see me, I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes!"

Whale Luonanbei glanced at this guy sideways.

"Why are you talking like a pervert?"

Shark dropped the thing and made a threatening gesture with a wicked grin.

“Hehehe…isn’t this more like it?”

The small wooden house was filled with a warm atmosphere. Maggie blinked her eyes and looked at the people who were laughing and talking happily. Although she couldn't understand what they were talking about, she giggled as well.

The howling wind and snow seemed to freeze time, and everything in the world seemed to slow down.

[I want to be a corpse] I was still muttering wistfully, it would be nice if the undead could drink beer, this game was always so ridiculously realistic in unnecessary places.

Just when [Emotionally Stable] was quietly enjoying the tranquility in the midst of the noise, a series of dong-dong bell sounds suddenly came from the wind and snow outside the wooden house.

That was the alarm bell.

After hearing the voice, everyone stopped joking and stood up from in front of the blazing charcoal fire as if they had received a signal.

Feeling the unusual atmosphere, Andy put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands, nervously held his sister's hand, and protected her by his side.

Robert, who was floating on the side, seemed to have completely forgotten that he had died. He became scared like a living person and looked around nervously.

"What's that noise? What happened?"

"I don't know. Maybe there are guests or maybe there are monsters."

He casually replied, the soul fire in [Emotionally Stable]'s skull burning fiercely, and the bones in his clenched fists crackling.

"Just go out and take a look!"

(End of this chapter)