Chapter 6 – The Money Subsidy Method

The future Undead General, having undergone the baptism of evolution, had completely recovered from his injuries. His missing left arm was restored, and his condition returned to its peak.

However, the other Little Skeletons were still in relatively poor condition. Mu Yuan dared not take the Undead General out for exploration.

Stealth was the priority.

While instructing Deadbone to ponder his skills, Mu Yuan had him continue his previous task—setting up traps to enhance the territory’s defensive capabilities.

Deadbone: “(_)”

At this moment, the territory was in disarray. Not only did the numerous gray wolf corpses littering the ground need to be cleaned up, but Mu Yuan also needed to repair a windproof house for himself.

Mu Yuan contemplated the next steps of his development plan.

“If I could collect the wolf pelts and meat, they would have considerable utility value, but…” He glanced at his Skeletons and felt it was asking too much of them.

Even if the Undead General were to take action, at best, he could only tear off a few tattered, blood-soaked wolf pelts, which would be pointless.

Moreover, the Undead General had a heavy workload. Self-improvement and setting traps took higher priority.

Next, he planned to lead Deadbone on an exploration of the surroundings after evolving a second Skeleton Soldier to guard the base. Exploration was not only for gathering more resources but also to survey the surrounding situation. With the territory shrouded in darkness and unaware of what hidden threats lurked, Mu Yuan felt insecure.

As for the most crucial Evolution Points, there was no use in rushing. He could only have each Skeleton work around the clock on various tasks. Even injured Skeletons had to do some manual work—whether they did it well or not was unimportant; what mattered was that they couldn’t stop, as this would efficiently produce Evolution Points.

After Deadbone’s evolution, the number of Evolution Points produced individually was slightly higher than before, but the increase was limited. To significantly boost Evolution Point production, he needed to focus on quantity.

He needed more Little Skeletons.

After assigning tasks one by one, Mu Yuan found himself with free time.

But it was not yet time to rest. Before his territory grew strong and his life was secure, how could Mu Yuan dare to rest?

Was he playing a game?

He was playing with his life!

“My understanding of the supernatural game and the Eternal World is still far too limited. Whether others’ troops can evolve, how troop tiers are classified, what the main enemies are for players in the early stages, and whether there are other ways for troops to grow stronger besides leveling up… I know nothing about any of it.”

He didn’t even know about skills!

He wanted to show off in front of Deadbone, casually pointing out key techniques with an air of ease, but he couldn’t.

He was even more clueless about what the future held—when would players finally stabilize and no longer face the constant threat of death? And… when would they truly wield supernatural power? Even if it was just spitting fire or spraying water, it would be something.

He was a complete newbie who knew nothing, a pure novice who had been in the game for less than twelve hours.

Mu Yuan opened the forum.

In the short time he had been away, it seemed a few new faces had appeared in the forum—by which he meant new players with confirmed identities.

General Pooper Scooper: “Dammit, my initial troops are weak-ass Goblins. Not only are they pathetically weak, but these guys don’t even listen to commands and run around everywhere. Should I just order a coffin for myself in advance?”Cool Forelock: “Bro, goblins are no pushovers. There seems to be a goblin settlement outside my territory, and they harass me daily. These guys even use tactics—I’m practically getting wrecked by them.”

One Cuckoo Bird: “Damn (an element), I haven’t slept in two days because of this crappy game, and I’ve missed two updates… Wait, I mean, can we just not play this damn game? I admit I suck, alright!”

Crooked Mouth Emperor: “LMAO, don’t tell me people actually believe this game exists? Seriously? And you’re making it sound so realistic.”

Mu Yuan browsed through the forum, where casual observers naturally dominated. Many didn’t believe in the existence of the supernatural game at all, but there were plenty of real players too.

He had identified dozens of them so far. Some players communicated with each other, though most were in far worse situations than him—some had nearly been wiped out by gray wolf packs.

Gray wolves actually wiping out player factions?

That’s just pathetic.

Aren’t there any skilled players who can provide some Advanced intel?

Aside from the pinned guide post, Mu Yuan found the rest underwhelming.

“Rushing into the next phase plan is too risky. Taking the wrong path would waste a lot of time, and the novice trial seems to be a major crisis too. I at least need to figure out what to prepare in advance, and these…”

Might not be impossible to find.

For example, the player who wrote the pinned guide post.

Mu Yuan had some guesses about the forum’s background too—likely the Xuan Nation authorities. Otherwise, why would they provide such detailed and effective guides for free?

The supernatural game hadn’t been around for just a short time, yet only rumors circulated, and society remained relatively stable. This indicated strong control by the authorities. If his guess was correct, he might have already caught the officials’ attention the moment he entered this forum.

Ding ding ding—!

The forum administrator has initiated a chat. Accept?

“So it begins?”

Mu Yuan stroked his chin, somewhat surprised. He paused for a moment before clicking accept.

A chat interface immediately popped up. The other party’s forum name was ‘Not a Daughter Con,’ paired with an avatar of an exquisitely cute little girl.

Mu Yuan: “…”

He had imagined many possibilities, but never expected the forum administrator to seem… less than serious. Was this really an official personnel?

As for himself, he hadn’t had time to choose a meme name yet—currently going by ‘20230716669.’

“Ahem, brother, sorry to bother you. I believe you must have many questions and confusion right now… Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself first. I’m this forum’s administrator, a supernatural game player like you, and also staff member of the relevant department in the Xuan Nation authorities. You can call me Yang Kong… By the way, see my avatar? My daughter’s adorable, isn’t she.”

Mu Yuan: “…”

What could he say? He pondered briefly before responding with “Yeah, sure, sure,” while continuing to probe cautiously.

Yang Kong continued, “That’s right, this hidden forum was established by the nation as a guidance platform. There are several similar forums with a simple goal: to guide new players who’ve obtained game qualifications but are completely clueless, in order to reduce novice player mortality rates.””After obtaining player qualification and establishing a connection with the Eternal Continent, if I’m not mistaken, you must have immediately started searching for related information online, right? Most newcomers do this after the initial nervousness and excitement. And whenever someone searches for such information, they eventually find these forums. This isn’t coincidental – it’s a necessity of Karma.”

Mu Yuan nodded slightly.

If nothing else, without that strategy post, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat the gray wolf pack without losses. He had indeed benefited from it.

“You asked why the existence of the supernatural world isn’t made public. You should understand that player qualifications are completely random and limited in number. Currently, it’s only confirmed that younger people have higher probability of obtaining them. Moreover, there are said to be deeper, more important reasons behind this, which is why the authorities can only guide through this method.”

“As for the second purpose, the authorities also need to register players. This is to maintain social order and won’t restrict your personal freedom or gaming freedom, as long as you don’t break the law.”

Mu Yuan wasn’t surprised by this.

Players are people who have the opportunity to wield supernatural power, and not everyone can be like him, possessing such lofty ideals and moral character.

Regulation is inevitable, just like with weapons such as guns and Sabers.

Still, he managed to express three parts surprise, three parts fear, and four parts hesitation in his tone.

Before he could say anything more, Yang Kong continued: “Of course, the authorities also provide benefits for registered players. Not only do we purchase High Life Insurance for players, but we also provide a monthly subsidy of ten thousand yuan. Our Xuan Nation has always strongly supported supernatural players.”

Indeed, players might have some resistance to registration, but the authorities are offering too much!

Getting monthly subsidies just for registering?

Well, as long as people aren’t short of money, few would Challenge the law. The authorities are using the money approach to nip potential problems in the bud.

So, are players short of money?

Mu Yuan could say with full responsibility: He is!

(End of Chapter)