novelraw Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Blackstone Village, the village chief’s home.
When Su Wangchuan stepped into the courtyard, he saw an elderly man with graying hair. A smoking pipe hung from the corner of his mouth as he watered and fertilized the leafy greens in his yard.
Perhaps hearing movement, the old village chief turned around and examined him from head to toe with a puzzled look.
“The village guards said an unidentified vagrant wanted to seek refuge in our village. So it is you? You look like an honest, familiar sort of young man. I hope you will live properly here in the village.”
“Working at the iron mine outside the village is a bit hard, but as long as you can endure the loneliness, you will always be able to fill your stomach. Here, take this.”
The village chief handed him a wooden plaque and acknowledged,
“This is the household registration proof for a villager of Blackstone Village. Hold on to it.”
“Ding!”
A system notification sounded:
“Congratulations. You have joined Blackstone Village and become a villager of Blackstone Village.”“Blackstone Village Reputation System unlocked. Current reputation: 0. Stage: A Nobody—Even a dog would bark at you twice.”
Su Wangchuan took the wooden plaque. The texture felt completely real.
Carved into it were the words: ‘Blackstone Village, Wangchuan.’
The grain of the wood and the lettering were unbelievably clear, giving him the same tactile satisfaction as feeling tiles in a game of mahjong with his eyes closed.
Damn.
This game… had an astonishing level of realism!
No wonder some rich second-generation heir was willing to pour this much money into it.
If this game did not become wildly popular, there was no justice in the world.
Yet what was strange was that there was not the slightest rumor about it on Douyin.
No game streamer seemed to have mentioned 《Spirit Realm》 either.
Su Wangchuan was still reeling when he realized there was not even an inventory or item bag. His household registration plaque could only be tucked into his lapel.
He patted his chest, feeling distinctly uneasy.
The village chief had already withdrawn his gaze and dismissed him.
“Boy, remember this: you may only leave the village during the day. You must return before sunset. If you come back late, the village guards will not open the gate for you.”
“Go on.”
Su Wangchuan nodded to show he understood and left the village chief’s home.
Lin Dahai appeared out of nowhere, smiling.
“Good.”
“Now that you have a proper identity, you are only missing some equipment before you can start mining.”
“I will give you two choices.”
“One is a fast route to mining. The other might be slower—you will have to wait a few days before you can mine.”
Su Wangchuan quickly asked for details.
Lin Dahai explained,
“Normally, newcomers are dirt poor. If you want to mine, you are missing a pickaxe and a basket, and you also have to prepare a day’s worth of dry rations.”
Su Wangchuan listened closely.
“You would have to work in the village to earn money. For example, you could help Auntie Wang feed chickens and catch weasels, or apprentice under the blacksmith and work for free, and then mine for free to earn money…”
When Lin Dahai reached this point, he smiled slightly.
“But since you are with the company, things are much easier. You can choose to borrow 150 copper plates from us, buy a small iron pickaxe and a basket, then mine hard for one day and pay the money back.”
“But we cannot lend you money for nothing. You will have to work one more day for us—hand over the money you earn on the second day.”
Su Wangchuan understood immediately.
It was simply a loan arrangement that allowed the other party to double short-term profits.
Mining iron ore for a day could earn 150 copper plates, and the second day would be pure profit.
But considering Lin Dahai had been assigned to guide him and was losing mining time, Lin Dahai deserved to earn that money.
And compared to spending several days doing odd jobs for villagers to scrape together funds, this was a win-win choice.
“I will listen to you, Brother Lin. I will borrow money from you.”
Su Wangchuan made the decision decisively.
“Smart!”
Lin Dahai smiled.
“Before, there was a kid who could not get it through his head. He insisted on taking village tasks and relying on himself. Do you know how that ended? When he went to catch weasels, he got bitten and ended up lightly injured. He lay in the village for half a month. In the end, he borrowed money for medicine, food, and mining tools all at once, and his wages and bonuses for three months were completely thrown into it.”
“……”
Su Wangchuan stared in shock.
Bitten by a weasel and bedridden for half a month? What kind of nonsense was that?
Seeing his disbelief, Lin Dahai gave him a mysterious smile.
“Look at your status panel. The hunger bar.”
Su Wangchuan glanced as instructed.
His hunger, which had been 100/100, had already dropped to 89/100.
Lin Dahai said,
“In 《Spirit Realm》, everything is modeled after the real world. From the moment you log in, your character exists. Every hour, your hunger drops by ten points. When your hunger reaches zero, you start losing health—one point every half hour. If you do not eat or drink, you really will die.”
“……”
Su Wangchuan had lost count of how many times this game had shocked him.
If he did not eat, he would die.
He had jumped from being a workhorse in the real world into a game world where he still had to toil like a beast of burden!
This time, his identity was a miner.
Suffering on both ends.
At least the real-world salary was high enough to make it worth it.
Watching Su Wangchuan’s expression, Lin Dahai smiled.
“Once you understand how this world works, you will realize how correct your decision was today.”
“Here.”
“Take this.”
Lin Dahai pulled out a coin pouch and counted out fifteen large copper coins and five small copper pieces.
Su Wangchuan examined them carefully. The small copper pieces were light, while the large copper coins had a heavier, satisfying weight. Both sides bore a small seal-script ‘ten.’
“The small ones are copper pieces. The large ones are copper coins. One copper coin equals ten copper pieces.”
“Take this and find Blacksmith Sun. Say you want to buy an iron pickaxe—one hundred and thirty copper pieces. Make sure it is brand-new. Do not let him cheat you. Then go find Auntie Wang to buy a basket. You need a big, sturdy one—twenty copper pieces. Lastly, find Wang Dalang. His baked flatbreads are good. Five copper pieces can buy two.”
Lin Dahai pointed out the direction.
Clutching the copper coins, Su Wangchuan went to find Auntie Wang first.
Although everything Lin Dahai had said was correct, Su Wangchuan wanted to buy the basket first so he could store the pickaxe and avoid unnecessary fatigue.
The realism of this world was extremely high.
Every additional copper coin on his body had a clearly perceptible weight.
An iron pickaxe was the sort of thing that consumed stamina just by holding it.
Seeing the route Su Wangchuan chose, Lin Dahai revealed a faint smile.
“At least he isn’t a bookish idiot who only knows how to follow instructions.”
Earlier, he had deliberately told Su Wangchuan to go to Blacksmith Sun first, precisely to see whether this newcomer possessed independent thinking.
Many people came here to become beasts of burden…
Because they already thought like beasts of burden.
They only knew how to obey blindly, and as a result, ended up taking many unnecessary detours.
Su Wangchuan was clearly not one of them.
Auntie Wang was standing outside her chicken coop, tossing fresh grass inside. Dozens of hens pecked frantically at the feed, every glance and every movement brimming with lifelike vitality.
It made one suspect that this was the real world itself.
When Auntie Wang saw Su Wangchuan approach, she took the initiative to ask, “Young man, you look unfamiliar. Where are you from?”
“Hello, Auntie. My name is Wangchuan. I just arrived in the village. This is my household registration proof.”
Su Wangchuan took out the wooden plaque the village chief had given him.
“The village has a newcomer again. Wangchuan—what a good name.”
Auntie Wang smiled sincerely and said, “You are here to mine outside the village as well, right? If you need a basket in the future, come to Auntie. The baskets I weave are big and sturdy. Twenty copper plates each. Since I like you, eighteen copper plates will do.”
Huh?
Su Wangchuan froze on the spot.
You could bargain?
This game…
Was interesting.