Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World-Chapter 29: The Illusion of Democracy! Securing Free Labor from the Server

Chapter 29: The Illusion of Democracy! Securing Free Labor from the Server

As the oppressive golden light of the server announcement faded, a heavy silence fell over the dense, foggy forest.

Ren and his party, who were earnestly chopping down silver-barked Mana-Infused Ironwood trees, completely froze. Their tools halted mid-swing.

"How is this possible?" Lara spoke, her voice dropping to an icy, trembling whisper. She gripped the handle of her crafted axe so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"How did Player 555 find an NPC? How is this even possible?" Lara continued, her tone sharp and dripping with cold disbelief. "We explored almost the entire first area. There was absolutely nothing. And now he is the Town Leader? Our entire plan to stop the academy from forcing our merger into Server 512 is completely ruined."

Ren stood beside her, his usually polite and imposing aura darkening significantly. He had fully planned on using the Town Leader status to elevate their standing above Kevin and Sylvia, but this unknown player had completely stolen his thunder.

However, seeing the cracks in Lara’s composure, he forced himself to take a deep breath and quickly masked his own immense frustration.

"Calm down, Lara," Ren said smoothly. He stepped forward and offered a reassuring, confident smile, though his eyes remained cold. "Losing our composure will not change the system logs. Player 555 is clearly an anomaly. Perhaps he had a map or a tracking skill we do not know about."

"But do not forget who we are. We are still the elite students of the Special Class. A mere Town Leader title in a beginner server does not mean he can suppress us in reality or in the higher realms."

Lara bit her lower lip, taking a deep breath to smooth out her expression and regain her usual elegance. She slowly nodded, taking comfort in Ren’s steady, calculating voice.

While the two of them tried to process their monumental failure, the server chat was completely exploding into absolute chaos.

[Marcus: Did everyone just see that?! Player 555 actually became the Town Leader!]

[Alex: Dude, I just entered the second area of the newbie plains. What the actual fck?]

[Maru: But on the other hand, isn’t this a good thing? With this, he can give us quests to complete and we can farm EXP from that.]

[Sarah: Yeah, it’s not bad. It’s better than going out into the plains and hunting down beasts blindly.]

While the chat was busy speaking, new instructions were being transmitted directly into Caelus’s mind.

[System: The Town Simulation is now open for use.]

[System: To begin, please draw a safety wall. Please buy wall blueprints from the store.]

[Basic Wall Blueprint (500 HP) - 100 Origin Credits]

[Reinforced Wall Blueprint (2,500 HP) - 1,000 Origin Credits]

[Mana-Infused Steel Wall Blueprint (10,000 HP) - 2,000 Origin Credits]

[Note: You can only buy the blueprints. You will still need to accumulate physical resources to actually build them.]

Caelus’s expression darkened immediately.

"2,000 Origin Credits for a wall blueprint?" he immediately cursed out.

But on the other hand, sturdy walls were incredibly important. For example, after the mandatory newbie protection period was over, random beasts would form out of the void due to something known as Domain Turbulence. They originated from other plains and got actively swept towards the servers. Meaning, the town would constantly be under attack. Having a high-grade wall was absolutely crucial for survival.

And now that he was the Town Leader, he essentially had no choice but to buy it.

Sighing, he decided to pull the trigger.

Thanks to the beast invasion game mode, he had a lot of Origin Credits to spare.

[Origin Credits: 3,856]

Sighing again, he bought the most expensive option.

Immediately, a new window popped up in his vision.

[System: Mana-Infused Steel Walls blueprint has been purchased.]

[Requirements to develop Mana-Infused Steel Walls:]

[1. 1-Star Blacksmith

2. 1,000 Refined Stone (0/1000)

3. 1,000 Random Beast Materials (0/1000)

4. 5,000 Origin Credits (0/5000)]

The requirements were pretty straightforward. For starters, they needed a certified blacksmith, a thousand blocks of refined stone, and a thousand random beast materials.

These could be quickly gathered using the combined, eager strength of the server’s players.

"If I remember correctly, I now possess the absolute authority to initiate server-wide quests for everyone, right?" Caelus tilted his head thoughtfully.

Immediately, a specialized status window popped up in front of him.

[Create a Quest:]

Right below the prompt was a digital keyboard.

Seeing this, Caelus began to swiftly type down specific gathering quests for the entire server.

Immediately, across Server 513, every single player excluding Caelus received the new, mandatory Town Quests.

[Quest: Gather 1,000 Refined Stones. (0/1000)]

[Quest: Gather 1,000 Random Beast Materials (0/1000)]

[Quest: Gather 5,000 Origin Credits (0/5000)]

[Rewards: Will be calculated by the Network after compilation.]

Alex, who was currently with his party, had a slightly surprised look on his face.

"Looks like we already got our first official quest from Player 555." He gestured towards his teammates and spoke excitedly. "Everyone, look. Check out the new quest."

"This is great! With this, we can officially begin town building. If we contribute a lot, then the Domain will definitely treat us fairly with rewards."

Everyone in the Domain fundamentally knew the immense importance of the main town and upgrading it. Doing and contributing to Town Quests had massive perks; the most important ones being large amounts of safe EXP and gaining amazing rewards, unique skills, and other rare items.

These quests, while physically issued by the Town Leader, were directly rewarded by the Origin Network itself. Hence, everyone was incredibly eager to do them.

"But the material requirements... isn’t it a bit too much?" Alex asked with a dumbfounded look as he read the fine print.

"Did Player 555 seriously buy the Mana-Infused Steel Walls blueprint? Doesn’t that cost 2,000 Origin Credits?" Everyone in the party sucked in a cold breath.

2,000 Origin Credits.

That was absolutely not a simple amount, was it?

Player 555 was not only terrifyingly powerful, but also ridiculously rich!

And most importantly, he had managed to clear the Town Foundation quest in record time, meaning it was very highly possible that Server 513 was one of the earliest servers globally to complete it and establish official town members.

Then, abruptly, a warm, radiant light shone from high above the digital sky.

[System: Resources are currently being allocated to Server 513.]

[System: Due to Server 513 being the absolute first town globally to complete the Town Foundation Quest, the first source allocation has been permanently doubled.]

[System: Server 513 has received 500 Resource Points.]

[System Note: Resource Points can be used to instantly convert into required town-building resources.]

[System Note: If the Town Leader grants trusted players the privilege of being a ’Resource Allocator’, they can also manage and allocate resources to players in his stead.]

Just as quickly, a server-wide announcement was broadcasted by the leader himself.

[Player 555: Everyone, I am Player 555. As you all know, I have officially become the Town Leader and I look forward to working with you all. As you have just seen, we have managed to gain a massive 500 Resource Points. From what I can understand from the system, I can easily use 100 of those points right now to instantly fulfill all the conditions required to build the Mana-Infused Stone Walls for our town.]

[Player 555: So I ask you all. Do you guys want to manually complete the gathering quests to safely farm EXP, or do you want me to just use the Resource Points to instantly build the wall?]

[Player 555: Remember, rapid and stable development is our ultimate goal here.]

[Player 555: We are currently a Tier 1 Town. To safely reach Tier 2 is to have access to far more advanced technology and massively expand the physical space of our town. Once the inevitable resource battles against other servers take place, we critically need to be prepared with proper defensive barracks as well.]

[Player 555: Let me know your honest answers in the server chat.]

[Player 555: Also side note, take the raw stones into the town and use the town’s natural refinement area to refine it into refined stones]

Caelus looked at the active server chat with a calm, calculating look on his face, while the heavily armored NPC guards eagerly awaited his next command.

But for now, his top priority was gauging exactly what the general player base wanted.

What could he say? He was a benevolent leader right now, and if possible, he genuinely did not want to waste his precious Resource Points on building a basic wall when he had a server full of free labor.

[Marcus: So, like, are we a democracy now, chat? Is our generous leader actually asking for our lowly opinions?]

[Maru: Won’t using the Resource Points completely cut off our safest path to earning EXP?]

[Alex: Boss 555 is way too generous. But Maru is absolutely right. If he uses the Resource Points to instantly build the wall, we will completely lose out on all the quest rewards and the safe EXP from the Network.]

[John: Exactly! We desperately need that EXP to level up without risking our lives too much. Gathering stones and beast materials is something we are already doing anyway in the plains. It is basically free, safe experience.]

[Sarah: I completely agree. We should definitely do the manual gathering quests. It helps us grow stronger individually while directly contributing to our new town’s defense.]

[Kate: I am totally fine with hunting and mining, but what about the 5,000 Origin Credits requirement? We barely have enough money to buy basic health potions and roasted meat right now!]

[Maru: Kate makes a very good point. Forcing us to pool 5,000 Origin Credits right now will completely cripple our early game progression. We desperately need that money to survive the night phase.]

[Alex: Boss 555, can we do a compromise? We handle the physical gathering quests for the refined stones and beast materials, but you use the Resource Points to cover the massive Origin Credits requirement?]

[Marcus: Yes! We will happily handle the dangerous manual labor and bring back the materials. Please just help us with the monetary requirement, Boss!]

[Vincent: Please, Boss 555! Have mercy on our empty wallets!]

[Kato: I am totally fine with this plan too.]

[Chris: +1]

[Liam: +1]

Even the lurkers who never normally chatted started actively participating and agreeing.

Caelus sat comfortably on the edge of the stone fountain and smiled brightly. This was exactly what he wanted all along. He gets to safely hoard the vast majority of his newly acquired Resource Points, and the server’s players will happily and gratefully act as his free labor force to gather the physical materials. It was an absolutely perfect win-win situation.

Without any hesitation, Caelus tapped confidently on the floating digital keyboard.

[Player 555: Understandable.]

The instant that single, powerful word appeared in the global chat, the entire server went into an absolute frenzy of excitement.

[Maru: He replied! The Boss actually replied to us!]

[Sarah: Oh my god, he is so cool and understanding of our struggles!]

[Alex: ...]

[Maru: ...]

[Noah: Boss 555, thank you so much! We will get those physical materials sorted immediately. I am heading straight to the rocky area right now!]

[Emma: Long live the generous Town Leader! Everyone, let’s form efficient mining parties!]

[Liam: Does anyone have a spare pickaxe? I want to contribute to the town’s defense!]

[Alex: Spare pickaxe? Brother, I actually found a stash in the town. There are plenty of them just sitting in the south side plaza. Go grab one for yourself. I will send you the exact location coordinates.]

[Mia: Expert 555, do you happen to need a dedicated healer for your personal party? I am only Level 1 right now, but I learn incredibly fast!]

[Marcus: Expert, when are you finally going to reveal your true identity to us? We all desperately want to know who our great Town Leader actually is!]

[Kate: Yes, please! We really want to meet you in person!]

Caelus chuckled softly at their overwhelming, almost fanatical enthusiasm. He was absolutely not quite ready to step into the blinding public eye and deal with all the annoying, tedious politics just yet, especially with treacherous people like Ren and Lara still actively lurking around in the exact same server.

He slowly typed out his final, cryptic response.

[Player 555: Soon.]

Closing the chat interface with a satisfied swipe, Caelus stood up from the fountain.

The players were highly motivated and already marching out in droves to aggressively complete the labor quests. Now, he just needed to manually allocate a very small fraction of his hoarded Resource Points to magically fulfill the Origin Credit requirement, and the highly anticipated Mana-Infused Steel Walls would be completely ready for construction.