---Viktor's POV---
"Really? Hahaha, then I'll ascend to godhood with all titles," I replied smoothly, adjusting my tone.
Edgar shook his head. He didn't waste more time with what he clearly thought were my fabricated stories. Instead, he returned to sorting through the new tools we had acquired.
Of course, I didn't push all the work onto him. The task of reviewing player applications and improving the game interface still fell to me.
After instructing Luminaris to take good care of Alyanne, I got back to screening new players and preparing the ritual arrays for their bodies.
In my eyes, the type of players I needed absolutely couldn't be the kind that treated the game purely as a way to relax or release stress.
The world of Aeltia had absolutely nothing to do with such trivialities.
What I required were veteran gamers from traditional MMOs—dedicated enthusiasts often referred to as "cyber slaves." Players who could farm and build civilizations, form armies, siege castles, max out technology points, and adapt to magic seamlessly.
That was the ultimate version of the nerds!
For now, given the current circumstances, I decided to prioritize players skilled at farming and resource gathering.
As I browsed through the new applications, I was a little surprised. "Fifty-six applications? The trailer had such a strong effect?"
It hadn't even been a full day yet. If converted to Earth time, it had been less than half a day. And there were already so many people willing to spend 99 bucks to join?
I was used to the previous scenario where a recruitment post would stay for three days without attracting any interest, and I felt a bit flattered.
But I quickly dismissed the thought.
"No, it's probably the player-made recommendation videos taking effect."
Whatever the viewers' intentions—whether they genuinely believed the videos or just wanted to spend money to verify the game's authenticity—it didn't matter.
In the end, Logan had helped bring a lot of attention to the game. This allowed me to apply stricter filters to the new player selection.
---Logan's POV---
I opened my eyes.
Sunlight poured through the cracked stained-glass window, shining on me.
Looking at the church, which felt both unfamiliar and familiar, I jumped up from the ground, overwhelmed with joy.
"Finally, I'm finally logged in!"
A voice sounded from nearby at the same time. "Hahaha! I knew it! The early fish catches the bird—wait, that's definitely not right—anyway, good thing I got up early!"
I turned my head and was even more delighted. "ProGamer_Daddy!"
"Bro!" He ran over in large strides, grinning widely. "We really are fated! Even logging in together!"
He glanced around. "I wonder if Garble has logged in yet. If he's here, our beta team will be complete!"
"I... I'm here..." A weak voice came from the ground beneath us.
We turned to see Garble's pale face, which startled us both.
"Garble... achoo! You... achoo! What... achoo!" I squatted to help Garble up, but every time I opened my mouth, it triggered a string of sneezes.
With our support, he wobbled to his feet. "Cough cough, it must be because we got caught in the rain before logging out. My constitution's not great, so I caught a cold."
He coughed heavily as he spoke.
I glanced at the place where we had slept. Above us, there was only a thin layer of dry straw. Sleeping there for a whole night—or rather, a full day and night—it was no wonder someone got sick.
Sneezing uncontrollably, I was shocked. "This is... achoo! How is this so realistic? Even offline characters can get negative debuffs?"
ProGamer_Daddy, supporting one of us on each arm, suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute. We were all caught in the same rain. Why didn't I catch a cold?"
Garble kept coughing, like he was about to cough his lungs out. "You... cough cough! Forgot about your level-two... cough cough! magic selection?"
I covered my nose and mouth, my eyes lighting up. "Right! achoo! Didn't you cast a bunch of Holy Light spells on yourself before logging off? That's probably... achoo! why!"
ProGamer_Daddy's eyes widened. "Holy crap! Healers can cure everyday illnesses? Hang on, let me try!"
He experimentally cast a Holy Light spell on each of us. This successfully turned his own face as pale as Garble's had been at the start. However, my face and Garble's visibly improved. We stopped sneezing and coughing altogether.
Now the roles were reversed, with the two of us supporting ProGamer_Daddy instead.
I touched my nose, then my chest, in disbelief. "Whoa, the effect is that fast?!"
It hadn't even been 20 seconds. I had gone from moderately sick to completely fine in an instant?! Having a weak immune system in real life, I was no stranger to the usual cycle of catching and recovering from colds. This felt far more impactful than when I had seen ProGamer_Daddy heal a twisted ankle with Holy Light.
The depth of immersion in this virtual reality game was astonishing—like magic was real!
"Holy Light is OP!" I exclaimed enviously. Why was my starting fireball spell like a measly lighter while his Holy Light was a full-on LED tube?
ProGamer_Daddy weakly raised his hand. "Stop hyping it up. I'm totally drained..."
We both snapped out of our reveling in the effects of magic. We helped him onto the straw to rest. It couldn't be helped—Viktor hadn't even bothered to provide us with chairs.
I looked at ProGamer_Daddy with concern. "How are you feeling? Still okay?"
After resting for a while, his pale complexion gradually returned to normal. He shook his head. "It feels like I just finished a 1,000-meter run—just tired. Right now, I think my limit for Holy Light is two casts."
Garble breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing this game has a pain protection system. Otherwise, just the side effects of magic overuse would've been brutal."
After some rest, ProGamer_Daddy was back to his usual energetic self.
Throughout all this, Viktor and Edgar never made an appearance. We didn't mind. Once the introductory storyline ended, it was up to the players to seek out NPCs. As the only three beta testers under the god, we had agreed from day one to stick together.
What to do with the rest of the day was the big question. So, instead of rushing out to take quests, we held a small meeting at our rest spot.
Garble spoke first. "Did you guys read the announcement?"
"Of course!" ProGamer_Daddy replied immediately. "You have no idea how excited I was when I saw it! Currency system, resurrection mechanics, game events! Holy moly! I almost slept with my VR helmet on!"
We nodded in agreement, finding nothing exaggerated about his description.
I myself had nearly forgotten about the announcement last night, but after remembering it, I couldn't sleep at all after reading it! My mind was filled with thoughts of how incredible the game would be after the update.
Finally! The game had implemented the capitalists' favorite feature: a currency system!
I added, "I just checked the task interface, and sure enough, there are a ton of new quests. The rewards now include the new magicoins! The coin rewards for the house-building quest are unbelievably generous—almost too good to be true! The experience points are also the highest among all tasks!"
I swallowed hard. I had almost cried earlier, staring at the experience points marked on the task panel.
"I think, if we want to level up quickly, this will be the best way for quite a long time moving forward!"
Garble nodded in agreement.
"I think so too. We can't just keep logging in at the church every time. With the event starting, the game has also opened up land plots for purchase. We could take advantage of this and grind out our own house during the event!"
He had just glanced at the task panel earlier.
The overwhelming number of house-building tasks showed that different types of buildings provided different experience points.
From basic residential houses to taverns, blacksmith shops, markets… it had everything!
Among them, basic residential buildings, unlike the [Lord's Residence] or [Edgar's Cabin], didn't have NPCs assigned to live in them.
As long as the house was built within the designated area, the task reward could be obtained.
Moreover, residential areas were also within the purchasable plots for players.
The rules for purchasing plots only mentioned that existing buildings on the land would cost extra.
But once you bought the land and built on it, nothing said you couldn't claim task rewards at the same time!
ProGamer_Daddy jumped up in excitement.
"Is this a bug?! We better act fast! What if it gets fixed later?"
Garble grabbed him. "Hold up, there's still a problem."
I chimed in to continue, "Which one of us knows how to build houses?"
"…"
The three of us exchanged glances.
From each other's eyes, we learned the truth.
Great. None of us knew how.
I sighed, holding my head in frustration.
"I mean, I've built houses in plenty of hardcore games before. From tents to log cabins to futuristic sci-fi structures—I know my stuff. But this game… is too hardcore!"
Even combat was realistic to the extreme, so building houses was probably no less so.
At least for now, I didn't see any kind of tutorial guidance for the task.
Garble thought for a moment.
"Let's go ask Viktor. He might have some ideas."
We all thought it was a good idea too.
So, we dusted ourselves off and headed out to find him.
---Viktor's POV---
I was on a vacant lot not far from the church.
I appeared to be sunbathing but was actually debugging the official game website's code.
Compared to the last time players came looking for me, the only change was that I had swapped the hard stone bench behind me for a wooden one.
It was made using materials Edgar had purchased yesterday.
I had just casually added it to my to-do list and ended up with a pleasant surprise.
The moment ProGamer_Daddy walked out and saw me, he exclaimed loudly.
"What the heck! Viktor upgraded his gear already?"
NeverShowOff's eyes widened in shock. "A skeleton sunbathing?! Is this some foreshadowing for a suicide-related main storyline?"
"..."
Just because I didn't have ears didn't mean I couldn't hear you!
I wasn't a vampire or ghost—why wouldn't I be able to sunbathe? What kind of alternate-world prejudice was this?
I shifted my position and sat up straight on the lounge chair.
The faint blue flames in my eye sockets gazed toward the three players.
"You need something from me?"
"Lord Viktor, do you have any task guidance for building houses? The kind that helps us get started?"
He quickly shoved his earlier doubts aside and focused on the real issue.
I tilted my jaw upward, understanding their concerns.
"Ah, that. Don't worry, everyone has their own expertise."
"In order to speed up the reconstruction of Honeyvale Town before the winter magic tide arrives, there will soon be a second wave of returnees. Among them is someone skilled in construction."
"You can start by gathering materials for now."
ProGamer_Daddy's face fell in disappointment.
"Ugh? Material gathering? Isn't that just chopping wood again?"
Currently, the town only had very primitive resources, with an abundance of nearby timber. Naturally, the houses being built were wooden ones.
Wood gathering did come with a bit of extra reward, but compared to proper construction tasks, it offered far less experience.
NeverShowOff nodded in agreement. "Exactly! Why is it another wood-chopping task?"
I was at my wit's end.
Who was it in the video saying that chopping wood was stress-relieving? And it hasn't even been two days yet?
If I'd known, I wouldn't have stayed up late adding so many new tasks!
Finding new players was becoming increasingly urgent.
Unfortunately, crafting new player bodies required incorporating divine fragment properties.
So the process was slow.
I suddenly had an idea and coughed lightly.
"Tasks, whether big or small, are all important. Every half ten levels, Luminaris might offer new rewards."
I almost forgot to dangle the carrot to keep the players hooked.
"Half ten?" Garble pondered, rubbing his chin.
"Does that mean we can learn new spells when we reach levels 5 and 10?"
I didn't confirm but smiled knowingly.
Logan straightened his collar.
"I suddenly feel like chopping wood isn't so bad after all. I'm heading out!"
Garble quickly followed. "Me too!"
"Wait for me!" ProGamer_Daddy ran to catch up.
I watched them leave, quietly relieved.
"Thankfully, they are still so easy to fool."
As for how long it would take them to reach level 5 or 10, that was up to me.
After all…
The experience needed to level up didn't have to be the same for each level.
---Logan's POV---
Once we were a good distance away, I opened the game menu and was stunned.
"What the heck?! Reaching level 3 needs 1000 experience points? Are they robbing us?"
"No way, are you joking, man?"
ProGamer_Daddy also opened the menu.
He hadn't checked it since learning his first spell yesterday because the experience had been so thrilling.
But now that he looked, it was true!
His jaw almost dropped.
"Leveling up to 2 needed 100, but level 3 needs 1000?! Are they trying to fleece us?"
Even with the extra experience from the event, at this rate... How long would it take us to reach level 5?
Garble stared at the nearly empty progress bar and stayed quiet for a while before speaking.
"Maybe... it's not entirely bad."
"From Viktor's fireball spell, we can see that the game's skills grow on their own, right?"
Being a game streamer, I quickly caught on. My face lit up in understanding.
"Exactly! The magic abilities the game teaches us are all part of a new skill system."
"If leveling up were too easy, after one or two months, our skill slots might be completely overloaded!"
ProGamer_Daddy looked puzzled. "Wouldn't that be a good thing?"
A fully versatile player? He could only imagine how awesome that would be in the game!
I gave him a knowing look and explained as we walked.
"Browser games love to fill the UI with skill buttons all over the screen. How's their quality and lifespan, huh?"