"Hmm, let's stick with this approach for now. If it becomes unsuitable, we can change people later!"
With newfound confidence, Ning Zheng decided to start the official recruitment.
After all, Sword Casting Manor had been empty for several days, ready to welcome new friends.
He hadn't thought about living in Sword Casting Manor.
Currently, he's living well at Spirit Manor down the mountain, surrounded by talented folks—the local community is a good source of income.
Soon, Ai created a basic official website, and comments started coming in.
[Road Rage Oni: Full virtual simulation 100%? Are you kidding me? And the game's so-called host—is it recruiting in-game dog planners?]
[Handsome Second Generation: I think it's quite interesting, letting players partly act as planners and partly as players, managing themselves. I'm intrigued.]
[Cleared Up: It must be a special gameplay. I'm in; I'm great at managing these nonsense-talking stinky Jiucai!]
There were only a few comments, with just a few hundred throughout the day, showing low popularity.
"They actually got in touch!"
Ning Zheng felt a sense of warmth seeing friends from his hometown; the familiar words gave this Otherworld slave a feeling of returning home.
In this world, his swordsmanship skills were average, targeted daily by Demon Men, and even bullied by other slaves.
Though he escaped down the mountain, he lived in daily fear, without a living soul around.
Over the past twenty years, even though he developed a calm and patient personality, his spirit was on the verge of collapse, nearly going crazy!
Now, everything was different.
After linking back to his hometown, seeing those familiar words made him teary-eyed, not due to homesickness but out of joy for escaping slavery and welcoming a new life.
"Ai."
[I'm here]
"Thank you."
He's not a sentimental person, but over the years, he's grateful for this "fate," providing the determination to fight against monsters in this cruel and terrifying world.
Ai: [You're welcome, please try your best. Life gave me pain, but I responded with songs.]
Ai seemed a bit dazed, and indeed she was somewhat silly.
Ai: [Based on game engagement data, the game's demise probability is up to 99%.]
According to Ai's assistant's analysis, games like this with little promotion typically attract a few thousand players, similar to most games that end badly.
Game development is quite competitive now.
"Anyway, the requirements aren't high."
"I only need a hundred people for now."
Ning Zheng felt somewhat puzzled; he wondered why he needed so many people.
With everything needing attention, getting about a hundred friends to visit seemed just right.
More people can't be supported now and couldn't be managed effectively.
Ai suggested: [Master, recommend a first test with 100 slots. With Wandering Soul viewers, set it at 900 for a total of 1,000 people.]
Ai said this niche game mainly focuses on social management.
Without a combat system, it has a unique "spectator system," allowing players to switch to a blacksmith's perspective.
It's mainly a harmonious circle of sword-casting enthusiasts, observing and learning sword-casting experiences together.
Ning Zheng initially didn't want things to be so complicated.
But Ai said tourists are in [queue waiting for login], ensuring a hundred players rotate 24 hours to keep full capacity, which Ning Zheng accepted.
However, his mind pondered another concern.
Though lonely for long, he's not shy about hosting, likening it to running an inn, welcoming tourists to try blacksmithing and chat.
Yet, Fortune Traders are for transactions!
He provides the game; they provide Qi Fortune.
Getting a bit unlucky while playing seems normal, right?
Ai also mentioned misfortune in-game wouldn't affect their real life or cause harm, giving him peace of mind.
However, deciding how much Qi Fortune to extract is an issue.
A normal person typically has about 10 Qi Fortune Value daily.
Below 5 points signifies great misfortune!
It could lead to severe injury, death, falling in a ditch, eye-poking by a wood spike, loss of strength due to Fire and Demonic phenomena, unfortunate events happening madly... akin to a Plague God's possession, chased by Death God.
Upon entering, they might soon suffer disasters.
With 7 to 6 points, slightly unlucky, usually just having bird droppings hit you.
Ning Zheng thought adorable little blacksmiths might not handle it well.
Bird droppings are the most common misfortune feature, and the most harmless and safe.
Frequent occurrences are simple—the mountains overhead have many crows; if unlucky, getting bird droppings is normal.
This counts as a local specialty.
People not living in this area never know how nasty those crows are.
They're clever, deliberately aiming at you for air strikes, chirping proudly.
Here, the top of the food chain isn't the Resentful Souls dwelling in Spirit Manor, but the crows shitting on the Resentful Souls daily.
Ning Zheng maintained 15 points of higher-than-average Fortune, primarily to avoid those wretched crows' dirty tricks!
The suffering before having Fortune's protection is unbearable to remember.
He went out carrying an umbrella and a sword.
Ning Zheng had long wanted to eradicate these crows and restore sunny days to the mountains.
Overall, based on his current thoughts, extracting 2 points from everyone, leaving them with 8 points, results in almost no side effects, which they can happily endure.
Playing games is about having fun, after all.
He recalled playing arcade games like King of Fighters with childhood friends, and naturally hoped they could enjoy similar happiness.
He's willing to engage in reciprocal benefits within his capabilities, bringing the joy of gaming to everyone.
It's just a pity that with such conscientious management of this "tourism hostel," when will it ever break even?
Sigh.
Among the three options, this one seems the safest and also the least rewarding.
...
...
The next morning.
Ning Zheng finished breakfast early, interacted with his sister for a bit, and then with a heart full of anticipation and curiosity, he set off to work and opened the server on the mountain.
Today, the manor was recruiting people, and it was his first time hosting the sword forging work as the person in charge, which made him both expectant and anxious.
He didn't understand how to recruit regular villagers, nor could he, and recruiting these special blacksmiths would take gradual research.
"Brother, safe travels to the manor."
Ning Jiaojiao, as always, handed the package and sword to Ning Zheng, seeing him off gently at the door.
Ning Zheng nodded, "Mm, today is special, the manor is recruiting, I might be back late. If I'm late, you should eat first."
He paused, "Our days will get better and better."
Ning Jiaojiao's eyes brightened, full of dreamy longing, "Really? Find someone to jump into the well as bait for me, I want to fish! I don't want to be caught!"
Ning Zheng was stunned for a moment, surprised by her deep grudge, and laughed, "Then, at that time, we'll both be at the well, drinking tea, holding fishing rods, enjoying the fun of fishing, without having to endure hunger anymore."
The weather wasn't great today.
The oppressive black clouds pressed against the sky, the cold wind swept through the trees at the foot of the mountain, and the surrounding darkness was enough to make people's hearts race.
On the first day of opening, recruiting a manager and blacksmiths was the priority.
He took a mask and applied some makeup, turning into a gray-haired old man, playing the role of a retiring old manager from the previous generation.
It's not suitable for him to appear as the manor master personally.
Firstly, because he looks too young, it seems unreliable.
Secondly, his low cultivation is easy to see through. Not showing up and maintaining mystery and strength is the best.
Thirdly, one cannot be too careful around people.
As Ning Zheng walked along the mountain path, he recalled how the old manager received, settled, and instructed the new blacksmiths before, and optimized it a bit.
Because he really couldn't put on that harsh and abusive face, a gentle approach was also excellent.
Even though he had always endured darkness, exploitation, and oppression in this world,
he still believed that being honest with others, they would also be honest with him.
...
...
The game was pitch black.
"Please enter a name, two to four characters."
"Jiucai Rong."
After typing the three characters, everything before his eyes suddenly went black.
Crack!
At eight in the morning, a bolt of lightning in the sky lit up the entire world again.
"Is this it? As expected of a small workshop, this is too simple! Where's the character customization! The cash shop! The races! The genders!"
Jiucai Rong complained aloud, suddenly showing a look of shock on his face.
Because he immediately felt the wind howling, softly hitting his face.
He stood in a forest, able to smell the fresh earthy aroma in the air.
The dampness of morning mist soaking into the skin, the buzzing of flies hovering by his ears, the fresh scent of fruit trees, and the eerie, oppressive, and thrilling atmosphere of the distant mountains.
"My god! This scenery..."
He looked up, gazing at the vast and expansive sky, an expression of disbelief flickering in his eyes.
The fierce wind.
The cloudy sky.
This feeling was like wandering through a beautiful fairy tale world!
Thud.
The sudden drop of a lump of bird poop on his head.
"What the hell is this?"
He touched his head with his hand, sniffed it, seemingly not realizing what it was initially, instinctively licking his fingers.
"Why does this have a taste..." He pursed his lips, pondered, frowned, and gradually his expression began to twist in pain.
Damn!
Unbelievable!!!
He couldn't help but be moved to tears, bending over and heavily gagging with his fingers at his throat, vomiting in large gulps.
Caw~~ Caw~!
A crow cawed as it flew across the sky, seemingly mocking him.
"Damn, this wild creature is so obnoxious... like the monkeys from a certain scenic spot!"
Jiucai Rong stood on the lawn, immediately schooled by this local specialty, silently noting this grudge, experiencing everything this nature had to offer.
Feeling the spasms and cramps in his stomach, the intense urge to vomit, every nerve seemed to be sparking with miraculous chemical reactions, making him feel even more alive in this magical world.
This is awesome!
The wind hitting his body, cooler than a refreshing soda.
How could it be so realistic!!
"Let me try again." He suddenly realized, sinking his white teeth into the tree bark beside him, biting off a piece, experiencing the bitter aftertaste on his palate.
"Damn, this game really lets you eat things? How did they do it!?"