I gave a sigh and stared blankly at the solemn-looking Sun City Lord, my mind struggling to process the information. Could one become a village chief so easily? I merely killed some wild animals and found a few magic crystal stones?
The city lord sensed my thoughts and said, "In fact, your contribution to the Lost Village is very significant. Besides directly enhancing the village's military strength, security, and environment, it also indirectly improved other aspects of the village. Restoring the teleportation array was a very significant achievement. According to our 'Infinite World' setting, players' contributions to the village account for half of the village's total value. Then they can hold the position of village chief. If your contribution accounts for four-fifths of the village's total value, this village will become your autonomous territory. You don't have to pay taxes to me."
Autonomous territory! That's something only awarded to players after they are granted a noble title. You don't have to pay taxes to the city lord. You just have to follow the command of your own king. I've found a treasure!
It seems that being born in a backward village has its advantages. The initial value of the village is low, so it's much easier for players to obtain the position of village chief and an autonomous territory through contribution points. Especially in my village, where only I, the player, am making contributions. I can't avoid being the village chief!
I couldn't listen to the city lord's further words anymore. I only knew that he talked for half an hour, assigned an architect to build a teleportation array in the Lost Village, and told me that if the village population reached 10, he would directly send a soldier to serve as the village guard.
Then the city lord told me that he would give me some tasks through a special channel. If I completed them well, I could receive rewards. If I got an autonomous territory, the person who assigned the tasks would become the king.
Confusedly, I walked down the street, not knowing what to do. Although I wanted to go back to the village immediately to increase my contribution value, this big city was rare to visit, so I had to take the time to explore.
There were various profession guilds on the street, and the NPCs inside would post tasks that the profession could undertake. After completing them, one could obtain skills and methods for making related items. Others were bonuses, items, and reputation. But there was no guild like mine, which was a pity. It seems that I have to use my brain and explore everywhere to learn more skills. Fortunately, I could take on the tasks of the mercenary guild. Otherwise, I would be extremely depressed. Look at the conditions to become a mercenary: 30 years old or above, pay 1 gold coin to become a mercenary. I'm early.
I first chatted with the ordinary residents for a while. I was in a strange place and my charm was ordinary. People didn't have much to say to me, which wasted over an hour of my time. I decided to go to the shop.
First, I went to the tanner. He didn't disappoint me. The price for purchasing leather goods here was four times that of the vendors. It seems that I can collect things from the village and sell them in the city in the future. However, the prerequisite is to earn back several hundred silver coins for the transportation cost.
I sold the remaining deer and tiger skins, earning 10 silver coins. Also, the skins and shells of the monster level I didn't want to sell before, although the quantity was small, I got a high price of 130 silver coins. The tanner's attitude also became more enthusiastic. I saw the opportunity was right, and I asked him, "Skills," "Skinning," "Tanning," "Painting," etc. The boss hesitated for a long time and decided to teach me "Painting Technique." I was confused. How could there be any use for raw leather painted without tanning? But I still paid 1 silver coin to learn it (luckily, Ah Bo Ah Be and the herdsmen were kind and didn't charge me for teaching me things.)
I made a tough decision to add some ingredients and asked him to help me tan the wolf king's skin and the blue demon's skin into mature leather and paint them. The tanner's eyes lit up immediately. The boss's skin, he had only seen a few of them. He charged me 70 silver coins for the processing fee and made beautiful leather. Then I chatted with him, 1 silver coin, "Skinning Technique" was also obtained. But the boss told me mischievously, "Your skinning technique level is too low. It's better not to use it. Otherwise, 9 out of 10 skins will deteriorate..." I was annoyed. Damn me! I ran away. I know my unique advantage is "full-time", so I can temporarily not be busy with my equipment. The bookstore is where I go first. There are dozens of books in the bookstore, and the basic skills books cost one to two silver coins each. There are over twenty of them. Apart from the skills I already know, I bought all of them. Various production methods are also indispensable. There are books like "Sword and Shield Production Methods", "Bow and Crossbow Production Methods", "Long-handled Weapon Production Methods", "House Construction Methods", etc., each costing five silver coins. Altogether, I bought eight of them.
Let me explain the relationship between production methods and skills: For example, making a bow. In the skills column, you can use "Woodworking Technique" or "Crafting Technique", in the method column, use "Bow and Crossbow Production Methods", and there are three auxiliary columns. You can use any skill you have, such as "Engraving Technique", "Blessing Technique", "Curse Technique", etc. The more advanced, more numerous, and more reasonable the skills and methods you use, the stronger the bow you will make. When I first entered the game, I didn't use any skills or methods. The homemade wooden bow had only 1 point of attack power. If it weren't for my innate creativity, the bow would have failed completely and been scrapped.
Now, except for the travel expenses, I only have one silver coin left. Oh my god, there are three comprehensive item manuals here, "Weapon Manual", "Tool Manual", and "Household Item Manual", each costing ten silver coins. I believe that if I make the bows according to the shapes of the weapons on the manuals, they won't look so ugly and the success rate will be much higher.
Some people might ask, why do there still be these good things in the bookstore when there are so many players in the city? Actually, except for this special profession of mine, players of all other professions also get skill books and method books by completing their own guild's NPC's career tasks. The tasks are not difficult and there are rewards, so few people come to the bookstore to buy them.
Apart from the exclusive skills of each profession, there are also some general skills that can be used by multiple professions or even all players. These skills cannot be obtained through tasks. For example, "Horseback Riding Technique" is a skill that everyone can practice. However, such books are refreshed very quickly and are quickly snatched up by others. I didn't see any this time.
As for the comprehensive manuals, everyone thought they were for appreciation. In the current situation where there is little money to earn, fewer people buy them. Only "Monster Comprehensive Manual" and "Herb Comprehensive Manual" were bought by others. Of course, as various life profession players advance to higher levels, sooner or later they will discover the importance of the manuals.
I made up my mind to buy all three manuals. The bookstore owner looked at me as a big customer, grinning from ear to ear. I never expected that the bookstore would have enough food for a year just after it opened.
I asked the owner how often the books are updated here. I was shocked. How could this satisfy such a knowledge enthusiast like me? Before leaving, as usual, I still cheated the owner. As a result, I learned his own skills "Archaeology Technique" and "Method of Producing Books".
Looking at the skills column, there are nearly forty skills. How can I have time to practice? With so many primary and first-level skills, all with 0 experience, I feel a bit dizzy. By the way, my travel expenses for home are insufficient. I need to find a way to earn money soon.
Mining is undoubtedly the traditional way to earn a lot of money quickly. Just as I recently bought the "Mining Technique" book, after learning it, I went to a mine shop and bought a pickaxe. Next to it, a young player named "For Life" was sighing. I asked him, "For Life" told me: "There is no way to mine now. The best mines in the area have all been taken over by powerful organizations. We these miners without backdoors will be driven away by their so-called 'Security Team' as soon as we enter the mountains. A few days ago, there was even a death. I'm asking my master where there are still good mining veins." The NPC selling shovels was his master. He said calmly, "Sunset City is one of the cities with the richest mineral resources that I know. There are no better mining locations nearby. We can only check if there are any minerals around some villages. However, those places are also occupied by many players mining the mines. If it weren't for the difficulty in mining the minerals, I wouldn't be staying here selling shovels and teaching skills every day."
I was confused again. The NPC would also interrupt and be scared away by players, not daring to go mining. Isn't that funny?
The several mountains beside the Village of Despair. According to my investigation, they should all have relatively rich mineral resources. So I told "For the sake of life" to come and settle down as soon as he saw the teleportation array of the Village of Despair open. For the sake of life, he was very excited and said that he would find a few frustrated friends to come over these days.
I visited a few more places and found that due to the large number of players in Sunset City, various resources were either occupied or there was a shortage of supplies. So I sent invitations to those players who wanted to move away.
I sold the dog meat to butchers, the deer antler, tiger bone, and other medicinal herbs to pharmacies. I had 100 silver coins. But I also discovered the appraisal center and appraised the ring from the Wolf King for 10 silver coins: The Wolf Blood Curse Ring, a silverware-level equipment, with a charm increase of 1 and spirit increase of 4. Charm, exactly what I need. It's a rare item.
The items are good, but without money, it's not good. So I sold all my unused old equipment to raise the travel expenses. Although some were given by my herdsmen friends, they were of significance, but I couldn't care about that. Society is very realistic, and life is very concrete...
I rode the teleportation array to the Village of Barking Dogs and didn't stop. I mounted my horse and set off on the way home.