Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Chapter 264: Permanent Game

As the update was completed, the scene in the player's field of vision began to change drastically. The entire familiar player lobby seemed to turn into a Rubik's Cube, spinning, piecing together, and reassembling at a dizzying speed, blurring the vision.

The style of the walls, dome, and floor changed drastically, sometimes pixelated, sometimes anime-style, and then gradually unified, slowly returning to the original realistic style of the Western-style manor hall.

The view was clear again, and the lobby looked brand new.

The round table remains, but it is no longer the size that appears indistinct in the players' view. The positions of the seats have been fixed, with a total of eighteen seats, nine of which are empty.

Everyone understood that, perhaps by the time version 2.0 ended, nine more players would join.

Besides the round table, the layout of the hall has also undergone considerable changes.

The first thing was the addition of two corridors whose destinations were unknown, and a stone door frame embedded in the wall, entwined with vines.

The stone gate was quite large, large enough for three or four people to walk in side by side. The doorway had no door panels to block it, and the entire entrance emitted a green mist that obstructed the players' view.

Above the tall lintel, a simple stone plaque is engraved with three characters: Taoyuan Village.

At the same time, the exclusive notebook in front of each player, which had been temporarily locked due to the update, was unlocked and began to shine again.

Although most of the information seemed to be readable directly through the virtual screen, the players instinctively reached for the notebook and quietly began to peruse it.

[Notes for Version 2.0:]

1. Player Lobby Upgrade: Players can move around and interact freely in the upgraded lobby (except for physical contact).

2. Opening of functional facilities:

Training Room: Provides basic equipment and allows for customized training scenarios (consuming points).

Simulated Battle Room: Generates battle maps, sets enemy/ally statuses (such as unlimited stamina), and provides realistic combat simulation (consuming points).

Player Arena: Fully simulates reality, providing fair battles and referees (consumes points).

Special meeting rooms: Free to use; each guild can have its own private meeting room.

3. Guild System: See details below.

4. Permanent game "Peach Blossom Village": Players can enter at any time through a dedicated entrance in the lobby. Detailed game rules will be displayed after entering.

5. Player Trading Section: Non-game items can be traded (transaction fee applies); game system items can be traded for free.

6. Task Bounty Board: The system will release real-world tasks periodically, and players can also post bounties.

7. Mysterious Merchant: Visits the lobby periodically, selling special items; please pay close attention.

8]

This update includes a considerable amount of content.

However, it's easy for experienced gamers to understand.

"It wasn't easy."

Uesugi Hitomi muttered something under her breath, her tone tinged with emotion. After months, players could finally stand up in the lobby.

The three new players fared better in this respect, since they had only been with the team for a relatively short time.

Players like Uesugi, among the first to join the game, couldn't resist getting off their chairs and actually standing on the floor.

She took two tentative steps, the sound of her footsteps clearly audible, and the texture was exactly the same as that of a real wooden floor.

Other players also stood up, their expressions varying. Some looked around with curiosity, while others continued to decipher the new features.

Players with fast reading speeds have already grasped the general content, and their gazes have mostly turned to the stone gate of [Peach Blossom Village] that is emitting a green light.

Cautious players are still repeatedly reading the details to ensure they haven't missed any crucial information.

Oshima got up rather impatiently, touching around as if looking for some secret passage. You could say that playing too many games makes you like this.

"Shall we go and take a look at Peach Blossom Village first?" Uesugi asked Nobi.

Nobita is still working on updating the content, especially the guild system.

"Let me take another look at the guild. You could go to Peach Blossom Village to scout things out first, or learn about the other new facilities before meeting up in Peach Blossom Village?" He offered a compromise suggestion.

Muramasa Taki nodded: "I'll go check out the training grounds. Uesugi, want to come along?"

"Okay."

Players began to act individually or in groups, mostly choosing to first explore the lobby and see how to use the extra facilities.

One of the two corridors leads to a room numbered 000. Although it has a wooden door, they cannot open it or sense what's inside.

After confirming that the door was closed, players were left with no choice but to explore another corridor.

The corridor is laid out like a hotel, with rooms on both sides and nameplates hanging on them.

[Training Room] [Simulated Battle Room] [Player Arena] [Conference Room One]

The training room is divided into several smaller rooms, so there's no need to worry about finding a spot.

5 points per hour

Hayato tried to push the door open, and the payment options were displayed.

He put his hand away and looked at the simulated combat room again. There were only three of these rooms.

"10 points per hour!! Who can afford to play that?!"

It's more expensive here, Hayato couldn't help but complain.

Although he was a new player, he already understood the importance of points. Without points to exchange for Little Longevity Pills, he would lose the opportunity to play the game.

He really wanted to see how amazing this simulated combat scenario was, but the price was simply prohibitive.

The player arena isn't cheap either; a single battle that decides the winner requires 10 points.

The meeting room is free.

There's a conference table and a lounge inside, and you can even make tea and coffee, but many players either don't have mouths or don't even have mouths, so they don't know how to drink.

Tian, ​​the camera lens holder, seemed to really like the lounge. He gently stroked the coffee machine and tea machine, then poured himself a cup of hot tea, sat on the sofa, and slowly poured the tea into the camera's memory card slot.

"Can you really taste it?"

Ethan was skeptical, then poured himself a cup of coffee.

It tastes like instant coffee, but relaxing in the game lobby like this has a unique and peculiar feel to it.

It seems to make both the body and mind feel particularly relaxed.

Takii returned to the hall and saw two blank columns on the wall.

One of them is the trade board, where players can list items they want to buy and attach the points or items for the trade.

The other is the taskbar.

Currently, there are only two unlimited tasks:

[Task: Complete the initial growth phase]

[Reward: 1 Small Longevity Pill]

[Task: Complete Intermediate Growth]

[Reward: 3 Small Longevity Pill]

"hiss"

Many players couldn't help but gasp when they saw the rewards.

This is like a windfall. For players, there is never a surplus of Small Longevity Pills, only a shortage.

This reward was put up by the philanthropist Dongshan Shen as part of the player incentive program, and it was quite a huge financial blow.

This is equivalent to giving players 4 Small Longevity Pills for free.

It was only because Peach Blossom Village, a game that should provide players with a stable source of points, that he was willing to set up these two bonus missions.

After all, the wool comes from the sheep, so it should be able to be earned back.

The previous difficult "Pact with the Underworld" challenge consumed two or three decades of their lifespan. If they don't replenish their lifespan quickly, they might actually die in the game.

Players gathered around the two reward tasks, and beams of light would occasionally flash, indicating that someone had completed the task.

Although, Iwasaki is currently the only one who has unlocked intermediate growth, his progress is far ahead of other players.

Iwasaki accepts two missions, and then confirms their completion.

Two beams of light flashed, and four Small Longevity Pills appeared in his system inventory.

Other players could guess what was going on and were somewhat envious, but they could only complete the basic growth tasks at most.

Iwasaki was in a good mood, but his expression was hidden by a cloud of black mist.

Ignoring everyone else, he followed Yui and stepped into the gate of Peach Blossom Village.

Stepping past that layer of green mist, the view suddenly shifted from indoors to outdoors, where a field of wilderness shrouded in a faint light came into view.

Upon closer inspection, the light source was found to be coming from a lighthouse building on a hill not far away.

"This game didn't assign us any other identities."

Yui walked barefoot on the sparse grass, wearing a simple dress, her fair skin seemed to glow.

She ran her finger across the moss-covered building ruins, then put it directly in her mouth. "A very real feedback."

Iwasaki nodded, and the notebook in his hand suddenly shook, broke free, and floated in mid-air.

Please select an area within your residential area to serve as your farm.

With a rustling sound, the pages turned, revealing a pencil-drawn map, centered on a lighthouse, depicting a circle shrouded in mist.

Below the lighthouse, there are several plots of land to choose from, all roughly the same size, with some in close proximity and others in more remote locations.

"farm."

Iwasaki fell silent. He hadn't expected this to be a farming game. At first glance, he thought it would be a horror game like Subway.

However, as a permanent game, it certainly won't be a linear progression. Is there some particularly difficult goal to achieve, or will it be constantly updated like an online game?

While pondering this question, his hands were not idle; he quickly selected a piece of land near the lighthouse.

Yui's notebook also displays the scene in real time; after Iwasaki makes his choice, the plot of land will show "Hiro's Cottage".

She casually picked a piece of land near Iwasaki.

Since we've chosen to team up with Iwasaki, it's perfectly reasonable to stick together.

Please clean up your farm; tools can be redeemed in the Peach Blossom Village exclusive shop.

[Purchase seeds, plant crops, harvest crops, and offer living crops to 'Withered Branches' through the acting village chief to earn points and contribution value.]

When the withered branches begin to show signs of life, this world may undergo some special changes, bestowing upon you gifts and opportunities.

Judging from the description alone, the game content is very simple.

Looking at the store again, it only has some simple farming tools and, most importantly, seeds.

Currently, the only seeds available are white radish (10), carrot (15), and tomato (20).

However, key information such as the growth cycle and expected harvest is missing.

"Let's each turn over the soil first," Iwasaki said to Yui, looking at the players who were coming in one after another.

I never imagined I'd have the chance to farm the land myself someday.

In his black mist form, he was trying to speed up to his farm, but he found that some force seemed to be binding him, allowing him to move at a speed slightly faster than that of an ordinary person, and he could not take off.

Fortunately, he can still use the Mage's Hand. Otherwise, with his invisible black mist immune to physical attacks, it would mean that his physical body cannot cause physical damage, and his attacks on the ground would only miss.

Upon arriving on your own land, use the mage's hand to demolish all the ruins and then throw them onto the nearby grass. You will see three special square patches of soil.

His land was neither too big nor too small, slightly larger than a modern detached house, and most importantly, it included a small field in the yard.

"The most basic hoe costs 5 points."

Iwasaki tried to change the shape of the mage's hand, turning it into something like a rake, and then began to loosen the soil.

It works quite well.

This saves 5 points. Anyway, even if he exchanges for the hoe, he will still use the Mage Hand to control it, so why go through the middleman?

As for what crops to plant...