Chapter 147: “New services that are quickly being abused”
After much consideration among the options I had, I decided to bring Sugaru along.
Even though having two disaster-class entities in a 1-star level field seems like excessive firepower, Sugaru has been staying on standby at Liebe Great Forest for a long time. She rarely goes out, so it would be a good change of pace for her.
Moreover, Sugaru can fly solo, making her adaptable to any travel itinerary.
The sun has already set completely.
Leaving the management of the La Colinne Forest to Queen Arachnea is not a concern. Queen Vespoid is also included as support. They should have learned enough in this one day.
Besides, very few players enter the forest at night. It’s not completely empty, which is terrifying in its own way, but it’s definitely less crowded than during the day.
It’s the first day of the teleportation service, but players who couldn’t log in during the day due to business seem to have gathered information on social media and are entering cautiously, at least to get a feel for it. The next wave will likely come tomorrow.
In that case, it’s best to finish the flight and movement during this night.Although the goal is to arrive unnoticed, attacking the dungeon will have to wait until the sun rises. However, it’s also essential to observe the surroundings of the town and the area. Let’s go early and keep an eye on things.
*
They arrived in the town of Rifure before dawn. In terms of distance, this town is closer to La Colinne. If you can fly, it won’t take much time for a straight-line movement.
The town visible from above is dark and silent. Only sporadic streetlights can be seen here and there.
Since it looks bright both to the naked eye and with magic eyes, those are probably magical items.
“I’m impressed that streetlights are installed. It seems to be a town with good public order.”
The vast land spreading beyond the town is probably the Teur Grassland.
As the name suggests, grass is abundant. Short trees can be seen here and there as well. If I had to give a closer image based on my memory, it would be like a savanna during the rainy season. Since I haven’t heard of a dry season in this region, it’s probably like this year-round.
Then, why aren’t there more trees, creating a jungle-like environment? There must be some reason for it.
“I don’t know if that will be revealed, but let’s leave it for tomorrow. Let’s take it easy today and start our activities in full tomorrow.”
We prepared for a night camp a little away from the town and the grassland. However, only I need the preparation for logging out; Yoroizaka and Sugaru do not need it for sleep.
Since Sugaru was originally an ant, intermittent sleep for a few minutes is sufficient, and Yoroizaka, being a magical creature, seems to be the same.
Yoroizaka doesn’t move at all and doesn’t tire even when stationary, and doesn’t eat either. Considering these factors, she probably doesn’t need sleep at all. Nevertheless, the setting for sleep is likely important in this game, perhaps for things like registering respawn points. It can be assumed that these few minutes of sleep are the minimum unit of sleep in the game.
I casually opened a hole in the ground with Earth Magic and sat Yoroizaka-san in it. Then I logged out while within Yoroizaka-san.
This way, even if someone passes by the road at night, we won’t be found. And there are two people on watch that aren’t sleeping. If this doesn’t work, beginners shouldn’t survive in this area.
The next morning, I logged in when the in-game sun was rising.
I disappeared with [Camouflage] before coming out of the hole.
There’s nothing to be done about Sugaru’s appearance, but for example, if I use Camouflage within Yoroizaka-san along with Sugaru on my back, they won’t be visible from the ground. Technically we would be visible from above, though.
I look down on the town from above in the bright morning.
Although I saw it at night with [Demonic Eyes], if I look through Yoroizaka’s eyes while inside it, combined with [Enhanced Vision], I can see very clearly.
Even though it’s early in the morning, there seem to be players attacking the grassland already.
It’s enthusiastic and quite commendable of them, but if you look closely, there are two types of flows.
Those heading from the town to the grassland, and those heading from outside the town to the grassland.
Those coming from outside the town are probably coming from the Safety Area, [Teur Grassland], added by the teleportation service.
If the teleport destination is this town, the name on the list should be [Rifure Town], and if it’s listed as Teur Grassland, a separate safety area has undoubtedly been added aside from the town.
“Huh? Does that mean…”
The teleportation to Teur Grassland is likely one-way, but players from Rifure Town should be able to go to other dungeons.
In other words, only in this place, with a little walk, it’s possible to re-teleport to another location.
If you compare the destination list with Hiers’ map, the only town that meets this condition is Rifure.
Furthermore, from what can be read from the Aural map, a similar town exists in Aural.
“…I wondered what the difference was between areas chosen as teleport destinations and those that weren’t. This must be it. In areas where there are towns around, teleportation destinations are not chosen.
Exceptionally, there may be one beginner-friendly town, around ☆1, for each country.
If you develop such towns as storage facilities, player supply for dungeon attacks becomes practically unlimited. Moreover, if towns with the same conditions can freely teleport between each other.
It depends on the players, but this could flourish more than the capital city.”
Indeed, it can be called a town promised prosperity by the operation.
Probably set up with the intention of rescuing or providing services for beginners or low-rank players.
However, adjustments for beginner relief purposes in any game at any time are usually abused by hardcore players, leading to a hellish scenario.
It was fortunate to have noticed this town on the second day of the current situation.
There are probably other players who have noticed it, but if it’s not a topic on social media, then anyone who noticed is probably keeping quiet. Or maybe they have already come to this town and bought up land and properties.
It’s clear from the wording of the system message that the operation is concerned about disrupting circulation, and the inability to re-teleport from the teleport destination is likely due to this dislike. However, if there is one town with the same location conditions in each country, smuggling can easily occur.
If someone conducts it on a large scale, it will likely become a correction issue. Players who notice might be keeping quiet to prevent that.
“…Later, I’ll call Remy and Riley, and have them secure the properties in this town. No, I’ll call Kerry and Marion as well and have all four of them collectively buy up the land. There is some money collected from the noble mansion in the capital, so with financial power, I’ll control this town.”
Once again, it’s a different genre of game for me alone. Well, considering the possibility that players have already noticed, it may not be limited to me.
However, at this point, not much value should have been created yet. In that case, even if you secure the property, it would be considered an upfront investment. In the case of upfront investment, you can’t invest more than your existing assets, and even if you borrow to buy land, the credibility of a player who suddenly appeared in this world a few months ago is unknown. They probably won’t be able to borrow much.
Even if some of it has already been taken by players, all that needs to be done is to buy up everything else. Since there is no immediate need for land or buildings, it’s fine to stack up gold coins and only buy the rights, continuing to rent out the properties to the residents. If the selling price is much higher than the rent for the next few decades, they will likely sell without hesitation.
Maybe even enslave the residents. Well, if you’re going to enslave them, there’s no need to pay gold coins.
This is probably something other players can hardly imitate. If they can, it would probably be someone like Lyra.
This has been done before the dungeon attack. Contact Kerry and the others, explain the overview, and have them bring as many gold coins as possible from the castle’s treasure vault.
T/N: For the city’s name, I went with the literal translation of Rifure for simplicity.