[Springfield Haruta's Perspective]
Haruta Motono had fully immersed himself in his role by now.
No matter how realistic the environment seemed, in his eyes, this was just a game. And since it was a game, it was meant to be played.
Only by adopting a gamer's mindset could he progress further.
He scanned his surroundings and noticed large piles of wood and stone stacked on the grasslands—clearly prepared in advance.
"Are these the materials for building the novice village?"
With this thought, Haruta walked over to the piles of wood and stone, tentatively placing his hand on one of the stacks of wood.
The texture was slightly rough, reminiscent of the feeling he got when holding something while watching certain movies.
[Construction Materials]
[Task Triggered: Build a House. You can consume wood and stone to construct your residence based on your imagination. Currently available resources: 100 units of wood, 100 units of stone.]
[Reward: 500 Invasion Points upon completion if requirements are met.]
As the system notification appeared, the wood in his view began to transform into neatly cut planks, while the stone turned into blocks of varying sizes.
Haruta frowned slightly. He realized he could control the movement of these blocks with his gaze, but this ability only worked on the wood and stone—it had no effect on other players.
"Mind control, huh?"
"I wonder when I'll fully gain such an extraordinary ability."
Haruta thought to himself, a hint of anticipation stirring in his heart. Carefully, he controlled a stone block to place it on the ground. Then, he stacked another block on top of it. The two blocks automatically fused together, appearing seamless.
He reached out to push it but found it immovable—remarkably sturdy.
"Amazing..."
Haruta marveled as he began constructing his house, stacking the materials like building blocks.
Other players from Sakura Island quickly discovered the secrets of the wood and stone and started building their in-game homes according to their own designs.
[Su Nian's Perspective]
Meanwhile, deep within the Silvermoon Forest.
Su Nian had already opened the golden treasure chest.
Technically, he wasn't supposed to be able to, as the guardian of the chest, he lacked the necessary permissions. But that didn't stop him from turning his claws into lockpicks.
However, upon opening it, Su Nian found it empty.
He speculated that the chest might merely serve as a medium for delivering rewards, only dispensing them when opened by a player.
"Unbelievable. It's bad enough being reincarnated as something other than human, and now I'm stuck guarding treasure chests?"
"Guard your ass!"
Su Nian's dragon face darkened as his claws clenched with a resounding "crack." Suddenly, a cunning glint flashed in his dragon eyes, and a sinister grin spread across his face.
"Grey Wolf, Slippery Snake, and the rest of you," Su Nian called out to the various monster leaders gathered below the rocky cliff.
"I recall your territories have quite a few treasure chests—bronze ones, iron ones. Bring them all to me."
"And Bolikri, fetch the bombs and poison gas traps your kobolds made. I have plans for those."
"Damn it, you want me to guard treasure chests? Fine... hehehe..."
[Preparation for the Trap]
Half an incense stick's time later, a pile of treasure chests of various sizes lay before Su Nian.
Through his experiments, he discovered that time inside the chests was relatively frozen, meaning he could even store living creatures inside without issue.
The collection of chests ranged from the lowest-tier wooden ones to slightly better silver chests.
The wooden chests mostly came from Bugs Bunny, who seemed a bit embarrassed about it.
"No need to feel down. As long as you keep training with Grey Wolf and strengthening yourselves daily, you'll grow stronger and stronger."
Su Nian glanced at Bugs Bunny's increased strength attribute—up by two points—and the faint bulge of its biceps. He generously showered it with praise.
As a boss, providing ample encouragement to his subordinates was essential.
After motivating Bugs Bunny, who looked at him with teary gratitude, Su Nian began opening the chests one by one and stuffing them with "special ingredients."
"The wooden chests are too small... let's throw in a few Giant Hornets."
"The iron chests... venomous snakes will do. One isn't enough; let's add another... Slippery Snake, why are you dawdling? Go catch me dozens more venomous snakes—the deadliest ones you can find."
"For the bronze ones, a trigger-activated poison gas trap will fit perfectly... let's spice it up with some of my acidic molten flames."
"As for the silver chests, pack them full of bombs. Bombs, bombs, and more bombs! Bolikri, dig up the shit your kobolds took this morning and stuff it in there. Hurry up!"
As for the golden chest...
Su Nian frowned. There was only one golden chest, and he decided to save it for later, to use as bait when the time was right.
After completing all this, he led his subordinates, carrying the various chests, and headed toward Sakura No. 1 Novice Village.
Ever since the world became semi-digitalized, Su Nian had gained access to a world map. However, apart from the areas he had conquered or explored, the rest of the map was shrouded in darkness, covered by a hazy fog.
The players' novice villages, however, stood out as bright red dots on the map.
Zooming out on the world map, Su Nian took a rough look.
The entire southern continent was dotted with thousands of red points, an unimaginable number of players.
One thing was certain: these players were a complete disaster for every living being in this world.
Unfortunately, Su Nian had no way to stop them. He could only influence a few nearby novice villages for now. Beyond that, he lacked the time to intervene and could only take things step by step.
Sakura No. 1 Novice Village was situated on the grasslands outside the Silvermoon Forest. While its main area was quite far away, its designated safe zone extended close to the forest's edge.
How did Su Nian know this? Because he could see a massive semi-circular green shield in his vision.
He had just sent a kobold to test it. The moment the kobold stepped into the green shield, it was instantly teleported out by a mysterious force.
The kobold returned to the group with a dazed look, having completely forgotten what had just happened.
"Tch, what an unfair war. Although players start off weak, their sheer numbers give them an advantage. Now they even have seven days of absolute safety to develop..."
Su Nian pondered indignantly.
But he wasn't entirely helpless against the players within the shield. He knew players well.
Players were inherently curious.
They would never limit themselves to a single area, endlessly circling the same spot.
Exploring new maps and experiencing new landscapes was what they loved most.
And in the vast grasslands, the most enticing attractions were, of course, the Silvermoon Forest and the Silvermoon Mountains.
"Alright, listen up. Hide these treasure chests in the nearby bushes. Make it look natural—don't make it too obvious! Leave one or two out in the open as bait."
The monsters, though unsure of what the black dragon was planning, dutifully followed his orders, as these chests were of little use to them anyway.
"Good. Now, return to your training. No slacking off."
With his heartfelt "gifts" prepared for the players, Su Nian cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing ominously. A sinister and ruthless smile spread across his pitch-black, menacing dragon face.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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