This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 524.2: All Attention On Us

A large, fat rat was leading a group of smaller mice, lugging a burlap sack into the room and dumping it on the floor.

Me Quiet walked over, opened the sack, and was immediately overwhelmed by a stench that made him reel and slam it shut.

"Ugh! What the hell is this?! It stinks!"

"Emerald Fruit. That’s what the locals call it. Grows on some kind of tree. Supposedly cures all diseases," said Make Me, wiping his sweaty brow with his thin arm and twitching his long whiskers. "God damn rubbish elixir that can cure every type of illness... I lost a bunch of my boys just getting this."

Cunning came naturally to rats. Many of the smaller mice who’d submitted to him by force didn’t fully obey him, especially when he wasn’t watching. Stealing food was common. In fact, forget stealing, his harem frequently ended up pregnant out of nowhere.

Ironically, the one who followed orders best wasn’t a pure rat, but a groundhog that had served him for ages.

After Make Me ordered a set of steel claws from Mosquito and equipped the guy, the groundhog had done quite a bit of traitor-purging in the rodent ranks.

Trying to ignore the stink, Me Quiet opened the sack again to inspect the fruit inside.

He quickly realized the smell wasn’t from the fruit itself, but from a slimy dark green film coating its surface, and from the green-sodden dirt stuck to it.

Garbage stared curiously at the contents of the sack, then turned to the fat rat who went to sit on a stool. "Don’t you have an iron stomach? Eat one."

"Fuck you! I’ve got an iron stomach, not poison resistance!" Make Me rolled his eyes. "You’ve got high constitution, why don’t you eat it?"

Garbage chuckled as he scratched his head with his big claws.

"Just because I’ve got high constitution doesn’t mean I enjoy eating shit. No cap, I can tell this thing is bad news just by looking at it!" he muttered, eyeing the greenish hue with visible discomfort.

As a man of pure and innocent taste, he felt physically repulsed.

Make Me coughed lightly, "Anyway... The intel checks out. Just like the guy said, this stuff popped up in Hope Town out of nowhere. At first, only a few people went to grow it. But then, once land used for it couldn’t grow anything else, and local landlords saw they could profit off it, more and more people started planting it."

Me Quiet asked curiously, "Is it expensive?"

Make Me continued, "Definitely more than grain. Not many merchants buy it, but according to local survivors, at first they really just grew it to make money. But after a while, they didn’t care about profit anymore. Eating it meant no more pain. They didn’t need to wear clothes, and there was no more cold. You could even see paradise. Compared to that, money was worthless."

Hearing this, Me Quiet’s expression grew solemn. "Whoever eats this stuff loses all hope of living. It’s poison. No doubt about it."

"Duh?" Garbage said, smacking the newbie’s head. He turned to Make Me. "So this thing came from Hope Town?"

To his surprise, Make Me shook his head. "Nope. They got the saplings from somewhere else. Rumor is the original tree came from a Mutant Human Camp called ‘Qi’ or something. They live in a ruined city about 20 kilometers from here."

Me Quiet’s eyes went wide. "Mutant Humans?!"

Make Me grinned. "Surprised, huh?... But if you’ve read the official descriptions of Mutant Humans, it’s really not hard to believe."

"Mutant Humans are a special kind of group. In the first stage, they lived communally in tribes and survived through hunting for food and reproduction. In the second stage, a form of civilization began to emerge from their violence. This was marked by the appearance of farming and domestication, for example, planting mutated fruits for food, keeping a number of human females and a few males in captivity, allowing livestock to breed naturally, and then harvesting and slaughtering them systematically."

"We heard that those beings wanted us to offer our own livers. It's a whole new system of usage and slaughter. There’s supposedly a third stage, but for now that’s only speculation."

"The 'Blackstone' tribe that other players discovered earlier in the Great Desert likely sat between the first and second stages. As for this group called 'Qi,' they were probably in the late second stage, or even beginning to transition to the third..."

Garbage rubbed his chin. "Do you have any evidence?"

"Evidence? Isn't it obvious? Word is there are tens of thousands of mutants over there, maybe even several tens of thousands! Maintaining a population that large isn't possible through violence alone. They must have developed something else... Like the orcs had Gul'dan..." As he spoke, Make Me's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Perhaps he could learn something from their social evolution, something that would help him build a grand empire of rats.

But the expression on Me Quiet's face grew serious all of a sudden.

"This isn’t a small issue. A mutant tribe numbering in the tens of thousands is only 20 kilometers from us, and yet we’ve heard nothing until now."

Garbage nodded as well, speaking earnestly, "Yeah. The fact that these mutants aren’t raiding the nearby villages? That’s too abnormal."

Whether others cared or not, they had to report this noteworthy information on the official forum.

Be it the story of Qi, or the mysterious Emerald Fruit.

...

While the pioneer trio of the south were figuring out how to treat the villagers' illness and send samples of the Emerald Fruit back to the New Alliance for testing, the victory celebration preparations were entering their final countdown.

The streets were festively decorated, crowded with people. The holiday had already started the day before, and shops were offering discounts and sales. The number of market stalls had doubled.

And it wasn't just local residents of Dawn City manning the stalls. Merchants had arrived from other survivor settlements like Daybreak City, Falling Leaf City, even Garbage City and the Red River Alliance.

With dazzling goods and business opportunities everywhere, Dawn City had transformed into a bustling hub!

Silver coins had become the hot commodity in the eyes of every passing merchant. Only those who wanted to come again would bother to keep silver coins in their pockets. As they looked at warehouses and shelves overflowing with supplies, no one doubted the coin’s purchasing power would remain strong.

Especially with shelter residents returning from the frontlines. They brought not only exotic treasures from the Sunset Province, but also the festive atmosphere that had been absent for months.

Since the main forces marched out, Dawn City had never been this lively.

The scene could only be described as a gathering of all nations.

"It’s so lively here!" Elisa chirped with excitement like a bird let out of a cage, her pale face flushed red from exhilaration.

Watching his joyful daughter, Malvern couldn’t help but relax into a smile. "So you must hold onto daddy’s hand, okay?"

"Mm!" Elisa nodded eagerly and gripped his hand tightly.

It was her first time visiting Dawn City.

Though it was only a little over 20 kilometers from home, at least 10 of those were extremely difficult to travel.

Just for that stretch, her father had hired at least 50 bodyguards. One of the silent men seemed to be an android manufactured by Boulder Town Arms Industry.

From the moment they entered the settlement, she had been looking around with curiosity.

Everything was so fresh and new to her.

The people shopping in the streets and the cheerful shopkeepers, most of them weren’t much older than her. They were 17 or 18, with very few elderly faces in sight.

As they passed one stall, she couldn’t help but stop. Her eyes were caught by a beautiful head of hair. More precisely, a fishbone-shaped hair clip pinned on that head.

The tiny fishbone looked like a cat had nibbled a piece off it. It looked very cute. She had never seen such a cute accessory in the shops back in Boulder Town.

And the young woman wearing the hair clip was beautiful too. Her skin was slightly tanned like autumn wheat kissed by the sun. She exuded a wild charm but her gentle smile contrasted strikingly with her complexion.

Noticing Elisa’s gaze, Autumn Weed quickly realized the girl was looking at her hair clip. She smiled softly and looked at the young customer. "Do you like it?"

Elisa nodded. "Mm, I like it..."

Autumn Weed blinked and looked at the adorable girl before her. "Because you're so cute, I'll let you have it for just one silver coin."

So cheap!

And...

This lady's voice was lovely!

Elisa blushed. She felt guilty not paying for it, so she looked up at her father and tugged his sleeve.

Seeing how much his daughter liked it, Malvern, who initially thought the clip looked a bit cheap, said nothing. He smiled and waved at his bodyguard.

The bodyguard nodded silently and placed a silver coin on the stall, completing the transaction.

Malvern looked at his delighted daughter and reminded her, "Just don’t wear it in front of your mother."

"Okay!" Elisa nodded obediently.

Smiling, Malvern ruffled her hair, took the clip from her hand, and gently fastened it on the side of her head himself.

The delicate little fishbone clip looked adorable on her golden hair.

Of course, he knew it wasn’t because the clip was particularly charming, or because the craftsmanship of those country folk from the northern suburbs was exceptional, but because his daughter bore noble blood.

Their destination was the most luxurious area in Dawn City, Embassy Street. He had already booked a VIP suite at the Ideal Grand Hotel there.

It was the most famous hotel in the region, built with investment from Ideal Corporation, accepting only payments in CR. Though aimed at Ideal City residents, anyone with CR could book a room.

The 20-story hotel towered over Dawn City. Everything from the furniture to the cement came from Ideal City. The staff? There were 100 maid androids made by the Health Luxury Corporate Group.

Whether for living or business, it was the top choice.

New Alliance surveillance drones roamed the skies but never peered into Ideal City’s hotel suites. He was well aware of that.

On the way there, Elisa continued curiously peering around. Then she suddenly asked, "Why do they all look so happy?"

Malvern smiled. "Because there’s a festival coming."

"What about us?" Elisa tilted her head at him. "Why don’t we hold a celebration too? There must be lots of fun stuff, right?"

"Us?" Malvern was momentarily stunned. Then he smiled again, looking at her gently. "We don’t need those things. There will still be plenty of fun. Remember the shop I took you to?"

"The one in the inner city?"

"Exactly. All the good stuff in the whole settlement is there. We could even buy synthetic bodies imported from Ideal City. There’s no need to fight the crowds at a market."