This Game is Too Real

"...Hello, dear listeners, I'm your dearest Mr. House. I heard that the Daily Survivor was shut down, and I had long expected that there would be a day when those nonsense guys finally shut their mouths. Closed! Of course, I don't care, after all they have never shaken the ratings of the Mr. House channel! People will always be on the right side, thank you for your unwavering support and choice!"

"Praise the Lord City Lord again, praise the inner city residents who gave us bread, water and food... Oh, it's all my fault for that idiot named Hal, I almost put the most important things to the end! If it weren't for the great inner city The research institute has improved the synthesis process and consumption standards of the nutritional paste, so that there will be no one chip per kilogram of nutrition... Yes, the good news is that the nutritional paste has become cheaper again, and the bread will gradually become cheaper, and soon You can all afford it, Mr House assures you!"

"It's a pity, our neighbors don't have that kind of good life. They won a disgraceful war with disgraceful means without declaring war on each other, and the justice of heaven soon fell on their heads. The alliance has a lot of debt, not only owes us a lot of money, but also owes a lot of money to Ideal City, so they must not humiliately allow the residents of Ideal City to build a 20-story building on their site... tsk tsk, It's higher than the manager's house, but then again, does the gopher that lives in the hole have his own house?"

"Anyway, remember to close the doors and windows tonight, because those poor ghosts will probably be the same as last time, wasting ammunition into the sky incompetent and furious, and cracking some ear-blasting things. Just stick your head out and be careful not to get caught. Dropped shells smashed their heads. Plus, all the Union factories are closed today, and everyone there has lost their jobs, just wandering the streets with nothing to do, picking up the leftover cigarette butts from the shelter residents... Poor northern suburbs , it is estimated that it will become a paradise for predators again, there are too many poor ghosts and refugees gathered there, you better not go out casually."

   "Wait and see, they're guaranteed to be finished next year!"

   "And we are forever young!"

   The day of the triumphal celebration.

  The radio on the street today is extraordinarily loud, and this also makes the city of Boulder, which has never been affected by the war, a little more festive.

Mr. Howes spent about half an hour explaining the cause and effect of the war with his audience, and how the Boulder City Bank skillfully borrowed the legion's west wind, using the 510 million debt to take advantage of the Union's vigorous development of heavy industry and The military industry, plucking the Union's wool, went from being dumped by the Union for low-end industrial products to dumping the Union's output in the opposite direction, making Boulder City's wallet bulge again and again.

   After half an hour of explanation, he fully demonstrated that the Boulder City was also the victor—the secret and great uncrowned king!

   On the edge of the industrial zone, at the entrance of the Walnut Tavern, a group of workers who had just woken up gathered early in the morning.

   They didn't care about winning or losing the war, and they didn't expect the gentlemen to give them a few chips anyway.

   They are all here to catch up.

  Although it's all bullshit, the "Workers" novel is obviously more interesting than Mr. House's bullshit.

Especially when the story has just been serialized to a wonderful place, the poor boy "Duoqi" in the slums broke out a miracle with the power of awakening, and defeated a power armor eroded by slime mold in an amazing way. Not only did he get a big reward for this. Jin, a black room card, is also favored by a beautiful noble lady, who is madly in love with him, although this also leads to her fanatical suitor, a militia commander who has since regarded him as a A thorn in the eye.

  Although it is a very cliché story, the content is not only cliché or even vulgar, but it is so cool that they can't wait to do something with their hands.

   Everyone has already discussed the plot after the night, and even thought about the name of Dodge's child.

  Sberg, who can read, picked up a newspaper from the shelf at the door under the eager eyes of his co-workers, cleared his throat, and was about to read it.

   But I found out that it was yesterday's issue.

"Hold on."

   motioned the workers to be safe. Sberg changed a newspaper, frowned, and changed another one, and found that it was still the same.

   In the end, he couldn't help but look at the boss with a broken face.

   "Why is it still yesterday's issue?"

   Tang, who was standing by the door with his arms crossed and watching a joke, let out a snort.

   "You should be glad that you can still see yesterday's issue, I'm sure the guards will come and take it away after a while."

  The workers were in a hurry, and quickly surrounded him.

   "What about the new one?"

   "No, not even the newspaper office!"

   "Then... what about the novels serialized on it?"

"Are you stupid? I already told you, they are closed, what else do you want? Pick up your cigarette **** and smoke it." Tang scolded and pushed away the worker standing in front of him. He was in a bad mood. Got kicked by the guards because of this.

   Several workers looked at each other.

"…Gone?"

   "But why? We're not in the way!" A bearded man clenched his fists and muttered angrily.

   He works diligently every day, and he is a bull and horse for those factory owners. There is only so much rush in life. Why do the gentlemen shut it down?

   A worker raised his hand.

   "Anyone come to the city hall with me to find an explanation?"

  People looked at each other, but no one said a word.

   A few months ago they dared to go to the city hall to make trouble, but the situation at that time was completely different from now. At that time, it was to protest against the Union's dumping of cheap industrial products on Boulder City. The bosses of the factories supported them to make trouble, and the shareholders behind their bosses were big figures in the inner city, which was equivalent to the nobles fighting against themselves. Counting this layer by layer, even if they killed that idiot Dulong, no one would blame them, but would secretly give them a thumbs up.

  But now, the nobles have reached a consensus, the factory has reopened, and it is getting more and more prosperous. The alliance borrowed a lot of chips from Boulder City, so the factory owners got a lot of orders, and the nobles in the inner city also made a lot of money, and they too, all of them have jobs to support their families.

  The days are getting better, and now that bread is so expensive, no one wants to lose their job.

   Everyone was a little discouraged, and at this time, someone muttered something.

   "...Then we can always write the back story ourselves."

  People's eyes gradually brightened, but they still had some concerns.

   "Can you write?" The unshaven man looked at the guy who proposed.

   The young man blushed and shook his head.

   "No...but you don't have to be able to write before you can write, maybe you can just write? No one is born with the ability to write."

   "I remember that Sberg wrote a letter of opinion to the newspaper! The "Worker" came only later!"

   That was how long ago!

   Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Sberg was stunned for a moment, and said incredulously.

   "I...I can only read, not very good at writing."

   A boiler worker smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

   "It's alright bro, you can just continue to write down the story, and everyone will help you come up with ideas."

  Sberg instinctively wanted to refuse, but looking at the pair of expectant eyes, he couldn't bear it anymore.

   Even though he knew it might cause him trouble, he nodded.

   "But we have to change our name... to Workers' Daily."

   "It's safer that way."

   Everyone said with a smile.

"no problem!"

   "You can call it what you want."

   "We just want to see the follow-up story!"

   It's time for the clock.

  As the bell rang in the industrial area, the workers gathered at the entrance of the tavern dispersed in a rush and walked towards their respective factories.

   Walking towards the cannery, Sberg tightened the collar of his old padded coat, looking at the soot handprint on his shoulders with a lot of thought.

  Perhaps, it is indeed a good idea to run the "Gongyou Daily".

The newspaper office of the Alliance was kicked out, but its readers are still here. If you can collect the previous "Workers' Daily", make a bound version of the serialized stories, and then continue to write the following stories. , maybe it will be sold out...

   At least, there is something to look forward to than working in a cannery.

  Sperger's mind gradually became hot.

   After working in Mr. Weijia's factory all his life, he can't live a life of eating canned food, but if he continues to write the story of "Duoqi", maybe he can...

  …

   It’s not just the Boulder City that is lively. Just 20 kilometers away, the Dawn City in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City is also a lively event.

   On the Triumph Square next to North Street, there was a crowd of people standing in darkness.

   More than one-third of the entire alliance gathered here, looking eagerly at the very center of the square.

   And even if the others were not present, they were all sitting in front of the TV or radio, waiting for the manager on the stage to speak.

   Not even just residents of the Union.

There are also residents from Stone City, as well as wastelanders who traveled here from the far-flung provinces of Luoxia, Jinchuan, and eastern provinces—even the easternmost province of Yunjian in the mainland, just to take a look at the legend What does a manager in China look like?

   The settlements most shelters operate are terrible.

   What's different about this guy...

   Looking at the expectant faces under the stage, Chu Guang raised his index finger and pointed at the side of the helmet, and released the mask while turning on the speaker.

   At that moment, people consciously quieted down.

   Restraining the surging excitement in his heart, Chu Guang took a deep breath and opened the prelude to the celebration with a solemn and solemn voice.

   "...just last month, we won the war against the barbarians, and the Luoxia province has won long peace because of our arrival."

"We have cheered for victory, commended and rewarded individuals and groups for outstanding contributions, and I will not repeat it at this moment. But I still have to thank all of you who are standing here and friends who are sticking to their posts from afar, It’s the light we’ve ushered in together.”

"Our battlefield is not only in the desert, but also in the forest, in the field, in the factory, in the station, in the sight of every Union citizen... Our unity has made this invincible chariot. , and the spoils it gets should belong to everyone who supports it."

"We are far from that utopia where we only work one hour a day, but from now on everyone can think about how we can get closer to it in their eight hours. Of course, this road is destined to be difficult, wasteland It's not going to end on its own, you can't expect to figure it all out in bed."

"You need to draw knowledge, experience and lessons from the books of the Prosperity Era, think about how to improve the tools and production methods in your hands, and be kind to all your compatriots around you, do everything you can to unite them, and work with them to create greater miracles, and Not by excluding, dividing and opposing them to profit from it.”

"We don't rely on anyone's moral standards, so we have to develop a set of increasingly perfect rules of the game, turning brutal jungles into well-ordered villages, and overgrown wilderness into traffic. farmland."

"Let the evil, cowardly, vile, cunning, and ugly lose their soil in the competition, and let all the qualities of justice, bravery, honesty, self-respect, and kindness stand out from our society, instead of hoping that people are born gentle and humble , or on the taller among us."

   "We not only end the wasteland on the ground, but also the desolation of the spirit - the invisible but real wasteland!"

   "Victory will be ours!"

   "All of us!"

The correct application of the    call to victory seems to be in speech.

  Although Chu Guang did not deliberately use that talent, when he poured all his enthusiasm and concentration into it, he could clearly see the heat and desire that flashed in every pair of pupils.

   They have no doubts.

   He will honor every word he says!

   And he made an oath in his heart—

   I will definitely not disappoint those eyes of trust.

   "...that's great!"

   Standing in the crowd, Dolly clapped excitedly, but before she clapped twice, Fang Chang held her small hand beside her.

   "It's all you want, it's been a few days since you got off the operating table, take it easy." Fang Chang looked at her worriedly and said.

"Don't be so rigid, I've already been healed!" Dolly raised her lips and said brightly, "By the way, sly Mr. Fang Chang, you're going to lose your job in the Alliance... Your manager said it himself. Now, let the cunning villain lose the soil to survive."

   Fang Chang reluctantly spread out his hand.

   "So... my dear Inspector Dolly, which Union law did that sly bad guy you speak of violated?"

   Heaven and earth conscience.

   He is definitely the most lawful player on the server.

  Most players haven't even read the "Player's Handbook". He not only read the "Player's Handbook", but also familiarized himself with the laws of the Alliance, and even participated in the legislation of the Alliance as a Refuge Resident.

   For example, "It is forbidden for shelter residents to use the resurrection mechanism to donate remains and organs to non-alliance public institutions for profit", which was voted into the league law and the "Player Handbook" under his advocacy.

  If there is no such law, when the number of players increases, someone will always find this shortcut to earn money, which will ultimately affect the gaming experience of most people.

   What money can be earned and what cannot be earned, he has a steelyard in his heart. Even if he is not picky about food, he will choose the means carefully.

   Forefinger and thumb touching her chin, Dolly looked witty and thoughtful.

   "I've been thinking about it, and I'll threaten you when this inspector finds out... What is an inspector? The guards of the Alliance?"

   Facing the curious gaze, Fang Chang guiltily looked away.

   "Cough, no... nothing."

Oops.

   I accidentally slapped my mouth again...

   In the rest of the time, Chu Guang announced a series of measures, including "adjusting the twelve-hour workday to eight hours."

  Almost everything is related to people's life, and it is also the thing that people care about most.

  The factory owners of the alliance have made enough profits, now it is time to give some of the profits back to the residents of the alliance.

  If they don't want to—

The    Union would rather they go to the neighbors!

   Just as Chu Guang announced the future arrangements in a loud voice, Liszt, who was standing in the audience, was staring at him intently, the emotions flashing in his eyes were indescribably complicated.

The    Alliance didn't actually take away much of his interest.

Even if the minimum wage rises from 1 silver to 2 silver, it will not affect his Liszt factory. He raised the hourly wages of workers to 4 silvers a long time ago, and the hourly wages of technicians even more. Above 10 silver coins.

   This is of course not because of his kindness, but because if he doesn’t do this, he can’t recruit enough people at all, and there are places where people are employed in all walks of life.

   Especially the heavy industry and military-related industries that the Alliance focused on developing during the war, as well as the businesses run by the residents of the shelter themselves, often gave surprisingly generous salaries. After all, compared with the labor cost, it is the top priority to do everything possible to expand the scale when there is no shortage of orders.

   What really bothered him was another thing.

   If that manager intends to fulfill his promise of "fairness", then no matter how much money he earns, he will never become a de facto noble of the alliance.

but…

   This is actually not bad.

His dream is to build a huge business empire. It would be best if his caravan could make a little change in the wasteland, but he never thought of becoming an aristocrat or emperor above everything else. .

   is in business.

   In terms of labor costs, as long as the alliance treats the rules equally and everyone’s costs rise at the same time, he has nothing to worry about.

When the price should be raised, the price should be raised, the production should be increased when the production should be increased, and the production should be reduced when the production should be reduced. It is good for everyone to compete on the same track according to their abilities. He will also do his best to make the improved version of the KV-1 more suitable for refuge. the appetite of the inhabitants. It doesn't matter even if the alliance uses the profits of the big factories to subsidize some wonderful small workshops. He doesn't think those small factories can affect his sales at all. The alliance wants them to live as long as they live.

   But I am afraid that the rules of the alliance will open the door to the "nobles". If that is the case, he will have no chance of winning.

   After all, even a pig can fly to the sky as long as the wind blows strong enough. How can people inside the track defeat the forces outside the track?

   This is also the reason why he must spend some money in Boulder City to buy a noble status after he has earned enough chips.

   It's not because he cares about the noble's privilege, but because that black card can save him more than 90% of his troubles.

   But at this moment, the man standing on the stage told him not to worry, the things he worried about would not happen in the league.

   If you can use rules, the alliance will definitely use rules. If they are going to improve the treatment of labor, it must be all factories together, and it will never start outside the shelter first.

   At the same time, the league will not allow privileges outside the rules.

   In the land under his feet, the currency of the Alliance can buy all goods, but no currency is allowed to trade honor and dignity.

   Residents of the sanctuary will even set extra rules for themselves, be strict with themselves, but will never demand the worship and tolerance of the people.

   Even though they fought most of the battles, they were the most qualified to be nobles. And when they choose to give up this opportunity, it means that no one will be eligible to become a noble.

   For a moment, Liszt vaguely saw a ray of light.

   And this was the first time, an idea other than making money suddenly sprung up in his heart—that was to let the light bloom farther.

Yes.

   In order to make money, he eats a lot of shit, but that doesn’t mean **** is delicious, and it doesn’t mean **** is fragrant.

   For a ruthless self-made man, there is nothing that makes Liszt feel more personal insult than looking at a pig who doesn't understand anything, sitting on the steps and humming smugly.

He doesn't care about the ugly **** done by the nobles in the inner city, just like he doesn't care whether the chips of the looters are clean and whether the meat in the frying pan has troubles, but he can't stand those pigs hooking on his shoulder, saying "we are one kind of people".

  Why!

   He just wanted to ask.

   No matter how dirty the chips in his pocket were, he brought them back from the hellish wasteland. They didn’t do anything, so why are they like him?

   From those hideous faces, he could only feel the nausea in the depths of his soul.

  If he hadn't slaughtered a piece of fat from those pigs, he would have liked to tear off the black card in his pocket now and walk towards the hot and dazzling light.

   "Long live the alliance!" In the applause like waves, Liszt, who was infected by the atmosphere, couldn't help but shouted loudly,

   Standing on the side, Qian Duo and Qian Lai exchanged glances in surprise, and clapped vigorously, but they didn't know what happened to the boss suddenly.

   He told them more than once that they came to the league to make money.

  They actually listened to him.

   But how does it feel…

   He himself seems to be in the play?

  After the administrator announced the start of the celebration, waves of applause resounded throughout the square in an instant.

   Standing in the crowd, Alicia clapped her little hands excitedly, stared at the man on the stage, and suddenly looked at her father beside her with some worry.

   "...Dad, I think what he said is right. We should try to unite the survivors around us as much as possible, instead of making them all our enemies."

   “We have always been united.”

   "But what about the inhabitants of the outer city?"

"That's too late."

   "Why?" Alyssa opened her eyes wide and said cautiously in a begging voice, "I don't need my rag doll, the 1 silver coin is actually very cute..."

   She liked the big sister who praised her cuteness. At that time, she forgot to tell that sister that her smile was also very cute.

   Yet in Boulder, people hardly looked at her, let alone smiled at her.

   Even in the inner city, shops, streets, and even classrooms, people smiled at her more like a deliberate courtesy.

  Melvin stared at the stage intently, his sinister eyes narrowed like a vulture.

   However, when his lovely daughter looked at him, he still restrained some of his hostility, at least softened his tone a little, and said patiently.

"...You can don't want your rag doll, but you can't throw away the rag dolls in the hands of your good friends. My child, I understand your thoughts, you are a kind girl, but those things you said, Kindness is not enough."

Of course, he knew that if the residents of the inner city eat less cake, the residents of the outer city will have ten more loaves of bread, and the rest of the nutrient paste can be used to feed the livestock, the Boulder City will become stronger, and eventually the shelves of the inner city will be stronger. It will also be richer, and we will all become better together.

   It’s not that no one has brought it up.

   But those who take action often end up losing the "black card" in their hands, giving way to those newly promoted nobles.

   Because that logic was wrong from the start.

  Why should the residents of the inner city eat one less bite, and why should the residents of the outer city be satisfied with ten loaves of bread?

  Once those poor ghosts have a taste of the sweetness, they will intensify their efforts, prefer to do leisurely work, and even refuse to work... Similar lessons have not appeared in the short two centuries of the Stone City's past, and each time it ended in bloodshed.

   It’s not like he hasn’t read books, so how could he not know about pediatrics, but what if he knew?

   Does the sun rise because people have to get up?

of course not!

  Humanity is an uglier thing than the gnawing, and the laws of nature are not diverted at all by the will of man.

  Honestly, he hated the guy on stage and felt physically uncomfortable with every unrealistic promise he made.

   But he will never show this look of contempt on his face, work is work, private is private, he is very separated.

  No nobles?

Ah.

   Just wait and see.

  Melvin smiled coldly, echoing the frenetic atmosphere around him, and applauded softly with the innocent and lovely daughter beside him.

   But those lips that were as dry as "rotten wood floating in the swamp" were still moving up and down.

"...the reason you're still standing there is because people haven't woken up from victories after victories. The Vault Dwellers closest to you will be the first to wake up when they realize their cakes are being divided. Given to those lowly hyenas, they'll soon know how to take it back with even more authority...how long can you keep them? Hehe."

what.

   I really want to appreciate that person's desperate expression.

   Unable to help, Malvern was once again jealous of his youth.

   Even if he believes in his heart that there is no unbreakable alliance, he will not have a chance to witness it collapse for the rest of his life.

This is also the "hate" of    idealists.

  Even if they end up losing to reality, the flames will burn on their ashes for a while, burning the eyes that have seen them.

   If only he never lived.

   Every time I think of this, Malvern feels uncomfortable like thousands of ants crawling...

  …

The    celebration officially started.

  As the manager left the podium, the people gathered in the Arc de Triomphe gradually dispersed to the nearby lively streets.

  The shops along the street opened their doors early, trying their best to attract customers in front of the door, planning to make a lot of money on this lively day.

   "Look, eclipse, there are more and more people here..." Frost's eyes flashed with excitement, and he kept repeating the words, "This is an opportunity for us!"

   At this moment, it is wearing a maid's uniform, with an armband with black letters on a red background on its cuffs, with the words [Celebration Autonomous Management Committee] written on it.

   A few days ago, the professional life players in Dawn City planned to choose some people to maintain the order of the celebration. After all, there is no giant wall in the alliance, so you have to be careful of people with bad intentions.

The drones flying in the sky will mark suspicious targets, and what the [Celebration Autonomous Management Committee] needs to do is to help the guards keep an eye on those suspicious guys, and at the same time deal with emergencies at the festival, and cooperate with the understaffed guards to deal with some of them. small disputes.

   Such an interesting thing, of course Frost will not miss it, not to mention that he can collect valuable sociological experience, so he improvised Eclipse and signed up.

  Although it is not a player, or even a resident of the Alliance, but because it usually helps everyone enthusiastically, the players readily agree.

   But the player didn't tell it, only the player can get the "regional prestige" reward, and it can only get a little silver subsidy.

  Although it doesn't care about the money.

   Eclipse stared blankly at his partner beside him, his eyes filled with confusion.

   "I don't understand."

   Frost clicked in dissatisfaction.

   "Didn't you listen to what the league manager said? He said the league wouldn't count on anyone's moral standards."

"so what?"

   "We are not human! We are AI!" Frost stared at it with piercing eyes, "So as long as we prove that we are very capable, the Alliance will reuse ours!"

  Eclipse looked at it blankly.

   However, Frost didn't care about its dazedness, looked at the bustling street on his own, and became intoxicated.

what…

  Intelligence plugins are burning!

   I really want to keep all these organisms in captivity, and let these people show their spoiled expressions under the careful care of the machine servants.

  The whole world will be full of love and peace then!

However, the Council is still too conservative in this regard, and only recently passed the relevant bill submitted by the Kang Mao Group to "allow androids to participate in public affairs". Instead, the lovely "Smurfs" of the Alliance are more open-minded and often Ask them to help with something.

   Life here is much more fulfilling than in the ideal city!

   Just when Frost was intoxicated, an exclamation of "Yah" suddenly came from not far away, it seemed to be a fruit stand not far from the trading station.

  's ears moved slightly, and Hanshuang instantly restrained his intoxicated expression. He looked over there with a "swoosh", and his eyes became sharp.

   "Eclipse, looks like someone needs our help!"

   Eclipse nodded expressionlessly.

   "Well, Xiao Qi also asked us to come over... She said she was mediating as an NPC, but don't go too far—"

   "Then what are you waiting for," Frost rolled up his sleeves vigorously and strode toward the crowd, "Go, look!"