What Fourth Calamity? They're Obviously Working for Me

[Fourth Calamity] [Wasteland Survival] [Goofy Players] [Lord-Building] [System] [Subverting Tropes] [Lighthearted Comedy] [Players as Laborers] [Face-Slapping Comeback]

After transmigrating to the wasteland three years ago, Shen Ling built a safe zone from scratch. But the army in neighboring Iron Mountain provided meals, so all his subordinates ran off. All he had left were his seven-year-old sister and a three-eyed crow.

He crouched in a drafty warehouse, chewing on hard bread and preparing to give up and join someone else. Then a chime rang in his head.

[Fourth Calamity System activated! You can package the wasteland as a game and recruit Blue Star players to descend into it.]

Shen Ling read the System's description, his eyes lighting up. Players could revive? Then weren't they a bunch of fearless, death-seeking free laborers who'd slap a dog twice just for the fun of it?

He immediately packaged the wasteland as a browser game, titled it "So Real You'll Forget It's a Game," and recruited just five players for the closed beta.

Blue Star player Lin Zhou, unable to resist clicking, was swept away in a flash of white light. Upon landing, he saw a scruffy man holding a rusty axe. "Chop wood. I'll feed you."

The players were thrilled. "The beginner village chief! This game is so realistic, I almost pissed myself!"

Shen Ling smiled and nodded, calculating in his head: Each revival costs me Faith Points, so don't die too often... Wait, you with the username [Vocational College's Number One Breacher], why are you charging into a nest of beasts? My only believer is a seven-year-old girl. I can't afford to waste Faith Points!

Later, people from Iron Mountain's safe zone passed by and saw a group of players chasing a pack of three Riftback Hounds, shouting, "Drop some loot!" Old Zhao's legs went weak.

Shen Ling patted him on the shoulder. "Brother, want to move back? I could use someone to feed the workers."