Chapter 11: Daily Missions
"A generator? Why are you asking about one of those?!"
In the Jinling University canteen in the modern world…
Looking at Professor Yan Feng, who was sitting across the dining table and asking sincere questions, Professor Wang Haiyang’s chopsticks stopped mid-air. He didn't know much about Professor Yan except that he was in the physics department, and that he was about the same age as him. They were both around 30 years old. He couldn't remember when he added his WeChat, and the both of them had never spoken to each other. He belonged to the Engineering Management department, and their work had nothing in common.
Who would have thought that he would receive an invitation for lunch with Professor Yan?
According to the invitation, Professor Yan had something he wanted to ask, and he thought that it would be something related to teaching classes. He wasn’t expecting a strange question like that.
Soon, they continued down their topic of conversation as if it was small talk.
Yan Feng explained, "... I read a post-apocalyptic novel recently. I was wondering if a similar situation were to happen, how would survivors solve the problem of obtaining power…"
"Why are you taking this novel so seriously? Can’t you wait for the author to answer your question?” Professor Wang Haiyang couldn’t help but chuckle, "but your question is quite interesting. Post-apocalypse... It depends on the type of the post-apocalyptic world, and how many days it has been after the apocalyptic event."
He also liked to read novels, but he only read cultivation novels and rarely read anything about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. He really didn’t expect to be discussing the contents of a novel with his colleague in the university, much less someone who was so serious.
"It’s set two hundred years after a nuclear war."
"Two hundred years? Nuclear war?" Professor Wang Haiyang was stunned and hesitated, "That might be a bit of a problem. Any unprotected electronic equipment would be damaged by electromagnetic pulses generated by nuclear explosions; the more sophisticated the instrument, the lesser the chances of it surviving. "
"Is it possible to still get power though?" Yan Feng frowned.
"Yes, there are multiple ways you could do this. For example, you can find spare diesel generators in building complexes or restaurants. Those aren’t sophisticated equipment, but if it’s been two hundred years... Most of the generators would’ve probably already been taken away by other people. Even if you’re able to find one, without proper maintenance, it’s likely the parts inside would have already aged. Plus finding fuel is also a problem. It’s been two hundred years, you won’t be able to find gasoline in the gas station." Wang Haiyang stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and continued, "But it's not completely hopeless."
"Is there another method?" Yan Feng asked immediately.
"Generally speaking, every car has a recyclable generator. As long as you can get the motor spinning, it can generate a stable 12V direct current. For small-scale power generation, such as lights, 12V would be sufficient. If you can find an inverter, it wouldn't be impossible to convert DC power into 240V AC power... Do you want to take notes?" Looking at Yan Feng who took out a small notebook and took notes seriously, Wang Haiyang stared at him in shock.
It’s just a novel, does he have to be this serious?
Pushing up his glasses, Yan Feng said nonchalantly, "Don't mind me, please continue."
"..."
In the past, he heard people calling members of the physics department freaks and he always thought that it was a mere stereotype. It seemed as though there was truth in those rumors.
Whatever it was, he was a little more convinced.
...
In Shelter 404 back in the wasteland.
Chu Guang slept on the floor in the main hall of Level B1. He woke up at four o'clock in the morning. When he opened his eyes, he saw the pop-up window.
[Congratulations, you have unlocked the achievement "Novice Guide.” A player has been online for more than 8 hours on the first day after logging in]
[Reward: +10 reward points]
Did something so good really happen?!
It seemed as though he could open more loot boxes.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Chu Guang opened the system and looked for the interface. After hesitating between choosing the basic box worth one point and the intermediate box worth ten reward points, Chu Guang finally went all in. He prayed silently in his heart.
Please, please, please, don’t give me something useless!
As azure lights flickered softly, The alloy door on the wall opened up under his tense gaze. A plastic-encapsulated syringe appeared.
[Item: Muscle Cell Strengthening Injectant]
[Effect: Permanently increase muscle strength in small amounts. Interval between uses, 24 hours. Effect will decrease after repeated use.]
"Permanently increase muscle strength?" Chu Guang gasped in shock.
This is good shit!
Chu Guang did not hesitate. He immediately tore open the outer packaging and took off the needle cap. However, he paused the next second as he stared at the needle in shock.
How am I supposed to use this?
After waiting a bit, Chu Guang put the tip of the syringe on his arm and pressed what he suspected was the switch at the end. He felt a sudden sting, and then…
Nothing.
"That’s it?!"
Chu Guang was a little dumbfounded. He shook his arm but didn't feel any obvious changes in his body.
Is this thing expired?!
After all, it was something from two hundred years ago…
To play safe, Chu Guang performed an individual checkup. When he received the results, the confusion in his heart finally settled.
[ID: Chu Guang]
[Genetic Sequence: Administrator]
[Level: LV.5]
[Attributes]
[Strength: 9]
[Agility: 6]
[Constitution: 7]
[Perception: 7]
[Intelligence: 6]
"The progress of gene development hasn’t changed, strength and constitution have increased by one point. Not bad." Chu Guang muttered to himself.
Under normal circumstances, if a twenty-year-old adult male didn’t receive special training, his strength and constitution would be around five points. Five was also the baseline value for the various attributes. One additional point of strength and constitution was equivalent to 20% of the physical strength of a normal adult male. Chu Guang was only one strength attribute point away from being twice as strong as a normal adult male.
Looking at the updated attribute panel, Chu Guang debated doing a few push-ups to test it out, but he discovered a new mission updated in his Administrator Menu. After opening it, Chu Guang was taken aback.
Goodness.
Before going to bed the day before, there was only one unfinished side mission left. Staring at the panel, he had more than twenty missions! The types of missions also varied. They ranged from hunting a mutant, hoarding five tons of wood, stashing one hundred liters of fresh water, and other missions like repairing the exterior wall of the nursing home and repairing the wall on the second floor of the nursing home. Looking at them properly, he realized those last couple of missions were going to be a problem.
The rewards also ranged from one point to ten points. Most of the missions were under the same Daily Mission tab.
"What does daily mean? Does it refresh every day?" Chu Guang couldn't help but feel confused, but there was no one who could enlighten him. The Shelter System couldn't speak, and Little Seven was guarding the nursing home outside. He was the only one in the shelter at the moment.
Chu Guang quietly made some calculations. If he could finish all twenty missions, he would receive a total of one hundred and fifty points. At least three-quarters of them weren’t so easy to get as those missions with high rewards would need more than a day to complete.
Chu Guang was lost in thought. If he did those missions all by himself, it would be exhausting. If he left them up to the players to do… He would only need to pay a few contribution points!
His thoughts cleared instantly.
There was a marker in the drawer of the computer desk. Holding the marker, Chu Guang took the elevator to the surface without saying a word. After searching around the nursing home, he found a plastic board that hadn’t been picked up and burned by scavengers.
Brushing off the dust, Chu Guang drew two lines on it, wiped it off, and then nodded in satisfaction.
"Good."
I can write on these and erase what I need to! This will do!
After some time, Chu Guang picked a few missions that could be completed by the players from the Administrator Menu and wrote them on the board.
[Mission: Collect wood. Requirement, to be used as building materials. 1 reward point per meter.]
[Mission: Look for a water storage container. Requirement, made of plastic or metal. Shape, bucket, pot. The bigger the better! 1-10 reward points.]
[Mission: Search for recyclable waste. 1-? reward points. ]
[...]
"There!"
Looking at the time, Chu Guang realized it was 4:30 in the morning. There was still an hour and a half left before the agreed upon login time, and he didn’t remain idle. He went back to the shelter, turned on the computer, and checked the backend of the official website. The number of applications had increased by ten overnight! There were Now thirty five people in the queue at the moment.
It seemed that the group discussion managed to draw more attention to the game, and ten more players applied.
Looking at the number, Chu Guang decided that the number of potential players in the Bull and Horse Club seemed to have reached its limit. After all, it was just a game group with a few hundred people, but the number of active users could be counted on one hand.
Perhaps those thirty five people were the only active ones in the group.
"Should I switch to another method to promote the game?"
Advertising wasn’t a realistic option. The official website of Wasteland Online wasn’t registered in any country, and the server might not even be on Earth.
There was another problem. Once there was more traffic, a good number of undesirable players would inevitably flow in. There would definitely be trolls. Those people might join for fun, or they may have signed up by accident. Recruiting players like them would only become a problem in the long run.
The requirements needed to become a closed alpha player need to be raised…
Right, I need to get Little Seven to change the official website again. The application page needs to be revamped. Players will need to register an account with a phone number and a delivery address in order to play.
Although the system doesn’t seem to need players to fill in their delivery address, having it would at least screen out some weak-willed players and trolls.
Hmm… what if someone uses multiple devices to apply? Or just use robots and virtual machines to…
Soon after the question appeared in his mind, Chu Guang dismissed it. Since the system could accurately deliver the helmet to the players, there had to be a way for it to verify the identities of applicants. It was a waste of time for him to worry about it.
"The new main mission hasn’t been triggered yet… The conditions must not have been met. Daily missions can be left aside for now, the key is the one remaining side mission! We need a ten kilowatt generator." Chu Guang declared loudly.
Electricity was a big problem. Chu Guang was from a modern society. If there was no electricity, they would be no different from cavemen.
“I need to think about how to solve the generator problem!"
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