Viers could admit without shame that he had never ruled a village before or sat on any other position of leadership. Not even a class rep at school. He was an introvert rather than an extrovert.

But base-building video games were right up his alley.

Confidently, Viers took note of the manpower he could utilize, divided them into groups, and sent them to work. Those who needed to go outside of the village were sent with protection details.

Among his 100, there were 20 children, 50 workers, and 30 fighters. The children didn't need saying but the workers were very weak in terms of fighting because their skills lay in crafting, even traversing the wilds was dangerous for them. Out of 30 fighters, 25 were Level 1 Pathseekers and 5 Level 2s, one of which was Kaari.

Each worker got something they were good at and Viers told them to do just that. Viers witnessed that a worker who said he was good at wood-cutting could cut down a tree with a few swings of an ax while a regular worker needed dozens. A worker that had a hunter’s perk seemed to have game animals pass by right in front of him regularly.

So this is how living inside a game feels like.

All stages had elements of video games in them but Stage 3 seemed fabricated at a deeper level.

Raising a building here was more magic than construction. While Viers watched a worker waving his hands in the air like a conductor and logs of wood arranging themselves into a wooden watchtower, Kaari came to him.

“Chief, the material and food gathering is coming along smoothly. The cooks have already begun processing the raw food. It is chilly at night and it will be dark in a few hours. We should make sure there’s enough shelter for the people before nightfall comes, else they might get sick and decrease their work efficiency.”

Frostpunk! Viers lampooned in his mind.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Viers had to bail the resource gathering groups out of trouble a few times today, from monsters or from nature. At this point, the settlement would need a lot of help before it was able to stand on its own.

While the horizon was rife with all different kinds of nature's fury in the hours Viers arrived, it became calmer as time went on. Viers guessed it must be a special event because of the emergence of the players. Just like how a volcanic eruption welcomed him.

Darkness descended and the chill crept in fast, stealing their bodily warmth to the degree of discomfort. Thanks to the safe zone effect of the magical flag, the temperature didn't drop too deep inside the settlement’s borders but it was snowing. A step outside the border and Viers felt the harsh temperature difference.

In the middle of the night, while Viers was meditating, Kaari suddenly barged into his room.

“Chief, there’s trouble! In one hour, I sensed a disaster coming from the direction of the lake!”

“...You ‘sensed’?” Viers asked.

“Yes, I can sense disasters. That is why you made me your second. Have you forgotten, Chief?”

How useful… it cuts the surprise factor from the unpredictable natural disasters significantly. Does every player have a precog assistant? Oh, I get it. It must be the top 10 reward.

“What more can you tell me?” Viers pressed.

“From a scale of one to ten where one means the settlement will be fine even if it hits and ten means complete annihilation if we remain, this is a five.”

“Except the lookouts, gather the fighters near the lake. I will be there shortly. Alert the villagers that we might need to evacuate.”

“As you command.”

Kaari bowed and closed the door. Viers made preparations for combat.

But can I fight natural disasters?

One hour later, along with the rest of the villagers, Viers witnessed the lake rise up.

The lake became a bulbous, red water slime thing 30 meters tall. Just as Viers was about to order evacuation because there was no way in hell he could fight that thing, the gelatin monster simply moved away. Unheeding of the ants near it.

It went to the side, leaving the village untouched, dragging its body out of the lake. It moved slowly like a snail and left a slimy trail in its wake.

From that trail, smaller slimes came to being, dozens of them. Most were Rank 1s, only a couple of Rank 2s. These ones were humanoid in shape and aggressive, approaching Viers and the rest.

Against this force, the settlement would be overrun if Viers wasn't there to help.

“Attack but keep it as quiet as possible,” Viers took the first strike with his Vengeful Spirit Arte, a spherical soul missile that blasted a humanoid slime to pieces before it coalesced back together.

Thankfully the fighters possessed a variety of elements, fire attacks, in particular, were very effective against these lake slime offshoots. Viers helped burn them down using the flamethrower Fire Cry 3. He waited until the momma slime moved some distance first before burning them in earnest.

Viers went to the highest point of the settlement to look around, eyes turning green. The lake had been reduced to about half but that was the least of Viers’ worries.

In the distance, Viers saw the bigwigs that awakened. In the distance, other than momma slime, there was a moving mountain, a cumulonimbus cloud with a face descending, and something that could only be called a Shai-Hulud’s cousin emerging from the ground.

Closer to home, Viers was shrouded by a shadow as a monstrous four-winged beetle went over his head, obscuring the moonlight. When Viers zoomed in with his super eyes, its body was made of metal.

Any of those monsters were at least Rank 4.

“We should avoid having activities at night, Chief,” Viers heard Kaari’s voice from behind. “The place is far more dangerous at night so stepping outside the settlement is unwise. If the place is noisy and busy, it might attract one of them to the settlement.”

Surviving in this place won't be easy, Viers’ heart grew cold.

***

The temperature returned to normal after the sun came up. Viers hadn't slept since the lake slime’s event; he was strategizing the whole time.

At the early stage, the settlements were vulnerable. The players needed to protect their home and yet, to get shards, they needed to attack other players. The ones with low battle strength might have had no problem hunkering down until the end but it was a big problem for Viers.

There were no treasures to be found in the mine or forest, only building materials. There really was no wealth to be found here that could be of use for the next stage.

Viers liked base-building. Seeing a patch of land gradually turning into a prosperous base was great, watching waves of enemies decimated into smithereens as they assaulted your walls was glorious.

But Viers wasn't sure he was playing the right game here.

The most important thing was the spark shards. It was still the hot currency so he needed to have as many as possible.

Viers was aware that the time to attack was now, when the other players had not turned their settlements into strongholds. He should use his greater battle prowess to defeat as many competitors as he can during this period of time.

But his own settlement became a burdening factor; His own settlement couldn't survive without him. Viers was sure the other players also thought of something similar. The game was built to balance offense and defense. If this proceeded normally, the battles between players would only start after they raise sufficient defenses in their settlement, around the middle part of the trial.

Viers couldn't afford to wait that long.

If you chase two rabbits you will lose them both, huh?

There was a knock on the door before a curly blonde woman came in.

“You called for me, Chief?”

“Come in and close the door. Kaari, do you trust me?”

“Completely, sir.”

“If I told you to stay behind stalling a tide of monsters while I led the villagers to safety, would you do it?”

“I will do as you command, Chief. It is not my place to question your judgment.”

“If I made a bad decision that resulted in the village’s destruction, what would you do? You must know that I’m not a perfect being, especially in a place like this. There’s no guarantee you or any of the villagers would survive.”

“Chief, you are the person I entrust my life to. My sole purpose is to support you with my full capacity; your cause is my cause. I will follow your orders without question, even if it resulted in my death. Rest assured, Chief.”

For a moment, Viers forgot he was speaking with a soulless NPC.

“Then heed my command, Kaari. Here’s what you’re gonna do.”

“Certainly, Chief.”

***

Moon Muun Chuun felt that today would be a good day as she inhaled the crisp morning air. Despite the giant monsters passing relatively close to her settlement, there was very little damage to it, which she took as a lucky sign.

This place is more dangerous than I thought. I should invest even more resources in security.

Moon Muun Chuun was overseeing the construction of a magical turret tower when she heard a piercing warning cry.

“ENEMY ATTACK!”

She saw two dozen people attacking her settlement’s front gate; her own fighters were already engaging them.

Invasion from other trial takers! And the numbers… Did they leave their own settlement undefended?

Moon Muun Chuun was unprepared for an all-out invasion from the start but things were going well. She’d raised some archer towers and applied strengthening buffs to her fighters yesterday. With the home-field advantage, her side was clearly getting the upper hand.

Good, this is good! This is going well!

Moon Muun Chuun wasn't a formidable fighter so she did not join the front line and remained behind the walls.

Wait! Where’s the head of the snake?

A silver screen automatically prevented an attack from hitting her body from behind. Her 2500 spark shards item showed its worth.

S-s-soul attack? That means-

“Quite a strong shield. It will take about ten shots from me before breaking.”

She turned and saw Tanael’s extended left hand glowed as he prepared his Arte.

“Wait! Don't kill me! I’ll come under you, okay? My people will be absorbed under your camp. I will make myself useful. Also, I only have about 700 spark shards. The rest I’ve used for buying items. There’s little merit for defeating me permanently,” she made her case in haste.

“If you didn't have that soul shield or bought a cheap one, you would already be dead. Good job,” Viers praised.

Viers summoned the Little Friend into his hand and shot her immediately. Blood sprouted out from the forehead as the physical bullet pierced her head. Moon Muun Chuun’s expression was that of blankness.

“But you’re still dead if I wanted to. You should have decisively quit after surviving the first blow.”

She did not recognize Viers had summoned an instrument of death thus resulting in slight confusion. Viers utilized that small window in her defense to deal a fatal blow.

After her body had fallen to the ground, Viers shot her in the chest thrice to be thorough before absorbing her soul.

700 shards? Even a mosquito is meat, or so the saying goes. And I'm starving for souls.

Viers didn't forget to loot her for anything of value, morality be damned.

And yet Viers still closed her eyes with his fingers.

“I pray you have a better life in your next life.”

With the death of the ‘chief’, the battle died down. Moon Muun Chuun’s assistant, the equivalent of Viers’ Kaari, led fighters to surrender.

“We surrender ourselves to you, Milord,” the man said. “Where should we migrate?”

“Migrate? To my settlement? There’s no such thing,” Viers took Moon Muun Chuun’s magical flag and stored it in his Casket. “Those of you that can fight, follow me. To the next settlement we go.”

“Very well. Sir, what about the rest of the villagers?” The assistant asked. He himself was a Level 2 Pathseeker so he followed Viers.

“I wish them good luck,” said Viers as he led his marauding murderous band away.