Ronny awoke, got the Well Rested buff, went downstairs, had his bread, and left for work. He was finally acclimating to the situation and was starting to find himself enjoying some of it. With a pep in his step, he marched over the wall and got to work. Today, he was aiming for 15 silver because it was about double what he’d earned the day before.

The work was monotonous, but he didn’t mind. Not only was it an opportunity to improve his stats and earn money, but also to protect the city in the looming war. After just a few minutes, the System spoke, “Strength increased to 6.”

He could now take a stone from the pile to its place on the wall in just one trip, no pauses necessary. He didn’t do that because it was much more straining than simply splitting the trip into halves but knowing that he could was reassuring. Either way, the increase sped things up considerably with him for the most part only needing short pauses to catch his breath.

Overworked reared its ugly head around the same time it popped up on the day before. It slowed things down, but he’d been expecting it and tried not to let slow him down too much.

Later in the day, the system informed him that he was ‘Devitalized’. He thought about calling it quits and going back home to the Inn but chose to work through it. He wanted to fast-track his progress in strength. It was difficult, but he finished two more sets bricks after the debuff set in.

At the end of the day, that brought his total compensation to 14 silver—just short of his goal. Ronny was still the worst mason out of everyone working on the wall, but his diligence had begun to win him the respect of his coworkers. From conversations with other workers, he’d learned that the average amount people made was somewhere around 40 silver per day. Some people, like The Boss, could earn as much as 5 ‘gold’, which was apparently a lot. One gold was equal to 100 silver.

Ronny still didn’t really understand how much money that was, but from what he could tell, the amount he was making wasn’t very impressive. That didn’t bother him since he didn’t have living expenses, but having more money never hurt. He decided that he would earn at 20 silver on the following day.

He went back to the Inn, helped Alice clean the kitchen—a task that they finished about half of by the time they called it a night—and went to bed.

A routine was forming. After waking up, he did his typical morning affair and left. It was a chilly day, perfect for physical labor.

The first phase of the day was marked by the lack of any debuffs. During it, he worked swiftly and efficiently. It was the most critical portion to his productivity, and Ronny carried out the work with rigid discipline.

The second phase was marked by the presence of Overworked. It was slower, but it still accounted for a lot of his progress. Today, it was when his “strength increased to 7.”

The third and final phase. It started when Devitalized showed up. He didn’t get much done during it but kept working until he reached his targeted amount of money for the day. This time, it almost until sunset hit 100 bricks—or twenty silver. The place was almost deserted by the time he left.

Next up on the to do list was the Inn. After getting chewed out for being late, Alice and him began work. A few hours later, the kitchen was ‘clean’ and they were done. There were no longer any bugs in the pantry, nor anywhere else in sight. It was a nice change, he thought.

The day ended with an exhausted Ronny collapsing onto his bed.

The next day was much the same. His “strength increased to 8” about in hour in, and with that, it was finally viable to pick up a brick and bring it all the way to its spot on the wall in one fell swoop. Today, he reached his goal of 20 silver before Devitalized kicked in, something he was thankful for.

Because he’d finished his routine a few hours earlier than usual that day, he decided to make a break in the routine. With all his money in hand, he skipped past the Inn and continued further into town. It was time to run some errands.

The bazaar was crowded, but to a much lesser extent it’d been on the day of his arrival. Probably because of martial law. Either way, there were still a lot of shops open. He started with a clothing vendor, from whom he bought three outfits. Two sets of workwear and some nicer clothes for wearing in town. With some haggling, he got the price down considerably, but the purchase still set him back 28 silver. That was more than of his savings and a lot more than he’d intended to spend there.

That was fine though, he could always get some more. Next up was a stall specializing in toiletries. He bought a razor, some soap, and some toothpaste. Just the bare essentials. The purchase cost him 5 silver.

Last on the list was fresh bread. He bought enough to last a week and lost another five silver in the process.

Since he still had some money left over after getting everything he needed, there was another stop to make. It’d been four days since he’d arrived in Barnock, and in that time, he’d pretty much exclusively done hard labor. Without access to a change of clothes or a shower, he’d already begun to look disheveled. He didn’t smell any better.

Ronny stopped at a bathhouse Alice had mentioned the day before. The public nature of the place was a bit of a culture shock, but it didn’t bother him past the initial sight when he’d entered. He washed himself and shaved. Looking at the mirror, he was impressed by the rapid changes that his physique was undergoing. He almost—but not quite—looked like an athlete. A far cry from the chubby guy he’d been just a few days before. Ronny wondered if System was to thank for it, or if it was just the result of his malnourished diet.

Either way, he was satisfied. After getting dressed in one of his new outfits, Ronny left for the Inn. For the first time in a while, he felt like he had a grip on things—even if his pockets were completely dried up now.