He lay sprawled out on the bed for a good ten minutes.
Wu Jun rolled over and picked his phone back up—the one with the Resource Tycoon app.
He knew lying in bed wouldn’t solve a thing. It wouldn’t help even if he stripped naked.
In the past two days, he had rented a warehouse and paid back the money he owed his uncle. Thinking he was about to become a millionaire, he’d been spending money like water.
Now, he didn’t even have 10,000 RMB to his name. How was he supposed to pay the 2.5 million penalty for breaching the contract with the Industrial and Commercial Bank?!
’My dad just recovered, the family was finally back together, and we were just starting to see a glimmer of hope for a better life. I can’t just hop on Shen Gongbao and skip town in the middle of the night.’
What was done was done. He had to get his head straight and face the problem.
The only one who could solve this problem was the one who created it. The solution wasn’t in his bed; it was in the game.
The losses were catastrophic, and frankly, it was his own unshirkable responsibility. The game had sent so many notifications, yet he hadn’t seen a single one.
Blaming Resource Tycoon for being a money-pit mobile game was just him trying to shift the blame.
If he hadn’t been so lazy last night, if he had just pulled the inventory from the game and moved it to the warehouse, he probably wouldn’t be in such a mess right now.
He was now learning the high price of carelessness firsthand.
Last night, he’d thought the rice would be perfectly safe in the game’s warehouse. It turned out he’d been taking things for granted.
He picked up his phone again and opened his personal profile in Resource Tycoon.
Wu Jun saw that there was one Farmer left in the game. ’I’ll summon him and find out what exactly happened last night.’
Wu Jun aimed his phone at the bedroom wall and activated the Summon Farmer command.
WHOOSH! A red light flashed.
Wu Jun stared, stunned. "Why is it red? It’s always been cyan before..."
WHOOSH!
A tall, formidable figure materialized by the wall, splattering it with blood.
"What the hell!" Wu Jun yelped, scrambling to the foot of his bed and yanking the blanket up to his chest.
"City Lord..." the summoned Farmer said weakly. "City Lord, it’s me, Xiao Hong."
Hearing the name, Wu Jun relaxed his guard slightly, though he was still shaken. "You’re Xiao Hong?" he asked, seeking confirmation.
Xiao Hong asked blankly, "Yes. Don’t you recognize me, City Lord?"
Wu Jun was speechless. "..."
’Aside from his eyeballs, every inch of him is caked in blood. In this state, I’d be surprised if your own mother could recognize you.’
Calming himself, Wu Jun asked, "What’s the story with that Resource Guardian? How did you end up like this?"
"City Lord," Xiao Hong said, his face a mask of grief and fury. "Those damn wolves... they killed all nine of my companions. The granary was destroyed, and all the grain is gone."
Wu Jun’s expression grew grave as he listened to Xiao Hong’s report.
It had been nearly a month since he’d gotten the Resource Tycoon app.
He had always thought it was a single-player farming sim. Plant crops in the game, harvest them in the real world, and make easy money.
But now, an enemy force had appeared within the game.
And from the sound of it, this enemy force wasn’t even human.
Wu Jun looked at Xiao Hong grimly. "Tell me exactly what happened last night, in detail."
"Yes, City Lord," Xiao Hong said. "Last night..."
Wu Jun grew more and more horrified as he listened to Xiao Hong’s ten-minute account.
The previous night, ten giant wolves, each the size of a Calf—what Xiao Hong called [Dire Wolves]—had appeared around Wu Jun’s main city, initiating a resource raid.
In the game, the ten Farmers, including Xiao Hong, had fought back with all their might. Their final score: nine deaths, one kill, and zero assists.
Nine Farmers died to take down a single [Dire Wolf]. Their combat prowess was truly something else.
The disparity in strength was too great; the battle ultimately ended in failure.
Wu Jun looked at Xiao Hong, who was over two meters tall and bulging with muscle. ’For a guy this big,’ he thought, ’his combat power is just pathetic.’
Xiao Hong said with lingering fear, "Thankfully, I was touched by your ’Lucky Hand,’ City Lord, and gained the [Fake Death] skill. That’s the only reason I survived."
"Please upgrade the game as soon as possible, City Lord. Once you do, the main city will become a town, which will allow us to build walls and make it easier to defend."
After finishing his report, Xiao Hong added with a grave expression, "If all residents in the main city are killed, the game will end, and your bond with it will be forcibly severed."
Wu Jun broke out in a cold sweat. A chill ran down his spine.
’Wait, so according to Xiao Hong, I was almost a goner?’
"This is my Lucky Hand?" After a long moment, Wu Jun held up his hands and asked Xiao Hong.
"Yes, City Lord," Xiao Hong said. "Any resident you touch has a 1% chance of gaining the [Fake Death] skill. It’s like having an extra life."
Wu Jun asked awkwardly, "So you were blushing because you got the [Fake Death] skill? And here I thought you were just shy."
Xiao Hong nodded in embarrassment. "Blushing is the visual sign of gaining the [Fake Death] skill. You can use it to tell if the skill has activated in the future, City Lord."
"Do you need me to take you to a hospital?" Wu Jun asked, looking at Xiao Hong, who was so covered in blood he had truly become a ’red’ man.
Xiao Hong replied, "Thank you for your concern, City Lord, but I’ll recover on my own within the game."
"Alright then, that’s all." With that, Wu Jun recalled Xiao Hong to the game. ’Good,’ he thought, ’that saves me a hospital bill.’
After sending Xiao Hong back, Wu Jun’s thoughts immediately returned to the 125-ton order he had just signed with the Industrial and Commercial Bank. It was too late for regrets now.
The priority now was to fulfill this order. Otherwise, the penalty for breaking the contract would be more than he could handle.
If word of this got out, it would be devastating to Hongyun Rice’s reputation. His competitors would probably set off a truckload of fireworks in front of his supermarket to celebrate.
’If you’re this unreliable on the very first deal, who’s going to dare work with you in the future?’
The huge order he had worked so hard to land had become a sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
He had five days to come up with 125 tons of product, meaning he needed to produce at least 25 tons of rice per day.
To reach a 25-ton daily output in the game, he’d need 25 plots of rice paddies and 25 Farmers. That would cost 5,000 Gold Coins, which was equivalent to 500,000 RMB.
Wu Jun had just paid his uncle 50,000 RMB tonight. He only had around 3,000 left, which wasn’t even enough to afford a single plot of rice paddy.
’His uncle probably isn’t even home yet. Should I call him and ask for the money back?’
Wu Jun thought about it and decided against it. His aunt had lost her job and was going through early menopause; their family was under enough pressure as it was.
He had been planning to use the 1.25 million profit from the Industrial and Commercial Bank deal to pay back all the money he owed his relatives in one go.
So much for that. He hadn’t paid back a single cent, and now he had to go out and raise more money.
During the day, Wu Jun had felt that five days was more than enough time to complete the order. Now, only a few hours later, the deadline felt impossibly tight.
He pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and opened his contacts. The first person Wu Jun called was "Drama Queen."