Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

October 31, Thursday, Earth time.

It was a seemingly ordinary workday, yet many players of "OtherWorld" were stoked because today was the settlement day of the mayoral election.

Out of the popular streamer Vanilla Pudding, wealthy RMB warrior Brother Lahong, and Ji Tang, who was revered by casual gamers, two of them would become the mayors of Exile Town and Weisshem after today.

As it approached noon on Earth and the in-game time crept toward midnight, the players online halted their activities to focus on their player panels.

When the Earth clock struck noon, a bright yellow announcement appeared on the player panels:

[System Announcement]: Congratulations to Brother Lahong and Ji Tang for winning this month's Mayoral Election!

"The hell—!" Exclamations rang out simultaneously in Desolate Outpost, Exile Town, and Weisshem.

While "civilian NPCs" of Desolate Outpost and Exile Town had grown accustomed to these sudden undead outbursts at any time in the day or night, the "civilian NPCs" of Weisshem had only recently become part of the Taranthan rule, and many of them peeked out of the windows fearfully.

"What the heck? How can it be Ji Tang?" Qin Guan, who was grinding a daily labor quest in Weisshem, was livid. "I was nearly on par with Brother Lahong! Even if I didn't win, I should come in second! It's rigged! Definitely rigged!"

Warrior Instructor Rex, Knight Instructor Jerome, and the three Wanderer Instructors had all come to Weisshem. Naturally, players of these job classes intending to grind their instructor's reputation had to follow along with this relocation.

Actually, players could accept quests in Weisshem and then teleport back to Exile Town to labor work for their guilds, just that most were too lazy to wait for the half-hour cooldown.

Moreover, the reputation quests in Weisshem were similar to their usual manual labor work: renovating the interior of various clubs, pubs, and inns in the former red-light district, removing unnecessary partitions, and turning them into functional buildings.

For example, the current daily quest issued by Warrior Instructor Rex was to transform a strip club into a supermarket. All the performance areas, audience seating, and private rooms had to be demolished. Salvageable wood and bricks were kept for constructing shelves, while material that couldn't be reused would be loaded onto hand carts and transported to a garbage dump out of town for incineration or disposal.

Each job instructor took a section of the main street's buildings, and in just a short time, the former red-light district had turned into a bustling construction site for players—the truth might be absent, but manual labor quests were ever-present.

A seething Qin Guan stomped on the spot several times before furiously pointing a finger at Ji Tang, who was also working at the Warrior Instructor's construction site. "Tell me! Did you use some sort of backdoor connection? Don't deny it; I know you're definitely some sort of nepo. Your account isn't from the same batch as us players!"

Ji Tang was crouching in the dimly lit supermarket being refurbished, a hammer in hand, striking a partition door. Right now, he had no real answer to this accusation…

Ji Tang didn't try to defend himself, though Tang Jia, who was also grinding reputation beside him, couldn't help but step in. "Calm down, Boss Vanilla. We understand that you're upset, but there's no need to say all this. Ji Tang didn't use any backdoor connections. We watched him earn his prestige bit by bit."

"So, how did Ji Tang's reputation surpass Boss Vanilla's?" a passing player pushing a cart filled with trash asked out of curiosity. "As soon as the Mayoral Election event started, Boss Vanilia and Brother Lahong started collecting materials and exchanging them for prestige. I didn't see Ji Tang doing the same."

There hadn't been many grinding warrior reputation initially, but after the weekend dungeon event where some players witnessed the potential of the warrior class' 12-second machismo (the duration it took for a full-skill rotation), there was an influx, and right now, quite a number of players that hadn't yet advanced jobs were camped at this site as well.

Others were already grinding reputation for their second advancement, while these gamers were still grinding for the first…

It could be said that they were idlers, but there were benefits to being an idler; these players didn't need to suck up to any particular faction and could say and do as they pleased.

When this player voiced out his query, it quickly sparked the interest of other nosy fellows who looked over enthusiastically.

"Heh! There's a reason behind it!" Tang Jia instantly became spirited and jumped up. "Ji Tang, I can say it already, right? Now that everything has been settled, there's no need to hide it anymore."

Ji Tang: "…"

Now he finally understood why Unceasing Entropy had repeatedly cautioned Tang Jia yesterday to keep her mouth shut and her hands off (not post anything). This girl really couldn't keep a secret.

Yang Ying had logged out to prepare lunch, and Unceasing Entropy refused to skip any more classes. Right now, there was nobody online that could keep Tang Jia in check.

Taking Ji Tang's pained expression as tacit approval, she pointed her thumb upward and declared, "Indeed, Ji Tang's prestige was originally lower than Boss Vanilla and Brother Lahong. However, yesterday, we completed three super-rewarding hidden quests in succession! And maxed out territory prestige!"

While she was talking about Ji Tang, her thumbs up was actually meant for… herself!

But that wasn't important and wasn't what the players present were concerned about. Upon hearing the mention of three hidden quests, even the fuming Qin Guan was taken aback. "What the heck?! For real?!"

"Ahahahaha! Of course it's true!" Tang Jia couldn't be more thrilled as she kept jabbing her thumb higher. "Haven't you noticed the new Environmental Bureau in town and the garbage dump outside? Do you know who came up with the red-light district redevelopment plan and the construction quests we're doing now? It was all Ji Tang!

"Rex took a knee on the spot and Old Yang spammed 666! While others sought out quests on the streets, our Ji Tang knew to find Rex and create his own quests! Didn't expect that, eh?

"Last night, when Old Yang showed up, he awarded Ji Tang three Construction Medals, each exchangeable for 3,000 territory prestige! Ahahaha!"

The entire player crowd: "…

Many of the nearby players expressed their astonishment. "Can the game be played this way?!"

"Holy, is the degree of freedom that high? NPCs can even arrange quests according to the player's suggestions?!"

"This move…. I'm convinced!"

"F*ck! Do I really know how to play 'OtherWorld'??"

Before these players were even done sharing their thoughts, a cascade of yellow text appeared on their player panels:

———

[System Announcement]: Through a random draw, Brother Lahong has obtained the position of Exile Town Mayor, and Ji Tang has obtained the position of Weisshem Mayor.

[System Announcement]: The two players may log out promptly to access the Mayor Management Panel add-on.

[System Announcement]: The Mayor Management Panel includes the following content:

Mayors can plan and allocate empty land, both within and outside the town, to players or NPCs for the construction of blood alliance strongholds, housing, worksites, shops, estates, farms, factories, and more.

Applicants, whether NPCs or players, must meet the necessary qualifications (friendly or higher territory prestige, honored or higher Undead Merchant Association reputation), pay a land usage fee, and monthly rent.

Mayors have the right to reclaim land if there is no development activity on the rented land for more than two weeks.

Mayors can appoint NPCs or players as sheriffs and civil officials.

Sheriffs can recruit up to 100 security officers, while civil officials can recruit up to 20 administrative officers and clerks.

Salaries are determined by the Mayor regardless of whether NPCs or players hold these positions.

Taxes generated from commercial activities within the town and fees for land use are included in the local finances, which the Mayor will manage. The Mayor must ensure the orderly operation of local finances during their tenure. If a fiscal deficit occurs, the Mayor may be removed from office prematurely.

… and more.

———

As soon as this system announcement was made, all players online, regardless of their previous levels of interest or disinterest in the Mayoral Election, were stoked.

When it had been revealed earlier on that the mayor could appoint officials and grant them the authority to assign daily quests, players hadn't really been fazed. After all, there was no shortage of mini bosses and wild monsters running rampant outside Desolate Outpost. If players wanted to farm monsters, all they had to do was form a party and go hunting.

However, now that all of the mayor's rights were laid bare, casual players discovered that the monopoly on newly added daily quests was far from insignificant…

In an instant, the three locations were abuzz with the players' discussions.

Not content with just venting their dissatisfaction with fellow players, quite a number logged out and ran to join the fervent discussions with the non-player crowd on the forum.

The number of replies to the system announcement post on the forum was staggering…

"Whoa, are the damn developers up to their old tricks again? The mayor's authority is enormous, and the approval of bloodline alliance strongholds has to go through the mayor. What if an opposing bloodline alliance wishes to establish a stronghold?"

"Selling land for development… Why does this sound so familiar? Can an average player handle the responsibility of being the mayor? Are we here to play the game or run a virtual government?"

"Is the game plan to let players manage cities?"

"Are you kidding me? Players have to take responsibility for a fiscal deficit!"

"Don't be naive. It's impossible to run a deficit just by selling land. It's easier to pocket additional money for yourself than to be in a deficit."

"I have a question. Can the mayor embezzle? And will they get axed if they do so?"

"And turn into the boss of an instance dungeon? Wouldn't that be exciting?"

"Now that's a fantastic idea!"

"If it's Ji Tang who turns into a boss, it would no longer be a challenge but a slaughter."

"Yeah, Ji Tang's awesome. He would literally be invincible with a boss interface."

"Don't go off-topic. Don't you all think the mayor's authority is excessive? It's fine if an NPC is the mayor. But when a player becomes the mayor, what's left for everyone else?"

"Isn't the post above similar to a mad dog barking? Go and grind territory prestige if you don't agree. Beat those two next month on the settlement day."

"Stop stirring up conflicts. Can't we have a civil discussion? I know Brother Lahong spent a lot of money to buy materials for prestige. How did Ji Tang climb so high up? Was there something shady going on?"

"Are you sure you aren't the one trying to stir up something?"

"Who's stirring? Everyone knows that Boss Vanilla also spent a lot of money to garner prestige. Any of you guys active in this discussion sold them materials? Has anyone sold to Ji Tang?"

"Shady dealings! Ji Ting is surely a nepo!"

"Any little birdies know anything? Don't be secretive."

"I'm a little birdy. Let me tell you all the truth…"

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