Chapter 355: She is human, you are not

Koya City.

Recruitment site.

Lan Guang wore tattered clothes, dragging his aching body as he walked along the crude street.

On the street, people like him, dressed in rags and looking sallow and emaciated, were everywhere.

These people were all laborers at the bottom of the city.

Every day they moved cargo, unloaded goods, and worked for the masters to earn some hard-earned money.

Lan Guang had taken a fall while moving cargo the day before yesterday and the master had given him a few coppers, but he hadn't found work yesterday.

The rice at home was already running low; he could not rest and had to go out to continue working.

However, he had checked several recruitment sites, and those labor bosses were unwilling to take him.

After all, he had been injured some days ago and could not do heavy labor.

But now, he could not afford to care about that; if he didn't work harder, what would happen to his younger brother and sister?

Lan Guang felt that he was still lucky to have a small house with his younger brother and sister.

Those vagrants were the truly unfortunate ones; once winter arrived, they might just die on some park bench.

At this moment, a person wearing a blue hat appeared and stood on a high platform.

Suddenly, a group of people just like Lan Guang crowded over.

"Master, I am young and strong, pick me for work!"

"Pick me!"

This group of people acted as if they were crazy, crowding into a heap.

Lan Guang also squeezed into the crowd; he was bumped in his injured waist by someone behind him, which made his face turn pale from the pain, yet he ignored the pain and shouted loudly.

"Master, I have great strength; I can do the work of two people by myself."

Lan Guang did not want to miss this opportunity to work.

Unfortunately, ten minutes later, he was eliminated.

Even if he could grit his teeth and continue working, his injury would not delay him.

But those labor bosses had better choices, so why would they choose him?

Lan Guang felt a bit bitter.

It was already noon, and he still hadn't found work; he would likely have worked for nothing today.

Just then, however, the crowd suddenly surged.

Lan Guang's heart tightened, and he hurriedly followed.

Such a situation meant that a new labor boss had come to recruit people.

He followed them over.

He stood on tiptoe to look, only to see that this labor boss was different from the usual ones; it was a group of men wearing leather armor.

However, they were different from other labor bosses; they didn't shout on a platform but instead posted a notice.

Lan Guang tried hard to look at the notice, wanting to see the text on it clearly.

The more Lan Guang looked, the more surprised he became, and a wave of exclamations also spread through the crowd.

"Brother, what is written on that notice? I am illiterate," asked a middle-aged man wearing a short tunic.

"The notice says that Prince Lin needs a group of farmers to go outside the city to reclaim wasteland."

"Farmers... doesn't sound like a good job," the middle-aged man said dismissively.

The farmers growing food outside the city didn't even live as well as they did.

Going to farm for a prince wouldn't earn much money either, which was why he had no interest.

"No..." there was an excited look in Lan Guang's eyes, "it says there is a reward of 1 silver coin per month."

"What, 1 silver coin? Are you sure you didn't misread it? Not 1 copper coin?" the middle-aged man shouted.

In truth, Lan Guang also found it hard to believe and even doubted if his own eyes had deceived him.

He used to do manual labor every day, and if he was lucky, he could earn 2 coppers a day.

Even if he were lucky every day, that was only 60 coppers a month, equivalent to 6 silver coins.

Furthermore, he couldn't find work every single day.

Being a farmer and earning 3 coppers a day?

That was simply too good to be true.

"Is it for real? One silver coin a month," the middle-aged man muttered, his eyes shining.

"I reckon it's fake; if we get one silver coin a month, with just that farming income, that prince wouldn't make any big money."

"I also think it's fake; they're probably just trying to trick people into going..."

"Don't ever take this kind of job, or you won't even know how you died," a half-orc whispered; his chest was covered in thick hair, as he was a human-beast hybrid.

The laborers didn't say the rest of it out loud; they knew it in their hearts.

They had worked as laborers here for many years and had figured out a few tricks of the trade.

Usually, jobs with such high rewards had strings attached.

Perhaps it was some mage who needed to conduct experiments and required a few human test subjects.

The middle-aged man heard the words of the person beside him and felt a bit wary; he looked at Lan Guang: "What else is written on it?"

"It says it includes room and board, work 6 days and rest 1, and there is a three-day long holiday every month," Lan Guang was quite tempted.

"What, room and board?" the half-orc's eyes lit up when he heard this, "I'm going!"

He had great strength and a huge appetite; often, the money he earned from working wasn't even enough to cover his food.

How could he miss a job that included room and board?

"Will pies really fall from the sky?" the middle-aged man was very hesitant.

He was the only strong laborer in his family, and he dared not take risks with such matters.

If he were to die, his family would truly be finished.

Languang also saw the middle-aged man's intention to retreat and said nothing.

He was actually very tempted by that job.

One silver coin a month, with food and lodging provided, meant he could save 1 Gold coin a year.

Once his younger brother and sister grew up, he could send them to those formal schools, and after graduation, they could engage in decent work.

Unlike him, even though he could read, he could only do manual labor.

"Brother, what is your name? My name is Lilong. Do you also want to go to Tieshi Mountain? How many people are they recruiting?" the half-beast Lilong was very enthusiastic.

Languang glanced at Lilong's cat ears and his strong physique, then said softly: "They are recruiting 1,000 people.

Furthermore, one can receive a month's salary in advance.

However, if one takes the advance and does not go, or flees halfway, they will receive very heavy punishment."

That is a prince, after all; since they agreed to do the work, they must go.

Otherwise, with the power of a prince, wouldn't crushing them be as simple as crushing an ant?

"1,000 people, so many! It looks like I might be selected!" Lilong was very happy.

"Let's go, let's go sign up."

The sky gradually grew dark, but there were still many people signing up at the registration point.

After all, there were too many impoverished people.

Even when they heard that women were also being recruited for work—though the quota was small, only 100 people, but with the same pay—some men even called their wives and family members over.

City Lord Mansion.

Shivana looked at the people below, her expression serious: "How is the recruitment going?"

"Reporting to the City Lord, a total of 1,300 people have signed up. We have selected 1,000 people according to the standards you proposed, prioritizing those with good character who appear honest and reliable."

In this world, mages exist, and scrolls exist; it is very easy to discern the character of a mortal.

Of course, it is not so easy for professionals.

Most professionals are skilled at Camouflage.

"Among them, a total of 817 people have taken the one-month salary advance." Mentioning this, the young administrative official was somewhat confused.

This was the first time he had seen such a thing as salary advancement.

Was there no fear that these people would run away?

He knew very well that those at the bottom of society could fight to the death over a single copper coin.

"Hmm, if anyone deserts, you must not let them off." Mentioning this, Shivana's face was serious.

The benefits of this recruitment and the measure of salary advancement also surprised Shivana quite a bit.

In her heart, she thought it was the prince being kind, wanting to help out the impoverished Commoners.

She was quite moved and also felt quite in awe of His Highness the prince's character.

Of course, in the past, she would have felt that while the prince's kindness was good, being too kind was not necessarily a good thing.

Within the Royal Family, kindness might just be a mistake.

But having witnessed the prince's strength, which had even reached the Legendary level, that thought of Shivana's vanished.

After mastering powerful strength, kindness is no longer a mistake, but a virtue.

The prince asked her to help with the recruitment, so she naturally had to handle it well.

As for those who took the salary advance and wanted to not show up later, they would have to answer to her.

Watching the young administrative official leave, Shivana continued to flip through the documents.

At this moment, a young woman nearby spoke up: "Sister Shivana, why does His Highness the prince give such high benefits to those laborers for land reclamation?"

The young woman was the daughter of a Viscount and was currently working under Shivana.

"Taking these people to reclaim land, there might be no harvest in the first year.

Moreover, even if there is a harvest in the coming year, continuously subsidizing their pay in the early stages is a huge expense," the young woman calculated.

In her view, this cost was high and the income low, making it very uneconomical.

"His Highness has his own ideas; we should not speculate recklessly," Shivana said indifferently.

The young woman did not hear the dissatisfaction in Shivana's words and continued to ask: "Sister Shivana, when will His Highness the prince return to the city?"

The young woman was a beauty, and her wish was to become the prince's wife.

"I don't know," Shivana replied coldly as before.

She naturally knew the young woman's intentions.

However, she did not think highly of it.

This person was good-looking, but she was inevitably a bit... stupid.

On Tieshi Mountain.

Jin Jun had a smile on his face: "I'm back again."

The two-day cooldown period had ended, and he was impatient to log back in.

However, his smile froze the next second.

"What bad luck, running into you again."

He looked ahead, where a burly figure stood.

The burly figure was naturally Heiniu.

Heiniu looked at Jin Jun, his eyes filled with killing intent: "I said it before, every time I see you, I will kill you once."

Jin Jun was so ashamed he became angry: "Aren't you just an NPC? Is it really necessary, Heiniu? You've already killed me once, do you really want to kill me a second time?"

Heiniu ignored him and walked toward Jin Jun step by step.

Jin Jun was furious: "Heiniu, you're just putting on airs because you entered the game early. If I had entered the game before you, I would definitely be much stronger than you.

Hmph, trash game, I'm not playing anymore."

He was exasperated.

This game, he would not play it for the time being.

"I'm not playing anymore from now on, let's see how you kill me." A cold, sinister smile suddenly squeezed onto Jin Jun's face, and he lowered his voice to say, "Wang Jie, you can only kill me in the game."

He had shockingly called out Heiniu's real name.

The actual intent of the threat was plain to see.

"It's a pity, in the real world when you face me, you can only be helpless.

Wait a while, I'll be waiting for you in reality to kneel before me personally and beg for my forgiveness."

As Jin Jun said this, he laughed "hahaha" and logged off.

Heiniu looked at the empty space, saying nothing.

"Damn it, this lowlife is even threatening my buddy. Heiniu, if you run into any trouble, come find me!" Ye Di said loudly from the side.

"Alright." Heiniu nodded, feeling somewhat moved inside.

Beside them, Shengtian also said slowly: "Heiniu, don't worry, it's no problem."

Canghai World, Jin Jun exited the game.

His face wore an expression of anger: "Damn it, Wang Jie, you killed me in the game; in reality, don't think you'll have it easy either."

Thinking this, Jin Jun made another phone call.

"Zhao Ge, do you have time tonight?

Let's go to Star City Joy Club to get together, I'll call a few pretty girls, they're all little internet celebrities..."

The night was deep.

Star City Joy Club.

Inside the private room, the lighting was messy, polluting one's eyes, yet it was suffused with an ambiguous atmosphere.

Three young women wearing crop tops and miniskirts twisted their slender bodies under the lights, their Baishahua skin mostly exposed to the air.

Jin Jun held a young woman in his arms, but his attention at this moment was focused on the burly man beside him.

"Zhao Ge, I have a matter I need your help with." Jin Jun said with a fawning smile.

The burly man's hand skillfully reached into the woman's clothes, his eyes carrying a trace of arrogance: "What matter?"

"It's like this, I was playing a game a while ago, and someone in the game offended me and even said they would come find me in reality." Jin Jun added oil and vinegar to the story as he told it.

A trace of disdain appeared in Zhao Ge's eyes: "What kind of person?"

If it weren't for the sake of Jin Jun's father, he wouldn't be willing to pay attention to such trash.

"He is an Ordinary person. I've investigated, he comes from the countryside and is currently working as a white-collar worker in the city. His name is Wang Jie, this is his information." Jin Jun had long been prepared and handed a stack of information to Zhao Ge.

Zhao Ge didn't even look: "How do you want me to help?"

Clearly, he didn't care about such a small matter at all.

Hearing this, Jin Jun's face lit up with joy; Zhao Ge had agreed.

"I want to chop off his right hand, and then, have him dragged to my house!" Jin Jun said excitedly.

In the game, Heiniu had used his right hand to kill him.

Therefore, he wanted to chop off his right hand.

"Hehe, his parents are still back in the rural hometown. When the time comes, we'll mail that hand back for his parents to see, so he understands the consequences of offending me." Jin Jun's face was full of smugness.

Zhao Ge ignored him and instead pointed at the woman on Jin Jun: "Tonight, she will also accompany me."

"Ah?" Jin Jun was stunned for a moment, but immediately said with a fawning smile, "Alright."

Just at this moment, suddenly, the door to the private room swung wide open.

Several figures dressed in black entered the room.

The few of them were aggressive, and they seemed to be carrying tools.

Zhao Ge immediately stood up, looking at the newcomers with vigilance: "Brothers, which path are you from?"

And at this moment, Jin Jun's face suddenly changed drastically: "Wang Jie... how is it you?"

Heiniu stood among the crowd, looking at Jin Jun with a cold expression on his face.

Shengtian looked at Zhao Ge and pointed at Jin Jun: "We came for him, it has nothing to do with you."

As he said this, he pulled an exquisite, small Spear from his hand.

Seeing this Spear, Zhao Ge's face changed drastically.

This style of Spear came from the Special Zone.

He did not speak again.

And Jin Jun realized something at this moment.

"What are you trying to do?

This is a society ruled by law!"

Shengtian glanced at Heiniu and said indifferently: "It's up to you, three minutes."

They could not stay here too long; it would be bad if they caused a commotion.

Heiniu strode with his burly body, walking toward Jin Jun step by step.

"Heiniu... don't... let me go."

"She is just an NPC!"

"She is not a real person!"

Now the Gold soldier felt endless fear, as if he had encountered Heiniu in a game.

"She is a person."

"You are not."

Heiniu grabbed the Gold soldier's head and slammed it fiercely against the wall.

Bang!

The Gold soldier's head deformed.

Brain matter splattered, flying everywhere.

The coffee table and the walls were covered in liquid.

A large glob stained the chest of the girl in the low-cut outfit, Baishahua, and she let out a terrified scream.

The Gold soldier died just like that.

Inside the room, screams and cries were mixed together.

Zhao Ge also felt a chill in his heart.

Is this the Ordinary person Wang Jie that the Gold soldier spoke of?

Such ruthless methods; even he could not do it.

Thanks to 【Hui Mou Jian You Xiang】 and 【MrLll】 for the tips!

(End of this chapter)