Might of Players

---Logan's POV---

I watched as ProGamer_Daddy wore a bitter expression. The wind rustled through the leaves above us.

"Forget it. Let's stop dreaming about running back to show this off to Garble." His shoulders slumped slightly. "SAN value only come with instructions on how to decrease them, not how to recover them! We need to conserve what we've got!"

I nodded in grief, understanding his frustration all too well. "True. This kind of ability should be reserved for practical purposes, not for hollow displays of vanity."

"Alright! In that case, let's focus on completing our tasks first! Once we gain real power, we can figure out a more practical way to use this ability!"

"You're absolutely right!" I sighed, looking back at the church one last time. "We've been distracted by the empty scenery outside the church."

"We should've decisively chosen to head to the village entrance—no, the town entrance—and chop trees! This is a complete failure on our part!"

"Let's go!"

---Viktor's POV---

I watched as the two finally disappeared from my sight.

Tossing aside another piece of shattered wall brick with a satisfying crack, I scoffed, "Good thing they still remembered what they were supposed to do."

"What exactly do they mean by SAN value?" Edgar asked.

"The chains that prevent the dragon slayer from becoming the dragon," I replied, dusting off my bony hands. "When I returned, I thought about it and decided you were right."

"Even though I trust my nerds, I would never underestimate the church."

"If it ever gets to the point where they're brainwashed by the church and beyond saving, I will send them away."

This was my final safeguard for the players from Earth. From the beginning, I had never planned to drag the players completely into the mire of Aeltia.

There was no need for their SAN value to drop to zero.

As long as their thoughts began showing signs of being influenced by Aeltia to the extent it could affect their real lives, I would forcibly drop their SAN value to zero and send them back to Earth.

A projection of consciousness didn't mean they were immune to all harm; the protection of SAN value was also necessary.

Of course, this was my initial idea.

Now, I felt that occasionally using SAN value to restrict the players' behavior worked out pretty well.

Edgar's expression softened in surprise. "You genuinely care about them. I've never seen you show such consideration for anyone else."

I shrugged.

"Maybe because I see a reflection of my former self in them."

When I first arrived in Aeltia, I was only slightly more cautious than these players. After all, I knew this world wasn't a game and didn't have a resurrection mechanism.

But only slightly more cautious—I'd still stumbled into pitfalls that even six-year-old locals in this world wouldn't have fallen into.

I had tripped and fallen for years. And I still had the metaphorical scars to prove it.

Edgar raised an eyebrow. "And yet you have your 'former self' doing manual labor?"

"Would you do it?" I shot back, gesturing at the piles of debris around us. "Or do you want me—a fragile skeleton who would fall apart after taking a few extra steps—to clean up this huge town?"

Edgar fell silent, his armor creaking as he shifted his weight. As a dignified holy knight, he certainly wouldn't volunteer for manual labor.

Besides, he was still recovering from the injuries he sustained after his betrayal of the church and the loss of his peak power.

My gaze swept over his face, the ghostly blue soul flame flickering in my eyes.

Just as I thought.

Anyone who didn't use free labor when they could was a fool.

"Besides, guess what I'd used to make their bodies?"

Edgar first pondered and then had a flash of realization, his eyes widening.

"A divine avatar?"

As a former high-ranking member of the Radiant Church, he knew as much about divine characteristics as I did. One of them was the skill to create avatars of gods for divine incarnations to freely roam the land of Aeltia.

Divine avatars naturally possessed enviable talents and carried a hint of their god's essence.

For ordinary people, it might seem like they were just doing manual labor—carrying crates or chopping wood.

But for divine avatars, it was a way to deepen their understanding of the laws of the world.

In other words, the more laborious tasks the players did, the stronger they would become.

However...

This was the first time Edgar had ever seen a divine avatar being taken over and used by others.

"How did you do it?" he was stunned, utterly incredulous. His jaw might have dropped if he wasn't trying so hard to maintain his dignity.

I smiled smugly, enjoying his reaction perhaps a bit too much.

"I told you, my necromantic revival magic isn't just some self-destruct spell. Believe me now?"

A bit of side product from a forbidden magic circle.

A divine essence that gained self-awareness.

And a light orb connected to the Earth's network.

This successfully led to the creation of the current perfected player summoning method and their extraordinary, magically gifted bodies.

"Otherwise, how could I promise that upon reaching Level 2, each of them would learn a magic spell?"

Was it due to the players' innate talents?

No, it was the gift of divine essence!

Divine power directly enhanced the avatars' strength, which was far faster than improving ordinary humans.

If I hadn't only had 89 points of divine power, just enough to provide each player with a single enhancement, I absolutely would have raised the Level 2 reward to include two spells.

Creating the three players' bodies cost me 30 points of divine power, while crafting six game panels used 6 more points.

To further enhance them with a Level 1 spell would require 10 divine power points.

I barely had enough left.

If I spent any more, Luminaris would likely revolt.

In fact, the only reason he had obediently stayed at the church was probably tied to my extravagant use of divine power.

To survive, it had no choice but to work diligently to earn more divine power.

I donned my cloak, shrouding myself in shadow.

In an instant, my upright skeleton transformed into a gloomy, introverted mage.

"Let's go. We haven't finished clearing all the monsters in Honeyvale Town. On the first day, we still need to keep an eye on them."

"I'll bet their current combat prowess can't even handle a single red-skinned earthworm."

---Logan's POV---

Rip!

Swoosh!

I heard the sound of a saw grinding against wood echo through the forest. The blade bit deep into the bark with each stroke, sending woodchips flying.

A tall cypress tree creaked and then toppled with a loud crack.

ProGamer_Daddy quickly jumped aside, whistling appreciatively.

"Not bad, Garble! This is the eighth tree, right? You're already 40% done with leveling up!"

"Did you used to work as a lumberjack or something?"

We had entered the forest at the same time, and Garble had only gotten a slight head start in picking a tree to chop.

Yet as time went on, our gap in progress had widened dramatically.

Garble wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah, I used to help out at a logging camp when I was a kid. And by the way, the progress isn't 40%—it's 45%."

"Forty-five?!" ProGamer_Daddy was stunned, nearly dropping his own saw.

"That's impossible! I remember the experience points for the lumberjack quest are only 5 each! Is there a hidden quest?"

I lowered my head in thought.

We had thoroughly checked the task list earlier and found no quests offering more than 5 experience points.

But after chopping trees for two hours and feeling increasingly energized, I had a bold theory.

"Garble... could it be that...?"

He nodded ahead of me, a knowing smile on his face. "Yeah, chopping trees grants experience."

"What?!" ProGamer_Daddy exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He immediately opened his game panel and confirmed his experience points. "I've got 3 experience points... but that's impossible! I chopped six trees and haven't even turned in the quest yet! Where did these points come from?!"

I also showed my experience: 8/100.

It seemed this was a hidden reward, beyond the final quest payout.

I kept my expression neutral despite my amazement.

"No wonder we've been doing two hours of physical labor here and don't feel tired at all. I even feel like I'm breathing easier!"

If this had been my usual otaku body in real life... Forget two hours. I probably wouldn't even manage to chop down one tree before collapsing on the ground like a dead dog.

ProGamer_Daddy patted his body in amazement, flexing his arms experimentally. "You're right. I can actually feel the muscles in my arms now!"

"Who develops muscles after just two hours of work?" I couldn't help but crease my forehead in exasperation. This guy and his wild imagination...

ProGamer_Daddy chuckled, swinging his leaf-blade. "Maybe not now, but chop a few more days and I'll have them!"

"By the way, how come the hidden experience points we gain differ so much between the three of us?" He pointed at the three piles of wood we had stacked on the ground.

"Garble earned two more logs than us, fine. But we all chopped down six trees, yet somehow one person got 8 points of experience, another 3 points, and I'm stuck wondering if my chopping technique is off!"

I watched as he swung the wide-edged leaf he'd been using as a tool for two hours, clearly unable to figure out what was wrong. The leaf was incredibly durable. Even though his hands were red from chopping, the leaf remained perfectly intact, just like when he had received it from Edgar.

He turned to me with curiosity, wiping his reddened palms on his pants. "NeverShowOff, show us the ropes!"

Even Garble turned his attention toward me, pausing his work. Among the three of us, I had somehow gained the most bonus experience, even more than Garble who had chopped the most trees.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, studying the bark patterns on the nearest tree. "Hm... It might be because of how focused we are. You know I'm a gaming content creator."

"So while chopping, I've been deliberately observing the patterns on the tree bark, trying to deduce how the game's code simulates the process of chopping a tree.

"How do they model the physics of a tree being felled? And how do they calculate the mechanics of its collapse? Stuff like that..."

"Although this game is so well-made that I couldn't figure out much, my mind would occasionally feel a moment of clarity. Thinking back, I'd say I had about eight of those moments."

Garble nodded in agreement, his eyes scanning the trees. "That's right. I've also been searching for exploits in the game. It's during those moments of clarity that I noticed the unusual growth in experience points."

ProGamer_Daddy looked dumbfounded, his leaf-blade drooping in his hands. "So I'm the only one just chopping trees without thinking?"

I could tell that for him, chopping trees literally meant chopping trees. The tool was so sharp and satisfying to use that he felt a strong sense of accomplishment as the tree stumps grew larger with each strike. The more he chopped, the more enjoyable it became, and he couldn't stop.

"It's fine, now you know," I reassured him, patting his shoulder. "Let's get back to work and try to grind to Level 2 today!"

"Got it!" His enthusiasm returned instantly, the leaf-blade already swinging through the air.

We all enthusiastically returned to work.

An hour later, the sun had risen directly overhead, as indicated on the game's interface. The experience points helped suppress our sense of exhaustion, and we worked with unrestrained enthusiasm.

However, fatigue gradually set in, and we had to stop for a break, taking shelter from the scorching midday sun.

Garble found a blue-purple vine in a nearby patch of grass, testing its strength with expert hands. Its incredible toughness made it perfect for transporting logs.

We spent another hour rolling and dragging the wood to the open space next to the church.

Edgar tallied up our results and, using his NPC privileges, distributed experience points to each of us in turn. Garble had chopped 12 trees, I managed 9, and ProGamer_Daddy 8.

Ironically, ProGamer_Daddy had deliberately slowed his pace, hoping to gain more bonus experience from chopping, but it had only reduced his efficiency.

We received some wild fruits as a beginner's first-day reward from Edgar and headed to a massive tree with a 10-meter-wide trunk at the edge of town to rest.

Crunch!

I bit into a fruit, and the sweet and sour juice burst in my mouth. The taste was like a mix of cherries and pineapples—quite delicious. It was also surprisingly filling.

Quickly finishing the fruit, I leaned back against the tree, hands behind my head, and closed my eyes with a contented sigh. "Ahhh—this feels amazing!"

A cool breeze, filtered through layers of leaves, blew gently around us. The sensation of resting after hard work and eating one's fill was incredibly satisfying.

Even though I knew logging off for a few hours would erase my fatigue, I couldn't bring myself to leave.

For some reason, Chronicles of Aeltia seemed to have a strange allure. Even doing menial labor felt enjoyable.

Maybe that was the charm of virtual reality games—it felt like a day trip to another world, and I didn't want to leave.

I tilted my head slightly. "Guys, how are you feeling? Want to keep playing?"

"Of course!" ProGamer_Daddy said excitedly, his legs crossed beneath him as he leaned forward. "This game is so good, and it's still in beta. We have to play until we're forced to log off!"

"I'm planning to stay online until my character needs to sleep," Garble agreed, arranging his tools beside him.

"So we're all playing the whole day? What a coincidence, me too!" I said with surprise. That meant I wouldn't be alone in the evening.

Birdsong echoed from the depths of the forest as ProGamer_Daddy scratched his ear, his expression thoughtful. "This game's fun and all, but it's lacking in magical elements."

"Ever since we left the church, we haven't seen a single magical creature."

"No running grass or talking animals?"

I knew he was right—the only magical creatures we'd encountered were our faction leader, Viktor, and the game mascot, Goddess Luminaris. The knight NPC probably knew magic too. But beyond that, nothing else.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What, do you want a tree that runs away so we can all chase it down and chop it?"

"Not really." ProGamer_Daddy gazed up at the canopy. "It just feels like something's missing."

"It's not bad," I replied, recalling my years of beta testing experience. "The game company probably hasn't developed the magical ecosystem yet. Give it a few more updates."

I knew these beta-test situations too well. Beta games were notoriously barebones. Even most NPCs didn't have voice acting yet.

In Chronicles of Aeltia, while the NPCs were few, every one of them felt alive and perfectly in place, thanks to stellar voice acting. This level of detail showed how much effort the developers had put in. Adding a few magical assets would be easy.

"Besides, isn't the game's civilization aspect pretty underdeveloped too?"

"If you ignore the church, you could convince people this game is set in a primitive tribal era."

The town had almost no traces of civilization—none of the usual medieval extravagance or ostentatious indulgence. Not that I'm complaining. The simplicity was part of its charm.

"Yeah, that makes sense," ProGamer_Daddy seemed to consider this, absently tracing patterns in the dirt.

"Why are you suddenly thinking about game design?" Garble asked, looking a little surprised.

ProGamer_Daddy sighed. "Well, I was wondering if there's a magical plant better suited for making axes than these wide-edged leaves." He held up the tool. "Something that could make the work easier, you know?"