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Many Worlds Chapter 38
After a week, the group had gone out on several trips to fight monsters. They would go out, fight, then come back to rest from minor wounds for a day or two. Jules certainly noticed an accelerated rate of healing, but it still took time. He hadn’t seen anything that could actually recover wounds in just an instant, though the Uesmethi had some advanced healing technology. There was even a machine that could seal wounds and “print” new skin, though it hadn’t been configured to work on humans at first. However, the wounds were still there, and took time to heal, but it was better than stitches or medical glue.
Since they were spending more time in the city, Jules started recognizing more people. There were those who worked at their favorite restaurants, those at the weapon shops (they did have to buy ammo or energy cells, after all), and even those who worked at the clinics. Jules liked this city. Where he lived on Earth was functional, but he didn’t like it. Here, however, was a city he liked. Unfortunately, it was becoming more obvious as they days passed by that it was going to be in danger. There were about two weeks until the landshift truly happened, which meant that monsters were pouring out of the caves even faster. Obvious preparations were now being made to defend the city, and there were always more guards on the wall, ready to fight off those monsters who approached the city. There would be more coming soon, in large numbers. Even now, there were occasionally slight tremors, the ground shaking for a few moments, as if in anticipation of the real thing.
The only thing that relieved Jules was that such events had happened before, and the people of the planet still continued to survive. They were prepared, whereas the humans- “adventurers”, were not a significant portion of the population. However, though there were only a few thousand humans in each city, that was still a significant military benefit, since most were going to participate directly in battle. Fesmoilia was about two million people, a large city, though Jules had felt it was smaller because he was used to the constant urban sprawl of Earth. Thus, anything that had limits felt “small”. According to what he had found, there were about seven hundred and fifty cities, both larger and smaller than this, though the average was about the same. Thus, there were about a billion and a half people. Running the AI for that many people, not to mention an entire planet, would have been inconceivably difficult. Others had noticed that too, and were starting to think that Many Worlds was not a game. However, this was still considered a conspiracy theory by most. Jules thought it was rather interesting, since he knew it was true.
—–
The attitude of the city was shifting as the time drew closer. Though there wasn’t panic, tensions were getting higher. More guards were on the walls, and some of them were adventurers. Less people were going out to fight the monsters, since there were so many now. Only the stronger groups could go out, but not far. Yet, with all the fear and danger… Jules just had to look up at the sky, and he felt that everything was worth the effort. Though, Jules thought that the planet would be even better without the monsters. That didn’t seem like something that could be accomplished, though. At least, not at the current time.
Over the next few days, Jules and the rest only ventured out of the city once. However, it quickly became too dangerous, and they had to retreat back to the city before they were surrounded by a group of monsters. One small consolation was that some of the monsters were killing each other, but not as many as Jules might have thought. Then, the area quest updated.
| Landshift (Update):
Help the citizens of Fesmoilia prepare for the landshift. In addition, contribute to the defense of the city from the monster attacks. NEW: Monsters will be attacking the city in anticipation of the landshift. Contribution at this time will be increased. Death penalties will be halved for the duration of the defense. (Note: respawn points will remain outside of the city) Time Remaining: 8 days Rewards: Based on contribution |
Jules saw the increased contribution and reduced death penalties, and couldn’t help but think that they were more than just a regular feature of an “event”. They felt more like a bribe to not abandon the people here in their time of need. Not that Jules would have done so, since he’d grown attached to the people here. However, the pain and unpleasantness of dying would certainly make some not want to participate. Thus, greater incentives were offered.
—–
Many Worlds was less gamelike than people had expected, but still retained its full population of players. It wasn’t that everyone enjoyed the game. Instead, there was an impressive resale market of the wristbands, even with the promise of the next batch coming out in the near future. Along with real wristbands, however, there were many fakes. Jules had seen news of many people being arrested for selling fake versions of the wristband. He wondered at that, because it wasn’t that hard to tell real ones apart from fake ones. There were even officially published guidelines. Though, the unofficial method was Jules’ favorite: just smash it with a sledgehammer and see if it’s still fine.
Through all this, fake wristbands continued to be sold, or attempted to be sold, and people continued to be caught. This is why Jules was surprised when a quest related to this very thing appeared before him one day. For some reason, nobody had reported the person who was making a set of fake wristbands. However, the AI, Herbert, knew about his actions. The circumstances intrigued Jules enough that he decided to look into it, especially since the danger was listed as “low”. Besides, he had little he could do in Many Worlds right now but wait, at least for a day or two.