In the dim mining shaft…


    Two skeletons armed with pickaxes stood before the drop-dead dashing sculpture, rubbing their lower jaws as they discussed.


    “Hasn’t this sculpture changed?”


    Orcknight remembered the sculpture looking different when he was yingst night.


    Minowarrior shook his head and replied, “I wasn’t paying attention… Does this sculpture serve any purpose?”


    “Don’t know and don’t care. It’s hideously ugly. Let’s smash it!”


    Orcknight would never admit that he was envious. As he raised his pickaxe to smash the sculpture, a ray of green light suddenly struck his head, sting his soul out of his skeleton body.


    “What the?!” The floating, soul-form Orcknight stared at his copsed skeleton body in horror. “How did I be a corpse?!”


    Autumnleaf, who had just gotten online, walked over to examine Orcknight’s copsed skeleton body before looking at the sculpture. “You must have touched something forbidden.”He was curious about the sculpture but dared not carelessly approach after Orcknight’s precedence.


    Orcknight was on the verge of tears.


    “Shit! They should have put a warning on the sculpture… Hold on, how do I return to my body?!”


    “Check your system interface. Are you under any abnormal conditions?” Autumnleaf asked.


    All yers had a system interface that showed their character stats, present condition, health bar, quest list, and so on.


    Orcknight quickly noticed an abnormal condition on his character page. There was a demon icon with a small subtext beneath:


    【Demon King’s Retribution: 59 minutes 21 seconds】


    “What the hell… My soul will be separated from my body for an hour, and the countdown pauses if I go offline?!”


    “It’s a feature. There’s no helping it.” Autumnleaf shook his head before walking away. “We should put a warning sign here… You were unlucky to have stepped on andmine, so just go into spectator mode for the time being.”


    “Shit!”


    yer activity was limited to the vicinity of the demon king domain’s core when in soul form.


    The other yers guffawed upon seeing Orcknight’s pitiful plight, but at the same time, it taught them that the demon king’s sculpture was an untouchable entity.


    Watching the yers’ interactions, especially the one known as Autumnleaf, Roan suddenly spoke to thin air, “Youyou, is that fellow your side ount?”


    He recently realized that they couldmunicate even in the absence of mirrors.


    Youyou replied speechlessly, “What are you saying, Demon King? That’s impossible.”


    “All right. I just think that he’s too smart… Don’t mind it.”


    Offensive actions taken against the demon king domain’s core would result in the yer being evicted from their body for an hour. Subsequent attempts would be considered malevolent, and the yer would be evicted for at least 24 hours. ?а


    Roan had intended to erect a sign warning the yers not to attack the revival point, but he didn’t expect someone with itchy hands to make a move so quickly.


    ‘A warning sign might not be enough. I should quickly conceal this hatred-evoking sculpture.’


    This was the heart of human territory, after all. Who knew when adventurers would start appearing here?


    Roan stared at his dashing sculpture for a good minute beforementing, “Youyou… You have put me in a spot.”


    Feeling ashamed, Youyou meekly consoled, “It’s fine, Demon King! Your sculpture looks great!”


    “It’s not about how the sculpture looks… I am in huge trouble now.”


    Roan shook his head before looking up at the ceiling, not wanting to say anymore.


    First and foremost, he couldn’t exploit Demon God Bayeris’ reputation anymore.


    All humans knew Bayeris and what He looked like. As for Roan… what the hell was he?


    Other than that, he was also worried about how theherworld would interpret this.


    Youyou could be right—the Demon God might be unable to sense the anomaly in this distant domain—but theherworld would still eventually personnel over to check on the situation after things had settled down.


    If they found that he had changed the Demon God’s sculpture into his own…


    He dared not even imagine the consequences.


    “We need to hire a sculptor from Thunderbuzz City.”


    ‘Hmm. Will any craftsman in an autonomous city worshiping Saint Sisto be willing to create a sculpture of the Demon God? Should I just kidnap one…’


    “Demon King, you can put this matter aside for the time being. It will take some time for theherworld to dispatch someone over,” Youyou said. “We should focus on the more important matters at hand.”


    “All right.”


    Roan first surveyed the mining shaft.


    Quite a few skeleton soldiers stood foolishly against the walls, a sign that they were offline. He couldn’t believe howzy they were despite being one of the rare chosen ones.


    ‘This won’t do!’


    “Youyou, announce an update on the official site… Inform the yers about the hell coins,” Roan said. “On top of that, we should have another currency known as contribution points… yers can earn contribution points bypleting quests, and contribution points can be used to purchase ‘soul upgrades’ and ‘job change’.”


    Faith could be used to upgrade yers too.


    The yers’ souls were currently at Ordinary-tier, with a level cap of 3. That was equivalent to mortals without transcendent powers. Only when their souls were upgraded to Iron-tier would their level cap be increased to 10.


    Ordinary-tier souls only needed 100 faith to be upgraded to Iron-tier. It was a small expenditurepared to an upgrade from Copper-tier to Steel-tier.


    If these yers proved their worth, Roan didn’t mind elevating their gaming experience, like granting them the experience of being a high demon.


    That being said, he also needed faith for his upgrades.


    Thus, he decided to set the ratio of contribution points to faith to 10:1. Whoever gathered 1000 contribution points first would be granted the honor of being the first yer to ovee the LV 3 bottleneck.


    ‘Try your best!’


    Roan smirked in glee, knowing he wasn’t disadvantaged in this trade. He thought he was bing more and more like a demon king.


    “Got it!”


    Youyou was also revved up after seeing her esteemed demon king doing work.


    Soon, a new post was published on 《Cmity Online》’s official site.


    【a.0.1 Update Notice: New Currency System!


    Dear yers,


    To enhance your gaming experience, we will be pushing out a ‘Hell Coin’ and ‘Contribution’ system!


    Hell coin, as the only legal tender in Necropolis, can be used to purchase equipment or tools from NPC shops and the Merchant Store. However, we ask for your patience as the Merchant Store is still in development and will onlye online a whileter.


    Next up is our vital ‘Contribution’ system. yers can earn contribution points bypleting the Demon King’s quests, and umted contribution points can be used to upgrade soul tier and unlock the level cap. It can also be used for racial changes in the future.


    It will take a powerful soul to control a high demon’s body.


    PS: It includes the subuses that you have been looking forward to~】


    Roan eyed the forum.


    He was worried that Youyou wouldn’t get what he was getting at, but thetter was unexpectedlypetent. It even made sure to dangle bait before the yers to motivate them.


    Unsurprisingly, thezy bums constantly eyeing the forum immediately jumped to life.


    “Holy shit!”


    “Do the developers not sleep?!”


    “It only took them a day to patch in yesterday’s suggestions!”


    “Got it! In gist, we can shake free of our skeleton bodies as long as we gather enough contribution points, right?”


    “See yall, bros! Big bro will be charging ahead!”


    “Bro, lend me your ount once you be a subus…”


    “Scram!”


    “Damn it! Dogshit developers, why don’t you open more closed beta slots if you have the time to do updates!!! (Frenzied)”


    “Screw it! I ain’t going to work! I’ll be taking a leave from my boss today!”


    “…”


    ‘My poor little pawns. They’repletely hooked.’


    All hundred skeleton soldiers came online within a minute and excitedly surrounded Roan.


    “Great Demon King, who are we chopping up today?”


    “Let’s invade the surface!”


    “I’m overflowing with power now! I bet I can 1v10 god elects!”


    “…”


    Faced with this ruckus, Roan cleared his throat andmanded, “Silence! Listen to me!”


    Excited yers were hardly known to be the most obedient bunch in the world, though it was not as if Roan was ever banking on that.


    He sealed their movements with his authority before calmly continuing, “The demon king domain needs to be further developed first. Use whatever means necessary to contribute to Necropolis’ growth. I have refreshed your quest list. You may check it on your interface…”


    After finishing his piece, Roan released the yers and ced his hands behind his back, indicating the conclusion of the cutscene.


    Amotion broke out in the mining shaft, but it was not as chaotic as before.


    Autumnleaf hurriedly essed the quest list.


    【Daily Mission 1: Clearing the Spider Den!


    Description: Reiming the lostbyrinth is urgent business!


    Reward: 1000 hell coins and 10 contribution points for each crypt spider killed with its corpse brought back as proof】


    【Daily Mission 2: Eliminating the Traitorous Ratmen!


    Description: The ratmen have betrayed theherworld and are hiding in the shadows of the Northpeak Shaft. These cowardly things aren’t worthy of existing on the face of the world!


    Reward: 100 hell coins for each ratman tail (You may receive 50 contribution points by submitting 20 ratman tails in a day)】


    【Daily Mission 3: Mine Digging!


    Description: The Northpeak Shaft’s metal and coal mines are the cruxes to rebuilding the demon king army.


    Reward: 1 hell coin for every every gram of coal or metal (You may receive 50 contribution points by submitting 1 kilogram of coal or metal in a day)】


    【Mission 4: Capturing Adventurers…】


    【Mission 5: Exploring Uncharted Territories…】


    【Mission 6: Crafting Equipment…】


    【Mission 7: Harvesting Crypt Spider Eggs…】


    There were many quests, and they could be broadly categorized intobat and lifestyle.


    Unlike yesterday, the quest requirements had more thorough details with their corresponding rewards clearly stated.


    Autumnleaf eyed the other yers. To his surprise, the others were much more motivated after this ‘major patch’.


    ‘Looks like it is important to provide gamers with some directions even in a sandbox game.’


    “I see… Soul tier determines one’s level cap. I was still wondering what it is for,” Peerlessbear mumbled as he stroked his lower jaws while studying his character page.


    Not far away, Hungryhungry sighed in vexation, “I… I’ll just dig some coal. Rats and spiders are too much for me. Call me when there are normal mobs.”


    Explodingknowledge teased with a grin, “Digging coal is great! A gram of coal for a hell coin? You can be he sure I’ll dig out this entire mine!”


    Vigegramps rolled his eyes. “Brag. Continue bragging… That pickaxe of yours can only dig up at most 3000 grams a day.”


    “No no, fatigue doesn’t apply in games. If I can mine 3000 grams in 8 hours, that would be 9000 grams in 24 hours!” Explodingknowledge eximed.


    “Huh? You not going to rest?” Soreloser asked.


    “…”


    Roan was taken aback as he eavesdropped on their conversation.


    ‘What? Can they dig up that much in a day? Did I set the mining rewards too high?’


    Unlike the chatting yers, Autumnleaf quietly studied the quest list. His calm contemtiveness made him stand out among the skeleton soldiers.


    A skeleton soldier equipped with a spear and a shield walked up to Autumnleaf and asked, “Wanna party?”


    Autumnleaf turned to the skeleton soldier—it was an unfamiliar ID. He had no recollections of seeing it on the forum either, so he asked out of curiosity, “Sure, but why me?”


    “You look the most reliable out of the bunch,” the skeleton soldier replied with a sigh. He extended his hand and introduced himself, “Nightfall.”


    yers could see each other’s ID, but out of politeness, Autumnleaf also did the same self-introduction as he shook the other party’s hand, “Autumnleaf.”


    Nightfall chuckled.


    “Pleased to work with you.”


    …


    The yers slowly left the ‘city square’, leaving behind Orcwarrior’s soul to howl pitifully before the demon king’s sculpture.


    “Noooo, wait for me! I want to mine too! I only have 40 minutes more before I’m released!”


    Looking at the yers’ departing figures, Roan smiled in delight.


    ‘Good. It saves me a lot of hassle when my yers are so motivated. At this rate, I might even be able to take a break in the human world.’


    Chris, Amu, Hugo, and the others shuddered in their respective cells. They couldn’t make sense of the situation before them.


    Roan noticed his prisoners had woken up so he opened up his suitcase and tossed them some rations. He waited for them to be done eating before raising his ring-wearing finger.


    The frightened adventurers begged for mercy, but he still siphoned away a good of their vitality.


    【Faith +13】


    ‘Tsk, that’s too little!’


    Seeing how terrified the adventurers were, Roan wondered if he was bing less humane.


    “Youyou, let’s implement a ‘Party’ function too.”


    “Sure thing, master! Shall I do it now?”


    “No rush,” Roan calmly reasoned. “yers will take us for granted if we roll things out too quickly. We shouldn’t indulge them too much. Let’s wait for them to raise the matters before resolving them one by one…”


    Youyou nodded in awe, saying, “As expected of the Demon King. Y-you are truly unfathomable!”


    Roan epted Youyou’s heartfelt admiration with a chuckle.


    ‘It’s a pity that I can’t receive faith from my divine persona.’


    “Don’t get overexcited yet. We’re still on the basics.”