Summoned... to Die?

To say that the elder looked gobsmacked was a great understatement. However I, too, was surprised. Not by what was happening but, so to say, by a mismatch of the setting I had got into. All this felt like some kind of an MMO role-playing game where you should assign resources, build your own base, fight up opponents and leave them behind eventually, let alone the wild mingle of fantasy, sci-fi and normal technologies. Sort of a strange choice for post-existence.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some curious equines made their way from the tents. What else would you expect after such noise!

The closest was Board’s daughter, but even she didn’t dare to approach and go up the platform, but only stood a little further, anxiously fiddling a stray lock of her hair.

“So you've never seen such a thing, Elder?”

“Huh?! Oh… Yes. If I remember it correctly, the capital and several cities are located on the same ground. But I didn't think all they’d started like this.”

I nodded affirmatively and was about to turn back to the panel when, suddenly, he pulled my sleeve.

“Mr Nico, tell me you understand how this works. I'm honestly shocked, but I wouldn't want to lose face in front of the residents, please try!” he whispered fervently.

“No problems. But I want you to carry out my instructions and to answer my questions if any. And, accordingly, I need full cooperation from the residents.”

It was a little unpleasant to say that, but they had to understand who was who. Whatever might be my desire to help, it was me who died every day because of their whim. So it was not a question of kindness, it was a question of survival.

Board was somewhat dumbfounded first, but then bowed sharply and said with hope in his eyes, “Of course, Mr Nico.”

That's nice. I plunged into studying the panel. Pressing the help button, I saw only a couple of lines.

Notes on basic knowledge:

— No workers required.

— No resources required for: Moriturus’ manor, village hall, warehouse, food storage.

— To construct a building, go to the selected construction site and use the local terminal.

Looking closely, I saw that indeed there was just a button ‘Build’ for these buildings. As for the rest, resources and time were indicated. Most of all I was worried about the latter, but as far as I guessed the construction here was accelerated, so I wouldn’t have to wait a few days just to raise a house.

Let us begin, then? I thought we should start with a free warehouse and storage. But what was a ‘local terminal’?

I walked around the platform. Besides the fact that it itself had the form of a circle, there were many circles painted on it at an equal distance, the same size, and arranged like numbers on a clock face. Not much for the originality. But it was for the best.

I approached the nearest circle and began to consider it. And soon I noticed a small press pedal among the pavers which resembled that of the garbage cans. I tried to push it, but it didn't respond. Hmm, yes, if there were people walking, they’d often press these tiles and it would bring nothing good. Let's try the finger trick.

After pressing the chip, a stake similar to the first moved from underground and opened into a book with inscriptions.

Local construction terminal. Available buildings:

It was the same list, save for the huts and quarry. But the workshop was here. Apparently, you had to raise the producing buildings in a different way.

It wasn't the best place for a warehouse, so I tapped ‘Close’, and the panel obediently hid under the ground.

I made my way to the edge of the circle which faced the forest and the highlands. The closer your warehouse is, the faster you get it into the business.

There were a group of small circles located in a similar way to the large ones. Maybe this was where the producing buildings should be? Just enough space for a small hut. All this time, Board funnily followed me like a devoted fan while the number of spectators near Pitch Pearl had increased several times.

Okay, here's the place. According to the proven algorithm, I produced the panel from the ground and clicked on ‘Warehouse’ in the list of buildings.

Please step away from the construction site.

I went outside the circle, after which it whooshed down and re-appeared as a wooden-and-stone frame of a large building. Small black bugs—I can’t put it in other words—began to swarm, crawling on the boards. In an eyeblink, the frame was covered with walls, a roof, windows and a wide door. After a couple of minutes, everything calmed down, and in front of us now was a brand new building.

Construction completed.

You have unread messages. Do you want to read them? Y/N.

That was in my head. Why not open? Nothing bad happened so far.

Your faction is falling behind! But don’t despair, all your villages get a basic set of resources. * 365

The three hundred sixty-five same messages?! Why so and not more?

But then there was a new text:

Do you want to add the resources? Y/N. The messages received more than a year ago are automatically destroyed.

Here's the thing. I agreed.

The warehouse rumbled, but after a moment the noises stopped. The next text appeared.

The warehouse is full. The surplus of resources is placed on the internal storage of the Sprout system.

Build the appropriate storage to access food resource.

“Let’s see what we have there.”

The elder, who was still watching the warehouse with a look of amusement, broke out of his stupor and nodded foolishly.

I came closer to the building and opened the door. It was very neat inside, and stone pallets were laid on the floor to avoid flooding. As for the rest, there were neatly stacked boards of the standardized size. The cut stones were arranged in orderly rows on the other side. On the shelves were laid out all sorts of tools: picks, shovels, hoes, hammers, saws. There were even primitive axes and bows. They, apparently, weren’t considered weapons and were included in the category of tools for hunting/logging.

And most of all that I was interested in was the blue faintly glowing crystals folded neatly in a metal box. Board seemed to be also interested, his eyes lit up.

“Man, that’s a lot of crystalline!” He contentedly clapped his hands.

“What is crystalline?” I asked.

“It is the most common magic mineral. But it doesn’t mean that you can find it everywhere. Mages would tear your hand off if you had crystalline in it!”

But if it was considered a basic resource, was it so valuable then?

Actually, the warehouse still had plenty of room. Soon I found the inside panel and decided to check it.

Warehouse #1. Resources:

Wood: Max.

Stone: Max.

Tools: Max.

Crystalline: 365.

Here’s the answer. A certain place was allocated to each resource. And there was a lot of crystalline only because that it’d been accumulating for the whole year.

I came out of the warehouse and reached the opposite side of the circle close to the forest. I thought that the food would come from different sources, so we’d better had it closer to at least one of them.

Food storage appeared in the same way as the warehouse. And it was arranged like the latter, save that it was smaller and had smaller windows just under the ceiling.

It was pretty cool inside. I saw small blue blotches in the walls, which gave a weak light. Did this crystalline serve as a refrigeration unit? Whatever it might be, this way you could relax and have no need to care about the safety of food.

But the set of basic food was disappointing; there were only fruits. Lots of them, though. With a pang of longing, I remembered my new neighbours’ diet and imagined that fruits, vegetables and—oh god—flowers would be mine’s as well. Did those dogs eat meat or other protein stuff, I wonder?

Board slowly chewed an apple, thriftily inspecting the room and saying something like “Well! Just look at it!”

I came out and went to the centre. If we're gonna build a village hall, it should be here, didn’t it?

This time the frame was very large. In front of it, the clock lit up to indicate time: ‘0: 59.’ I guessed it’d need an hour to complete construction.

There was one thing left. Choosing a place closer to the hills, I ordered a Moriturus’ manor. Its frame was notable, too, but the time limited to thirty minutes.

“What about your people? How much are they?” I asked Board, drawing his attention.

“Hmm, let me guess. Well, twenty-nine if not to count you.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Approaching the circle nearest to the mansion, I chose ‘House’. 50 wood and 50 stone were charged, as well as 10 tools. It was not quite clear where charged resources would go, but we’d figure it out.

Judging by the rumble in the warehouse, our resources had already been replenished. Meanwhile, the house was already built.

The Equestrians faction synergy: +2% (22/100).

So even just constructing something you also got that synergy? Should take this into account whatever it means.

The house turned out to be a two-storey contraption with a nice triangular roof made in the Western style. Even the furniture was in place. There was a common living room, large kitchen with stove and fireplace. The presence of the toilet pleased my inner city resident; that's what I did not expect! It looked more or less civilized, not just a hole in the floor.

In total, there were quite spacious ten rooms—five on the floor. The furniture for each one was simple: wooden bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and a small table with chairs. I hadn’t asked about the families present, but I thought they could figure out how to live together.

Having placed orders for two more houses, I waited for the construction of the mansion. Then I suggested the elder get people to move to the new houses and to gather them in front of the mansion after the arrangement, and I went to my new three-storey building.

The style was the same but with the chicer decor. Living room lined with animal skins, soft and large corner sofa, fireplace. The kitchen was smaller, but it wasn’t designed for ten residents either. On the second floor was a bedroom with a huge double bed.

The second floor also had an office with a large wooden table containing some writing belonging: ink bottles, parchment, feathers. Right there were empty bookcases.

On the ground floor, at the same time, was placed a guest bedroom, the same and simple as in ordinary homes.

On the third floor was a lot of empty rooms, each with a terminal. But they all showed me only ‘Lack of the faction synergy.’ I only had to invent a more efficient way to increase it.

Finally, I went down to the basement. It was quite extensive and carefully made of stone. A soft white glow flowed from under the floor, so no lighting was needed.

The place with a terminal was in the middle, a little raised above the floor. I activated it and saw:

Teleport: no active sigils, no teleportation possible.

Concerning that this Sprout gave a lot of opportunities, it wasn’t surprising that everyone wanted it to themselves.

At the far end of the basement, I saw the floor lined with magical symbols, next to which was also a book-terminal. I dubbed it and shuddered at what I had read.

Moriturus’ life management: the Heart of the Moriturus is required. Perform the installation? Y/N.

With hesitation, I pressed yes.

Lacking crystalline: 365/400.