Chapter 348 - 332: Please Call Me Councilor
Although Su Ling’er didn’t understand the players’ gibberish, she knew she just had to make requests that aligned with her values.
And so, to fulfill these requests and reorganize the city’s governance, the so-called "council" came into being.
The rules for assigning council seats were simple and brutal: the top ten players on the contribution leaderboard for the "Crackdown on Crime" quest could take up their posts immediately.
After all, some players had no desire to sit in the Anhe Government Office looking at reports. Thus, if anyone in the top ten didn’t want to be tied down by such mundane affairs, they could voluntarily give up their seat, and the position would be offered to the next person in line.
After the Anhe City Temporary Council was established, a position-exclusive bonus quietly appeared on the system panel.
[Position: Anhe City · Temporary Councilor (Pseudo Ninth-Rank)]
[Basic Attribute Bonus]: Comprehension +1, Max HP +50, Stamina Recovery Speed +2%.
[Cultivation Privilege]: Within Anhe City, Cultivation Speed / Inner Strength Acquisition Speed +0.1%.
[Administrative Privilege]: May issue a certain number of "Low-Tier Daily Quests" to ordinary players within the city each day (rewards paid from the Anhe Government Office treasury).
[Daqian Tax]: As Anhe City is still a part of the Daqian Dynasty, taxes must be paid to the imperial court. A variable amount of Gold or silver must be paid annually as "tribute."
[Code of Conduct]:
The Will of Su Ling’er: All administrative orders must aim to fulfill Su Ling’er’s requests... must align with Su Ling’er’s values... *One hundred thousand words of "All of Miss Su’s Demands" omitted here, click to expand...*
[System Remarks]:
1. If a decision severely violates the [Code of Conduct] (e.g., bullying the innocent, embezzling public funds, or other actions contrary to Su Ling’er’s values), it will trigger "Immortal’s Wrath," automatically revoking councilor status and resulting in expulsion from the council. Severe offenders may receive the "Anhe City · Permanent Red Name" status, and Miss Su’s affinity will drop to Hostile.
2. If the city completely breaks free from the Daqian Dynasty’s control or gains sovereignty, the negative status will be removed, all bonus values will be doubled, and the annual tribute will be waived.
The moment this was announced, combined with the gleaming, golden top-ten list, the Anhe City player channel exploded.
[Regional Channel · Anhe City]
[Ah Qiang the Official-Wannabe]: @[One Sword To Rule], Boss! I can tell your bone structure is extraordinary! You’re a one-in-a-million Sword Cultivator genius! Being a councilor is exhausting! You’ll have to approve documents every day, it’ll delay your ascension! Resign! Leave this suffering to me!
[Eleventh Place]: Yeah, yeah! Hey Bosses, the world is so big, don’t you want to go out and see it?
[Twelfth Place]: Begging the Bosses to resign! Begging the Bosses to resign!
[Thirteenth Place and below...]: Begging the Bosses to resign! Begging the Bosses to resign! Begging the Bosses to resign!
[One Sword To Rule]: Scram, scram, scram! I think I can handle it! It’s just a management sim, right?! From now on, call me Councilor!
[Grave Robber]: Popping in! Call me Councilor, Talis... ah, no, I mean, Anhe City Councilor!
[The Light of the Righteous Path]: Please call me Councilor!
[I’m a Pauper]: AAAAAH! I’m so mad! Why did I waste my time grinding on those small-time cheaters?! I only got a few thousand copper coins!
[Expert Thief-Catcher]: Bro, you should be grateful! I grinded so much, but when I looked at the contribution leaderboard, my score wasn’t even a fraction of what [Grave Robber] got!
[Passerby]: I’m so stupid, really. I only knew you could make money from quests, I had no idea you could just become a high-ranking official in this game! If I’d known, I would’ve staked out those major cases! What’s the use of this iron rod (Wooden Sword) of mine?!
As for the "blank slate" players who hadn’t even been chosen as "City Patrol Guards" or couldn’t get a spot because the quota was full, this news was a blow of epic proportions.
Watching others not only become part of "the establishment" but now also form a council, leaping two whole social strata to become rulers, while they themselves were still stuck in what felt like the starter village, was even more disheartening!
[A certain passerby]: What about game balance?! Other people are practically mayors already, and I’m still here playing with mud?
[Truth Seeker]: How is the gap between people bigger than the gap between a person and a dog?! Can’t you just let me join the Guixi Sect, climb to the top, and become one of the elite?!
...
Meanwhile, with the establishment of the council, a storm was brewing among the native merchants of Anhe City.
With the "City Patrol Guards" enforcing the law so strictly, the dishonest merchants who usually made a living by short-changing customers and passing off shoddy goods as quality products found that they could no longer get by.
They were fined until they had nothing left, not even their underpants. This was an insult they could not swallow!
So, on a dark and windy night, a few of the leading dishonest merchants gathered together, the glow from their pipes illuminating their arrogant and confident faces.
"Everyone! We can’t go on like this!" Mr. Zhang spat fiercely. "This bunch of lunatics has it out for us! If this keeps up, we’ll all be left with nothing to eat!"
"Exactly! That Miss Su is leaving us no way to make a living!" Mrs. Wang chimed in.
"If she’s going to be ruthless, then don’t blame us for being merciless!"
"We’ll go on strike! Tomorrow, none of us will open our stalls! We’ll leave the market entrance completely empty! How many people can those few idiots who actually give fair weight support? Most of the common people in the city won’t be able to buy their vegetables! Let’s see how that ’Immortal’ of hers handles the situation when the entire city is boiling with resentment!"
"Exactly! Without us, this city will be paralyzed! We’re just not going out to sell, that’s all. It’s not like Miss Su can punish us for that. Can’t a person be tired? She calls herself a righteous Immortal, fighting for those poor saps, but she can’t exactly hold a knife to our throats and force us to open our stalls, can she?"
"When the time comes, we might even be able to raise our prices however we want!"
The more the dishonest merchants thought about it, the more wonderful it seemed. They could already picture the City Lord or the newly appointed councilors begging them to return to their stalls. One by one, they puffed out their chests and returned home, filled with the conviction of certain victory.
「The next morning.」
The group of dishonest merchants hid in a dark alley, craning their necks, waiting to behold the "grand spectacle" of a deserted market and wailing commoners.
But as the first rays of sunlight broke through, the smiles on their faces froze.
The market... it wasn’t paralyzed at all. In fact, it was as bustling as if it were the New Year festival!
The honest vegetable farmers, who had been ostracized and pushed to the margins for refusing to engage in the corruption or short-change their customers, had become the day’s biggest winners.
With no competition from the dishonest merchants, their business was booming. Furthermore, their reputation for providing "full and fair weight" had been promoted by the council, turning it into a golden seal of approval. Compared to the players, these farmers were familiar faces, so their business was exceptionally good.
"Well, well, Wang! I always knew you were an honest man. I’m buying all my produce from you today!"
"Sigh... these days, just being honest is considered a virtue. Isn’t this how things are supposed to be...?"
"Those swindlers are finally gone, hahahaha! They should just make Miss Su the City Lord already. I don’t want to get sick from finding a rat in my chicken again, only to then get scammed by some quack selling fake medicine..."
The honest merchants were so busy they were practically running off their feet, huge smiles plastered on their faces. In less than an hour, they were completely sold out!
However, the gap left by the striking merchants was too large. These few honest farmers alone could not possibly meet the demands of the entire Anhe City.
However, the Temporary Council had already anticipated this situation.
[Public Welfare Quest: "Guardian of the Grocery Baskets"! ]
[Quest Description]: Assist the Anhe Government Office in filling the market gap by selling vegetables.
[Quest Rewards]:
Basic Stipend: Tend a stall for over 4 hours a day to receive a guaranteed minimum of 200 copper coins.
Skill Improvement: While tending a stall, proficiency in Life Skills such as "Trading," "Eloquence," and "Calculation" will increase to a certain extent (not applicable while AFK).
Special Achievements/Titles:
Sell a cumulative total of 100,000 jin of cabbage to unlock the title [Cabbage Immortal (Lv. 1)] (Equip Effect: When consuming cabbage-type food, Defense Power is temporarily increased by 1%).
And so on...
All a player had to do was leave their character logged in to tend a stall, then come online to happily collect their earnings. If they did it long enough, they could even get a free buffing title. What could be better?!