Joseph worked through the night. He worked through the night to make plans on how to use people, to create necessary jobs for them, and to prepare for the future.
When he fell asleep, it was 3 a.m., and he woke up again at 6 a.m.
At 7 a.m., a notification similar to the one he had heard before appeared in his mind.
[MORTALIS UPDATE V0.75 ACTIVE, LAY ENERGY STABLE AND CONSISTENT]
[ACTIVITY BOARD…ACTIVE]
[PERSONAL TRADE…ACTIVE]
[PERSONAL AND SETTLEMENT QUEST SYSTEM... ACTIVE]
[SETTLEMENT PROTOCOL... ACTIVE]
[TAX AND SALARY SYSTEM... ACTIVE]
[ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM... ACTIVE]
[ELECTION SYSTEM... ACTIVE]
[EMOTIONAL PARAMETERS... ACTIVE]
[SOCIETY SYSTEM... ACTIVE]
"This time it's too much." Joseph immediately called everyone he considered to be high-ranking in the shelter.
People were full of questions, but he had no answers for any of them.
"Everyone split into groups of three. Everyone study a heading and come up with a broad summary. We need to learn what these systems are quickly!" Joseph immediately selected groups of three based on their abilities and chose a heading for himself to study.
An hour later, everyone had started discussing among themselves, and Joseph had also taken his eyes off the system.
"I'll speak first.
Then we'll continue in order." Marcus and Eliza were in his group. They had carefully analyzed the activity board.
"This activity contains temporary events that will help us improve. Right now, we're going to try to obtain the ancient remains of a race called the Fallen Shadow. We have one month. As for how we're going to get them…" Joseph clenched his fists.
"In certain areas of the world, places called memory gaps have formed. They are like open dungeons and towers. We haven't seen any around us yet, so it will take some time to find them."
After seeing that everyone nodded, Joseph gave the floor to Saleem.
Saleem adjusted his glasses and spoke. "We tried personal trading just now. Without items, we can now transfer system currency to someone else. Not only that, but we can also trade all kinds of items. However, there is one condition: when an item is to be traded, it must be exchanged for another item or a minimum of 1 SC currency. That's it."
Everyone nodded. It made sense.
Then Mick spoke. He was in the same group as Min-Jun and Jason.
"The personal and settlement quest systems are much simpler. The settlement quest system involves quests such as defending or expanding a settlement. Personal quests are a system that allows you to complete certain tasks in exchange for small rewards. These quests change daily, and the rewards are pretty good, to be honest."
Mick cleared his throat with a cough. "For example, my current quest is to kill five zombies. In addition to the rewards the zombies give when they are killed, I get 10 SC and 20 Exp. It's a win-win situation, no matter how you look at it."
Mick adjusted his posture and clasped his hands in front of him. "That's it," he said.
Joseph nodded and looked at Elura. Elura had teamed up with Austin and Hugo.
"The settlement protocol is exactly what we're looking for. We can build a city, a settlement, or a temporary camp within the system. It must be an area free of creatures, and the price of a city is 100,000 SC. The price of a settlement/town is 10,000 SC, and the price of a camp is 1,000 SC."
Elura had taken notes on a piece of paper and read from it.
"With 100,000 SC, we can purchase a city plan and mark an area of our choice on the plan. Once we mark it, it is considered a city, and we can purchase plans and build structures within it. There are hundreds of different types of buildings; the only problem is that people are needed to work on the construction and management of these buildings. A city plan worth 100,000 SC offers a city plan covering an area of 30 square kilometers. These plans cannot be built in areas that are not cities." Elura took a deep breath and continued talking.
"A town requires 5 square kilometers. A camp is limited to just 500 square meters. These city plans can be expanded later with more SC. Additionally, there are very useful production facilities in the store. For example, an electricity production facility!" Elura grew excited toward the end.
"This update is our future!"
Joseph nodded. It truly was. This settlement protocol was exactly what he was looking for.
"How does the tax and salary system work?" He directed the question to Kim, Edmond, and Bradley.
Edmond nodded and spoke. He had taken notes on a piece of paper, but he didn't need them. "It's very simple, you can pay someone a salary. Just like before, a contract must be signed, but the system provides the contract. It's 1 SC per contract. The minimum daily wage in this contract can be 1 SC, and if one of the parties fails to fulfill the requirements of the contract, the contract is terminated, and the penalty, as specified in the system, can be very large depending on the price of the contract. For example, death."
After Edmond said this, he saw Joseph take a deep breath and continued.
"Fortunately, the terms of the contract can be adjusted, and fines can be added as penalties. The system collects this automatically, and if the party that breaks the contract does not have the money, it takes the money from the person's body as a ley. The result is still death, but fortunately, there is a certain upper class of contracts. Not everyone can be given a high-priced contract. This prevents people from dying just because they don't like a job."
Joseph relaxed. Then he motioned for him to continue.
"The tax system also comes with the settlement protocol. A town or city must be established. A certain amount of tax is collected from the people each month at a rate determined by the mayor. There are many parameters. The system guarantees that this is followed. There is no need for an accountant. For example, you can even set the tax you collect from employers on an individual basis. But all trade must take place within the city limits in order for taxes to be collected."
Edmond then greeted him as if to indicate that he was finished and sat down.
After Edmond, Pete stood up. He cleared his throat and spoke. "The management system works as a result of the election system. Those elected to the management team are responsible for managing the settlement. They have responsibilities they cannot escape, and emotional parameters must be taken into account in the community system. In short, these four systems influence each other."
Pete walked over to the whiteboard where William had previously given his presentation long ago. He picked up a pen and began to draw a few circles.
"As you can see here, first the city must be established. Then, someone must be elected as president, and those nominated by the president or those who want to run on their own must apply to the city's election office. The only problem and disconnect here is that an election office must be established in the city, and institutions and organizations must also be built in the city. In short, it's a long process. If we assume that all of this has been taken care of and everyone has been elected, then the social system comes into play. Everything from the demographic structure of society to the balance of salaries, and from the balance of salaries to the morale level, is included in the social system." Edmond pointed to two more small circles with his hand.
"Here, emotional parameters come into play. The manager/president can see whether the community is happy or not. Only the manager has access to this, and those who have been elected to head institutions can see the part that pertains to their own work or more at the manager's request."
Finally, he placed all the circles inside a larger circle. "Finally, the manager must keep the people happy and fulfill their wishes as much as possible."
"Depending on the morale level, the manager has protection until the next election. The manager cannot officially attack the people, nor can he be attacked. If the morale level falls below twenty percent, the manager's immunity is lost. That's it."
Edmond then turned and sat down.
"You all heard him. I'm open to ideas, speak up." Joseph looked around at the tired faces. He had slept very little, and now he had so much to deal with.
Elura was the first to raise her hand. "I think our goal is very simple. We must obtain city status as soon as possible. Once we are a city, we must fill it with what the system provides.
We need to build the city completely and make it functional. I think we can purchase city status within a month with the contribution of all citizens. Since personal trade is allowed, we will collect all the money under General Joseph."
Edmond and the other soldiers nodded. Civilians like Mick and Austin had no objection to this. After all, whether his decisions were good or bad, Joseph was thinking of them.
"That makes sense," Elura interjected.
"That would be my advice as well. Just like in ancient Rome."
Austin whispered to Mick, sitting next to him. "Elura has a degree in history."
"This is not the first time she has spoken like this. She is a very intelligent woman."
When Elura spoke intelligently, Austin felt very proud.
"We will concentrate all power and authority in one dictatorship, and then evolve with survival as our priority. This isn't the final update; it's V0.75. So there's one more update at least."
Joseph nodded. "I also accept this authority. Let the three thousand SC in my pocket be the first money I deposit here." He then took out a pen and paper. "Everyone, empty your pockets."
"I have five hundred SC." Edmond stepped in front of Joseph and approved the deal.
"I have 355." Mick scratched his head. It was the first time he had ever felt so poor.
"I'll contribute ten thousand." Marcus and Eliza donated roughly the same amount of SC.
Shortly thereafter, the total SC amount exceeded thirty thousand. Joseph shook his head. "We still have a lot of work to do." He said and encouraged everyone to get to work, especially on killing the zombies in the open dungeon.
…
The next day, there was no change. Since no manager or president had been elected yet, no one could see any emotional parameters, but this update to the system was beneficial for everyone. Now that there were no class differences or discrimination, everyone's mind was at ease, and over a thousand people had found a new purpose for themselves.
It was a difficult goal to achieve, but one that would lead to a happy ending when accomplished.
Everyone started working hard. Thousands of zombies were killed every day, and in less than two weeks, 100,000 SC were collected.
Then Joseph purchased the city layout plan from the system. It was a tangible device made of blue metal, resembling a one-meter-long ice spear with a sharp tip and a gradually widening top.
When Joseph held this device in his hand, he saw that it automatically glowed with a light between green and red. Only he could see it. Green meant that the device could be placed there, while red meant that it could not.
Joseph placed the device in a space that had been deliberately left empty, such as the square in front of Austin and Elura's house.
Then he focused on the system's question, "Do you want to establish the city here?" The device suddenly flashed blue. In a short time, it opened like a flower and began to expand. It turned into a thin, small console. This console could only be used and carried by Joseph.
Everyone could see it, but no one could touch it. A transparent barrier formed within a radius of one meter.
Joseph approached the console and focused. Thousands of structures, materials, and plans appeared before his eyes.
He quickly understood how things worked and set up the tax system. Then he left without doing anything else.
Then he called everyone, and he meant everyone, one by one. He met with each person individually and signed a salary contract. These salary contracts were symbolic amounts for the time being. The aim was to collect at least a small amount of tax and speed up the construction process.
Finally, they were able to get started. For the time being, the institutions that needed to be built were very expensive, but he would manage to pay for them with taxes. He asked everyone individually and finally officially implemented an average tax rate of 5%.
A week after the tax system was established, the election system was tested. For the time being, there was only one candidate, and the system actually appointed Joseph as the manager. Now everyone entering the city could see the name of the city and who the manager was.
After the election system, Joseph could also see the Moral system and Emotional parameters in full.
As soon as he saw it, he frowned.
'55%'
He thought this amount was very low, but he believed that he could improve the morale level over time.
A catastrophe had just occurred, and people had not yet forgotten their losses and were still mourning.
"It will get better with time," he whispered to himself.
"With time..."