Ch.186″Complex problems often have solutions right beside them.” (3)

Our sympathy for Sumeragi lasted all of about five seconds.

Of course, if Sumeragi knew our thoughts and attitudes, she would undoubtedly curse us with all manner of “meow-speak.”

Unfortunately, by now she was being dragged along by Griyanar, like a child who was promised pork cutlets but ended up at the dentist instead. There wasn’t much else for us to worry about.

Honestly, while this was unfortunate for Sumeragi herself…

We had more important concerns than Griyanar’s delightful experiments using an SSS-rank superhuman as a test subject.

And what was that concern?

“Commander, what do you plan to do with the remaining two?”

“Hmm…”

As Berial asked me through the communication channel, we needed to decide how to handle the two remaining S-rank individuals.

I would have loved to send those two to Professor Griyanar’s heart-pounding live experiments as well, but…

As we could see from the gallery posts, we could only send one person to Griyanar.

For the remaining two, we were left with just two options: send them to forced labor camps or keep them locked up in the base.

But while it seemed like a simple choice, sending them to forced labor camps was actually quite problematic due to their -200 friendship rating.

Contrary to what I had thought, the situation was quite unfavorable…

—————————————-

Title: Oh damn, forced labor camps are useless if friendship is below -100

Author: Odeng-tang

Content: [Image of a toad wearing a collar]

Why are they just saying “I’m not working” at the forced labor camp? Damn.

I don’t understand.

Isn’t it called a “forced” labor camp because you force unwilling people to work?

Comments:

-[Forced labor camp (can’t actually force)]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]

-[The labor camp guards are supposed to monitor and handle them, but do you think you could control monsters who can travel dozens of kilometers in less than an hour?]

-[Obviously you need to assign equal-rank superhumans to keep them in check, what’s the problem?]

-˪[No, even with supervision they still refuse to work] (Author)

-˪[??? What’s going on?]

-˪[Why won’t they work?]

-[They don’t want to work under a shitty commander like you]

-˪[Damn]

—————————————-

—————————————-

Title: Found an unexpected problem with forced labor camps

Author: Anonymous

Content: [WorkAbandonment.jpg], [Image showing -120 friendship rating]

These bastards can’t be sent to forced labor camps if their friendship is below -100

I looked through the wiki settings tab and found the reason

When friendship hits around -100, they develop such intense hatred for the commander

They pretend to work while actually breaking equipment and parts, making it impossible to assign them anything

Even with superhuman supervision, they stubbornly continue this behavior, which seems a bit forced

Rather than being about setting, this feels more like a game balance mechanism to prevent newbie slaughter

Comments:

-[That makes sense I guess]

-[Honestly, there used to be a lot of veteran jerks who would beat up newbies and take their good stuff]

-˪[How did the game even continue with that happening?]

-˪[That’s why the game failed]

-˪[Oh]

—————————————-

“Hmmmm…”

As these newly uploaded gallery posts showed, forced labor camps required friendship ratings above -100, which was another problem.

“Commander, then you shouldn’t have called it a binary choice from the beginning, right?”

“I just saw that myself.”

Anyway, the dilemma of what to do with these two S-rank individuals continued…

‘Should I just leave them alone and watch them fall in love with each other like some pure romance story?’

With my sanity hitting rock bottom thanks to Griyanar’s constant tentacle experiments, I was starting to think that some pure romance might help restore my mental health…

But while I was lost in thought and momentarily silent:

“Commander, it seems like those two will be difficult to utilize no matter what.”

“…That’s true.”

“Since they’re hard to use anyway, why don’t you try using the trading window?”

“…Oh.”

When Jessica mentioned the “trading window,” I suddenly remembered something I had essentially forgotten about for various reasons.

“That’s right, there’s the trading window.”

From my perspective, the trading window hadn’t been very prominent in my mind.

Honestly, after briefly skimming through it once before… what reason would I have to use the trading window?

I only had the basic gold that all users receive as starting capital, which wasn’t enough to use in the trading window where inflation was rapidly increasing.

After that, apart from deleting reported posts as a moderator, I didn’t even have a chance to window shop.

Of course, that was partly because I was “extremely” busy before that.

Anyway, except for deleting troll posts disguised as trade listings based on reports, I had never once used the trading window or auction house.

So when Jessica suggested it, I decided to try it out with some excitement.

Though when I actually tried to use it, it felt a bit strange, almost like I was engaging in human trafficking…

“Commander, are you afraid?”

“…Check the management status of those two right now. It’s time for heroic action!”

When Jessica naturally threw a “chicken?” at me, I decided to face it head-on like a man rather than back down.

==========

But no matter how determined I was to face things head-on, proceeding with a “trade” without any knowledge would be a truly bad move.

—————————————-

<Trade and Auction House Guide>

<To use this system, you need the dedicated currency ‘Gold’>

<This is different from the rare mineral ‘gold’ and can only be used here>

<Commander’s current funds: 100 Gold>

—————————————-

After opening the auction house and seeing the guide message that confirmed my balance was the same as before,

I attempted to earn gold through the “auction house” rather than user-to-user trading for the first time since being transported here.

But as always, the game had changed dramatically compared to when I used to play.

The basic UI was completely different from what I knew.

Additionally, I had quit the game 3 years before being transported here, and it had been a year since I arrived here.

So essentially, I was coming back after 4 years.

“Eeeeek.”

—————————————-

<S-rank Superhuman Axion, Level 60>

<Current market value: 1,200 Gold>

<Current price: Undetermined>

<Expected auction profit: +100 Gold>

<Auction house registration fee (20%): 240 Gold>

<Expected total profit excluding auction profit: Undetermined>

<Commander’s remaining Gold: 100>

<Auctions are valid for only 5 days, after which they are automatically canceled>

<Auction house registration fees are non-refundable>

<If the registered superhuman cannot be transferred to the other party for any reason, your auction house privileges may be restricted>

—————————————-

Looking at the more complicated trading and auction window, I felt my head starting to go blank.