My Magus Academy is Run by Players?! [Western Cultivation LitRPG]

All of a sudden, Victor remembered about the side mission “Farming Simulator 1.0” and reactivated his Master Shadowlink Mark.

—— [Headmaster’s Journal] ——

Mission: What’s Around the Academy?

To develop the academy, you must make sure that the surrounding area supports further growth. One such criterion is to discover exploitable natural resources.

Type: Main mission

Total Natural Resources Found: 2/3

Reward: 150 academy points

————————

Mission: Farming Simulator 1.0

Self-sustaining is not achieved through external factors but internal factors. You can do this yourself, or you can instruct the players to create a one-hectare field and seed it with life.

Type: Side mission

Reward: 10 progression value points

…

Today, after the collective efforts of the players, they had successfully plowed the one-hectare field, but the mission hadn’t yet been cleared. It appeared that the condition for completing the field, as stated in the mission, required Victor to sow the seeds across the cultivated land.

As he scrolled through the list of missions, his attention was caught by the appearance of several new side missions related to the construction of various facilities within the academy.

“Hm? These missions must have been added recently,” he murmured, his interest piqued by one particular mission.

Mission: What Kind of Smith Doesn’t Own a Smithy?

A productive work environment requires a suitable place. Build a functional blacksmith workshop within the academy grounds.

Type: Side mission

Reward: 10 progression value points

It occurred to Victor that certain conditions might need to be fulfilled for these missions to appear. This one, for example, could have become available after his interaction with Eleanor — the capricious girl with the Artificer inheritance.

“Whatever.”

In addition to the progress of the field, the lumberjack group had cut down approximately fifty logs, each measuring ten to fifteen meters in length. With more players joining the game, the academy’s development was expected to snowball from this point onward. However, the influx of players also demanded tighter management to maintain order.

Victor turned his gaze to the fairy perched atop a wolf pup, snoozing peacefully. It seemed she had seized the opportunity to indulge in a bit of relaxation while he was engrossed in reviewing the day’s reports.

Creeping closer to her slumbering form, Victor playfully pinched her cheeks to rouse her from her nap. “Liz, wake up! If you snooze any longer, you might miss out on today’s breakfast.”

“Bwuh?!” It was unknown whether it was thanks to Victor’s action or words, but her response was instantaneous and quite dramatic; her golden eyes snapped open as she exclaimed, “Where? Where’s my breakfast?!”

“What is where?” As usual, Victor played along, feigning innocence.

“Geez!” Lizbeth pouted, her cheeks puffed in annoyance as she kicked at the air while floating, totally pissed. “Can you not do that?”

“Not do what?” Victor grinned inwardly, enjoying her reaction. But he soon turned more serious. “Actually, I have an important question for you.”

“What is it?” Just the same, her pout transformed into a look of intrigue.

“How many hologram fairies can you control at once?”

With a hint of exasperation, she corrected him, “I’ve been letting it slide this whole time, but technically speaking, it’s not a hologram… It’s a magic projection.”

Victor was not too keen about the difference between the two. Holograms, in a sense, had more to do with technology, where magic projection was magic, as the name suggested.

He shrugged. “Hologram, magic projection — potato, potahto. What matters is that you are able to project those to assist me.”

“Well, I suppose there should be no problem projecting myself without using the Shadowlink Marks as long as I remain within the confines of this building. This is because the Nexus Beacon in the basement can be used for the same purpose.”

“Oh, is that so…” Victor nodded as he pondered the implications.

In the foreseeable future, Victor had plans to establish shops for the players. He had two main avenues to consider: setting up virtual shops within the Shadowlink Mark and having physical stores within the “game world.” Virtual shops selling spell books, magic knowledge, and other bodies of knowledge in e-book form would be neat — he could even have a virtual shop dedicated to microtransactions or something similar here. Though shops offering services like blacksmithing, tailoring, and material sales would require supervision.

The problem was, Victor lacked NPCs to operate the physical stores. While Lizbeth could temporarily oversee some aspects, she was already busy guiding the players. The other option was to involve the local inhabitants, but this approach came with its share of risks that Victor would prefer to avoid and there was a chance of them not being obedient to him and jeopardizing his progress.

As an alternative, he contemplated the idea of purchasing slaves to fill these roles. Yes, slavery existed in this world. Magi were prohibited from conducting experiments on ordinary people since, after all, the root of their existence came from the common people. Without them, Magi wouldn’t have existed. Still, slaves had become a common choice for such purposes, providing the subjects Magi needed to further their knowledge.

While slaves were a potential solution, Victor was keenly aware of the ethical dilemmas and complexities that came with such a decision. However, with enough nonsense justification from the game’s setting, he should be able to smooth things out with the players. Only that procuring slaves would be next to impossible in this place, so Victor put this plan on the back burner. 

With that, Victor finished reviewing the day’s progress and setting up plans for the future. Finding that it had been so long since he played any game, he started a round of Crusader Kings III on the holographic screen. The experience was awkward because he had to use a holographic keyboard and touchpad instead of the usual physical ones.

***

The players began logging in the instant they were able to — at precisely six in the morning.

Prior to accepting the new batch of players for the day, Victor summoned the participants from the first batch to his office. Since yesterday, he had already designated two of them “leader” positions, and now he intended to further expand and institutionalize this structure by introducing more groups and setting up a more permanent system under a merit points-based salary framework. Two new groups would be added today, namely the foraging and clay collector groups. As these groups grew larger, Victor planned to eventually break them into smaller teams.

His first order of business was to appoint MikeIsHandsome1000x as the leader of the clay collector group. For the foraging group, Prominence was chosen to take on the leadership role. He was the player with the most progress in terms of practicing the meditation technique and was expected to be the first one to be promoted to the first-stage Initiate Attunement.

In contrast to the simpler and safer task of the clay collector group, the foraging group’s responsibilities revolved around collecting wild vegetables, fruits, and other food ingredients in the vicinity of the academy. While the academy’s protective barriers extended some distance into the forest, there was an inherent risk involved in venturing at the edge of these safeguards. However, it was a calculated risk that needed to be taken, lest their diet consisted solely of meat.

To help these players differentiate edible plants from poisonous ones, Victor attached a virtual guide to the mission that contained a list of safe plants he had taken from a book in this academy. If they were to find anything that wasn’t listed, they could always ask him or Lizbeth any time or whenever available.

“For the personnel of the two new groups,” Victor began, addressing the appointed leaders, “you have the option to either recruit new members from today’s batch or select individuals from the existing groups. In total, you can add up to five members each, aside from yourselves. Naturally, you can expand the scope of the group on each subsequent day appropriately.” He ensured that the leaders had some authority in deciding this; Victor was utterly annoyed by micromanagement.

“Esteemed Headmaster, why not consider appointing me as the leader of a hunting group instead? SuperNova could perhaps take charge of the foraging group,” Prominence suggested with a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice, though he dared not show it outwardly.

Victor raised an eyebrow at the proposal. “No, it’s far too soon for you to engage in any sort of combat. Are you even aware of the true might of magical beasts? They are extraordinary life forms. While you might encounter common creatures, the dangers of this forest exceed your expectations.”

Victor understood well that gamers generally didn’t enjoy chores or manual labor. They played games as a form of relaxation and to escape the drudgery of daily life. However, he couldn’t do much at this stage, and it wasn’t like they would be in this position for long, either. At most, it’d be until they attained first-stage Initiate Attunement acolyte status and could unleash spells to defend themselves out there — a milestone achievable in two to three weeks, depending on their aptitudes.

Besides, the academy lacked an adequate arsenal of weaponry, and Victor wasn’t about to send players into perilous situations armed only with iron axes meant for chopping wood. That would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths.

In any case, all the essential information, complete with an attached map, were already in the mission description, so there wasn’t much for him to explain. For example, there was no need to show the clay collector group the stream; they had everything they’d need to find it on their own. This also meant they would be tasked with collecting water. On the other hand, the foraging group didn’t have a specific location since foraging could be done almost anywhere.

“Sir Astralium… May I inquire about my role?” SuperNova’s voice held a hint of curiosity. With all the others receiving leadership positions, it was only natural for him to assume he’d get one as well.

Unfortunately, leadership roles were limited. Victor had considered forming a construction group to initiate the building of facilities around the academy, but he already had one person in mind to take this role tomorrow once he completed the two-day compulsory class. The only other vacant position he could think of was…

“Well, there is a need for someone to take on the role of the warehouse clerk,” Victor slowly stated. “Would you be interested in assuming that responsibility?”

Storm snickered. “Pfft. That fits your promotion from a college student—” Victor snapped his fingers. “A-Agh! M-My lungs! It’s burning!” Storm clutched his chest, writhing on the ground in discomfort.

It had been a few days since he last disciplined these players of his, so Victor had cast some simple elemental manipulation spell to punish him. 

But in consideration of SuperNova’s opinion, Victor added, “Of course, you can decline—”

“No! I’ll gladly take on the role, Headmaster!” SuperNova showed eagerness for this job; perhaps he felt unsuited for exploration. 

“Very well. In terms of compensation, the wage will be ten merit points per hour. However, you’re welcome to use your free time to participate in missions with the other groups. As for the rest of you, you’ll receive an additional twenty merit points per day.”

“Headmaster, we don’t need any remuneration for this responsibility.”

“Yeah! Having the opportunity to lead our own groups is the best kind of reward in itself.”

“Seconded.”

“…”

It was obvious they were trying their hardest to curry favor and boost whatever “favorability” or “amity” or whichever other bullshit stat Victor had made up. Even Storm, who was still grappling with the remnants of the magic spell, managed to squeeze out a bootlicking remark. It somehow made Victor feel ashamed of himself for tricking these people. Nevertheless, Victor wasn’t concerned with formalities and insisted on providing them with compensation, much to the players’ fake reluctance.

Once the magic spell’s torment had finally released Storm from its grip, he ventured to ask, “Esteemed Headmaster, can I ask you something?”

“Speak,” Victor replied.

“Can I stay longer in the game? I feel like there’s so much to do within the academy… Like, planning things out and such.”

Victor creased his eyebrows. Asking the game’s developer was not enough, so now he sought direct answers from an NPC within the game itself! It appeared that this guy needed some discipline.

“Game? You think this is a game? That I’m a funny clown sent here for your amusement?” Victor’s voice boomed, causing Storm to flinch in surprise. 

“In the future, when you have enough strength, I might consider letting you stay awake for the night. If there’s nothing else, off you go.” Without allowing Storm the opportunity to say a single word more, Victor snapped his fingers. A powerful gust of wind surged forth, forcefully flinging open the double doors and propelling the players out of the room. With another elegant flick of his hand, the heavy doors swiftly swung shut behind them, leaving them standing bewildered in the corridor.

This little trick for kicking players never got old.