"Hunter, one point every three days."
Su Mu lay in a pile of straw. The air was thick with the stench of sweat and unwashed feet, punctuated by the sounds of grinding teeth and heavy snoring. Over a dozen people were crammed into the dilapidated ancestral shrine, the closest barely a step away. It was a notoriously wretched environment, but because Su Mu held onto hope, he didn't find it unbearable.
Three days had passed since he sold the wild hare, and the Identity Points on his interface had finally jumped from 11 to 12!
Su Mu was highly satisfied with the change. He thought, "I'm still a refugee, but a Hunter has a slightly higher status than a Woodcutter. That's why the Points, which originally took five days to increase by one, now only take three days.
"Identity is divided into two parts. One is identity in the traditional sense—refugee, commoner, or official. The other part could perhaps be called a profession. Even among refugees, a Hunter is a better profession than a Woodcutter.
"It makes sense. Even in my past life, two people might both be officials, but the status of a director in a powerful department and one in a weak department couldn't be mentioned in the same breath."
Hunting required more skill than chopping wood. Perhaps that was why a Hunter yielded more Identity Points than a Woodcutter.
"I currently have 12 Points. I'm 88 Points away from 100. At a rate of one point every three days, it will take 264 days," Su Mu calculated, his brow furrowing slightly.
Though it was much shorter than his original estimate of 500 days, over 200 days—nearly a year—was still somewhat hard to accept.
"Are there any professions available to a refugee that are better than a Hunter?" he wondered.
The professions available to refugees were extremely limited. Without a household register, there were many jobs he simply couldn't do. Among the limited options, Hunter was already top-tier. Hunting was skilled labor that earned a decent income and provided meat to eat. For an ordinary person, it was a very good livelihood; the only thing comparable was probably being a butcher. However, he couldn't become a butcher without a household register.
He thought, "I wonder if joining a gang is considered better than hunting."
He immediately shook his head. He had no desire to act like Zhang Chong and his ilk, riding roughshod over the lowest class of commoners. Su Mu fancied himself a man with some ambition; if he left such a stain on his life record, washing it clean in the future would be difficult. Besides, he genuinely looked down on these gangs. If they were truly capable, they would rob the rich to help the poor. What kind of skill was it to only bully Hunters and Woodcutters?
"Rob the rich to help the poor?" Su Mu's heart stirred slightly. He wondered, "Would a lone thief be considered a better profession than a Hunter?
"Never mind. With my beginner-level saber skills, wanting to be a lone thief will probably just result in me dying before my first mission even begins."
Su Mu quickly dismissed the thought; he couldn't overestimate his own abilities.
"So many days have passed. No one should be paying attention to the deaths of Feng Debao and the other two anymore," Su Mu thought to himself. "If my identity changes from refugee to commoner, combined with the Hunter profession, my Points should increase even faster."
After mulling it over for a while, he made up his mind. Drowsiness washed over him, and he soon drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, Su Mu got up, quickly washed his face, and headed toward the Government Office of the South City Bureau.
Wuling City was massive. Beyond the Inner City, there were four Outer Cities—East, West, South, and North—and each Outer City was further divided into numerous squares. South City, where Su Mu currently lived, consisted of six squares and was the most chaotic of Wuling City's four Outer Cities.
The City Lord's Government Office of Wuling City was naturally located in the Inner City, but for ease of administration, each of the four Outer Cities also had its own Government Office. Everything concerning South City was handled by the South City Government Office.
Whether it was registering refugees, investigating crimes, or catching thieves—as long as it happened in South City, the South City Bureau was in charge.
According to Su Mu's understanding, Wuling City was the equivalent of a modern municipality; the Government Office in the Inner City was the municipal government, while the South City Bureau functioned as a district government. Of course, the two worlds were completely different, so he couldn't draw a direct equivalence. However, to Su Mu, the exact structure of this world's government didn't matter. He only needed to know where to change his household registration.
"Refugee registration, 700 cents."
Inside the South City Bureau, Su Mu found the clerk handling the registration procedures.
The clerk spoke without even looking up. "As long as you aren't wanted by the Government Office, you can register by paying the fee. A word of warning: this price is only valid if we can track down your original registration. If we can't find it, we can still process it, but the price will be much higher."
Refugees were people forced into exile due to disasters in their hometowns. They merely lacked a household register for Wuling City; it didn't mean they had no register elsewhere. Wuling City accepted refugees, not undocumented individuals. It was a perfectly reasonable requirement.
Su Mu possessed the memories of his predecessor and knew the original owner had a clean background. However, he wasn't entirely sure if Wuling City could actually track down his original registration.
"Name and place of origin?" the clerk asked.
"Su Mu, originally from Pingyang, Hedong," Su Mu replied, relying on his predecessor's memories.
The clerk turned and walked into the back room. Through the doorway, rows of bookshelves were faintly visible. While Su Mu waited in nervous anticipation, the clerk leisurely strolled back and sat down at his desk again.
"I found it. Pay up first," the clerk said, repeating himself. "Refugee registration, 700 cents."
"Isn't it 500 cents?" Su Mu asked meekly.
The clerk looked up, staring at him in silence.
Feeling rather helpless, Su Mu counted out 700 three-zhu coins and handed them over.
His earnings from several months of chopping wood, combined with the loot from Feng Debao's trio and the money he had made from hunting over the past few days, only left him with 712 cents. He had primarily been eating too lavishly lately; otherwise, he would have had a few dozen extra cents.
He never imagined that the price of a household register would be hiked up on the spot. The original 500 cents had surged to 700 cents. He had barely scraped by with enough money on him.
"Su Mu, age sixteen, native of Pingyang County, Hedong Commandery. Registered under Guangfu Square, South City of Wuling."
Although the clerk was rather ruthless when demanding money, he was efficient. He quickly completed the household registration and handed Su Mu a certificate.
With this "ID card," Su Mu was officially a resident of Wuling City. He was no longer an undocumented refugee.
"As per regulation, each registered refugee is allocated one acre of wasteland."
Su Mu was suddenly stopped by the clerk just as he was holding his registration certificate, getting ready to leave.
"You are required to reclaim the land and pay your taxes on time."
Su Mu was taken aback, wondering if such a thing actually existed.
"Sir, is it possible to decline the land?" Su Mu hurriedly asked. "Or could I pay the taxes with silver coins instead?"
Being a farmer didn't align with his plans at all, and he honestly had no idea how to till the earth.
"You must take the land, and it must be reclaimed. Since you have money, you can hire someone to cultivate it for you. As for the taxes, both grain and silver coins are acceptable," the clerk patiently explained now that he had taken the money.
No one had grain to spare. Large as Wuling City was, it did not support idlers. Once refugees were registered, they were obligated to help the city reclaim wasteland, grow crops, and pay taxes. Otherwise, why would Wuling City accept them in the first place?
"Now, about these plots of wasteland," the clerk said leisurely. "Some are close to the city, while others are far away. Some are easy to reclaim, while others are difficult. And of course, some have fertile soil, while others are barren."
Su Mu understood immediately. Though everyone received a single acre of wasteland, the location made all the difference. The clerk's meaning was crystal clear: if he wanted a good plot of land...
He had to pay extra!
Patting his empty pocket, Su Mu politely declined the clerk's kind offer.
"Suit yourself. Go out and turn right to collect the land deed."
The clerk didn't care either way; he had already pocketed a 200-cent profit regardless.
Wuling City, Guangfu Square.
A lackey leaned in and whispered something into Zhang Chong's ear.
Zhang Chong's face visibly darkened at a rapid pace.
"Hmph, he actually dared to use my money to register himself," Zhang Chong said coldly. "Where is the brat?"
"He went out of the city. He should be checking out the wasteland allocated to him. I asked around, and his plot is located at..." the lackey replied.
"Well done!" Zhang Chong said. "You two, come with me. We're going to collect my money!"