Woke Up to Find the Game I Made Came True

Ye Bai stepped into the 'Finance Department'—though, to be precise, it was currently just an office with a desk, stacks of paper, and a safe.

After upgrading the territory to town level, a more complex financial system had emerged. As the lord, Ye Bai needed to prepare the monthly wages for the territory within seven days of the upgrade and deposit them into the safe in this room. At the appointed time, the system would automatically distribute the wages to the villagers based on their respective jobs.

From this perspective, the system remained highly 'game-like.' Compared to the real-world challenges of managing a medieval territory, all financial matters were simplified and transparent. As the lord, Ye Bai only needed to conveniently set wages and taxes, and everything would be handled automatically—no room for embezzlement or corruption.

If one had to rationalize this system, it could be attributed to the workings of the Tree of Creation… probably.

After all, the Tree of Creation already handled the territory’s technology and policies, so adding a banking system wasn’t much of a stretch.

*Creak—*

Ye Bai sat at the office desk, and a new financial interface appeared before her, divided into two main sections: expenditures and income.

Expenditures consisted of three categories: wages, raw materials, and miscellaneous costs.

These were simplified accounting entries. The primary adjustment Ye Bai needed to make was to wage tiers. Each profession in the territory had a clear system-evaluated value based on industry and skill level, and the lord could adjust their wage tier from five available levels.

For non-military units, different wage tiers affected work efficiency and output levels as follows:

- Lowest (60%)

- Lower (80%)

- Standard (100%)

- Higher (120%)

- Highest (140%)

The territory provided basic survival necessities—water and food—to all residents, while working citizens received wages they could use to purchase entertainment and luxury goods.

Additionally, wages varied between ordinary workers, professionals, and military units. Due to the disparity in skill levels, the latter two earned significantly more.

Ordinary non-professionals in the territory earned between 30 to 50 copper coins per month, depending on their industry.

The standard wage for the lord’s personal guard was 3 silver coins per month. However, since they were effectively Ye Bai’s private soldiers, she could adjust their pay at her discretion—though she generally kept it around that amount.

As for the wages of basic military units, they had already been paid last month at 1 silver coin per soldier.

Military wages were more complex than those of other professions. Historically, maintaining an army was the most expensive endeavor. For soldiers at Level 20 and above, their base wage increased by 1 silver coin every five levels, capping at 5 silver coins. Additional expenses included combat merits, battle rewards, injury compensations, and more—all extra financial burdens. Fortunately, the system handled the calculations, so Ye Bai only needed to pay the monthly bill.

And this was just for Level 20 to 40 basic military units. Once the territory reached Level 40 and unlocked advanced military technology, soldiers could be promoted to advanced units, each earning a base wage of 10 silver coins. From there, their wage increased by 10 silver coins every five levels, maxing out at 50 silver coins.

As for elite units at Level 60, their base wage was 1 gold coin, with no further increases based on level. Level 60 represented the peak of combat potential for ordinary NPCs in the territory—only those with special combat talents could progress beyond it.

At this thought, Ye Bai finally remembered Felix, whom she had left at the blacksmith’s forge.

He was a textbook example of a combat talent—though his personal quest was a hassle. Still, since Ye Bai had already completed Dilina’s personal quest, she now had room to take on Felix’s. It wouldn’t hurt to look into it.

Moreover, due to her busy schedule, she hadn’t yet explored the 'blind boxes'—the special talents among the recent wave of refugees. She’d check them out after finishing the financial adjustments.

Ye Bai wasn’t short on funds. After her last trade with the traveling merchant, she had 10 gold, 23 silver, and 55 copper coins left. She’d set aside 1 gold coin in the Merchant Guild for trade adjustments, then proceeded to defeat three bosses and six players, netting an additional 30 gold and 45 silver coins. Currently, she had a total of 39 gold, 68 silver, and 55 copper coins on hand.

Thanks to the large-scale construction projects, there were no unemployed residents in White Night Town. The territory currently had 142 ordinary workers outside of the professionals. The system quickly calculated that their standard monthly wages would amount to 51 silver and 23 copper coins.

Naturally, the wealthy lord set their wages to the highest tier—effectively doubling their pay to just over 1 gold coin. This boosted their work efficiency by 140%, not only accelerating production but also increasing skill proficiency gains, which would lead to faster professional advancements.

Speaking of professional workers, their wages were significantly higher than those of ordinary laborers.

The wages of entry-level professionals were determined by the system based on skill proficiency and output. The base wage for three proficiency levels ranged from 1 to 3 silver coins. Like military units, they received bonuses for extra output beyond assigned tasks.

Currently, Ye Bai’s territory had six professionals: Lucy the herbalist, Calvin the tailor, Vider the blacksmith, Shawn the hunter—all locally trained—and Carrie, an advanced professional. Their combined wages totaled over 5 silver coins, with Lucy, who had reached the second proficiency tier in herbalism, earning the highest pay.

Once ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‍they became intermediate professionals, their base wages would resemble those of advanced military units, ranging from 10 to 30 silver coins. Advanced professionals, meanwhile, would earn between 50 to 80 silver coins per month.

Carrie, the territory’s sole advanced professional, was finally eligible for her first wage payment now that the territory had upgraded to town level—60 silver coins.

Ye Bai generously set all five professionals to the highest wage tier as compensation for their previous hard work.

This brought the total wages for professionals to over 1 gold coin.

Finally, Ye Bai’s gaze landed on the territory’s one-of-a-kind **[Master Tailor]**, Dilina.

**Wage:** 1 gold coin, 35% profit share from the tailor shop (locked).

This was the contract Ye Bai had signed with Dilina after her promotion. Ye Bai exhaled in relief—completing a personal quest really made a difference.

If she had to pay the master tailor double wages, even a wealthy lord like her would feel the pinch.

Normally, a master-level professional, being at the pinnacle of their craft, would hold a respected position even within a major city. Simply retaining one in a territory would cost between 5 to 10 gold coins as a base fee, and even a lord would have to pay extra for their services.

Now, Dilina was only asking for a monthly wage of 1 gold coin and a 35% profit share, which significantly alleviated Ye Bai’s financial burden.

Of course, once White Night Town developed into White Night City and acquired more equipment blueprints for production, Dilina’s share would become substantial—far exceeding the standard 5 to 10 gold coins per month. At this point, she was essentially making a long-term investment in Ye Bai.

After adjustments, Ye Bai’s total wage expenses for the first month came to 5 gold coins, 24 silver, and 23 copper.

As for the other two major expenditures, raw materials were mostly self-sufficient within the territory, with only special imports like bat wings for night attire or knotwood for energy crossbows requiring external purchases. Ye Bai allocated a maximum of 2 gold coins for such expenses, which was more than enough.

The remaining costs were primarily for maintaining operational buildings and public facilities, such as the bathhouse and the general knowledge school. Since the territory supplied most of the materials, the total monthly expenses came to less than 50 silver coins.

**[Confirm application of the current financial expenditure plan? Please ensure sufficient funds are placed in the safe.]**

With this prompt, the safe beside Ye Bai clicked open automatically.

Following the instructions, Ye Bai took out 10 gold coins from her person and placed them inside.

As if verifying the weight, the safe door slowly closed on its own after she withdrew her hand.

**[Current financial plan applied.]**

Once the financial plan was implemented, it couldn’t be altered until the next salary disbursement—any changes would have to wait until the following month.

Ye Bai then opened the income page, which was divided into three main categories: taxes, operational income, and trade revenue.

Taxes were collected based on population and were somewhat tied to residential housing.

Ye Bai had always been an undeniably good lord when it came to taxes, imposing only the minimum rate. Now, at Level 4, all residents lived in spacious courtyards, paying a mere 8 copper coins per person per month. The total tax revenue from the entire town amounted to just 17 silver and 44 copper.

However, once nobles began visiting—whether renting or purchasing the countryside villas maintained in the territory—they would contribute at least 5 to 10 silver coins per month in rent or property taxes.

Excluding taxes, the territory’s income mainly came from operational and trade revenues.

Operational income stemmed from local businesses like the theater, craft shops, furniture factory, textile workshops, and taverns.

Trade revenue, on the other hand, was generated through merchant guilds selling goods to other territories. With two high-end tailor shops in place, trade was expected to become White Night Town’s financial backbone.

Ye Bai estimated that, under current conditions, the territory’s income by the next fiscal month would recover most of the expenditures.

The trade revenue column was still empty, as White Night Town had only been upgraded a day ago, and no external merchant caravans had arrived yet.

Meanwhile, the operational income showed only a few dozen copper coins from the tavern, with the number ticking up incrementally…

Glancing out the window, Ye Bai noticed the sun hadn’t even set, yet villagers were already knocking off work to drink at the tavern.

*Outrageous—even the lord hasn’t clocked out yet!*

Feeling unfairly treated, Ye Bai immediately implemented a 20% overtime policy, set to expire in three days—just in time for the general knowledge school’s completion. By then, residents would finish their daytime work, have dinner, and head straight to night classes. *Perfect!*

With that settled, Ye Bai left the "Finance Department," passing the adjacent "Security Department" and "Foreign Affairs Department."

Neither required much management at the moment. Ye Bai had appointed her personal guard, Blaze, as the territory’s "Security Captain," while Carrie handled diplomatic matters in her absence. However, since no other lords had reached the stage of formal diplomacy, such situations rarely arose.

With a somewhat lonely heart, Ye Bai exited the mayor’s office and headed to the industrial district’s blacksmith shop to find Felix, whom she had nearly forgotten.

"Greetings, Lord!"

"Good day, Lord!"

Acknowledging the villagers’ salutations, Ye Bai arrived at the blacksmith shop’s entrance.

Before she could step inside, the door suddenly swung open, revealing Vider—his muscles honed from forging—carrying an unconscious red-haired youth on his back, his face etched with urgency.

Spotting Ye Bai at the door, Vider froze.

"Lord, what brings you here?"

"What happened to him?" Ye Bai quickly recognized the boy as Felix, the very person she had come to find, thanks to his striking hair color.

"Ah!" Vider snapped to attention. "Felix was watching the furnace when he suddenly collapsed—almost fell right into the flames! I’m taking him to the herbalist’s hut to see Pharmacist Lucy."

Ye Bai cast an **[Insight]** on Felix, then nodded thoughtfully. "I’ll go with you."