Chapter 6: From Virtual to Reality (3)
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Sky Void City.
Strong Brother, who had been rotting away in a dark and damp prison for a full seven days due to “disrupting traditional marriage practices,” finally emerged, looking like he’d just come back from a vacation to the underworld.
Immediately, upon seeing Cold Little Rain waiting at the door, he wailed, “What the heck! This is insane! I couldn’t even get on the streaming room or forums in there! I sat there for a solid week, just me and my thoughts—felt like I was suffocating!”
But instead of the warm, heartfelt consolation he expected, Cold Little Rain gazed at him worriedly, her eyes glistening with barely held-back tears.
“What’s wrong, Little Rain? Did something happen?”
She rubbed her eyes vigorously as if trying to s*ck the tears back in.
“Strong Brother, the times have changed.
Just look at the system notifications, and you’ll know everything.”
Strong Brother’s heart sank as he opened the system interface and was hit with a wave of confusion.
He read that one notification at least five times,
and the system interface was completely greyed out, leaving him with only one feature available: the forum.
Without a doubt, the forums were flooded with posts about the same issue.
“Trash officials, let us out!”
“I’ll sue you for illegal detention! Aah!”
“Wah, my spouse and I are stuck in the game, what will happen to our kid back home?”
“I’m a rich second generation, I’ll give you ten million, just let me leave! Not enough? Fine, twenty million! Name your price!”
The sheer volume of such posts seemed never-ending.
The vast majority of people had their ties to reality, and there was no way they would willingly stay trapped in a game world forever.
Moreover, regardless of how impressive someone was in the real world,
once they entered the Asking Dao Continent, everyone started from scratch, except for a handful of veteran players. The rest were mostly fresh out of the newbie village.
They had nothing but a couple of basic gear and a few spirit coins in hand.
Especially for those paying players, who had planned to become strong quickly by spending money, only to find the system shut down and unable to log out. That severed their shortcut in a heartbeat and left them fuming.
“Strong Brother, what do we do? We might really never get out of here!”
Cold Little Rain still couldn’t accept the grim reality.
Strong Brother glanced around.
The crowd in Sky Void City was clearly thicker than usual, with many poorly dressed newcomers glancing around like lost puppies.
With the food prices skyrocketing due to increased demand, the hungry newbies were feeling the pinch, while NPCs shouted and shoved them around, completely infuriating these once-proud players from the real world.
“d*mn it! Is it a crime to want to eat? Just a few lousy buns are going to cost me five spirit coins? This is price gouging! Don’t you dare mess with me!”
The NPC chuckled, “Hey, kid, you want food? Pay up! No money? Then move it!
Keep blocking the entrance, and I’ll show you what pain feels like!”
A group of those newbies, apparently thinking they could band together and take the buns by force, were in for a rude awakening. How could modern folks stand this kind of suffering?
Out burst a pack of high-level NPCs from the shops, and they quickly pounded the newcomers into the ground.
While many onlookers found it amusing, not a single person rushed to help.
This world had changed,
spirit coins had become incredibly valuable,
and what would helping these newbies do? Each one was a nuisance with more attitude than skills—pure cannon fodder.
Although the system mass message was released to the public last night, by morning, everyone had already grasped that this may well be their new reality.
An isekai start,
and not just any, but a group transportation with the worst luck; the newcomers had almost no additional skills whatsoever.
In an instant, the veteran players who had arrived half a year early became the hottest commodity.
Even in the real world, no matter how high and mighty someone was, once they stepped into this world where strength ruled, unless they could surpass those old players in no time—which was simply impossible—
their only option was to join forces with them, becoming underlings of veteran players, thus gaining protection from the hardships they might face.
And those poor newbies who were currently getting their behinds handed to them seemed to think that banding together could solve everything.
But reality gave them a hard lesson.
They probably didn’t realize that society would also smack them around in the game world.
Here, nobody would pamper them.
The looks directed at them were filled with indifference and mockery.
They were like the dregs cast out by society, enduring these inhumane treatments.
But… they had only just entered the game seven days ago; who were they supposed to complain to?
Who could even tell them how to survive in this damned, heartless game?
“Pow! Pow! Pow!”
Moments later, those few were sprawled out beneath the NPCs’ fists, completely immobilized.
“Throw these guys aside; don’t block the entrance and waste our business time.”
“Got it, boss!”
The NPCs dragged the barely-conscious four into a secluded alley, dusting off their hands as they left.
It took a while before the four finally woke up, nursing bruises and aches, their stomachs rumbling dreadfully, all the suffering making them cry out loud.
“Wah… Mommy, I want to go home…”
“Me too! I shouldn’t have fought with my parents yesterday, and now look—I’m starving! I could just punch myself!”
“I want to go to school! I want cafeteria food… wah…”
“I just want to eat! I’ll do anything!”
In no time, the four were sobbing uncontrollably, full of regret.
And just at that moment, the mouthwatering aroma of meat buns wafted from the alley’s entrance, making their stomachs gurgle again.
“Want some buns, you handsome young lads?”
Strong Brother stood there, holding a package of oil-paper-wrapped meat buns, beaming with a smile.
Cold Little Rain followed behind him, her gaze toward the boys filled with pity and sighs.
“Of course we want some!”
“You… you don’t have any ulterior motives, do you?”
“Right! We’re the new age youth—unbending, unyielding, and neither wealth nor poverty can sway us!”
As they watched a grinning guy approach them, the boys felt a twinge of anxiety, yet they couldn’t resist the enticing aroma of the meat buns.
Strong Brother said, “You guys can work for me from now on. I may not pay you right away, but I guarantee all the meat buns you can eat. What do you say?”
One boy gulped, fighting back temptation, “What do you want us to do?”
Strong Brother grinned mysteriously, “Hand out flyers! Be the hype squad!”
The boys were like, “…”
Seriously? This world has that kind of labor too?
Fine, fine; for survival, they would accept any job, even if it meant shoveling coal or brick-laying. They had to hold their noses and just deal with it.
Who else was there to rely on? It wasn’t like their parents loved them or wanted them around.
…
P.S.: One more chapter tonight, so please vote!
