Chapter 18.1: The Holy City
“Do you need me to show anything?”
The staff’s eyes wandered around his face and asked, “Newcomer?”
Xiangnu nodded, and the staff said casually, “Just report your name. After I settle the task for you, your personal panel will be activated, and it will not be used for settlement here in the future.”
Xiang Nu exclaimed in surprise, and suddenly said, “No wonder it’s so empty here…”
The staff didn’t know if it was intentional or not, and added, “So, you just asked me if there was anyone around me. I was very puzzled.”
Xiangnu’s face turned pale and remained silent.
The staff had already called up Xiangnu’s name and information. After seeing the copy that Xiangnu had cleared, there was a strange look in his eyes. He asked with a subtle expression, “Did you come out of the copy of ‘Sent to Prison’?”
Xiangnu responded lightly, and the staff said, “Your fate is quite big that you escaped from there, but your exploration dungeon progress is 0 so there is no reward.”
Xiang Nu pursed his lower lip slightly and reached into his backpack to touch the cover of the notebook. He asked, “I have made some progress in my exploration. I found a notebook that records the clues of the copy, but I have a problem with my eyes. So I couldn’t see what was written on it, but I took the notebook out.”
The staff member didn’t speak. After a long while, he said, “Then give me the notebook, and I will help you import the notebook into the system record and record your grades for you.”
Xiangnu nodded, and hesitated, “Well, is this really the task settlement window? You’re not pretending and lying to me, are you?”
The staff said angrily, “I’m just like you, why do I need to lie? If I take one bite, who can save you?”
Xiangnu was not annoyed, and asked in a soft voice, “Then after I import the notebook into the system log, can I no longer view the contents?”
The staff replied, “That won’t happen, it will appear in your personal log, and you can check it in your personal panel.”
The staff looked at Xiangnu, and it was not difficult to find the physical defects of Xiangnu so he reminded him with a friendly att.i.tude, “You reach out to the table. There is a place on the table on your left that has a different touch than the table next to you. Just put the notebook on it.”
Xiang Nu carefully followed his instructions and placed the notebook on the ice-like screen. He couldn’t see any changes in the notebook, so Xiang Nu chatted with the staff, “Sir, I activated it. What happens when I get a personal panel? Am I going to have superpowers?”
The staff laughed coldly, “If you want superpowers, you can a.s.similate into a dungeon monster, and you can choose the type yourself. The personal panel is equivalent to a diary, and only records some of your personal information, such as the one obtained by clearing the dungeon. Life points and dungeon logs, the more advanced functions are only text messages, communication and transaction functions, but these functions can only be used in the central lobby, and the personal panel will be closed directly after entering the dungeon.”
After finishing speaking, the staff said, “Okay, you can touch the palm of your left hand, so that you can open the personal panel.”
Xiangnu touched the place where the notebook was originally placed, and there was nothing there.
Then he lightly pressed the left palm again, and a bright green panel jumped out. Although Xiangnu had an eye problem, he was unexpectedly able to ‘see’ its existence, but he was a little unlucky because he was illiterate.
Xiangnu’s hands knew Braille 1a form of written language for blind people, in which characters are represented by patterns of raised dots that are felt with the fingertips. But he had not seen it before. Although he had an impression of the shape of the font in his mind, he couldn’t connect them for a while.
He laboriously imitated the shape of the characters with his hands to identify the content above, and it took him a long time to read the words fluently.
There were three vertically arranged options on the far left of the personal panel. The following were marked with personal information, contacts, and copy logs. The functions were concise and clear.
Xiangnu first clicked on the “Personal Information” page, and the page jumped out.
[Name: Xiang slave.
Age: 20
┌a.s.set┐
Health point value: 1000000 [use] [trade]]
Xiangnu’s eyes stayed tightly on the one million figure, and his already thin lips couldn’t help but purse even tighter.
The staff member said something inexplicably, “It’s the first time I’ve seen a quester who could have so many life points in one copy, and you’re even a newcomer, so you’re considered rich.”
Xiangnu tried his best to restrain the excitement in his heart and asked calmly, “rich? Do you mean that life points are the hard currency in this city?”
The staff member was not impatient at all, of course, it could also be because he was usually too busy, so when it was rare for someone to talk nonsense to him, he was also very talkative, “Of course, you missionaries are all dying people, right? For you, the most important thing is ‘life’, apart from life, what else can be more qualified as a hard currency than it?”
Xiangnu murmured, “You are right.”
He hesitated for a moment and asked shyly, “Well, this gentleman, can I stay here for a while, I want to try the effect of life value?”
The staff member asked cautiously, “You first say what you want to try.”
Xiangnu’s slender fingers pointed at his eyes and smiled bitterly, “I want to try to cure my eyes, otherwise, I’m afraid I can’t even get out of this building in my state.”
The staff became anxious as soon as they heard it, “No, you can’t do it here! You have a physical defect, and you don’t know how long it will take to repair it. We don’t work overtime here. Taskers are automatically thrown out. You are so beautiful…”
The staff paused and said subtly, “If you are so beautiful and you are thrown out in a coma, do you know what will happen to you?”
Xiangnu’s face was pale, and the pink and tender lips seemed to have lost their blood. He asked blankly, “Then what should I do, I can’t see…”
That helpless appearance was really pitiful, and the staff suddenly felt pity, and took the opportunity to sell, “Well, I will install a map navigation function on your personal panel to ensure that you can find water sources in the holy city. This is exclusive software, except you, I haven’t sold it to anyone else…”
“Promotion?” Xiangnu asked suspiciously.
The staff laughed and said embarra.s.singly, “There is no free lunch in the world, especially in this weird world, you don’t dare to have something really free, right?”
Xiang Nu asked, “How many life points does this navigation function cost?”
The staff immediately said loudly: “Not much, just 99998!”
Xiangnu’s face was suddenly twisted, and he gritted his teeth and said, “You sell me 100,000 credit points for a function that can only be used in the central hall?! Sir, you are too crafty!!”
The staff member sighed, “The price at which we sell here is like this, and I can’t help it.”
Xiangnu was silent for a few seconds and asked, “Then do you have other functions for sale here?”
The staff member said enthusiastically, “Yes! We also sell houses here and support down payment loans~”
Xiangnu took the opportunity to ask, “By the way, where do I go after I go out here, do I have a place to stay?”
The staff said with a smile, “Yes, the missionaries who have just entered the Holy City have unified accommodation arrangements, a 30-square-meter dormitory for 12 people, no kitchen, no living room, no bathroom, and no private s.p.a.ce. Mr Xiang, since you will have to recover your eyes and you will fall into a coma after you start recovering, it is recommended that you buy a property by yourself.”
Xiangnu counted his health and asked, “How much is the average house price?”
“Conditions are not bad. It’s about 20,000 life points per house at the edge of the holy city. However, most of the house prices start from 100, which is about 2 million per house at the centre of the holy city.”
Xiangnu twitched the corners of his lips, “Stop making confusions, it’s not about 2 million, but at least 2 million, isn’t it?”
“…But since you are a newcomer, Mr Xiang, I can give you a discount, the price will drop by 500,000, you only need to pay 600,000 for the down payment, and the rest can be repaid by loan! It doesn’t matter if you can’t pay the money later, the system will only take back the house, you can go back to the dormitory to sleep~”
“What about my down payment of 600,000?” Xiangnu asked calmly.
The staff pretended to be stupid, “Huh?”
Xiangnu was speechless and asked patiently, “I mean if one day I can’t repay the loan, and the system doesn’t refund the down payment, will I be kicked out directly?”
The staff member laughed and said, “Theoretically, it should be like this. After all, the taskers are all dying people and have no human rights.”
Xiangnu opened his mouth, stopped tugging on the topic and asked, “Can I rent a house?”
“Ha! Rent a house?” The staff’s voice was full of ridicule, and the contempt was undisguised.
Xiangnu touched his palm and murmured, “There’s nothing I can do, I have to treat my eyes, and my physical fitness is not very good, let alone I am half-blind. And I don’t know how many life points it will cost, I can’t afford it.”
The staff tutted lightly and said lightly, “If it wasn’t for all the newcomers who came to me, and those newcomers were all poor and couldn’t afford anything, you would still be the first order I opened here. I’m really too lazy to talk nonsense with you. Forget it, let’s see if you are lucky and let me check it out for you.”
Xiang Nu: “…”
If Xiangnu didn’t have eye problems at this moment, he really wanted to roll his eyes at this staff member. Hee was his(staff member’s) first customer after all. Is this his att.i.tude?
At this time, the staff suddenly let out a light snort, and Xiangnu couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong?”
The staff member replied, “It’s nothing, I am just a bit surprised that someone actually rented out a house. Moreover, the environment of the house is pretty good.”
Xiangnu frowned slightly, thinking that the house might not be just as nice, because the staff member’s voice was obviously full of excitement.
The staff enthusiastically said to Xiangnu, “This house is very cost-effective. It is located in the centre of the Holy City, with all the facilities in it, and it only costs 2,000 a month!”
Xiangnu pursed his lips slightly and asked, “Can you see the landlord’s information?”
“Why are you asking this?”
“Please, just tell me.”
“I can see it, yes, but I can’t talk to you about it, because that one is a big man, and we can’t talk about her in private.”
Xiangnu said in a compromise, “Then tell me whether he is a man or a woman. If it is a woman, is it possible that she bought this house for someone else?”
The staff member looked at Xiangnu’s eyes more and more strangely, he paused, and then categorically denied “It’s a female landlord, as for your second question, it’s absolutely impossible.”
Xiangnu’s heart was relieved a little, ‘well, as long as it wasn’t Yu Su.’
It’s not that Xiang Nu wanted to break his promise, but Yu Su had too many contradictions. He(Yu Su) agreed to go through customs with him but didn’t leave with him. So it was hard for Xiang Nu not to suspect him.
Xiangnu didn’t want to contact Yu Su for the time being. As for when to contact him, at least he had to wait until he found out Yu Su’s ident.i.ty and accepted it later.
Xiangnu asked the staff about his last question, “How is the safety of the house you recommended to me?”
The staff swore and a.s.sured, “Don’t worry, as long as it’s not a dominion-level ghost coming, no one can enter your room, they don’t dare! Besides, generally, dominion-level ghosts stay in their own world, so they won’t bother to come over.”
Xiang Nu widened his eyes and asked bewilderedly, “Can the monsters in the dungeon enter the central hall?”
“Of course, but the requirements for entering ghosts are quite high. You can rest a.s.sured that fighting is prohibited in the Holy City. Even if ghosts come in, they can do nothing.”
Xiangnu became a little absent-minded after hearing that, and the staff asked urgingly, “If you think there is no problem, I will help you set up this room? As my first customer, I can also deliver you to your door!”
“Uh…” Xiangnu hesitated, “Home delivery? Are you taking me as goods?”
The staff member smirked, “Hey, it was just a metaphor, don’t take it seriously.”
Xiangnu was helpless, and said softly, “Then this is the house, please help me get the program right.”
“No problem!”
The staff moved quickly, and everything was done in a short while, while the life points in Xiangnu’s personal panel were deducted by 2,000, then there was additional property information below the a.s.set column.
[Property: No. 101, 1st Floor, Floating Sky City Apartment, Xinzhen Road. [temporary lease]]
“Xinzhen Road? Xinzhen Hospital?” Xiangnu remembered that the starting point of his last mission train was Xinzhen Hospital.
The staff did not answer his words, but said, “Don’t worry, there will never be any danger in the Holy City unless you take the initiative to find trouble.”
Xiangnu suppressed the doubts in his heart, the staff member had already jumped out of the window and said enthusiastically, “Okay, let’s go!”
Xiangnu said, “I can’t see…”
“Come on, then I’ll lead you.”
Xiang Nu silently packed his backpack, and the staff member grabbed Xiang Nu’s sleeve and showed him the way.
It just so happens that Xiangnu did not like to be intimate with others, and this distance was just right.
Xiangnu asked, “By the way, may I ask how I should address you?”
“I’m not familiar with you, why should I tell you my name?”
Xiangnu was slightly embarra.s.sed, “Sorry, I was abrupt.”
The staff member stopped talking and walked with Xiangnu. It was strange that Xiangnu didn’t hear any voices along the way, which made him a little uneasy. Isn’t this a paradise for missionaries? Why is it so quiet? Not even popular?
‘Forget it… don’t think so much anymore, as long as his eyesight is restored, he can find answers to these doubts by himself.‘
Xiangnu looked at the figure in front of him leading the way. Even if he was a monster, he was a humanoid, so that was enough.
After walking for about 20 minutes, the staff member brought Xiangnu to the place, and an elegant fragrance poured into the tip of Xiangnu’s nose, which made him relaxed and happy, and the staff’s voice was full of suppressed excitement and longing, “Here we are. It’s beautiful, and I envy you to live in a place like this.”
“Okay, I’ll give you the key, I’m leaving.”
Xiangnu stood silently at the door, ‘looking’ at the direction the staff member was leaving, picked up the key, stumblingly pointed at the door lock and inserted it in, then opened it, went in, and closed it again.
- 1a form of written language for blind people, in which characters are represented by patterns of raised dots that are felt with the fingertips