Looking at the system’s panel interface she could see that everyone had a good impression of her. The only two unaffected by her were Ai Lin and Feng Wu.
Ai Lin was a mystery. Zi Cheng was sure she’d never offended the other party, yet somehow her favorability rating was barely above the fifty points baseline. Feng Wu’s was even more surprising. It was lower than Ai Lin’s at an incredibly low forty points! Could it be the incident with Yifu made Feng Wu angry? It didn’t make sense when she thought about it though.
Whether it was Feng Wu or Ai Lin, both girls gave a her a strange feeling. For example, although she’d never met Ai Lin before she kept getting faint hostile stares thrown her way all throughout the journey. It was still noticeable even though Ai Lin tried to hide it.
This was part of the reason Zi Cheng chose to leave with Yifu. She hoped to move the girl’s heart by presenting herself as a selfless and dedicated friend.
Pei’s team found the exit to the forest the next day. There were only nine people in the group after Yifu and Zi Cheng left. They lined up in single file and proceeded to follow the narrow path to exit the forest.
Once they exited the forest they were able to make out a blue wall not too far in the distance. It had to be the city that was neutral. Unfortunately several villages were scattered between them and the city wall. From their vantage point they could see the villagers moving about dressed in their animal skins. They knew that if they wanted to get to the city safely they would have to avoid the hostile indigenous people, fully aware they would be attacked on sight.
It took two days, but they successfully avoided the villagers and reached the city. The time spent was unavoidable as their only mode of transportation was to walk on their own two legs. They had to go out of their way to avoid the villagers, so it naturally took them a longer period of time. Luckily no one was injured in the two days it took for them to reach the city.
The original agreement for the group was to stick together only until they reached the city, so once they pa.s.sed the city walls everyone said their farewells and went their separate ways. Sticking together as a group would not have been optimal because it meant splitting the rewards from the treasure. Therefore it was better to go solo and find the treasures individually. Everyone was keen on finding the treasure maps mentioned by the exam proctors and in pa.s.sing the test as quickly as possible.
Because the city was a neutral zone, students were safe from attacks and could therefore be at ease. Fighting with each other was forbidden so anyone caught doing so would immediately be disqualified. Any student caught harming a resident would not be disqualified but would be permanently banned from entering the city. Because of this, trouble was effectively curtailed.
Aside from resting, replenishing supplies was also a possibility as it was a lively city with a bustling commerce area. The people there were friendly, unlike the villagers in the surrounding area.
The first thing Feng Wu did after leaving the group was to look for her favorite snack - meat buns and the shops that sold them. Because she didn’t have her storage ring, she couldn’t get at the buns she previously bought. She hadn’t eaten a single meat bun for the past three days. It had been three days of hunger! It had been three days of helping the boys fight the forest monsters on an empty stomach!
Once she found a shop, Feng Wu straightaway had the shop owner wrap up two silver coins worth of meat buns. At five copper coins, it didn’t deter Feng Wu that the meat buns here were more expensive than in the real world.
The currency exchange between the real world and the virtual s.p.a.ce was the same:
1000 copper coins = 1 silver coin
100 silver coins = 1 gold coin
With 400 meat buns wrapped and stored away in her storage bag Feng Wu was a happy camper again. The image as she walked down the street was that of a girl happily stroking her storage bag with one hand while nibbling on a meat bun in the other. It was an image that couldn’t help but bring a smile to the pa.s.sersby who saw her.
Ai Lin had a very good impression of the city after exploring it for a bit. It felt fantastical, like a holographic online game. The city was a neutral zone filled with NPCs while the outside was a combat zone filled with villagers and monsters - essentially enemies.
Could the person who created the examination dimension be a fellow transmigrator from her world? This kind of ability, it was at a G.o.dlike level, too over the top!
In fact Ai Lin’s guess was not far from the truth. A thousand years ago a transmigrator had indeed entered the world and gained G.o.dlike powers. The examination s.p.a.ce was inspired from his memories of online games he played in his world. He left it in the care of the academy to be used as a testing and training s.p.a.ce for the students.
So it was that while Feng Wu was enjoying her meat buns, Ai Lin was using her memory of the story line to exploit the situation. She knew completing jobs set by NPCs would be the best way to get directional clues about the treasure. She began by making contact with NPCs on the streets. It was too bad things didn’t turn out the way she envisioned.
After leaving Feng Wu and the group behind, Ai Lin came upon a flower shop that was looking for help in obtaining a type of flower for one of their customers. After asking the shopkeeper for details Ai Lin promptly went to the mountains and picked the flower. Instead of getting the expected treasure map clues, she was given five silver coins. It was not what she wanted! She was sure the shopkeeper had a clue, but for some reason was withholding it from her. Ai Lin decided to switch tactics and just ask directly. However the response remained the same, the shopkeeper simply didn’t know anything about a treasure map. Because Ai Lin wouldn’t give up, the shopkeeper eventually became annoyed and tossed a bucket of dirty water at Ai Lin. Luckily Ai Lin was quick and avoided it in time. In irritation she turned around and left the shop. Although she wanted to keep asking, it was clear this specific shopkeeper had a bad temper. It was better to leave before she offended her more.
Ai Lin wasn’t the only one asking around about the treasure map, many others were also doing the same thing. Zi Cheng and Yifu entered the city with another team just as Ai Lin left the flower shop.