Chapter 8: The First Job

Although quite a few unlucky souls died out of the game and are wailing on the forums, there are still a few lucky ones who managed to linger through the dead of night.

The dead of night in Tana City is indeed dangerous, but it is also, in a sense, safe.

After all, if you don't stir up trouble, the probability of surviving is quite high.

Two sneaky players failed to keep up with the main group and could only wander the streets; they walked for a full six hours, nearly traversing the entirety of Tana City, which has a population of only three hundred thousand.

This city is neither big nor small, but compared to most games, it can be called magnificent and spectacular. The map of this one city is almost catching up to the total map size of some other games.

Furthermore, regarding the texture resolution, every single spot is completely different; if someone suddenly popped up and claimed it was a masterpiece of craftsmanship developed over ten years, there would be no issue with that.

The NPCs are also sufficiently intelligent, and the two players could be said to have experienced a very rich storyline.

Along the way, they saw a couple beating their child in the middle of the night, saw a lazy guard being scolded by his captain, and saw them being driven away along with the homeless people lying on the ground.

As long as you don't stir up trouble and are a bit obedient, the guards won't kill you outright.

"Did you hear that? Those two guards said they were going to the bar in the east of the city," said the player named Yunxiao excitedly. "We've been walking for so long, I'm thirsty. I already tried logging off just now; drinking water in reality is useless, you still get thirsty in the game."

"But we don't have any money, do we? We just checked offline, and if we act too rashly, we'll die out of the game." The two had just slept on the ground with the idlers for over ten minutes and had seen a lot of useful information on the forums.

For instance, you shouldn't go to the red-light district casually; if you run into muggers, it's very easy to get stabbed to death.

Another example is not to follow strange people, otherwise, you won't even know how you died.

Guards are even less to be trifled with; although NPCs aren't necessarily stronger than a player's body, they draw their blades far more often than players do. A well-trained guard dealing with about three players is like chopping vegetables, so it's no wonder there are so many people wailing on the forums.

The player named Feng Buxi pulled back Yunxiao, who wanted to take a risk. "Remember that NPC named Saina who gave those players a quest earlier? Didn't she say we had to survive in the game? I think that might be the purpose of this game's closed beta."

"Now that you mention it, that makes sense. We need to find a job." Yunxiao calmed down. The long six-hour journey had indeed made him feel a bit weary; if it weren't for the game being too realistic, as if he possessed a second life, he might have just found a place to sleep out of exhaustion.

Yes, this body truly gets fatigued.

Although his excitement returns once he goes back to the real world, the moment he enters the game, the physical exhaustion washes over him.

It's strange to say, but even though he is more tired in the game, he is more willing to stay in the game.

After all, this game is full of novelty, as if it took him to a new place for a trip, it's just a pity it isn't daytime.

"Those homeless people said earlier that if you want to find a job, it's best to wait at the train station as soon as the sky brightens. They often need people to put in some muscle to help move things, and it pays about twenty-five Tana a day."

"It's a pity we don't know how much twenty-five Tana can buy." Feng Buxi pinched his chin. "We can go to the bar to scout for information."

A bar?

And try our luck?

Yunxiao was confused. "Didn't you say we shouldn't go?"

"That depends on what we're going there for." Feng Buxi pulled Yunxiao along. "We at least need to know how many Tana a glass of beer costs; otherwise, with all the shops closed, how would we know the purchasing power of Tana?"

It sounded very feasible, and Yunxiao nodded. Although he didn't know Feng Buxi before, after a night had passed, he already trusted this guy quite a bit.

If he hadn't been held back by him at the start and had followed the others to the Nongzhuang instead, he would probably be complaining on the forums right now.

The two walked for another half hour or so until they reached Bar Street. It was different from other parts of Tana City; you could smell the scent of inferior wine from far away.

There were more people here, and many drunks were lying on the ground, but no guards went to disperse them; even when passing by, they acted as if they didn't see them. Some homeless people would pretend to be drunk and lie by the roadside.

What they didn't know was that the guards had started clearing out the homeless people preparing to sleep from Bar Street earlier, and now that their work was done, they naturally couldn't be bothered with these drunks.

"Ugh, the smell here is really strong." Bar Street wasn't exactly clean, and even if they wanted to lie down, there weren't many places to do so. The game was a bit excessively realistic in this regard. The two players pinched their noses as they walked along Bar Street.

Most of the ladies on the roadside had already found suitable candidates, but there were also some aging women who hadn't gained the favor of any patrons, and they reached out to solicit the two players.

Looking at the makeup on these women, the two players stayed far away, then followed a semi-intoxicated crowd into a bar that had no entry fee.

The bar was clamorous, and one person was shouting at the top of his lungs, spreading the gospel of the sun.

But it was too noisy, and he could only preach to the few people surrounding him.

Just as the two players found out that a glass of the most inferior beer cost ten Tana, someone approached them.

"You two, you wouldn't happen to be here to try your luck, would you? Looking at you, you don't have the money for wine." The Brown Beard sitting in the booth looked at the two players meaningfully. "I just saw people dressed like you earlier; interesting."

It seemed some players had come to bother these NPCs earlier. Feng Buxi pursed his lips and started gesturing.

There was no help for it; he could understand, but the person opposite didn't know what he was saying, so he had to rely on body language.

"Hahahaha, I thought it was something else. You want to find a job?" The Brown Beard's comprehension was quite good. "I don't know where you fellows came from, but if those guys from earlier hadn't caused trouble, I would indeed have work to hand out. It wouldn't be impossible for you to do it."

Hearing there was work, Feng Buxi and Yunxiao both had their eyes light up.

"Just help us bury those burdens; mind you, don't let the guards find out. This is your payment."

Twenty Tana; this is the official currency of Tana City, enough to buy two glasses of the most inferior beer.

Then, the Brown Beard led the two players to the back door, where three bloody corpses were lying.

Two of them were dressed just like themselves, clearly left behind after players had died.

"I hope you won't be as ignorant as them. If you do a good job, this work can be handed over to you in the future, hahahaha."

(End of chapter)