Chapter 22 - Black City(2)

House 45, Zone BC 12.

Black City was divided into 4 zones: A, BC, DE and F. In each zone there were different standard of living. You could essentially think of it as F-zone, the slums and A zone for the rich billionaires and CEOS. The infrastructure of the city was circularly built and in the very center of the city was where Chu Yi was currently standing.

Following blindly alongside the horde of players, he finally happened upon the train center in the middle of the city. A modern, sleek shuttle waiting patiently to carry each passenger to their diffrent zone.

Boarding the train and riding through the different district's, the scenes Chu Yi saw reminded him of a dystopian era.

The F-Zone was truly desolate and glum. The players only had dirty, limp tents to protect themselves from the biting winds. The people were numb and lifeless and even sitting here, enclosed, he could almost smell the scent musk and filth from the dirt and waste strewn haphazardly around the zone. Occasionally shrill screams and the scuffle of brawling fighters would echo out. The DE-zone wasn't much of an improvement, the residents were only given tiny cots to live in and the prostitutes sending flirtatious grins to the hurrying passengers spoke words to the desolation of the players.

The BC-Zone on the other had was a very steep upgrade,with large apartments and hotels evident on the streets. The people here didnt have the numb, disparaging look on their faces.

His room was in a large apartment complex at the edge of the district, situated in a narrow corner. Two bedrooms, a kitchen and a tiny bathroom.

Chu Yi looked at it in distaste. Even though it was miles apart from the slums, it still wasn't much to speak of. In the real world, Chu Yi was a world renowned neurologist and had spent most of his life in luxury.

Without much else to do, Chu Yi made a beeline for the bedroom. He was truly tired from the two extras days he had spent with the conductor. The ruthless man had forced him to repeat over and over again his mistakes until finally he was begging heedlessly for him to be lenient. It was definitely the most disgraceful stain in his life but right now he couldn't be bothered to think of revenge.

Rap. Rap. Rap

Not even an hour later Chu Yi was unhappily woken up by a knock, even ignoring it in favor of falling back asleep didn't work as the person on the other side was relentless. With an annoyed groan, he picked himself up off the bed.

"Hello, My name is Wang Bao and I-

There was no need to go on because with an angry sneer, Chu Yi slammed the door shut, leaving a speechless Wang Bao on the other side.

But it wasn't long before the knocking began again, Chu Yi on the other hand ignored and made for the bathroom

A shower and 30 minutes later, Chu Yi finally opened the door for the poor man. The man on the other side seemed to have gotten the message loud and clear and didn't bother with pesky introduction.

"Here to deliver the general rules of the Nightmare Shuttle."

He continued only after Chu Yi gave a nod of Acknowledgement.

" The instances are divided into different levels, the one you've just passed is a C-Level instance with a Death Rating. "

At this, the guide seemed to look at Chu Yi with some admiration.

"Everybody is given 2 weeks to rest after each instance in the beginning, as you go up to higher levels, the time to rest gets longer. Afterwards you are given 30 minutes to get to the center to enter your door. You're also given a clue to the next instance which should be right about now-"

Right on time, a large wooden box appeared at the foot of the door and Wang Bao handed it to him with a smile.

"You must have been to the Tower so I won't preach about that, but I will advice you to join a organization as quickly as possible. The system items are mostly unattainable for ordinary people."

"Killing is forbidden outside the door, otherwise you'll be sent to the chambers after three warnings. Don't look down at the death percentage that the system has shown you. There's only two ways to leave the chambers , dead or half crazy. "

Chu Yi raised a brow faintly, only sent to the chambers after three warnings, isn't that basically three free passes to kill?

The System was indeed insidious.

Wang Bao had some fear on his face as he spoke about the chambers, reminiscing about the horrors he'd witnessed.

"Contribution Points are something you'll learn about after you become an official player. For now, you only have access to the Tower"

"The first instance is individual but the rest of the instance you can form teams with special items and go through the instance together. The only downside is that only one person will get the reward."

"Only certain things can be brought out of the instance and the system will have to be the judge of that.".

Thinking about the conditions given by the recruiters at the center, it was obviously filled with malicious intent. What senior will take you through the instance , this was more like them taking you through the instance and you forfeiting your life Theyll take your awards leaving you helpless and weak with no choice but to continue relying on the seniors until you have nothing left to give and eventually dying a gruesome death.

This was a vicous cycle designed to trick the naive newcomers.

"Your rating at then of the instance will decide your zone, I'm guessing you've seen the conditions of the F-Zone right?, those are people who've either had continuously bad performance or barely have any coins in their possesion and can't afford the basic necessity and healing. "

"Although the system provides you with food, it's barely palatable and I'd suggest you just purchase it from the stores around for about 1 coin each week."

"Oh and it's important to know that although residents from lower zones cant go to higher zones, residents from higher zones can go lower zones. So you cant go to Zone A, but you can travel to all the other zones."

"Finally unless you're truly desperate, I'd suggest you not to go 6th floor of the tower. Only people waiting pathetically for death, indulged in flesh and wine stay there."

There was biting contempt in his voice was he spoke, hands waving lightly in tangible disgust.

There was not much after that and Wang Bao only left a mild warning not to offend anybody wearing a purple turban as well as brochure of all the reliable organizations in the city before scurrying away like a fat rat to meet other newcomers. Apparently this was a task issued by the system to all veterans in exchange for 4 or 5 coins monthly.

Mosquito meat was still meat at the end of the day.

Annoyed Chu Yi turned away, throwing the already crumpled brochure into the bin. This was going to be troublesome.

ARF! ARF!

With a sudden loud bark, Chu Yi was snapped back to the present

Only then did he remember the system props that had been placed in his room. Nothing had changed with the playing cards and the wooden doll still carried with it a trace of blood.

Ankiron had somehow been reduced to the size of a palm, his three heads merging into one yet he still retained his golden fur. Now it just looked like a little lion and it stared happily at Chu Yi with wet golden orbs.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chu Yi caught sight of a small slip of paper that had fallen onto the floor.

Right .

The slip of paper he had found under the mattress.

Without much thought, Chu Yi unfurled the crumpled paper carelessly.

'Ruan Quiaxi'

Chu Yi's hands paused, instinctively tracing those words tenderly with his fingertips. He didn't have to ponder, somehow he knew.

This was the conductor' name.

Yet, It was as if something had snapped in him. A line that had been pulling him back breaking,

All the illogical actions and emotions that he had been carrying out on the train came flooding at him. Chu Yi felt as if he had been in a long trance and it was only now that he had woken up that he realized.

With a curse, Chu Yi was mortified by his own actions. He had fucking-

He could almost hear the low chuckle of Ruan Quiaxi in his ears, as if mocking him for his naivete.

Chu Yi sat their still for what seemed like hours and when he finally moved, it was to take the slip of paper and burn it silently on the stove.

There was no emotion on his heave and he acted as if he wasn't the one going through a grand upheavel a minute ago.

What that man had done to him, he was going to find out, one way or another.

With heavy footsteps, he grabbed the heavy box sitting to the side and opened it. Inside there was just a single piece of paper resting beside a tiny plush doll.

[Dollhouse]