Players, Please Board the Train

After getting in the car, Xu Huo quickly learned that the short-haired woman was named Ran Ying. She was the captain of the Enforcement Department’s Seventh Brigade, and her team was on night duty today. Cheng Bing referred to those two robots; they shared the same name. They detected spatial item energy fluctuations near the main city area and, being bored, went to check it out, which was how they encountered the Rose Castle incident.

”How did you discover his identity?” Ran Ying asked with keen interest. ”Generally, fugitives who can stay long-term in a dungeon aren’t easily exposed. He even altered his appearance, making it hard to recognize, right?”

Xu Huo glanced up at the rearview mirror, looking at the female robot sitting in the back seat, and gave a detailed account of what happened in the dungeon.

”And you could still deduce he was a fugitive from that?” Ran Ying’s face was full of astonishment. ”I’ve also heard of the Rose Castle you mentioned. He Pu, a famous philanthropist, though he hasn’t been very active these past few years. So he was killed by a fugitive. Cheng Bing, notify the Ancient City District branch to see how to handle this matter?”

The female robot was silent for two seconds before quickly responding, ”Rose Castle has already been sealed off. The cause is that the police traced stolen goods from a serial murder case and are currently searching for He Pu. I have already transmitted the information from here over.”

Ran Ying nodded, then smiled and inquired about Xu Huo’s age and birthplace. Hearing he was a D-level player, she sincerely praised, ”You’re pretty good! A D-level player managing to break a dungeon. With the fake He Pu captured, the Rose Castle dungeon might not continue to exist.”

Xu Huo paused. ”After the real He Pu’s death, how will Rose Castle be handled?”

”That depends on whether he has heirs or a will. If he has neither, the castle will likely be reclaimed by government departments and then auctioned off.” Ran Ying said rather indifferently. ”But repairing that place would cost a fortune. Many places like Rose Castle end up empty and unsellable.”

When Xu Huo left, Rose Castle had indeed become old and dilapidated. This was probably Mr. Dong’s doing. Those things on the third floor definitely didn’t belong to the fake He Pu, especially those items he couldn’t take away or use, which were still left in the castle.

If the Rose Castle dungeon ceased to exist, these things would probably be auctioned off along with the castle, following Mr. Dong.He wasn’t coveting those items. He Pu’s research notes were more valuable, worth careful and repeated study. He could keep an eye out for the castle’s auction information later.

The high-tech sports car hovered over the city roads and soon reached the bustling area of the main city district. Ran Ying landed the car on a ”U”-shaped parking bay. When they got out, the parking bay teleported the sports car away, and a new car immediately took the newly vacated spot.

”I’ll take you to check in,” Ran Ying said as she walked. ”This hotel requires identification. I can get you a temporary pass.”

”Your level isn’t high, so you’re easily targeted by other players. Hotels requiring identification have very strong security. Staying here, you basically don’t need to worry about safety.”

Only after exiting the parking lot did Xu Huo see the ”Stellar Corporation” characters on the channel indicator.

He had stayed at a Stellar Corporation club at Building Block Fairytale City Station. The fees were high, but it couldn’t guarantee safety either.

The female robot answered his unspoken question. ”Generally, Stellar Corporation hotels opened in bases established by the Game Government provide personal protection for players. This cost is included in the bill. Additionally, if a player damages anything in the hotel, the bill will be directly submitted by Stellar Corporation Hotel to the Game, which will then settle it from the player’s personal account.”

”That means if you break an antique, the money will be directly deducted from your account. If the balance is insufficient, it becomes a debt. From then on, every bill that enters your account will first deduct the debt.”

In other words, before clearing the debt, players can’t hide a single cent in their personal accounts.

Of course, one could exchange for White Bills and not deposit them into the personal panel, but paper bills are inconvenient to carry and hard to preserve. Players trying to default on debts this way usually don’t live very long either.

The three of them reached the lobby. The staff member on duty came to attend to them. After Ran Ying showed her work ID, they very readily opened a room for Xu Huo.

”Can you check in without a membership card?” Xu Huo asked.

”Of course. Stellar Corporation Hotel has a cooperative relationship with the District 011 government. There are fixed room quotas every month. You just need to pay the full room rate to check in.” The staff member enthusiastically led them upstairs.

Xu Huo glanced at the electronic screen in his hand. The price for this room for one night was thirty thousand White Bills.

Ran Ying was decent enough. After seeing the room, she had the female robot pay and, putting an arm around Xu Huo’s shoulder, said, ”You’re new here. Tonight’s on me. I’ll pick you up for a meal tomorrow morning. What would you like to eat?”

The staff member looked at Xu Huo with a slightly odd expression. Xu Huo looked at Ran Ying with a slightly odd expression too. Ran Ying remained completely oblivious, staring straight at him.

In the end, the female robot dragged her away, not worried at all that Xu Huo would slip off by himself.

The words ”there’s profit to be made” were practically written on Ran Ying’s face. No sensible person would willingly walk away from that.

”Does Ran Ying often bring people here?” After they left, Xu Huo casually asked the staff member, handing over his membership card.

Seeing the membership card, the staff member’s smile became more genuine. ”There are always two or three different ones every month. Captain Ran often falls head over heels in love.”

Xu Huo said nothing more and let him leave.

After sitting down, he first checked his game panel.

[Congratulations to player Extra for successfully clearing the dungeon. Based on your performance in this dungeon, you have received the one-in-ten-thousand S-grade evaluation. You will obtain one Major Characteristic, one Special Item, one D-grade Ordinary Item, twenty portions of potions, and 20,000 White Bills.]

[Major Characteristic: The Power of Writing]

[Note 1: As a resilient extra, what does it matter if he cannot speak? He can still amplify what he sees and hears through the written word. When the extra picks up a pen, he becomes the most noticeable extra. Everyone will put down whatever they are holding and, unable to help themselves, fix their gaze on him. Duration: 5 seconds.]

[Note 2: A characteristic that sometimes contradicts the extra’s own nature, potentially offsetting the effect of blurred memories.]

[Note 3: Writing sensational gossip that everyone finds interesting yields better results.]

This characteristic seemed like a pause button that didn’t distinguish between friend and foe. Based on Note 3, the usage condition likely included ”visible,” which defined the scope of the characteristic’s effect.

If there were no limit on the number of people, this was an excellent group-attack characteristic.

Xu Huo continued to look at the item.

[The Hungry Gluttonous Snake: A theft item that can be used as a decoration. Although the Game does not advocate theft, somehow it came into existence. It’s an item everyone who uses it calls miraculous, because as long as you press its seven-inch spot, the target is guaranteed to lose a very precious item and, due to some wondrous reason, will be unable to immediately notice it.]