Chapter 1198: Card City
The train ride was relatively calm, and for Xu Huo, after going through so many instances, this was one of the more stable trips. Before arriving at Card City, where the Playing Card Maze was located, Liang Shuang first told him some information about the instance.
"Originally, the instance entrance was fixed, and there was a special maze sign that the people of Card City used to remind foreign players. But after the instance was upgraded, the entrance is no longer fixed. Instead, it randomly appears in five station cities."
"Zone 001 has ten stations. The station city we're getting off at is Card City. Previously, you could only enter the maze from this city. After the upgrade, four more cities were added. These cities aren't too far apart for Zone 001, but using the local high-speed aircraft, it takes at least half a day's journey."
Being able to use aircraft on a large scale in a district already meant it was quite far. Moreover, Zone 001 was more technologically advanced than Zone 011, so the aircraft would only be faster, showing just how large this district was.
"All five cities have entrances. How many people can enter the instance at once?" Xu Huo asked.
"Fifty-four," Liang Shuang said. "No matter how many people go in, they'll be eliminated before the instance starts. So there are many tickets for the Playing Card Maze, but not everyone can successfully complete the instance."
"As for the elimination method, you'll naturally find out once you enter the instance."
"What I mainly want to talk about is the entrance issue. Since you don't know where you'll enter from, you need to keep the ticket on you after arriving. That's the first identity verification. But once you're there, be careful. There are many people who steal tickets. Everyone wants to try their luck."
"Generally, entrances are related to doors, so any door in the entire city could become an entrance. Sometimes it's a mall door, sometimes it might be a bathroom door. It's hard to guard against. So we probably won't go in together."
"Also, the place you enter the maze is random. We can only agree on a meeting spot."
"But if the doors we use to enter the instance aren't far apart, there's a good chance we'll end up at the same maze entrance. It's said that the Playing Card Maze has at least fifteen entrances. If the entrances are different, we might only meet in the latter half of the maze."
"Can't communicate inside the maze?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Then how do we agree on a meeting place?"
"This is a specialty of Card City. There's a single-use item developed specifically for the maze called 'Same Gate Friend.' Two or more people wear this item. If they're at the same maze entrance, the item will alert them with a color. Depending on how close they are, the color will change."
"I suppose you can't climb over walls in this maze," Xu Huo said.
Liang Shuang sighed regretfully. "It all depends on luck. If you're at the same entrance but the connecting paths are complicated, you might not meet for a long time... In that case, we'll each go our own way. As long as the path is correct, we should meet in the latter half."
What he found troublesome didn't seem like much to Xu Huo. This was basic. If a C-rank maze instance didn't even have this level of difficulty, how could it give out generous rewards?
He had also looked up some information about the maze on Under Dimension beforehand, but most of it was from before the upgrade. After the upgrade, the gameplay rules had changed, and there was no complete instance guide.
"Besides that, is there anything else I need to pay attention to?" Xu Huo asked again.
"As for other rules you need to know, it's better to learn them once you're inside the instance," Liang Shuang paused and added, "Mainly, I'm worried the instance rules might have changed. It would be bad if I misled you."
Xu Huo understood and didn't press further about the "team formation" he mentioned, because players entering the instance would eventually be automatically divided into two teams. That was the basic gameplay of the Playing Card Maze.
The train soon arrived at Card City. As soon as they got off, the first thing that caught their eyes was the ubiquitous advertising for the Playing Card Maze—selling items related to the maze seemed to have become an industry chain. From clearance items to clothes and shoes, almost everything was branded with the Playing Card Maze's mark. A playing card with a black crown was made into a holographic advertisement and broadcast everywhere, even at the station entrance. Every incoming and outgoing guest would pass through that giant holographic playing card.
"Looks lively, doesn't it?" Liang Shuang said. "I'll take you to see something even more exaggerated later. Billboards, aircraft paint jobs, building projections—those are small potatoes. In this city, even food and condoms are made into playing card shapes or printed with playing card patterns."
Xu Huo paused his gaze. "Doesn't the maze owner have a problem with that?"
"No one has ever seen the maze owner. Whether they exist or not is another matter," Liang Shuang said with a smile. "But those industries do hold back a bit. They don't actually copy the exact maze playing card patterns. It seems Card City has even made a law about this. Only the local government or government-authorized entities can use the same series of patterns as the maze playing cards."
"Specialties are usually sold to outsiders," he added with a sly grin. "Anyway, I don't think any player would choose maze merchandise for personal items. A place where you gamble with your life—doesn't it feel awkward to use? It only fools tourists."
Xu Huo nodded slightly. He did see many gift shops with people lining up to buy, and most of them weren't players.
There were also many shops buying tickets—making ticket buying and selling look like trading used cars was probably unique to Card City.
Besides buying tickets, there were also sellers. Ordinary people set up stalls not far from the exit, with holographic projections behind them scrolling real-time ticket stock numbers. Some players did go to buy.
"Let's go," Liang Shuang lowered his voice. "These locals' ticket business—better to stay away from it."
The two found an automatic aircraft by the tracks, paid, and headed to the nearest food street.
"Since we're here, let's try the local cuisine first," Liang Shuang said. "The instance screening lasts a week. We arrived early, so we can wait a couple of days before going in."
Xu Huo had no objections and let him arrange things.
On the food street, there were also normal dishes. Not every restaurant made things into playing cards. There was a very famous vegetable here called "Flower Bud," a miraculous mutant plant. Before blooming, the bud was rich in trace elements needed by various evolvers and tasted excellent. But after blooming, the bud quickly accumulated toxins, becoming highly poisonous. Some individuals even rapidly expanded into giant man-eating single plants, a mutation within a mutation.
Because of this peculiar nature, any restaurant serving this dish required customers to sign a liability waiver before eating. Not that eating it would definitely kill you, but there had been cases where people died after eating dishes that tested non-toxic, hence this precaution.
Besides that, mature flower buds were used in many places as protective walls, including in the Playing Card Maze.
(Chapter End)