Chapter 1425: Eliminating Evil Education
"But it should be the first instance entirely composed of fairy tales." Duan Cheng said, "I'm not sure about the specific content, but I guess the instance mode might involve participating in the fairy tale stories."
"I haven't done an instance like this before," Li Kun followed up. "Even if there are fairy tale instances, they usually just borrow a setting, and the rest is similar to ordinary instances."
"Since it's a fairy tale instance and it was born in District 002, it should be based on the fairy tales from District 002," Xu Huo said. "Did you buy any fairy tale books?"
"No," Li Kun was taken aback. "That's at least ten thousand fairy tale books. When would we finish reading them all?"
"We don't need to read them all," Yan Jiayu said. "We can buy them and bring them into the instance for comparison. Just look up whichever story matches, and it's impossible for the instance story to be exactly the same as the fairy tale. Bringing the books is just for reference."
Besides, fairy tales are generally short and easy to read.
"I was overthinking it." Li Kun waved his hand. "Fairy tale instance, what else do you think we need to prepare?"
"If the entire instance is a complete fairy tale world, consider disguises," Xu Huo said. "Or bring some things that children like."
Li Kun and Duan Cheng exchanged a glance. The latter said, "Probably not necessary. Although it's a fairy tale world, players entering are legitimate. Even if we need identities, the game will rationalize it."
"Better safe than sorry." Xu Huo paused. "What do you think?"
"I have a custom-made item to pick up. It'll take about half a day." Duan Cheng hesitated. "It's not that urgent."
"Then let's set off in the evening," Li Kun said. "We also need to stock up on daily necessities."
After a brief discussion, they settled on seven o'clock in the evening.
Xu Huo's purchases were on Two-Fifths Avenue. He and Yan Jiayu just needed to switch streets after coming out, while Duan Cheng and Li Kun took a car further away.
"That Duan Cheng isn't being honest," Yan Jiayu said, watching the car disappear at the end of the street. "He probably knows something about the instance."
Xu Huo had noticed it too, but it was normal. "Just be careful."
Yan Jiayu nodded, and the two entered a children's store.
Yan Jiayu had a knack for choosing toys that kids liked, finding all sorts of bizarre things. Xu Huo only bought some candy and dolls that children enjoyed.
Seeing he didn't buy much, Yan Jiayu said, "You can buy more if you want. My luggage compartment is big; I can store it for you."
Xu Huo didn't hold back. When preparing water and food later, he bought three times the usual amount, and at her strong recommendation, he got a sunflower-themed protective suit, while she picked out a Tyrannosaurus Rex costume.
Besides that, Yan Jiayu bought plenty of small tools, like irritant spray, super glue, and a stun gun.
"As long as you can get close to someone, these little tools are sometimes more useful than items," she said.
Xu Huo agreed. When strength and speed are advantageous, most tools become cumbersome.
After preparing the fairy tale books, the two went to a comprehensive message collection terminal near Five-Fifths Avenue to look up fairy tale instances.
Platinum Eye was different from other cities. Instance guides purchased by the government could be sold in tiers. For example, the first tier covered basic content, introducing the instance background and basic setup; the second tier was low-rated clearance guides; the third tier was high-rated clearance guides. The first and second tiers were relatively cheap, which was friendly to players.
After paying for the terminal's usage rights, Xu Huo searched for fairy tale-related instances and split the screen to view them with Yan Jiayu.
Since there were quite a few, they each selected five D-rank, three C-rank, and three B-rank fairy tale instances to review. Half an hour later, they had a basic understanding of District 002's fairy tale instances.
Simply put, the fairy tales in District 002's instances differed from the ones Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu were familiar with.
In District 014, whether it was positive fairy tales praising truth, goodness, and beauty, or dark fairy tales, they shared a core: they carried some warning or educational meaning. Even if subtle, fairy tales could be adapted from folklore or created by writers, all products of human thought and culture, naturally adhering to human moral concepts—the distinction between good and evil.
Evil deeds would be punished, and kindness would receive positive feedback or rewards—this was also more in line with human nature.
But District 002's fairy tales abandoned one side, tipping the balance of good and evil. Whether in the fairy tales mentioned in the instance backgrounds or the books they bought, all evil acts were forbidden.
For example, fare evasion on starships or petty theft—things that in Platinum Eye could be tolerated to the point of not even being considered crimes—would be punishable by death in these fairy tales. No matter the evil act, as long as it happened in a fairy tale, the penalty was death.
In District 002, this was called "Eliminating Evil" education. Before children's worldviews were fully formed, they were taught that the ultimate consequence of crime was death, and a cruel death at that. This would plant the idea of "no crime" in their minds. As they grew older and deepened their understanding of society, they would gradually realize that their own behavior could be more lenient.
Highly developed civilization and widespread robots could effectively curb bad tendencies before they fully understood the world, minimizing instability. It was worth noting that in many cities in District 002, including Platinum Eye, citizens had to study law and take exams.
"Isn't this treating a newborn child like an adult?" Yan Jiayu said. "No childhood—how pitiful."
Xu Huo had just checked Platinum Eye's crime rate. Clearly, most citizens accepted this kind of childhood education and benefited greatly from it.
"If that new instance is the same as the fairy tales, it might be tough to clear," Yan Jiayu said.
Fairy tale worlds do have truth, goodness, and beauty, but since they can unreasonably execute all criminals, it means the instance has a way to enforce this outcome. Either it restricts the players entering, or the law enforcement power is exceptionally strong. Forget breaking the instance—even players fighting each other might be sentenced to death.
"Look on the bright side: at least it's relatively safe in the instance." Xu Huo closed the message collection terminal. Seeing it was still early, he left the city.
District 002 did have random instances, but in a city like Platinum Eye, any random instance that appeared would be immediately monitored. So he had to go outside the city. He hadn't seen Little Pink Hat last time, so before entering the instance, he decided to try his luck.
(Chapter End)