Chapter 1620: The Price Varies from Person to Person
As player levels increase, the personal wealth they accumulate may grow larger and larger. Some things they want to carry with them can only be stored in the luggage compartment, which is absolutely only small, never large. Take Xu Huo, for example—even if he got that chest just now, he could only leave it with Yan Jiayu.
Therefore, players inevitably need to find a safe house to store these items.
The beautiful female player said this map was useless, because it was most likely a schematic of where those two B-rank players stored their items. Using a traffic map as a disguise was meant to ensure that even if the map was lost, it wouldn't be leaked. Spending effort to search for it simply wasn't worth it, especially since players carry most of their good stuff on their bodies.
"If you don't want it, give it to me," Xu Huo said.
The dark-faced player handed it to him.
Xu Huo took it, glanced at it casually, and tossed it into his luggage compartment.
The sky gradually darkened. With poor light and heavy fog, buildings just one street away looked blurry. Some players had been sleeping since the afternoon and still hadn't woken up. The others held out until nightfall, all feeling somewhat drowsy.
Because it had been agreed in advance that half the people would sleep at night while the other half handled security, there was no bickering among the players over rest issues. Except for those who truly had no suitable self-defense items, most players used location items and defense items before sleeping. However, ordinary defense items didn't last long, so it was mostly for psychological comfort.
As more and more people fell asleep, the remaining players—aside from a few who had slept enough during the day—stared blankly at the sleeping faces on the ground.
"Why don't you sleep too?" Tong Qi said to Young Master Mo, who was clearly nodding off.
The one who slept first was Scarface Glasses. Today was already the third day since entering the instance, and Young Master Mo had barely closed his eyes for nearly three days.
Scarface Glasses also urged him to rest. The two took turns sleeping, which was much safer than those without companions.
The beautiful female player and the dark-faced player nearby had already gone to sleep. Tong Qi was immersed in organizing the new things he had just obtained and had no sleepiness at all. Chi Xian played with the fungus, ignoring everyone, clearly not intending to sleep either.
The awake people from Zone 013 had also gone to sleep. By midnight, those who had slept during the day woke up instead.
Seeing their surroundings, they felt nothing but fear. They silently huddled together, curling up in the corner.
Xu Huo went over and gave them some food, then asked again about the legend of "Midsummer Night Star River."
Among them was the man from Brown Skin City he had met on the first day.
The others didn't dare reach out, but the man took the food and water from Xu Huo, distributed it to the others, and said, "We can still run into a good person now and then. Whether we live or die, at least we can have a full meal."
The people from Zone 013 weren't not hungry, but their fear of death outweighed everything else. Seeing that the Brown Skin City man ate without being killed, they also ate as quietly as possible, not daring to make a sound.
"Are you still listening to stories today?" the Brown Skin City man asked.
"No, today I want to hear about your dreams," Xu Huo said, sitting down beside them. "The dreams you've had since coming here."
The Brown Skin City man nodded and began recounting his various dreams over the past few days.
Unlike the players' short, ever-changing dreams, their sleep was long, and their dreams were long too. They didn't form a complete story but rather seemed like life fragments cut from reality. Moreover, the Brown Skin City man had fallen asleep three times, and each time his dreams were connected. In his dreams, he had a different identity—a handsome, wealthy, well-born pilot.
Today's dream happened to be when the plane he was flying encountered extreme weather, with hundreds of lives in his hands.
"Too bad the dream ended there."
The Brown Skin City man sighed, a look of confusion on his face. "Even if I'm a healthy person in the dream, I don't know how to save those people on the plane. No matter what I do, it's futile. The final outcome is probably dying together."
"Did you learn flying knowledge before?" Xu Huo asked.
The Brown Skin City man shook his head. "But in the dream, I know how to fly, and I know how to take off and land."
"Dreams aren't reality. You don't necessarily need professional knowledge to land the plane safely," Xu Huo said.
The Brown Skin City man pulled at his face, forcing a bitter smile. "Dreams are great. Whatever you want, you get."
The other four quickly recounted their dreams as well. Most were related to the beautiful life they usually fantasized about—mostly sweet dreams. Only one person had a nightmare. From the moment he entered the dream, he was on a cruise ship with a murderer. The ship drifted on the sea with no escape.
This person had encountered danger many times, but each time he miraculously escaped. Twice, the murderer was right in front of him, but inexplicably tripped over debris or veered off course.
This person focused on describing his narrow escapes and his feelings of fear and terror. But in reality, during his escape, he had subconsciously helped many people. Once, when he was pushed out of a warehouse where others were hiding, he even took the initiative to close a door that was hard to shut.
"Every time I fall asleep, I go back to that cruise ship," the man said. "The corpses and blood there have already stunk. The murderer is still running around. I don't know if he'll stop only after killing everyone."
Compared to the others, his dream experience was indeed not good. It had nothing to do with his daydreams at all—it wasn't even a beautiful wish.
"I'll probably be killed in the dream," the man added. "Like those others who slept to death."
The people nearby didn't comfort him. After all, when they came looking for "Midsummer Night Star River," they had all prepared for the worst.
Xu Huo brought up the example the Brown Skin City man had mentioned two days ago. He repeated it and said, "Because he was afraid his mother would be heartbroken seeing his corpse, and because he still had kindness in his heart when he decided to die—maybe that's why he found 'Midsummer Night Star River.'"
"Doing good deeds for the sake of results and acting out of instinctive kindness are somewhat different."
From the outcome, both involved doing good deeds. But one was without expecting anything in return, while the other did it for a reward. They were fundamentally different.
The man felt a little comforted. He touched his hands, covered in ugly spots, and laughed softly. "If this place can cure my illness, then in the future, it can definitely cure my child's illness too."
Xu Huo returned to his original spot. Tong Qi hesitated and asked, "Is this instance really related to kindness and good deeds?"
"Not necessarily," Xu Huo said. "Whether players do good or bad deeds, the cost is very low. It might not be a reliable reference."
In the Sea World instance, he had obtained the friendship of an ordinary person and cleared the instance with a high rating. This showed that the game's measure of cost varied from person to person.
"I get it," Tong Qi blinked. "You're just comforting him, right?"
Xu Huo smiled without speaking. Some people from Zone 013 had been inside for a long time. Their journey should be nearing its end.
(Chapter End)