Chapter 2238: Why Change the Name
The people selected nearby were not high-level players. Like the ordinary people, there were plenty of low-level players hanging around in the vicinity. Among the twenty-plus people Xu Huo picked out, nineteen admitted to being wanted criminals. To avoid trouble, he used the Spiritual Gate to pull all of them into his unlocked area and killed them there.
After the nineteen wanted criminals died, his circular unlocked area finally expanded, quickly covering several nearby streets.
But it was only a few streets—still not as large as the starting area of the two players who had passed by earlier.
However, it was enough for him to move around.
He soon disappeared from the street. The players who had gathered around were disappointed to see him escape, but they didn't linger long and quickly left the area.
Players' unlocked areas overlapped, and the light at the boundaries of each person's unlocked area looked very similar. This meant that if someone didn't understand their own unlocked area or the rules governing it, they could easily step out of it without realizing it.
Judging by the pressure from the players in the city, stepping out of the unlocked area was not a good thing.
After dealing with some disguised wanted criminals nearby, Xu Huo changed his appearance and walked out of the building.
The shops in the city were still open as usual, and there were quite a few people strolling around. However, whether buying or selling, everyone was extremely vigilant. Any slight disturbance anywhere would trigger a large reaction—some would rush over to see the commotion, while others would quickly find a place to hide.
Xu Huo stopped at a street corner and turned to look at the words "Game Point" on a nearby signpost.
He had already seen five such signposts along this route, and when he extended his Spiritual Realm outward, he found even more. But aside from the words "Game Point," there were no other markings. Passersby ignored them completely, and no one talked about them.
On the next street over, however, two fashionably dressed elderly people were carrying large hammers and furiously smashing a signpost that read "Game Point." As they smashed it, they cursed loudly, their words touching on "one-third" and "game."
Xu Huo was about to go over and ask them something when the two suddenly collapsed, blood streaming from their noses and mouths.
"What's all this noise in broad daylight? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?" A player from a shop on the upper floor shouted out the window before turning and pulling the curtains shut.
The people on the street paid no attention to such killings. Soon, players patrolling the city came by to drag the bodies away.
Xu Huo picked up a map from the roadside.
The land area of One-Third City was indeed considerable—comparable to the territory of a medium-sized country in Zone 014. On the map, the city was divided into fifty small areas, numbered from 1 to 50. The fiftieth area was the city center, occupied by the player organization that governed the city. The city hall they had established was also there, the two inseparable.
However, judging by the situation nearby, this city hall rarely intervened to maintain basic city operations. Apart from sending people to deal with bodies, they were mostly absent.
Xu Huo was currently in Area 5, which shared a reservoir with neighboring Area 6. Right now, people from Area 5 and Area 6 were stuck at the city map's boundary line, yelling insults at each other over water usage.
Even daily necessities like water were managed independently by each area. One could imagine what the sanitation, food supply, and daily goods situation was like. Two adjacent streets could look completely different depending on whether someone was in charge.
"Why can't they cross zones?" Xu Huo watched the commotion for a while before striking up a conversation with a local.
A middle-aged woman carrying a few fruits glanced at him up and down and said flatly, "Why else? That's just how the city hall set it up."
Xu Huo had already seen law enforcement posts taken over by outside players, so he figured there were no district governments providing relevant information either.
Sticking to his old method, he pulled out a small stack of White Notes.
The middle-aged woman grabbed the money in one swift motion and pulled him by the arm toward a less crowded area. "Oh, young man, you look a bit like a distant relative of mine. I feel an instant connection. Come on, big sister will treat you to some fruit."
Finding a quiet spot, the woman hung her basket on her arm and began counting the money. "Ask whatever you want."
"Is it only locals who can't cross zones, or can outside players not cross either?" Xu Huo asked.
"Of course it's us folks living in Buliucheng." The woman didn't look up, counting the money again in reverse. "You players, who can control you? You can go anywhere without anyone bothering you."
"This place was originally called Buliucheng? Why did the name change? When did it change?" Xu Huo hadn't forgotten that this instance was called "One-Third City."
"That's just what everyone calls it. No one officially changed the name. People just started saying it, and it stuck." The woman chuckled. "Besides, who would bother changing the name of a dump like this?"
So it was related to the instance.
The number "one-third" must have been tied to the instance, spreading widely and gradually replacing the original city name.
"I tell you, you outside players are always so nosy. You even have to ask about the name." The woman stuffed the money into her pocket. "Since big sister took your money, I'll tell you a bit more."
"I heard that some players started calling it that first. They said something about how no matter what they did to clear the instance, they always got stuck at one-third. We locals couldn't argue with outsiders, so when they called it that, we just followed along."
The woman picked out the smallest fruit from her basket and handed it to Xu Huo. "Here, big sister is treating you."
She shoved the fruit into his hand and walked away.
"Don't believe her." A voice came from upstairs. Xu Huo looked up to see a plainly dressed young woman. "She's a famous liar on this street. Not a word she says is true."
"Is that so?" Xu Huo said. "Then why was the name changed to One-Third?"
"Isn't it because of an instance called 'One-Third'?" The young woman looked puzzled. "Aren't you here to do that instance?"
"I just think it's a bit strange. The original name was quite nice. The new name is inconvenient to say and doesn't sound like a proper name." Xu Huo said.
The woman smiled. "It's just a name. What's the big deal? It's almost dinner time. Do you want to come up and eat? The food at the shops outside is expensive and unsafe. Come to my place and just pay a little for the ingredients."
Xu Huo didn't refuse her kindness and followed the stairs up to the third floor.
"Are there other people in the house?" Xu Huo stopped at the door. Without even trying, he could hear snoring coming from the bedroom.
(Chapter End)