Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Wooden, brick, bamboo, and tin-houses of every kind were crammed together before his eyes.

To call it disorderly would be an understatement; the clashing styles didn’t match at all.

Not only that, but the buildings looked incredibly crude. Calling them houses was a compliment; at most, they were mere shelters from the wind and rain.

The streets were cramped and narrow, lined with numerous trash cans that hadn’t been emptied in who knew how many days. Mountains of refuse piled high within the bins, while sewage and litter spilled across the ground outside.

Waves of stench assaulted his nostrils, instantly clearing his still-groggy mind.

“What kind of hellhole is this?” Chu Yue muttered, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He couldn’t have imagined it. He truly couldn’t.

To think that people like Shen Yubi and Guan Doujin, who couldn’t return to the Real World, lived like this within the game.

At the thought, his nose began to sting, and his throat felt tight with a painful ache.

He didn’t dare imagine a young Shen Yubi-such a small child-living in a place like this for over a decade after first entering the game.

The road beneath his feet hadn’t been swept in a long time. It was covered in such a thick layer of dust and grime that the original concrete was no longer visible.

Recalling Guan Doujin’s earlier mention that the System automatically assigned a Model House to any Player who entered the Nightmare Trading Center, Chu Yue opened the System interface.

He wanted to see what his assigned house looked like and where it was located.

Regardless of the conditions, he needed to find his home first.

However, when he opened the System and read the lines of text displayed there, he realized he had been far too naive.

A moment ago, he had been pitying others, unaware that he was several times more pitiable himself.

The message from the System was blunt and brutal. It had indeed assigned him a Model House, but because he owed the System Points, the house had been liquidated the moment he entered the Trading Center. It had been converted into 250 Points to repay his debt, leaving him with a current balance of negative 43 Points.

Though his debt was lighter, Chu Yue couldn’t find it in himself to be happy.

Was this really the time to settle debts-when he didn’t even have a roof over his head?!

What kind of bootleg System was this?

Didn’t it need his signature or consent to mortgage his house for debt repayment?!

He had arrived, but his house was gone. Where was he supposed to live?

Shen Yubi and Guan Doujin were already living in poor conditions; was he really going to squeeze in with them?

He had been observing the area as he walked; the space inside these Model Houses was definitely not large. It was fine for one person, but adding even half a person would make it cramped.

Chu Yue had never had to worry about such things before. While he was wallowing in his misery, a message arrived from Shen Yubi asking for his location.

Chu Yue fiddled with the interface for a while to send his coordinates, then found a relatively clean corner to crouch down in.

He scanned his surroundings before lowering his head to continue navigating the System.

He could sense people inside the surrounding houses.

From the moment he appeared, numerous gazes had landed on him. As he walked, those stares followed him like needles against his back.

Chu Yue didn’t know what they wanted, but he knew those looks held no goodwill.

Perhaps they wanted to rob him, or perhaps they had other intentions.

However, since Chu Yue had negative Points and considered himself the poorest person there, he wasn’t particularly afraid.
He was also confident that if anyone dared to snatch his things, he could fight them off.

Getting a bit bored while waiting, Chu Yue spent some time scrolling through the interface until he found a Customer Service option.

He clicked in and spoke politely to the Customer Service representative, trying to get his house back and promising that the Points would definitely be repaid.

However, the two of them went back and forth for a long time, neither willing to budge. In the end, Chu Yue’s efforts were in vain.

With a heavy sigh, Chu Yue stood up just as he received a video call from Guan Doujin.

“Hello? Young Master, where are you? This GPS isn’t very accurate. Can you come out to the main road? Our car can’t get in there.”

“Oh, let me check the roads around here. Wait until I find one, then I’ll send a new pin.”

He looked left and right. The roads here were indeed quite narrow, but were they really too small for even a tricycle to get through?

Having already convinced himself of the pair’s impoverished lifestyle, Chu Yue automatically assumed the “car” mentioned was a dilapidated tricycle. He had even conjured a mental image of Guan Doujin huffing and puffing as he pedaled in the front while Shen Yubi sat expressionless in the back carriage.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to face them.

He wandered around for a bit until he finally reached a slightly wider road. He sent a new location pin and continued to wait.

He didn’t have to wait long this time. While he was staring blankly at the peeling paint on a nearby wall, the roar of an engine echoed from the other end of the street.

Chu Yue blinked, slowly turning around.

A flashy red sports car sped from the far side of the road, coming to a screeching halt beside him.

Guan Doujin took off his sunglasses and gave Chu Yue a wolf whistle from the driver’s seat, jerking his head toward the back.

“Young Master, get in! Your granddaddy’s treating you to hot pot.”

Shen Yubi slapped him. “Who are you calling ‘granddaddy’!”

Guan Doujin looked dazed for a second, then scratched his head and grinned at Chu Yue. “Just a figure of speech, a figure of speech.”

Chu Yue kept his face neutral, but a flash of surprise flickered in his eyes.

This car was completely out of place in these surroundings, yet there it was, undeniably real.

Realizing he had been mistaken, he opened the back door and slid inside.

“It’s been ages since I’ve been to this place. Still looks the same as ever,” Guan Doujin grumbled. He floored the accelerator, and the car roared away just as loudly as it had arrived.

He remembered when he first arrived; he had started right here. He didn’t know how many years he had spent clawing and scraping his way out of this dump.

Shen Yubi didn’t share his sentimentality. He had only lived here for a brief two months before moving out, so his memories of the area were already blurred.

Through the explanations provided by the two men, Chu Yue finally understood that this place was divided into various districts just like a real city. He was currently in the most dilapidated slum in the city.

In fact, it was the lowest tier of the slums.

The reason was simple: it was his first time entering the Nightmare Trading Center, and his Points were incredibly low, so he had been assigned to this area.

Generally, those with ability who earned enough Points would move to a slightly better district.

The people left here were mostly those waiting for their grace period to expire before being forced into a game by the System. If they were lucky enough to survive, the Points they earned were only enough to cover food and drink for a short while.

In the parlance of the world outside, they were the unmotivated ones-people just drifting through life.