Players, Please Board the Train

The situation in the urban area was relatively good. Patrol vehicles were everywhere, and players were stationed in some congested spots. The only downside was the crowding, and from time to time people or corpses would appear out of thin air on the streets. Patrolling players and armed personnel generally dragged them away without blinking, but this still put considerable pressure on ordinary civilians. Some panicked people gathered to protest to the government.

When they reached the city center, traffic jammed again. Xu Huo turned off the engine and scrolled through real-time news. Sudden incidents were frequent, and the situation in Zone 009 was changing at any moment.

Besides Mao City, many places in Zone 009 had already implemented security self-governance. Most of these were formed voluntarily by families with player members or by wealthy individuals. The government's presence was weakened, and there were even reports of some local government agencies proactively inviting civilian player organizations to set up offices.

After the game mechanics were introduced, civilian organizations in Zone 009 matured quickly, and many cities benefited. This led to later-born players trusting player organizations more than the government. There were at least twenty super-large player organizations in the entire partition. These organizations even had a recognized ranking—compiled by votes from players and ordinary people. The super-large organizations were basically all on that list; even if a few had questionable practices, they received overwhelmingly positive feedback on major issues.

On the surface the government still existed, and countries were still governed by governments, but what actually supported the states had become player organizations, most of which developed well.

"Brother Xu, why are you looking for Mr. Shang? Are you related to him?" Perhaps the wait had gone on too long. Peng Ya fiddled with her fingers for a while and couldn't help asking, "I heard from the director that Mr. Shang still has some distant relatives alive. If he had family support when he was suspected of being a murderer, he probably wouldn't have killed himself because of outside attacks."

"I don't know him," Xu Huo said, one hand resting on the car window as he watched the vehicles crawl ahead. "But I think a friend of his might be an acquaintance of mine."

Peng Ya didn't fully understand, but she was sensible enough not to press further. After a moment she asked, "So that's it... Mr. Xu, what's the game world like?"

Xu Huo glanced at her. "Haven't you read all the news online?"

"Zone 009's survival environment for players is pretty good," Xu Huo said. "Major player organizations are willing to take in newcomers, and many of them publicly share dungeon walkthroughs for free. Compared to other chaotic game partitions, newcomers' survival rates are relatively decent."

Peng Ya had lived at the bottom of society before and only became a small celebrity because of the Shang Welfare Home. She cared more about how an ordinary person could survive, so her knowledge of players and dungeons was limited to a bystander's curiosity.

"I usually read posts about ordinary people getting dragged into random dungeons to survive and things like that. New player survival rates in Zone 009 aren't high either..." Her mental state gradually grew unstable, and she couldn't stop swallowing.

"No need to be overly tense," Xu Huo said. "Before you board the Preliminary Trial Train, put more money into your bank account and bribe the train attendants. The first dungeon completion won't be too hard."

Overall, newcomer survival rates weren't high, but Zone 009 was at least much better than Zone 014.

Peng Ya stared straight ahead with wide eyes, her heartbeat and swallowing frequency increasing. She didn't even hear what he said.

Xu Huo lightly tapped her shoulder and nodded his chin toward the vending machine by the curb. "Go buy a drink."

Zone 009 had developed potions that could slightly reduce the Voracious Appetite, sold nationwide. Any Evolver could buy them, and neither player organizations nor the government monitored the drinks.

This was one advantage of having player organizations as a strong backing. Evolvers with Voracious Appetite tended to voluntarily join organizations. After game mechanics deepened in Zone 009, apart from a few small places, somewhat developed cities rarely had Player-Eaters anymore.

Peng Ya ran out and soon returned clutching a pile of drinks. After gulping down two bottles in one breath, she panted, "This potion can only slightly suppress the Voracious Appetite. I have to join a player organization within a week."

"As long as you can stay lucid," Xu Huo said, "after we visit the welfare home I'll take you to the nearest player organization."

Peng Ya hugged the drinks and nodded vigorously. After a while she couldn't help asking, "Are there many Player-Eaters in other districts?"

Before Xu Huo could answer, she muttered to herself, "There must be a lot. After our performance we saw quite a few dead people on the road. Why would people eat others? Can't they just hold on? Becoming a Player-Eater benefits no one..."

Zone 009 had zero tolerance for Player-Eaters. Any organization that discovered a Player-Eater had one response: kill.

For the rest of the trip, Xu Huo didn't speak. Most of the time Peng Ya talked to herself or video-chatted with friends, and when she sensed danger she would take another potion. When they finally arrived at the Welfare Home, they discovered the place had been burned down, leaving only a few short walls.

"How could this be!" Peng Ya was even more shocked than he was and hurriedly grabbed a nearby patrolling officer to ask what had happened to the Welfare Home.

"It was attacked last night by two Player-Eaters," the patrolling player replied patiently. "But the alarm was raised in time. No one died. The children and teachers were transferred to a nearby welfare facility. The street platform posted specifics."

"If you become an Evolver, hurry to register somewhere. Don't become a danger to yourself or others."

Peng Ya breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "I'll go right away. Thank you."

The patrolling player didn't pay much attention and left. Peng Ya returned to Xu Huo's side and said regretfully, "Such bad luck. I didn't expect the Welfare Home to be burned."

"How about I take you to see the Old Director? She knows more than I do."

Xu Huo glanced over the ground littered with wreckage and got back in the car. "Say the word if you can't hold on."

Peng Ya forced a smile. "I'm fine. Becoming a player requires endurance. If I can get through this stage on my own that's best. Relying only on potions won't work."

Xu Huo didn't say much. They drove to the nursing home and soon met the Old Director.

The old woman was advanced in years but looked in decent spirits. She was very happy to see Peng Ya. When she learned Xu Huo wanted to know about Shang Shuming, she opened up easily like most ordinary elders.

"He was a very special child. Before he came to the Welfare Home no one had taught him how to speak or read. Within less than three months he had a larger vocabulary than children his age, and he could intuitively make small toys without instruction. He was popular with the other kids, and teachers liked him too."

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