What’s Wrong With Seeking Death?

City of newborns.

If an uninformed person enters rashly, he may really think that he has traveled to a different world.

There is a large population here, and most of the residents seem to be alive enough to be confused with the real ones; the construction here is well-established, with its own set of social order, and there are security departments and medical institutions that seem to be dedicated to their responsibilities.

It can even offer hope—an upward hope that seems within reach.

Of course, this is only for "human beings". Especially for an original human like Xu Tuoran.

This is also the reason why Shiyue came to Xu Tuoran's door as soon as he met face-to-face - Xu Tuoran had only just arrived, and the human breath on his body was still obvious, and he could smell it immediately. He thought it was a human being who strayed into the domain, so he came here to remind him, but he was rescued instead.

But at this moment, the aunt who was tearful and beating someone not long ago happened to be sitting on the sofa in her spare time, with a calm and serious face.

"Well... You said earlier that this domain is divided into several areas. Regarding this point, can you explain in more detail?"

"Huh? Oh...oh."

Shiyue was actually still thinking about the props that Xu Tuoran had entrusted before, and he didn't realize it for a while—it wasn't that he was distracted on purpose, but what Xu Tuoran said was really too hard to digest.

A flashlight that can burn people, a pill that can parasitize people... any one of them is enough to kill people. Can anyone actually go out with this pile of stuff? Are you really not afraid of being restrained to hemiplegia? ?

And that teddy bear that can cut people...why does it sound so familiar? If I remember correctly, he seems to have submitted a similar one to the store before?

The problem is, the one he submitted was lamp-level.

Shiyue couldn't help but glance at Xu Tuoran's hand. There was a silver package - after Xu Tuoran sat down, he wrapped the fox ornament with silver colored paper to prevent it from making trouble. Still, the eclipse was glimpsed earlier.

That thing...should also be lamp-grade. This grandma's other props are not at the same level, are they?

The eclipse was a little dumbfounded for a while. Being urged by Xu Tueran to react twice, a pair of pointed ears pricked up on the top of the head, and moved back and forth a little restlessly.

"Oh, yes, the area... um. Xinsheng City, there are three areas in total..."

"Fringes", "Secondary Districts" and "Major Districts". These are the three divisions of Xinsheng City.

"These three districts are also called 'Huiying District', 'Caiying District' and 'Baiying District' respectively. Among them, Huiying's living conditions are the worst, and Caiying... which is the sub-district area where we are located, is considered average. .Baiying District is said to be the most lucrative. Of course, I personally think this is just a scam set up by the domain owner."

Shiyue sat on the floor with her hairy ears propped up, and scratched the ground with her pointed nails while talking: "Oh, yes, auntie, do you know 'cyberpunk'? The structure of this domain is actually a bit similar to that."

Xu Tuoran: "..."

Auntie doesn't understand. But the aunt didn't say anything. The aunt only nodded slightly, trying to keep up with the other party's train of thought.

"Then what?" she asked. "What's the point of this division? To drive humans to move?"

"That's right. Then people will want to move to a better place." Eclipse Moon took it for granted, "I have never been to the fringe area, but I heard that it is very difficult there. If an ordinary person is dragged into this area, And it fell directly into that place. In order to survive, he will most likely try to enter other areas..."

And these three areas are not interconnected. If you want to achieve cross-region, you can only rely on the identity card.

The ID card was the one that Xu Tuoran had found on the table before, with name, age and identity on the front and various values ​​on the back. According to Eclipse Moon, when there is a shortage of money, these values ​​can also serve as the "currency" for transactions in this world, and can be used to buy other people's goods or services.

"If a certain value is fully deducted, or the overall value is low to a certain level, you will be required to move into the Huiying area." Shiyue said, "And correspondingly, if the value is increased to a certain level, you can have Eligibility to enter Baiying District."

"Can this value be improved?" Xu Tuoran remembered the pitiful value on his card, and became interested, "What should I do?"

Shiyue took a deep look at her and lowered her voice:

"replace."

"Replace the parts that belong to humans and replace them with mechanical devices. The value will naturally be higher."

Xu Tuoran: "..."

Forget it.

But in this way, she probably figured out the plan of the domain owner.

On the one hand, it is persecuting with the crisis of survival, and on the other hand, it is coaxing with preaching—according to that creation god, the flesh and blood that belong to human beings are all inferior and fragile. If you want to "evolve" into a more advanced existence, you must let go of these.

And when the human beings who strayed in were truly willing to give up all these, the sacrifice that the domain master wanted was also obtained.

"Yes, from what I've observed during this time, it's almost like this." Shiyue nodded in agreement, "And their body replacement surgery can only be done after entering the religion. It is equivalent to developing human beings into human beings while offering sacrifices believers."

It can be said that one thing eats two things.

What cyberpunk is all an illusion. The essence of this world is a huge slaughterhouse.

"Wait a minute. But this one in the domain isn't our real body?" Xu Turan thought for a while, and suddenly felt that something was wrong, "If they were replaced with mechanical bodies in the domain... then, what about them in reality?"

Shiyue glanced at her silently, scratched her ears, and did not speak.

And Xu Tuoran soon realized that he asked an unnecessary question.

Die, or turn into a monster. It is unlikely that there will be any other results.

"But to be honest, this domain is really weird. I've never encountered such a domain before. I've never seen a domain that has so many 'dummy' in it that can bluff people. not come out."

Shiyue paused, and sighed: "The feeling after coming in is not quite right. Not to mention the big discrepancy between the image and reality, and the ability is also... eh, yes. Auntie, what is the special feeling when using your ability? ?"

Yes, I really want to cry.

Xu Tuoran replied silently from the bottom of his heart, with only a sigh on his face: "It will be a little uncomfortable, how about you?"

Shiyue was obviously taken aback, and even tilted her head: "It's just... uncomfortable?"

As if realizing something, Xu Tuoran rolled his eyes slightly, and said deliberately: "There are still some skills that I can't use."

She observed the other person's expression while talking, and tried to speak: "Does this happen to you too?"

Shiyue was silent again for a while, her pointed animal ears turned back and forth, as if she was struggling with something. After a while, he heard him make up his mind and said: "Passive skills can be used normally."

In other words - active skills cannot be used.

Xu Tuoran suddenly realized, he remained calm on the surface, and thought about it a few times, and suddenly thought of the time when he was playing games before.

At the beginning of the second round of the game, the two guys who partnered with her stopped talking loudly. The reason is that he has been given a psychological suggestion and will be terrified by this action.

Eclipse Moon's active skills are restricted, could it be for the same reason?

If so, then she understands why she wants to cry as soon as she uses her abilities—she doesn't know how to be afraid. The emotion of fear can't hold her back. So the domain owner is likely to use other emotions to limit her ability to use, such as sadness...

Gan, sorry.

Xu Tuoran cursed secretly in his heart, but still maintained the stability of his aunt on his face. She asked the other party about the situation in the domain, and finally shifted her gaze to the Bingtuozi security guard in the corner.

It happened that Shiyue's physical strength had almost recovered, so he got up and volunteered to get rid of this guy.

"I know a garbage dump. It's safe to throw it there." He said in a very skillful tone, "Wait until I move out with the one downstairs. Don't worry, auntie, there will never be anyone who suspects you."

Xu Tuoran nodded absent-mindedly, and suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly waved to Shiyue, asking him to put down the ice lump he was carrying. At the same time, he moved his fingers to lift part of the ice on the opponent's body.

Then he wiped his eyes skillfully, and touched the security guard with tears in his eyes.

Dig around a few times. He took out a handful of small blue metal pieces and an ID card. Xu Tuoran asked Shiyue with the metal plate, confirmed that it was the basic currency of the world, and immediately gave him half of it generously, but was pushed back by Shiyue.

"It's useless to me. No one here is willing to sell me anything." He pointed to his face, showed a wry smile, and pushed the coin back, "It's okay. I don't need it either. Auntie, you can keep it for yourself." .”

Xu Tuoran didn't refuse, and directly accepted them all. She picked up the identity card again and looked at it—the card had the same structure as her own, but the data was much more beautiful. Basically every value is ten points higher than that of "Zhang Baixue".

Seeing Xu Tuoran was envious.

Unfortunately, the value in this card cannot be transferred. Because it is not my own card, I can't spend it directly. It's like a waste card.

Despite this, Xu Tuoran still put the card away seriously. Over there, Shiyue had already found a rope to tie up the security guard with ease, and carried it on his shoulders again.

"Okay, then I'll leave first. I'll come back to discuss with you later." Shiyue said, "Besides, you said that another capable user came in, right? I will pay attention."

Xu vainly nodded. She's referring to the guy who first teamed up with Nike and Arkham. He should have been in for a few days.

Plus the four people who were dragged into the domain in the previous text adventure game. As far as she knows, there are five in total.

It happened that she remembered all the network IDs of these five people, so she wrote them all to Shiyue. When Shiyue got the list, she clicked her tongue heavily.

"Unfortunately, there are only names. That's tricky." He said bluntly to Xu Tuoran, "I actually remember the names of the players who came in before me. But after searching for more than a month, I have no clue at all. Say your best."

After speaking, he carried the ice lump and left.

Xu Tuoran watched him enter the elevator, and immediately staggered to clean the corridor, and then retreated to the room to remove the ice covering the camera.

After finishing his work, he sat down at the desk, yawned uncontrollably, suppressed sleepiness, found a piece of paper and sorted out the information he had obtained.

After thinking about it, I suddenly felt something was wrong.

"...Wait a minute, more than a month?" She picked up the paper and pulled it away in disbelief, "Where did he come from for more than a month?"

It was about three days ago that she agreed to cooperate with Nike Chengjing and the others. According to Nike Chengjing, they took over this task a week ago. And almost as soon as the previous tasker overturned, they followed.

In other words, it will take ten days at most for the eclipse to enter this domain.

How can there be more than a month?

Xu Tuoran froze on the spot, his first reaction was that there was something wrong with the eclipse. He may be hiding something.

She subconsciously wanted to get up and walk out, but suddenly realized something, lowered her eyes, and her eyes fell on her wrist.

The hands of the watch on the wrist are still walking at a leisurely pace.

Ten minutes have passed since Xu Tuoran checked the time last time.

"..."

Xu Tuoran was silent for a few seconds, then sat back in his seat silently.

The last time she checked the time was when she just found the watch. After that, she went around looking for props, collecting information, beating the security guards, cleaning up the scene, and exchanging information with her accomplices...

As far as she felt, it would have taken twenty or thirty minutes. In short, it is impossible that only ten minutes have passed.

"...In other words, the time flow rate in this domain is different from that of the outside world?"

Xu Tuoran deduced the conclusion in his heart, his expression became more subtle.

From this point of view, this domain is really weird. She thought silently.

Just like the eclipse said. Oddly enough.

However, if you think about it carefully, this is actually good news for Xu Tuoran.

This shows that she actually has more time available-if she is efficient enough, she should still be able to catch up with Comic-Con in time.

...However, Xu Tuoran soon realized that, considering her current body, it seemed difficult to be efficient.

The reason is simple, she gets tired too easily.

I don't know if it was because of the exhaustion of using the ability, or because of the ups and downs of emotions in a short period of time. After sending away the eclipse, she began to feel sleepy.

After barely sorting out the clues at hand, the upper and lower eyelids almost glued together. He simply pulled up the curtains, fell on the bed, and really fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was already six o'clock in the morning—of course, it was calculated according to the time of this world.

There is a gray mist in the air, and the neon lights are still flashing endlessly. The number of pedestrians on the street outside seemed to have decreased a lot.

Xu Tuoran stood at the window observing for a moment, picked up a pile of blue coins and ID cards, opened the door and went out.

She didn't really understand what "punk" Shiyue said to her yesterday. I also don't know why there are so many robots on the streets of this world... Anyway, she felt that it was necessary for her to get in touch.

The location where she lives seems to be very remote, the street is not wide, and the heavy gasoline smell can be smelled as soon as she goes downstairs. It was only after she walked onto the street that she realized that those bright neon lights were actually far away from her, and the buildings around her were actually dusty, even with some lights on, they looked listless.

Xu Tuoran strolled along the street, looking at the passers-by from time to time, he could feel more and more what Shiyue meant by "weird".

...too human.

Normal and vivid, even robots exude a strong breath of life. It's not like a "monster" pretending to be a person at all.

But what Xu Turan cared about was far more than this.

—According to Eclipse Moon, most of the residents in this domain are composed of companion creatures and energy bodies. And these two kinds belong to the category of "monster" in essence, and belong to the category that needs to be vigilant.

Like yesterday, when Xu Tueran saw the little security guard, the premonition of crisis sounded on the spot.

Although the sound was a bit perfunctory...but at least there was a response.

However, she passed by so many passers-by now, but the premonition of crisis never sounded again.

Until she came near the entrance of a tall building. There were two tall robots with weapons standing there—the moment they met their eyes, the alarm in Xu Tuoran's mind rang twice again.

However, only the alarm sounded, and there was no death value. I don't know what's going on, from entering the domain to now, the death value has never moved, even when she attacked the security guard yesterday, she didn't respond at all...

After Xu Turan got it all done, he was a little skeptical about life.

Because of this, she was not in a hurry to find trouble with the two security guards. If there is no death value, then she will lose a lot.

Aunt Zhang just met the other party's warning eyes and walked past the two security guards without changing her expression. The moment she passed by, she was not surprised to hear the sound of them falling from behind.

Hmm... It shows that the passive effect of "confusing" is always in operation.

Then why are the passers-by you met before all right?

Aunt Zhang pondered while strolling. She didn't think it was necessary for Eclipse to lie to herself in this regard. After thinking about it, there is only one possibility.

That is, those passers-by are not malicious to themselves.

After all, "Complicated and confusing" only takes effect on inhuman beings who harbor ill will towards her.

But in this way, something she couldn't figure out appeared again—the last time she saw a similar existence was the phantom student in "Dahuaihua Middle School". However, the phantom students are all set by the human side, and they are energy bodies produced to confuse the domain owner. In essence, they are a means of fighting against the domain owner.

However, why does this kind of thing exist in this "domain"?

Was it intentionally arranged by the domain owner? Or is it the product of other forces interfering? What is the meaning of their existence? Is it just to confuse humans who enter this realm?

The confusion in Xu Tuoran's heart grew bigger and bigger, and she found with some regret that her thinking seemed to slow down... This is not a good sign.

While thinking about it, an unfamiliar storefront appeared in front of him. There is a colorful light board at the door, and the light board has a huge bun pattern.

…well, buns with colorful lights. It's the first time I've seen this match.

Xu Tuoran looked inside curiously, and found that it seemed to be a small restaurant. After a little thought, he opened the door and walked in.

The robot behind the counter immediately raised its head and wiped its hands on the apron: "Welcome, what do you want?"

"Just take a look." Xu Tuoran turned his eyes and found a seat in front of the counter to sit down. The store looks small, but there are quite a lot of people. There is already a row of people sitting in front of the counter.

This looks like a breakfast place. Although the style is flashy, it sells common breakfasts such as steamed stuffed buns and soy milk. Xu Tuoran made a choice and waved towards the robot.

"Hello, I want to ask." She ordered the menu, "I want this set meal. But I don't have enough cash with me, and I just lack a... a coin."

She looked at the other party tentatively: "Excuse me, can I pay for the rest with an ID card?"

The robot blinked and nodded softly:

"Hello, yes. Then, will the change be in cash, or in electronic storage?"

Xu Turan didn't expect to have change. She thought that the value points and the currency were in a one-to-one ratio, but now it seems that the value points seem to be more valuable than she thought.

"Then give me the change in cash, thank you." Xu Tuoran said, reaching into his pocket, fumbled to count out the corresponding coins, and took out his ID card together.

I have to say that she chose this sportswear, and the pockets are really big enough. One side pocket is stuffed with coin cards and fox ornaments at the same time, and there is still quite a bit of space.

Fingers brushed against the silver paper wrapped in the fox ornament, making barely detectable noises. An old man sitting obliquely behind Xu Tuoran seemed to have noticed something, and suddenly raised his eyelids.

Xu Tuoran turned his back to him, didn't notice, just handed out the things in his hand, and concentrated on observing the robot's movements.

After the robot asked Xu Tuoran what value points he wanted to deduct, he took out something like a code scanner and swiped on Xu Tueran's ID card. Xu Tuoran's "speed" value immediately changed from "20" to "19".

Almost at the same time, a voice sounded in Xu Tuoran's mind:

"Congratulations, you have obtained fifty death points!"

Xu Tuoran: "..."

So the scoring point is here!

She glanced at the code scanner in the robot's hand in shock, and then at the card in her hand. Seeing that the robot handed over the change, it let out another soft eh.

"Sorry, I'm so confused." She apologized to the robot, and took out another coin from her pocket, "I actually have enough money. There is no need to deduct value points. Miss... you, you can Can't you give me back that value point? I'll give you the money back."

robot:"…"

"Sorry, no." The robot seriously refused, and piled the change in front of Xu Tuoran, "The deducted value points cannot be returned."

…Fine.

Attempt to prostitute for nothing.

Xu Tuoran secretly sighed. Looking at the identity card in his hand, there was a bit of thought on his face.

It seems that I still have to think of a way first, to brush up the value of this card...

She pursed her lower lip and subconsciously took a bite of the breakfast served by the robot. The taste is not bad, but it is a pity that there is no death value.

I don't know if it's because of the particularity of this domain, Xu Tuoran is really hungry right now. She finished the staple food in two or three bites, turned her head to support the table and climbed off the chair, took the unfinished soy milk, and planned to walk around to see the situation.

And the moment she opened the door to leave, the old man in the corner who was concentrating on eating bean curd raised his head immediately.

He looked at the direction where Xu Tueran was leaving, looking like he wanted to catch up, but he looked down at the unfinished food in front of him, showing a bit of confusion on his face.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and beckoned to the robot waiter:

"Waiter, pack it, I'll get it when I come back—I will definitely be back. Don't deal with it! Don't—"

After speaking, he picked up the coat hanging next to him, put it on in a hurry, grabbed the cane and tall hat beside him, and chased him out without looking back.