Chapter Nineteen: Hao Ren, Who Loves Playing Double Color Ball

After a bout of discussion—or perhaps more accurately, torment—Hao Ren resolved to enter the Central Core Plaza once more. The women all expressed their reluctance to join, fearing they’d only be a burden to him.

Donning the same gear as the previous day, Hao Ren teleported into the Central Core Plaza.

The plaza was as noisy as ever. Considering that players from all over the world converged here, with differing time zones, the concept of day or night was irrelevant in this place.

Currently, Hao Ren had 46 lp points in his account. Unfamiliar with the local item market and unsure about the purchasing power of his funds, he had no illusions about upgrading his skills any further.

“Well, if it isn’t Mask Guy from yesterday.” A large hand landed abruptly on his shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance.

Hao Ren turned to see Scarface Wu Ke, the shameless fellow from the day before.

“So this is the seller from yesterday? Does he still have any stock today? If so, we’ll take it all.” A bespectacled man emerged from behind Wu Ke.

Clad in a Zhongshan suit and square-framed glasses, with a thick dictionary in hand, he looked every bit the quintessential sidekick in an anime—the one who creates opportunities for the protagonist and then says, “Buddy, this is as far as I can help you.”

“Not today. I’m just here to see if I can find anything good,” Hao Ren replied, dressed in an outfit that was practically begging for a police officer’s attention.

“That’s a shame. Want to come check out our shop? Maybe you’ll find something you like.” The bespectacled man adjusted his glasses in a way that felt oddly familiar.

“There are shops here?” Hao Ren’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Follow us.” The bespectacled man took the lead. “If you pay a certain amount of lp to the Central Core, you can temporarily rent a plot of land in the plaza and do whatever you like with it.”

“Oh!” Without hesitation, Hao Ren followed.

How tacky! That was Hao Ren’s first impression of the shop.

“Customer Must Come”...

The name seemed suspiciously similar to a fast food joint, and the interior layout made Hao Ren’s urge to complain even stronger.

It looked no different from a small corner convenience store near a train station, with all sorts of oddities neatly arranged on the shelves: bagged “Weakened Maiden Spring Essence,” Poké Balls for elf trainers, “White Leg Bone” that could increase lp gains when carried...

In short, there were so many items that Hao Ren felt overwhelmed. At the very least, he realized Wu Ke and the bespectacled man must have a sizable team—otherwise, where would they get so many game props?

While Hao Ren’s eyes gleamed as he browsed, the bespectacled man headed straight upstairs. Meanwhile, Wu Ke was lewdly harassing the shop’s mascot girl at the register—until she knocked him to the floor with a single punch and proceeded to pummel his backside.

Hao Ren ignored the scene.

“Hey? Why are these summoning cards so cheap?” Hao Ren pointed to the most prominent label on the shelf: “Creature Summoning Card Mega-Pack—Contains 5 random summoning cards! Take it home for just 1 lp point!”

“Ah, that. Using those summoning cards also costs lp points, and most of the summoned creatures are pretty much useless. While there are plenty of people willing to gamble with their spare lp, most don’t actually use summoning cards. That’s why we sell them in packs. If you spend more than 10 lp at my shop, I’ll give you a pack for free!” The mascot girl calmly continued tormenting Wu Ke, then turned with a professional smile to answer.

“So, you don’t have to be a summoner to use these?” Hao Ren asked, voicing his confusion.

“You can, but if a non-summoner doesn’t form a contract with the summoned creature within 48 hours, it will vanish. Also, most non-summoners only have one contract slot. You’ve probably seen stalls outside selling summoned creatures—that’s where most of these failed gambles end up. Since there are plenty of summoners among players, there’s still some profit to be made.” With a serene motion, she jabbed two fingers into Wu Ke’s wandering eye, flicked the blood off, and continued answering.

“My eyes! My eyes!” Wu Ke clutched his face and rolled around on the floor. The other customers were completely unfazed—it was clearly a common occurrence.

It seemed most players didn’t regard summoned creatures as true living beings, Hao Ren thought to himself.

“I’ve given you so much information—shouldn’t you buy something from my shop?” the mascot girl took the opportunity to pitch a sale.

“Uh, I’m just looking. I don’t actually plan to buy anything,” Hao Ren, ever the miser, replied.

“Oh, you do have a sense of humor,” the mascot girl’s smile grew even brighter, though a palpable darkness seemed to drift behind her like a tangible mist.

“Wait, I’ll buy! Let me choose something!” Startled by the ominous aura, Hao Ren quickly relented.

“Is that so?” The darkness vanished instantly, and the mascot girl’s professional smile returned. “Take your time, then.”

In the end, Hao Ren fled the shop with a “Basic Summoning Space Gem” (price: 1 lp), two “Lucky Dice” (price: 2 lp each), a “Frost-Patterned Bag” (price: 5 lp), and a “Creature Summoning Card Mega-Pack” (a complimentary item), all under the mascot girl’s cheerful smile.

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Item: Basic Summoning Space Gem—a 3x3 meter space that can only store summoned creatures. Creatures placed inside are forced into a sleep state. No additional effects.

Item: Lucky Dice—when used, randomly strengthens, increases, weakens, or decreases one of the following categories: skills, talents, bloodline, items, lp points, or physical attributes.

Item: Frost-Patterned Bag—a backpack with 20 slots, each measuring 3x3 meters. It can be placed in the player’s personal inventory (each player’s inventory normally has 10 slots, each holding one game item only, and only for game items; the Frost-Patterned Bag is not subject to this restriction).

Items: Bloodline Summoning Card, Fantasy Summoning Card, Female Summoning Card, Hideyoshi Summoning Card, Kin Summoning Card (acquired from opening the Mega-Pack).

Item: Fantasy Summoning Card—when used, will summon a fantasy-type creature on the next summon; requires 2 lp to activate.

Item: Bloodline Summoning Card—when used, will summon 1–2 related creatures on the next summon; costs 2–4 lp to activate.

Item: Female Summoning Card—when used, will summon a female creature on the next summon; costs 2 lp to activate.

Item: Hideyoshi Summoning Card—when used, will summon a Hideyoshi-type creature on the next summon; costs 4 lp to activate.

Item: Kin Summoning Card—when used, will summon 1–3 creatures with abilities similar to a specified summoned creature; costs 3–9 lp to activate.

Hao Ren was completely at a loss for words—what was a Hideyoshi Summoning Card, anyway? Did even extraterrestrials acknowledge Hideyoshi as a third gender beyond male and female?

And these items really were all about entertainment (or maybe Hao Ren just liked gambling, always picking the most fun items). Perhaps, in the eyes of aliens, humans were nothing more than a source of amusement...

Back at home, Hao Ren suddenly thought: If it weren’t for this game, I never would have met Shiki and the others.