Ten minutes later, Zhang Heng was standing in front of it's
In front of the demo door, an ice cream cone appeared in his hand out of nowhere.
"I'm sorry, Zhang-san. I was walking and suddenly had the urge to eat ice cream. I left you on the road." The girl in the short skirt bowed and apologized.
"…"
"No, it's my fault. I was too focused on my surroundings and didn't follow you closely, Ameko." Zhang Heng had just taken the time to go through his belongings.
It was simple — a passport, student ID, a wallet with 30,000 yen in change, a transportation card, keys, and a mobile phone. According to the girl, this was his first day here, so she was most likely a warm-hearted classmate who brought him here to enjoy Tokyo's night view.
Usually, both parties would exchange phone numbers first. So, Zhang Heng scrolled through his contact list and the most recent missed call, finally locking onto Ameko's name.
Of course, he could have just asked the girl and said he didn't know how to spell her name, but that would have been a little rude.
And now, looking at the girl's expression, he knew he was right.
Ameko was very cute when she smiled, showing her two little canines. "Zhang-san, Shibuya is the fashion center of Tokyo. There are many interesting shops and attractions here, but there are occasional social events at night. It's better if you stick close to me."
…
Zhang Heng had no objections. Ameko enthusiastically acted as his tour guide, introducing him to Tokyo along the way. So far, the two had been communicating in Mandarin. Ameko's Mandarin was pretty good, and according to her, she majored in Chinese at university. She planned to apply to be an exchange student next year and go to China for further studies.
But most of her understanding of China came from TV and teachers. She wanted to know more about it, so she set her sights on this exchange student.
"Ah, actually, I live in Shinagawa. I studied in high school and university in Tokyo. I've never been far from home. Now that I'm suddenly going to a place so far away, I'm looking forward to it and a little worried." Ameko rubbed her nose in embarrassment. "The elders at home often worry about whether this child can take care of herself in the future. So, I want to use this opportunity to train myself. Erm … Am I being childish?"
"No, it's amazing."
The dungeon this time was called Tokyo Drift. From the name, one could tell that it was a test of the player's driving skills. The quest objective confirmed this point once again.
Although the time flow of the quest had been reduced, it had been extended from two hours to four hours in the previous instance dungeon. In total, it had been 60 days.
It might sound generous, but unless one was a racer or a hardcore modified car player, it was almost impossible to improve their racing skills to the point where they could win an underground race, even the simplest one, in just sixty days.
Not to mention, the difficulty that players faced in this dungeon was not as simple as improving their driving skills.
Right now, Zhang Heng only had 30,000 yen in his wallet. Take the ice cream cones that Ameko had just bought, for example. Each one cost 300 yen, and when he passed by the ramen shop, the flyer he got said that a bowl of ramen cost around 800 to 1,200 yen.
Of course, the school's cafeteria might be a little cheaper, or if he had the means, he could consider cooking his own food. Maybe he could survive 60 days, but he was not really here as an exchange student.
He needed to get his hands on a car in this period of time, find a place to host the underground race, find a way to improve his driving skills, and then sign up for the race. And to do all that, he needed the bare minimum of communication skills.
Had it been any other player standing here, they would not have been in the mood to listen to Ameko's explanation of her journey. They would have jumped straight into the main topic.
But Zhang Heng was different. He had enough patience. Other than his good upbringing, he also knew that all of this was not a waste of time.
The reason why humans continued to improve was that they constantly reflected and summarized. And that had always been Zhang Heng's forte.
The first round of the game had brought him far more than just 20 points and a game item. After much analysis, Zhang Heng came to a very important conclusion.
No matter who the world owner of this game was, it was obvious that he had been encouraging players to explore the world they lived in.
The lucky rabbit's foot was the best proof. The real good stuff did not appear in the main mission. For survival alone, there was no need for him to go to the center of the island. But it was this side mission that brought him the biggest reward. Other than that, the other things he did to improve his quality of life often brought him points as well.
Other players might have understood this, but under the pressure of the return deadline, they had to find a way to complete the mission. They could not be bothered to pay attention to the scenery around them.
Zhang Heng, on the other hand, did not have to worry about that. Time was always on his side.
This time, he had 420 days to act, seven times more than other players. Other than that, he was also very interested in the various worlds presented in the game. The deserted island in the first round made him feel that it was completely real. If not for the time loop that appeared due to the time bug, he would not have found any loopholes at all.
However, it was nothing compared to this super large city with a population of more than 37 million people.
Everyone here seemed to have self-awareness and would react accordingly to external stimuli. If all of this was expressed in programming, it would take a terrifying amount of computing power. Moreover, there was no code that could do this. Instead of calling this a game, it would be more appropriate to call it a flawless work of art.
Unfortunately, the players were just passers-by in this world. They had no time to stop and admire it. Zhang Heng was perhaps the only exception.
Ameko stuck her tongue out. "Am I being a little too talkative? I was supposed to introduce you to Tokyo, but we ended up talking about ourselves. You must be bored, right? Why don't I go buy you some taiyaki as an apology?"
"… I feel like you're just finding an excuse to eat it."
"Hehe." Ameko's gluttonous nature was exposed, and she flashed her trademark canine teeth.
"But let me do it this time. You've already treated me to an ice cream cone. I should thank you. If it weren't for you being my tour guide, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to leave school." Zhang Heng pulled out his wallet. He could not keep taking advantage of girls, so he bought four taiyaki from the roadside. It was a common snack in Japan, and it was not expensive. Although it was called taiyaki, it was actually filled with red beans and other fillings. Four of them cost Zhang Heng 640 yen.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
