Beggar Under the Imperial City

If this is truly a fantasy world with a background similar to the game, then leveling up and learning skills are necessities.

The game's worldview is virtual, a mixture of many things: modern, industrial age, medieval, technology, education, and culture are all uncertain. The game's background serves entertainment, but I've been reincarnated into a real world.

Especially with magic, if it's not a fixed skill like in the game, then magic can be truly wondrous.

It seems necessary to gather information about this world in the coming days. Most of it is likely the same as the game's background, but the details in this world are far more intricate.

The information I can get from these begging brats is too little. After all, you can't expect a six or seven-year-old child to know much.

"Lily, do you know about magic?"

"Are you talking about a magic master? I haven't seen one, but I've heard stories. Only people with magical talent can become magic masters. We probably can't, right?" As Lily said this, she denied herself while still yearning for the magic of a magic master.

Living in such an environment, it's hard not to feel inferior. Even with talent, it's easy to be buried. If the conditions allowed, taking the two kids and escaping wouldn't be impossible.

Future matters can wait. The most important thing right now is to ensure I don't starve to death or get whipped to death.

The next morning, waking up in the murky air, the gang thugs once again drove the piglets out to beg. If they didn't complete their task, they'd likely face another beating that night.

Mel Carlo walked to the water tank, stood on a chair, and looked at his own young face reflected in the water. He looked about 6 years old.

Besides his jet-black hair, his face was gaunt.

"Mel, can we stick together?" Lily cautiously walked up behind Mel Carlo with Akai.

"Sure, but what do we need to do?" Mel Carlo lightly jumped off the chair.

The current situation still requires me to protect my life. Many things in this world are unknown to me, except for some parts that overlap with the game; everything else is unknown.

Moreover, in a child's state, even if I could escape, what would I do next? It's hard to say. Without adults, it means no support.

"How are you?" Mel Carlo looked at Akai, who could now walk normally.

You couldn't tell at all that he had been whipped. He was mobile again after just one night.

"Much better, thank you, Mel." Akai twisted his arm. Although the places where he had been whipped still hurt, it was much better than last night. At least he could move normally.

"Well, you guys decide what to do next. After I recovered from my illness, I forgot a lot of things." Mel Carlo walked with the other two.

The three of them walked through the streets barefoot.

It had been many years since he'd gotten used to walking barefoot.

"I hope we can earn some money today," Lily said, a little worried. Yesterday, it was precisely because she hadn't brought back any money that the gang leader had whipped her.

"Akai, do you know how much an apple costs?" Mel Carlo crossed the street and looked at the apple stall not far away.

"It should be 1 Oren," Akai replied. Although he hadn't bought one himself, he had seen others buy them.

Mel Carlo was very interested in the currency system. After all, if he wanted to eat, he couldn't afford to not understand money.

Oren, it seemed, was the currency unit of this world. This was a name that hadn't appeared in the game.

"Are Oren all copper coins like this?"

"No, there are silver Oren, gold Oren, and magic coins. But I haven't seen those things. I've only heard about them in stories," Akai shook his head.

Lily put her index finger to her nose, tilted her head in thought, and then said, "I know this. One silver coin can be exchanged for 100 copper coins, and one gold coin can be exchanged for 1000 copper coins. Magic coins seem to be worth 10,000 copper coins. Rumor has it that's the currency used by magic masters."

Mel Carlo didn't find his lack of common knowledge frightening. Missing knowledge could be acquired through learning. This world was much more interesting than the game.

"How much money do we need to bring back so we don't get beaten?" Mel Carlo stood in the sunlight and stretched.

"At least 10 Oren each. For the three of us, that's 30 Oren. I'll go begging," Lily said with a very serious expression, as she didn't want Akai to get hurt because of her again.

"Then, I'll go steal. Begging might not get us enough," Mel Carlo also decided what he had to do.

No one likes to steal, but sometimes it's necessary, just like in his past life. It was either starve or steal. As a child, he had no choice.

But compared to the two kids behind him, it was clearly more suitable for him to do this. After all, he had experience, and he also had experience being caught and beaten.

The first time he stole and was caught in his past life, he learned a lesson: a 6-year-old child's legs, no matter how fast, couldn't outrun an adult. And at that time, he had only stolen a meat bun.

Akai hesitated. He didn't like stealing, nor did he want to be a thief, because he knew it was wrong. But could they go back to begging like yesterday? There weren't that many kind people in the world.

If they couldn't bring back money, another beating awaited them.

"Why don't we run away?" Akai clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly.

His dream was to be a knight who protected his companions, not a thief. He absolutely didn't want to steal.

Before Lily could speak, Mel Carlo said, "We can't escape. The Imperial City is full of the gang's informants. As soon as we get close to the city gate, we'll be caught and brought back."

Mel Carlo was different from them. Mel's young body housed a mature soul. Since leaving the Imperial City gang's base, he had been observing the informants hidden in the shadows.

As "piglets," they were assets of the Imperial City gang. There was no reason to let them run away, so this matter required careful planning.

"Let's not talk about this for now. If you don't want to steal, just beg with Lily. If there's a chance in the future, we might be able to leave here." Mel Carlo ended his sentence because he noticed some eyes were on them again.

When stealing, it's naturally better to have fewer people, especially children like them. Otherwise, if they were discovered, they would be easily caught.

The children controlled by the gang were dispersed into different areas. It was impossible to let a bunch of beggars gather together; that would be too conspicuous and easily lead to trouble.

For this gang to exist, they must have had backing, but the game didn't describe this part in much detail.

At least for now, I need to try my best to survive and then find a way to break free from the gang's control.

While scouting for a target, a creature like a velociraptor pulling a carriage passed by. In the game, this creature was called an Earth Dragon, and it served the same purpose as a horse. But this sense of reality was something the game could never match.

"Looks like I'll have to wait a bit longer. The foot traffic isn't heavy, so it's a bit difficult to make a move."

During the downtime, Mel Carlo began attempting to cast skills from the game, but undoubtedly, no matter what actions he took, he couldn't release any in-game skills.

He didn't know if it was because gesture casting was ineffective or because there was no skill tree or job change.