Tokyo Drift Arc (2)

Tokyo Drift Arc (2)

Ten minutes later, Zhang Heng stood in front of ITS' DEMO, inexplicably holding an ice cream cone in his hand.

"Sorry, Zhang. I suddenly felt like having ice cream while we were walking, and I ended up leaving you behind on the road," the girl in the short skirt said, bowing apologetically.

"..."

"No, it was my own fault. I was too focused on my surroundings and didn't keep up with you, Ameko," Zhang Heng said. He had just taken the time to go through everything on him.

It was simple. He had only a passport, student ID, wallet—containing 30,000 Japanese Yen in cash and a transit card—keys, and a phone. Of those items, Zhang Heng paid the most attention to the phone. According to the girl, this was his first day here, so she was most likely an enthusiastic classmate who had specifically brought him to enjoy Tokyo's night view.

Normally, in this sort of situation, the two parties would exchange phone numbers first. So Zhang Heng checked the contacts and the most recent missed call, eventually narrowing it down to the name Ameko.

Of course, he could have simply asked the girl and claimed he did not know how to spell her name, but that would have been somewhat impolite.

And judging from her expression now, he knew he had guessed correctly.

Ameko looked adorable when she smiled, revealing two small canine teeth. "Zhang, Shibuya is Tokyo's fashion center. There are lots of interesting shops and sights around here, but sometimes there are some shady people out at night too. You'd better stick close to me."

Zhang Heng had no objections. Ameko enthusiastically acted as his guide, introducing Tokyo to him along the way. Up to this point, they had communicated entirely in Chinese. Ameko's Chinese was quite good. According to her, she majored in Chinese at university and planned to apply to become an exchange student next school year to further her studies in China.

However, most of what she knew about China came from television and her teachers. She wanted a deeper understanding, which was why she had set her sights on this exchange program.

"Well, my home is in Shinagawa Ward. I went to both high school and university in Tokyo, and I've hardly ever traveled far from home since I was little. Suddenly being told that I'm going somewhere so far away... besides looking forward to it, I'm also a little worried." Ameko rubbed her nose awkwardly. "My elders at home often worried about whether I'd be able to take care of myself in the future, so I wanted to use this opportunity to toughen myself up a little too. Um... do you think that sounds childish?"

"Not at all. It's admirable."

This instance was called Tokyo Drift. From the name alone, it was clear that it would mainly test the players' driving skills, and the mission objective further confirmed that.

Judging by the mission time limit, although the flow of time had slowed somewhat, the duration had also been extended from two hours in the previous instance to four hours. Converted to real time, that came to sixty days.

It sounded fairly generous at first, but unless one was already a racer or a hardcore car modification enthusiast, it was almost impossible to raise one's racing skills high enough within just sixty days to win an underground race—even the simplest kind of underground race.

What was more, the difficulties players faced in this instance went far beyond simply improving their driving skills.

Zhang Heng currently had only 30,000 Japanese Yen in his wallet. What did that amount mean? Take the ice cream cone Ameko had just bought, for example—it cost 300 Japanese Yen each. And the ramen shop they had passed earlier had handed out flyers listing a bowl of ramen at around 800 to 1,200 Japanese Yen.

Of course, the school cafeteria might be a little cheaper, or he could consider cooking for himself if conditions allowed. Perhaps he could make it through sixty days that way, but he was not really here as an exchange student.

During that time, he needed to get a car, find a place that hosted underground races, figure out how to improve his driving skills, and then register for a race. To do all that, he also needed at least basic communication skills.

Therefore, if any other player had been standing here right now, they definitely would not have been in the mood to listen to Ameko talk about her personal journey. They would have been eager to get straight to the point.

But Zhang Heng was different. He had enough patience, not only because of his good manners, but also because he knew none of this was meaningless.

Humanity had continued progressing because people constantly reflected and drew lessons from their experiences. This had always been one of Zhang Heng's strengths.

The first round of the game had brought him far more than twenty-odd points and a game item. After repeated analysis, Zhang Heng had reached a very important conclusion.

—Whoever was behind this game, it was clear that they had always encouraged players to explore the worlds they inhabited.

The Lucky Rabbit's Foot was the best proof of that. The truly valuable things did not appear in the main mission. For the sake of survival alone, he had not needed to go to the center of the island at all. Yet it was precisely that side mission that had brought him the greatest reward. Besides that, the other things he had done to improve his quality of life had often earned him point rewards as well.

Other players might not have failed to realize this, but under the pressure of the return deadline, they had no choice but to do everything possible to complete their missions. They had no time to notice the scenery around them.

But Zhang Heng had no such worries, because time was always on his side.

This time, he had a full 420 days to act—seven times as much as the other players. Moreover, he himself was fascinated by every world presented in the game. The deserted island from the first round had already felt completely real to him. If not for the loop caused by the time bug, he would not have been able to find a single flaw.

And compared to the enormous metropolis before him, with its population of more than thirty-seven million, that deserted island was nothing at all.

Everyone here seemed to possess self-awareness, capable of making appropriate spontaneous responses to external stimuli. If all of this were expressed through programming, what a terrifying amount of computation it would require. More importantly, no code could achieve such a thing. Rather than a game, it was more like a flawless work of art.

Unfortunately, players were merely passing visitors in this world, with no time to stop and admire it. Zhang Heng might have been the only exception.

Ameko stuck out her tongue. "Am I talking too much? I was supposed to introduce Tokyo to you, but I accidentally started talking about myself instead. You must be bored, right? How about I buy you some taiyaki to make it up to you?"

"... I get the feeling you just wanted some yourself and found an excuse."

"Hehe." Having had her true foodie nature exposed, Ameko flashed her signature little canine teeth again.

"But let me get them this time. You already treated me to an ice cream cone, so I should thank you too. If you hadn't acted as my guide, I probably wouldn't even have been able to leave the school." Zhang Heng took out his wallet. He could not keep taking advantage of a girl, so he bought four taiyaki from a roadside stall. This snack was common in Japan and not expensive. Though it was called taiyaki, it was really just filled with red bean paste and similar fillings. The four of them cost Zhang Heng 640 Japanese Yen altogether.

"Zhang, you're such a good person," Ameko said indistinctly as she bit into a steaming hot Chōyaki. "Yoyogi Park isn't far from here either. It's a shame it's so late today, or I could have taken you there for a walk too."