Prices

"Are you sure this price counts as 'cheap'?" Lin Sizhi asked.

Yang Yuting was a corporate executive, something that was evident from both her appearance and demeanor.

She wore refined light makeup. Although her clothes did not look particularly eye-catching, a closer look revealed that every piece had an exceptional sense of design, likely from some international luxury brand.

Her bearing also clearly gave off the impression of someone who had lived a pampered life.

"Of course it's cheap!"

Yang Yuting said seriously, "We can use the prices of ingredients to determine the approximate purchasing power.

"Using the prices of cola and eggs as a reference, one minute of Visa Time here is roughly equivalent to one yuan in the original world, right?"

Lin Sizhi nodded. "No problem."

Yang Yuting continued, "Then let's calculate based on the minimum hourly wage in the original world.

"One hour of work would be around twenty to thirty yuan. Even using the highest standard, one hour could only be converted into thirty yuan.

"But here, one hour is equivalent to sixty yuan.

"That's enough to buy two jin of chicken wings or six jin of potatoes.

"Doesn't that count as cheap?"

Lin Sizhi fell silent for a moment. "But have you considered that this is a world where even breathing costs money?"

Yang Yuting froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.

"Hm?

"Ah, right...

"In this world, even if we do nothing all day, we'll still spend twenty-four hours of Visa Time, which is equivalent to...

"1,440 yuan!"

The number startled her.

Lin Sizhi nodded. "Yes. To survive in this world, we need to earn at least 1,440 minutes of Visa Time every day.

"And on top of that, even if we only consider maintaining basic living conditions, we still need to earn at least another hour of Visa Time.

"A daily income of 1,500 minutes is the bare minimum for us to survive in this world.

"Not only that, compared to raw ingredients, prepared meals have labor costs that are far higher than in the original world.

"Take egg fried rice, for example. At normal prices, it should cost around fifteen yuan, but here it costs twice as much.

"Can you imagine spending thirty yuan on a simple plate of roadside-stall egg fried rice?"

Yang Yuting's expression visibly darkened. "That does seem a little expensive..."

The two said nothing more.

After thinking it over for a moment, Lin Sizhi still chose a tomato and egg rice bowl.

He then placed the Visa Time wristband on his left hand beneath the machine and scanned it.

"Beep."

After a soft notification sound, the screen displayed Lin Sizhi's remaining Visa Time.

[117 days - 21 hours 53 minutes]

"So I have a little over three months left to live..."

Lin Sizhi found it difficult to say whether that amount of time was long or short.

Judging by a normal human lifespan, assuming an expected lifespan of seventy years, three months could clearly be described as being close to death.

But there was one point that could not be ignored: he and these people might all already be dead.

Every minute spent living in the New World was equivalent to some kind of gift.

In many survival-themed films and television shows like this, the survival time granted under the game rules was generally calculated in days.

Being given three months right from the start was already quite generous.

What was more, they could earn Visa Time through the games in the arcade corridor afterward.

There was a certain degree of danger, but no matter what, as long as they were alive, there was still hope.

"What? That little?"

Ding Wenqiang, the fifty-three-year-old delivery driver, stared at the Visa Time on the screen.

[11 days - 13 hours 37 minutes]

"Brother Ding, how much Visa Time do you have?" Su Xiucen asked anxiously.

Ding Wenqiang's expression stiffened slightly. "See for yourself."

Su Xiucen glanced at it. "Eleven days... Brother Ding, I'm about the same as you. I have seventeen days."

She then looked at Qin Yao nearby. "Miss, what about your time?"

No. 7, Qin Yao, was twenty-four years old and worked as a fashion model.

She was the youngest and prettiest of all the players.

"I... I have forty-five days."

Qin Yao hesitated, but still answered truthfully.

Ding Wenqiang's face darkened. He looked around and quickly spotted Wang Yongxin, who stood beyond an empty vending machine from him.

"How much time do you have left?"

Wang Yongxin gave him a baffled look. "Why should I tell you?

"Forget strangers. Even directly asking relatives or friends how much money they have in savings is bad manners, isn't it?"

Ding Wenqiang's eyes widened. "Kid, who are you calling ill-mannered?"

Fu Chen was once again the first to step in and mediate. "Alright, alright, Uncle Ding. There's no need to argue over this. Remaining Visa Time really is relatively private information. It's normal not to want to disclose it.

"If you really want to know, I can tell you mine. I have one month and ten days left."

Detective Cao Haichuan walked over to the vending machine on Ding Wenqiang's right, quietly placing himself between Ding Wenqiang and Wang Yongxin, then scanned his own visa.

"Oh, I don't have much time either. Just twenty-one days.

"It's fine. Didn't the community rules just say that we can earn more time?

"If we can earn it, what's there to worry about?

"Hm? They even sell cigarettes here?

"They even have Bai Jiang? Heh, that's great."

Cao Haichuan immediately spent ten minutes of Visa Time to buy a pack of Bai Jiang. The vending machine even thoughtfully included a lighter.

"Want one?" Cao Haichuan took out a cigarette.

Ding Wenqiang shook his head. "Next time."

"Alright." Cao Haichuan did not even have time to order food before taking his cigarettes to find an outdoor smoking area.

Listening from afar, Lin Sizhi quickly organized the relevant information in his mind.

"I have more than twice as much Visa Time as normal.

"Is it because of Wei Xinjian?"

According to the rules, when a player died in a game, the game's designer would receive all of that player's remaining Visa Time.

Then the extra time Lin Sizhi had likely came from Wei Xinjian, or perhaps it was a special reward for completing the game.

Therefore, if others found out how much Visa Time he had, it could very easily create a hidden danger.

There were many ways to conceal it for the time being, but as time passed and everyone came to understand the rules better, that hidden danger might take root and grow.

Lin Sizhi quickly completed the payment and exited the vending machine's purchase interface.

A message reading "Meal in Preparation" appeared on the screen. Soon, a steaming hot tomato and egg rice bowl appeared in the vending machine's dispensing window.

"Brother Lin, have you already ordered? How much time do you have left?" Fu Chen casually asked when he saw Lin Sizhi walking toward him with the tomato and egg rice bowl.

"About the same as you all. A little over a month." Lin Sizhi's expression remained unchanged.

Fu Chen nodded slightly. "Mm... It seems to be about what I expected. The New World probably followed some basic rule when issuing the initial Visa Time...

"Each person's baseline Visa Time is roughly one month.

"But depending on certain factors, that amount can fluctuate upward or downward.

"For example, young people generally have more than a month, while older people have some deducted. Or perhaps it is related to the wealth everyone possessed in the real world."

Fu Chen looked at Wang Yongxin again. Clearly, if he wanted to verify that point, Wang Yongxin was the most suitable comparison.