Commodity Prices

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

Yang Yuting's profession was company executive, which could be roughly discerned from her appearance and demeanor.

She wore delicate, light makeup, and while her clothes didn't seem flashy, a closer look revealed each piece was highly designed, likely from some international luxury brand.

Her aura also gave off a distinct impression of being accustomed to a life of privilege.

"Of course, it's cheap!"

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

"Using the prices of cola and eggs as a calculation, one minute of visa time here is about equivalent to one yuan in our original world, correct?"

Lin Sizhi nodded. "Correct."

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

"Working one hour earns about twenty to thirty yuan, depending on the place. We'll use the highest standard, where one hour only converts to thirty yuan.

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

"Enough to buy two jin of chicken wings or six jin of potatoes.

"Isn't that still considered cheap?"

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

Yang Yuting was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"Huh?

"Ah, right...

"In this world, if you do nothing all day, you'll spend 24 hours of visa time, which is equivalent to...

"1440 yuan!"

This number startled her.

Lin Sizhi nodded. "Yes, to survive in this world, we must earn at least 1440 minutes of visa time every day.

"On top of that, even if we only consider basic living expenses, we need to earn an additional hour or more of visa time.

"A daily wage of 1500 minutes is the minimum income to survive in this world.

"Not only that, but finished meals have a much higher 'labor cost' compared to raw ingredients than in the original world.

"Take fried rice with eggs, for example. At normal prices, it should be around 15 yuan, but here it's doubled.

"Can you imagine spending 30 yuan on a simple plate of street-side fried rice with eggs?"

Yang Yuting's expression clearly became a bit grim. "That does seem a bit expensive..."

The two stopped talking.

After a moment of consideration, Lin Sizhi still chose to order a tomato and egg over rice.

Then, he swiped the visa bracelet on his left hand under the machine.

"Beep."

After a faint beep, the screen displayed Lin Sizhi's remaining visa time.

[117 days - 21 hours 53 minutes]

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

Lin Sizhi found it hard to say whether this amount of time was long or short.

If calculated based on real-world lifespan, assuming an average life expectancy of 70 years, three months could clearly be described as "not far from death."

However, there was one point that couldn't be ignored: he and these people might already be dead.

Every minute lived in the New World was a form of gift.

In many similar survival-themed film and television works, the survival period granted according to game rules is usually calculated in days.

Being given three months right off the bat was already quite generous.

Moreover, one could earn visa time later through games in the gallery.

Although there were risks, as long as one was alive, there was still hope.

"What! It's so little!"

Ding Wenqiang, a 53-year-old delivery driver, looked 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 worriedly.

Ding Wenqiang's expression was a little stiff. "You can see for yourself."

Su Xiucen glanced at it. "11 days... Brother Ding, I'm about the same as you; I have 17 days."

She then looked at Qin Yao beside her. "Little girl, what about your time?"

No. 7 Qin Yao, 24 years old, a fashion model by profession.

She was the youngest and most beautiful of all the players.

"I... I have 45 days."

Qin Yao hesitated for a moment, but answered truthfully.

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

"How much time do you have left?"

Wang Yongxin looked at him with some bewilderment. "Why should I tell you?

"Let alone strangers, even asking relatives and friends how much savings they have is a very ill-mannered thing to do, isn't it?"

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

Fu Chen was the first to intervene in the argument again. "Alright, alright, Uncle Ding, there's no need to argue about this. The remaining visa time is indeed private information, and it's normal not to want to disclose it.

"If you really want to know, I can tell you my remaining visa time: I have one month and ten days left."

Detective Cao Haichuan walked to the vending machine to Ding Wenqiang's right, subtly separating him and Wang Yongxin, and then swiped his own visa.

"Oh, I don't have much time left either, only 21 days.

"It's okay, didn't the community rules just say that we can earn more time?

"Since we can earn it, what is there to worry about?

"Huh? They even sell cigarettes here?

"And Bai Jiang? Heh, that's great."

Cao Haichuan immediately spent 10 minutes of his visa time to buy a pack of Bai Jiang. The vending machine even thoughtfully included a lighter.

"Do you smoke?" Cao Haichuan offered a cigarette.

Ding Wenqiang shook his head. "Maybe next time."

"Okay." Cao Haichuan didn't even bother to order food, and directly took the cigarette to find an outdoor smoking area.

Lin Sizhi listened from afar, quickly organizing the relevant information in their mind.

"My visa time is more than double the normal time.

"Is it because of Wei Xinjian?"

According to the rules, when a player dies in the game, the game designer will receive all of that player's remaining visa time.

Therefore, the extra time Lin Sizhi had was likely from Wei Xinjian, or a special reward after completing the game.

So, if Lin Sizhi's visa time were to be known by others, it could very well plant a hidden danger.

Although there were many ways to cover it up in the short term, as time went by and everyone understood the rules better, this hidden danger could also take root and grow.

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

A "preparing food" prompt appeared on the screen, and soon, a steaming plate of tomato and egg over rice appeared in the vending machine's window.

"Brother Lin, have you finished ordering? How much time do you have left?" Fu Chen asked casually as he saw Lin Sizhi walking towards him with the tomato and egg over rice.

"About the same as you, a little over a month." Lin Sizhi's expression was normal.

Fu Chen nodded slightly. "Hmm... it seems to be as I estimated. The New World probably issued the basic visa time according to some fundamental rules...

"The base visa time for everyone is about one month.

"But depending on certain different factors, this time will fluctuate up or down.

"For example, younger people generally have more visa time than a month, while older people will have deductions, or perhaps it's related to the wealth people possess in the real world."

Fu Chen then looked at Wang Yongxin, clearly wanting to use him as the most suitable control group to verify this point.