You entered Space Island's central plaza. The entire Space Island area was a safe zone, and while inside Space Island, you could communicate with all players and NPCs without restrictions.
All players who passed the beginner trial would automatically appear in the plaza at the very center of Space Island when they left their personal spaces for the first time.
And just as most train stations in our country had drivers soliciting passengers, Chosen Evolution Space also had people who made a living doing the same thing.
Making money was nothing to be ashamed of~
But people were different from one another. Just as some of the people soliciting passengers at train stations genuinely made an honest living, others would forcibly take your suitcase, counting on you being too embarrassed to refuse, and lead you into some shady establishment.
This was also recorded in the Greed Island arc of Hunter × Hunter.
Learning to distinguish between such people was likewise part of life's experience.
As for Cheng Tian, who was too lazy to guess what other people were thinking, he had maintained one attitude from beginning to end—treat them as if they did not exist.
He was especially wary of the fellow who kept repeating "Interested in swimming and fitness?" in Mandarin, as if he were reciting a secret password.
As the saying went, when fellow countrymen met, one might put a bullet in the other's back. And in a place like Chosen Evolution Space, which did not prohibit players from killing one another, the more "compatriotic" someone seemed, the more vigilant one had to be.
Seeing that the masked Cheng Tian was so hopelessly uncooperative, the group generally known as the Hyenas by the other players—people who preyed on newcomers' lack of information—wore disgruntled expressions and moved away from him one after another, preparing to fleece the next player who passed the trial.
Cheng Tian did not go far either. Instead, he watched the group's bored backs from a distance.
Although he did not know how many of them had completely altered their appearances, he had indeed seen quite a few forms belonging to nonhuman races.
Before long, Cheng Tian saw the next male newcomer appear, followed by the Hyenas surrounding him.
The newcomer's face had the standard mosaic-like appearance, meaning he was using the space's facial-blurring function. Yet, in a daze, he followed away a succubus in an extremely revealing deep-V outfit.
Cheng Tian was curious whether that deep-V succubus's true body was male or female.
But that had nothing to do with him. First, he would lift the fog of war over Space Island.
According to the projected signposts floating in midair, Space Island was broadly divided into four major areas.
The eastern district was a bounty-mission area centered around the "Player Mission Hall." The south was an enhancement and trading district centered around "Equipment Enhancement," the "Player Marketplace," and the "Auction House." The north was a cultivation and combat district centered around the "Wooden Dummy Training Grounds" and "PK Beast Arena." The west was an entertainment and leisure district with all sorts of random things.
Driven by intense curiosity, Cheng Tian went south first.
Cheng Tian had no interest whatsoever in scenery or tourist attractions. Whenever he visited a new place, he always found and headed for the local wholesale and secondhand markets first. He might spend an entire day browsing without spending a single cent, primarily there to accompany someone on a shopping trip, but he always enjoyed himself immensely.
Of course, here in Chosen Evolution Space, he had an additional purpose: observing and analyzing the market prices of spatial items.
Although Cheng Tian possessed the typical and intense savings obsession of an old-school Chinese person, he displayed an entirely different financial philosophy when playing games. Unless there was a mandatory savings target, he would do his utmost to convert every game coin into the combat power of his own character team.
If there was better equipment, he upgraded. If there was nothing to upgrade, he piled on supplies. He dared to spend money, but never spent it recklessly. That was Cheng Tian's attitude toward gaming.
As long as his characters grew stronger, he would always have a chance to earn the money back, and certainly more efficiently. If he died because he tried to save those few lousy coins, that would annoy Cheng Tian the most.
Clearly, when dealing with Chosen Evolution Space and Chosen Players, Cheng Tian had chosen the most game-like approach.
Incidentally, the designer of Space Island was most likely also a Doraemon reader. The seemingly flat ground was actually made up of countless small balls. One only had to step onto it and lean slightly toward the target, and the balls beneath one's feet would immediately begin rolling, carrying the person in the direction of their destination.
Cheng Tian accidentally played around with it for a while longer, only finally restraining himself after passersby—who might or might not have been players—pointed at him and whispered.
After roughly making a round, asking here and there, Cheng Tian gained a general understanding of the types of trade through sheer freeloading.
The first type was the auction house, which occupied an independent building. Auctions were held at a fixed time each month, and only items of genuine value could be included in the auctions. The space also took a percentage of the proceeds.
The second type was applying to open a shop. The space would charge only a shop fee, but the prerequisite was that one had to achieve a certain transaction volume each month. Otherwise, the shop would be forcibly dismantled the following month, and the owner would be unable to apply again for a long time.
The final type was simply setting up a street stall. This was also the most common kind of stall, because there were no stall fees, intermediary fees, or anything of the sort. Whether one sold a lot or a little, the proceeds were one's own.
Some sellers simply spread a rag on the ground, marked their goods with prices, and tossed them onto it. Buyers interested in the merchandise would squat down right there and immediately start haggling.
Of course, there was no need to worry about having anything stolen here. The space itself provided protection through its rules.
Although Chosen Evolution Space unscrupulously abducted many people who had no intention of entering it, forcing them to risk their lives by entering dungeons and completing missions, it also granted the protection due to the spoils that players successfully brought back into the space.
The Player Marketplace had items of every conceivable origin and type, and quite a few of them stirred Cheng Tian's memories of the distant past.
For example, at one stall, the owner was absent and had simply put out a weapon rack for customers to choose from. After rummaging through it for a while, Cheng Tian immediately realized that its owner was probably backed by a team.
That was because all those weapons came from different game templates. It was impossible for a lone player to obtain them all in one go from the same dungeon.
Take straight spears, for example. Cheng Tian saw some from Dynasty Warriors, some from Fire Emblem, and some from Meteor, Butterfly, Sword, all of them green, excellent-grade items.
The Dynasty Warriors spear had the greatest growth potential, the Fire Emblem spear had the highest attack-stat panel, and Meteor, Butterfly, Sword had the most derivative moves.
There was also a stall selling firearms nearby. Cheng Tian only had to glance at it before daring to conclude that its owner most likely knew about the Chinese gamer concept of the "Famicom Four Classics."
Because he saw Contra's Type-F Flamethrower, Green Beret's RPG Launcher, Red Fortress's Blooming Rocket, and Gradius's Crystal Option... Huh?
Crystal Option!?
Cheng Tian stood at attention on the spot!
Before you continue