The Most Fundamental Power Was Often Surprisingly Simple
Trait: Working City
Tag: [Working], [Infinite], [Survival], [Loop], [Cycle], [Money], [Most]
Synopsis: Money is an indispensable resource for human beings to survive in society; having money is equivalent to having everything.
The means of acquiring resources is called "work." Earning remuneration through labor is a perfectly legitimate behavior, but for most people, work itself is not easy.
This is an Industrial City that is transforming into a commercial city, with a huge job shortage and employment prospects. Whether you are a programmer, a construction worker, a fast food restaurant clerk, or a convenience store cashier, you can earn a decent salary. However, please note that the cost of living here is not cheap.
Power: [Assimilation]
"Tsk, this is so much worse than [School Hell]!" Feng Xue frowned as she looked at the City Model that covered more than 20 square meters in front of her.
After conquering the School Hell, he immediately turned his attention to other challenging levels listed on the bulletin board. However, after finding the core of the level and replicating it, the resulting Phantom Object Weird Tale did not satisfy him.
It has more than one [assimilation] power and lacks coercive force. Although there are factories and farms inside, the output is only False Thing that can be used within the city. Although it can produce True Thing if given some True Thing materials, there is only a very small probability of generating Phantom Object, and the output is not stable.
If we had to point out any advantage, it would be that it resolved Feng Xue's purpose in coming to this world.
Although it lacks power, just like the School Rules in a School Hell school, this Working City, which possesses both the characteristics of Phantom Object and Weird Tale, also has special rules for those who are Phantom Object.
In this "city," everything that is needed for daily life requires "money," and this need accumulates over time. Initially, there are only classic necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. But as time goes on, the people in the city will gradually be influenced by the power of assimilation and become more and more dependent on the city. At that point, even the air they breathe and their lifespan will need to be purchased. Of course, this also means that as long as you have enough money, you can buy these clearly priced items in the city.
Correspondingly, there are also places similar to Pawn Shop in this city where you can pledge some of your abilities in exchange for a certain amount of money. The pledged items will not disappear and can be redeemed at any time for double the amount.
It was through this mechanism that Feng Xue pledged his "Possibility of Offspring." Regardless of how much money he pledged, as long as he didn't redeem this ability, he would not have any offspring.
However, since this thing doesn't have the [Phantomatization] ability, the offers issued by companies have no binding force, so it can't be used to catch people. But getting out of it is far more difficult than the School Hell.
Just like skipping school is easy, but escaping the Worker's Fate is very difficult. Unless you can truly do without external help, it's hard to escape the hell of work.
"Could it be because there isn't enough data?" Feng Xue, who had crammed the Working City she had dubbed "Construction Hell" into the School Hell, began to analyze the problems.
In essence, Feng Xue's work experience and her study experience in the School Hell are not fundamentally different. Moreover, the Construction Hell is larger in area and has a larger NPC population. Except for the lack of Phantom Object, it surpasses the School Hell in every aspect.
As for the Phantom Object, Feng Xue felt that it was related to their inherent nature. Things in schools naturally have strong added value, and an Exam Paper means more than just a test for students.
According to the theory of Weird Tale, the more concentrated and intense the cognition, the easier it is to become Phantom Object or Weird Tale. Every test paper a student does carries a series of thoughts such as whether he will be criticized or rewarded, whether he has made progress, and whether he has lived up to his investment. However, the tools of working people obviously only have the purpose of "making money," and trading is the core ability of the Construction Hell itself.
If the two levels are not fundamentally different, then the only difference lies in the fact that when Feng Xue constructed the School Hell, she invested a large number of black orbs. These black orbs directly caused the School Hell to skip the Accumulation Stage and reach a more powerful level.
"However, judging from the characteristics of the Construction Hell,' it is even more similar to the School Hell Infinite City. 'From this perspective, it can be confirmed that the Infinite City' is essentially Weird Tale with Phantom Object characteristics. The only question is, why is there Outlier Building like the Tower of Babylon in the Infinite City'?"
Feng Xue put the Business Card Holder, shaped like School Hell, into his pocket, but suddenly stopped. He looked at the City Model in the Business Card Holder and tried to issue an order to assimilate the Construction Hell into the School Hell.
The result was undoubtedly a failure, because the two seemed to exist in completely different dimensions. Even if the Main Body of the part-time Working City was successfully placed inside the School Hell, assimilation could not be achieved.
"Is it because the Phantom Object Supernaturalized themselves are exclusive, or is it for some other reason? But there's clearly a special building in the Infinite City called the Tower of Babylon! Isn't it an independent Phantom Object Supernaturalized?"
The fact that the Infinite City can open gates in various parts of the mortal world isn't hard to understand. With a little manipulation, something similar could be done in places like the Construction Hell or the School Hell. But the Tower of Tower of Babel's ability to connect to other worlds is outrageous. Feng Xue finds it hard to comprehend what kind of understanding could give rise to such a thing...
Uh, wait a minute!
Feng Xue's face suddenly darkened, because he seemed to have figured out the reason—
The core Tag of Infinite City is not something like "disappearance" or "subspace," but rather "Place Where Trash Gathers"! It is precisely because it gathers the thoughts of the people of the East that "only trash would go to that lousy place now" and "it's full of trashy people" that Infinite City has the power to receive all kinds of "Junk Information."
Furthermore, the seemingly shared [assimilation] ability of this kind of Phantomatization Weird Tale allows it to continuously assimilate the garbage of other worlds, gradually giving it ports and compatibility with other worlds. Ultimately, what propelled the birth of the Tower of Babylon were probably those doors leading to the Real World.
The Real Worlder are unaware that the Infinite City is merely a Weird Tale attached to the present world. After a few returning individuals sent out information, the officials of the present world naturally assumed that it was another world, and that its connection with the present world was a connection between two other worlds.
Thus, the Infinite City, which already possessed coordinates, compatibility, and channels, gained the ability to open its gates.
Feng Xue's expression turned strange. Who would have thought that the foundation of the prestigious Infinite City was actually collecting garbage?
Let me explain to the young people: the Academy City mentioned in the previous chapter isn't the one from A Certain Magical Index, but the much older Mahora Academy City. The School Hell meme originates from that.
This isn't just a science-themed place, nor is it like A Certain Magical Index, where a bunch of schools are gathered together and call themselves Academy City. This is a place where each school is a city in itself.
It features a huge built-in library (with a maze, guarded by Dragon Kind and Golem), an internal tram, ultra-luxurious dormitories, and bathrooms that resemble swimming pools.
The teachers on average are strong enough to take down six tanks with their bare hands, and the school is teeming with all sorts of monsters and demons, including but not limited to time travelers, aliens, superpowered individuals, martial artists, magicians, sorcerers, knights, magical knights, fantastic beasts, ghosts, fully lifelike robots, super artificial intelligence, vampires, true ancestors, Frankenstein's monster, serendipitous female anchors, princesses, maids, chefs, priestesses, bounty hunters, demon hunters, half-demon, monsters, ninjas, swordsmen...
Cough cough, it seems like something strange has gotten mixed in.
In short, the content is extremely complex, with female characters frequently experiencing clothing malfunctions, prompting viewers to exclaim things like, "Holy crap, how is this world still going? How did they manage to hide this magic? Are all the people in this school crazy?"
In short, when I was writing crossover anime, the school liked to use Mahora, and when writing mecha-themed schools, they would use Jindai (a mecha trope; basically, anyone who could go to school or become a teacher was crammed into this school, even Shinji Ikari). It's a classic, tear-jerking trope.
By the way, just watch the main series of "The Mana Transfer" and maybe another Romance Anime by the same author (Love Hina who know, know). Don't bother with the spin-offs; they'll ruin your mood.