Home (3)

Ding Shi left through the side entrance and headed toward the car dealership. After only a few steps, someone called out to him. "Hey."

Ding Shi stopped and turned around. It was a stunning woman, 175 centimeters tall, fair-skinned and athletic, with long legs and broad shoulders.

The woman asked, "Are you going to Far North Province?"

Ding Shi did not answer. The woman pointed toward the banyan tree and explained, "I saw you earlier."

Ding Shi replied, "Yes, I'm going to Far North Province."

The woman said, "I have a car, and one seat left."

Ding Shi said regretfully, "I only have 40 yuan."

The woman said, "Money is an issue, but not the main one. What can you do? Or rather, what can you bring to the team?" Her eyes held a questioning look.

Ding Shi asked, "Why did you pick me?"

The woman said, "I used to be a headhunter for a Fortune 500 company, and I've always been good at judging people. You're really poor, but you have a good mindset. I'm not sure whether you'd be useful to the team, but when I meet someone like you, I'm willing to spend some time getting to know them. Maybe you're exactly the kind of person the team needs?"

Ding Shi asked, "What kind of people does the team need?"

The woman said, "For example, someone with wilderness survival experience who knows how to hunt for food. You know, we have a very long journey ahead. If we can't obtain resources in the wild, it'll be hard to complete the mission."

Ding Shi said regretfully, "I can't do that, but I can drive."

The woman asked, "Can you drive a manual?"

Ding Shi nodded. "Of course."

The woman's eyes lit up. "I'll take you over there."

As they walked and chatted, Ding Shi learned that the woman was named Chu Yu. Chu was a relatively rare surname, ranked beyond five hundred in the Hundred Family Surnames, though on Treasure Island it ranked among the top two hundred. Ding Shi asked where Chu Yu had gotten the money to buy a car, and she answered readily that at the very start of the instance, she had exchanged 20 dollars for 400 instance coins.

Some players were headed only to the neighboring county, just fifty kilometers away. It was only an hour by minibus. The instance coins in those people's hands were worthless, so Chu Yu had thought of buying them up immediately during the instance's preparation period.

Sure enough, as time passed, 20 dollars could now only be exchanged for 100 instance coins.

With Ding Shi's 40 yuan added in, the team had assets totaling 1,500 yuan. As team captain, Chu Yu would be responsible for coordinating the use of those funds. Ding Shi felt rather embarrassed. They had each contributed nearly 400 yuan on average, while he had only put in 40.

Ding Shi said, "I can exchange another 50 instance coins."

But Chu Yu said, "No. What are instance coins for? They're meant to better help players complete the instance. The team currently has 1,500 instance coins, enough for us to clear it. Even if you hand over another 100 instance coins, you'd still be the smallest shareholder. Increasing your investment has no practical meaning. Instead, it could trap the team in a zero-sum game. I put in 510, and you put in 500. When we both want the last sip of water, the person with 510 will think they're more entitled to it. If you can keep the right mindset and not treat your teammates as opponents, then even if you only contributed 40, you still have the right to that last sip of water."

Ding Shi had not studied much, and it took quite a few brain cells for him to understand what Chu Yu meant.

Chu Yu believed that the Home instance required a team that cooperated against the outside world, not one that competed internally. The first thing she did was eliminate any sense of superiority based on how much each person had contributed. For example, if the team had a hunter skilled at hunting in the wild, then under normal circumstances, his influence and importance would increase. Suppose the rules stated that no one was allowed to touch someone of the opposite sex on the face, but the hunter could not resist and touched an opposite-sex teammate's face, then sincerely apologized. The matter would become impossible to handle. Some would think he could be forgiven once. Some would believe the rules had to be followed strictly. Others would ask whether they, too, could violate the rules once and be forgiven.

Chu Yu decided to use the rules to restrain both the members and herself, rather than solve team problems through other means. Those other means included debate, voting, and so on.

It was a new red five-seat Class A car. Broadly speaking, Class A meant low fuel consumption and limited space. When Ding Shi and Chu Yu arrived, two men and a woman were sorting through cardboard boxes and shockproof foam they had found in trash cans.

Chu Yu clapped her hands to make everyone stop. "Let me introduce our new companion, Ding Shi."

Ding Shi said, "Hello, everyone."

Chu Yu said, "Wang Ritian."

"I'm here."

The moment Ding Shi heard that name, admiration welled up inside him. Ordinary people would not dare choose a name like that.

A hulking man, 198 centimeters tall, came over and shook Ding Shi's hand. Scratching his head sheepishly, he gave an honest smile. "My name was supposed to be Wang Hao. When my household registration was being filed, my dad was drunk and left out the character for sun." In this one day alone, he had already explained his name three times.

Ding Shi nodded. "It's good. It has character. I'm sure everyone will remember you because of your name."

Chu Yu said, "Wang Kai."

Wang Kai was a bald man standing 178 centimeters tall. He wore a short-sleeved shirt, and tattoos covered his arms and back. One look was enough to tell that he was from the underworld. Wang Kai shook Ding Shi's hand. "My friends all call me Brother Kai."

Ding Shi said, "Hello, Brother Kai."

Brother Kai patted Ding Shi on the shoulder. "Good. From now on, you're my friend."

Chu Yu continued, "Mu Mu."

Mu Mu was female, 160 centimeters tall, with short hair dyed yellow and purple. Her features were beautiful, and she had a non-mainstream air about her. She held out her right hand, bent down her middle finger, raised the other four fingers, and greeted Ding Shi with that distinctive gesture.

Ding Shi instinctively tried to copy the gesture with his own hand, only to find that his ring finger followed his middle finger down.

Chu Yu said, "It's 10:30 in the morning. At 11:30, the supermarket will hand out boxed lunches to the people lining up at the relief window. We have one hour to prepare. Mu Mu, you and I will organize the route. Everyone else, find as many cardboard boxes and foam boxes as possible. We can use them for camping in the wilderness or as fuel."

Ding Shi asked doubtfully, "The supermarket gives out boxed lunches too?"

Chu Yu looked at Brother Kai. Brother Kai patted his chest and said, "My nickname is Scout. I'm a private detective, and I've always liked gathering information."

Ding Shi said, "But the instance said NPCs are robots."

Brother Kai said, "Robots have two traits. First, they respond to your questions in a formulaic manner. Second, they don't lie. As long as you ask enough questions, you can always find some useful information."

Ding Shi gave him a thumbs-up, full of admiration.

There were many trash cans in the square, and Chu Yu had targeted this resource from the very beginning. She first recruited Sun Heaven from the crowd, taking a liking to his build and honest nature. Brother Kai was the second person to join. When Chu Yu was buying instance coins, she noticed Brother Kai chatting with people everywhere. After learning that his destination was Far North Province, she invited him to travel with them.

The third person to join was Mu Mu, who had brought funds with her. She had 500 instance coins. She refused to sell them to Chu Yu and instead asked to meet the team members. In the end, she decided to join Chu Yu's team.

Chu Yu had taken her huge sum of money to look at cars, only to discover that the system was inhuman. Automatic cars generally consumed more fuel and cost around 30% more.

It was already 2050, and 99% of the cars on the market were automatic. Chu Yu, Sun Heaven, and Mu Mu had no experience driving manual cars. Brother Kai had obtained a manual transmission license, but he had driven automatics for the past ten years and was not confident he could drive a manual smoothly.

The four discussed whether to buy an electric car. Judging from the map, most charging stations were located in cities, with very few by the roadside. They would have to enter a city to find a charging station every time they needed to charge, and each charge would take several hours. It was unsuitable for people trying to hurry along.

In the end, they decided that Brother Kai would serve as the instructor and everyone would learn while driving. Once the car got moving, there was not much difference between an automatic and a manual.