It had not been obvious when he had only seen Yu Le yesterday, but with a dozen or so children standing there today, the contrast made it much clearer.
Although they were all dressed like boys, a few of the more delicate-looking ones, Yu Le included, could still be identified as girls on closer inspection.
That made sense, given the game's complicated environment.
Rules guaranteed players' safety in the safe zone, but that protection disappeared once they entered a dungeon.
If someone with ill intentions followed them into a dungeon, children without their parents' protection had no way to fight back.
Zuo Cheng'an had seen families of four or five in the safe zone, just like those in the real world.
Apart from using points as their everyday currency and the parents occasionally needing to enter a dungeon together, they were no different from families in the real world.
But dungeons were not places for fun and vacations. No matter how thoroughly a dungeon had been explored,
there were still players who got themselves killed through reckless behavior or carelessness.
Once their parents died, if the children left without protection were over ten,
they automatically inherited their parents' items and points and had to make their own living from then on.
If they were under ten, the game took charge of their education and care.
After turning ten, they left the Orphanage and moved into the safe zone to live on their own.
Without a doubt, children with parents were fortunate.
With their parents' support, they could spend a few idle years at home, waiting until they were thirteen or fourteen and physically stronger before starting to enter dungeons.
With their parents showing them the ropes in dungeons, their survival rates and speed of adaptation would also be much better than those of orphans.
As long as they reached the first heavenly tier, they would never starve, even if they only ran level-one dungeons for the minimum payout afterward.
Hostile monsters in level-one dungeons had average attributes ranging from 1 to 15.
As long as players made sure all their attributes exceeded 15, they could get through most level-one dungeons safely.
If they were well above 15, with their personal average attributes reaching 20!
Then they could spin around and pick a level-one dungeon with their eyes closed.
If they had no desire to grow stronger, life afterward would be like going to work: usually running a barbecue stall, pancake stall, or ring-toss stall in the safe zone, earning a few points from other players to get by.
Then, once a week, they would clock in for a dungeon run, choosing a level-one dungeon with a pleasant environment that provided food and lodging, and freeloading there.
After coasting through to completion, they could even milk the game for its two-point minimum payout. Life would be sweet.
If life in the safe zone could continue like that forever, then in a sense, settling down here for the long term would not be bad.
But the great purge remained a sword hanging over every player's head.
A marketplace where so many players could set up stalls and wander around
was bound to cover a sizable area.
With no dedicated planning division, the players' stalls were arranged haphazardly.
The first stall might sell weapons, the second food, the next clothing, and then food again...
It was also hard to judge the stallholders' character. For example, temporary stallholders might pass off inferior goods as quality merchandise or charge exorbitant prices, intending to make a quick score and run.
A guide who knew the place well was very much needed.
Zuo Cheng'an spotted Yu Le, and naturally, the job fell to him again.
But when Yu Le heard that Zuo Cheng'an wanted to browse the marketplace,
he hesitated, then picked out a slightly older-looking child from the row of children by the wall and brought him over.
"You know I only arrived in the safe zone a few days ago, big brother. I know the main functional areas, but I haven't figured out the marketplace yet. Let him do it! He knows lots of the stallholders!"
The child Yu Le brought over looked thirteen or fourteen. He wore a tank top and shorts, had dark skin, and had a jagged scar on his exposed upper arm.
The safe zone maintained a comfortable temperature year-round, with very little fluctuation.
Light outfits like his were common.
Yu Le introduced the dark-skinned boy as the leader of their group of children. His name was Tian Wenliang, he was thirteen, and he had even completed four dungeon runs.
Only with Tian Wenliang leading them had these children with little strength managed to claim a shaded corner of the park as somewhere to sleep.
"Hello." Tian Wenliang greeted him somewhat stiffly.
Zuo Cheng'an did not turn down Yu Le's kindness. Before leaving, he added Yu Le as a friend so he could call her over to help whenever he had work in the future.
If Yu Le was a machine gun, chattering endlessly and rattling off a whole stream of words without Zuo Cheng'an even having to ask,
then Tian Wenliang was the silent type, answering only when Zuo Cheng'an asked him something.
When he was not being asked questions, he followed behind Zuo Cheng'an with his head down, his presence extremely faint.
Without paying attention, it was almost impossible to notice him.
Could this be a skill too?
Seriously? A player who had only run three dungeons could already get a skill?
That was even more enviable than getting a skill from a beginner's gift pack!
The former was like being born with something, while the latter was like earning it through effort.
Just as adults would eventually ask children about their grades when chatting with them,
after walking with Tian Wenliang for a while, Zuo Cheng'an also steered the conversation toward his performance.
"What level are you now?"
"Not yet on the ladder," Tian Wenliang managed to say.
Four dungeons and still not on the ladder?
As though noticing Zuo Cheng'an's confusion, Tian Wenliang volunteered an explanation.
"Most people think children will hold them back, so very few are willing to team up with us. That's why we form our own teams for dungeon runs. I'm waiting for the others on my team to raise their attributes a little more, then we'll go to the Ladder Tower together."
After a few brief exchanges, Tian Wenliang finally opened up and began chatting with Zuo Cheng'an of his own accord.
Noticing Zuo Cheng'an's interest in the game's Orphanage institution,
Tian Wenliang told him more about the environment where he had grown up.
The game's Orphanage was much like a boarding school in the real world. They attended classes during the day and returned to their dormitories to rest at night.
Teachers taught them reading, arithmetic, basic hand-to-hand combat, and all the other skills necessary to survive in the game.
So, strictly speaking, children like them, who had practiced combat from an early age, were somewhat stronger than most players who had been ordinary people before being drawn into the game.
They fell short only in age and experience.
Because their bodies had not finished growing, their base stats were somewhat lower than adults', and they had to spend extra attribute points to make up the difference.
That was why, whenever older children returned to visit the Orphanage, they told the younger ones not to rush into dungeons after leaving.
Whether they worked or begged, they had to give their bodies a few more years to grow before entering dungeons. It would save them plenty of free attribute points.
Tian Wenliang had kept the older boys' and girls' advice firmly in mind. For his first two years after leaving, he had supported himself by guiding people and doing odd jobs for large guilds, never entering a dungeon.
Only this year had he found a few easy dungeons to try with his friends.
Soon, the conversation returned to the marketplace.
"The marketplace doesn't have any unified planning, but after all these years, a few unwritten conventions have developed.
"For example, the farther inside you go, the better the items. The ones around the outside are more ordinary.
"We haven't gone far since coming in, so we're still on the outskirts of the marketplace. The items here are all white and green quality.
"For white items, whatever their effects, anything under 200 is reasonable. For green ones, it's under 500. Don't even bother looking at higher prices-they're definitely ripping you off."
As Tian Wenliang spoke, he gazed enviously at the goods on the stalls.
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