The Theatre

Broadway was a long street that cut diagonally across Manhattan. Its English name literally meant "broad street," and it was world-famous for its concentration of dozens of renowned theatres.

Many of these theatres had been built a hundred years ago. Their exteriors looked particularly old, yet they were decorated with dazzling neon lights, which made them look especially strange by day.

Without question, these theatres welcomed tens of millions of audience members from around the world every year, and were outstanding in both economic value and influence.

But there was hardly any unique scenery along this street. It was just an urban street lined with towering buildings. Many famous landmarks were nothing more than intersections.

"The food truck idea was fantastic. Finding a suitable parking spot is just too hard." Toby sat in the food truck's passenger seat, his gaze sweeping over the endless stream of tourists on the street.

"No expensive rent, hardly any manpower needed, and you can move around freely. Wherever the customers are, that's where you go. It keeps the cost of trial and error to a minimum. Apart from the trouble of getting a license, everything's perfect."

Lin Rui drove around the narrow streets for ages before finding a suitable parking space where he could set up the food truck.

Manhattan was a city that never slept, with people on the streets all night.

Once they opened the food truck's awning, set out the folding tables and chairs, and switched on the lights, tourists out enjoying the nightlife naturally came over.

"Leon, I think you're amazing." Toby bustled around helping Lin Rui, not forgetting to offer a few compliments. "You've shown me what a clever mind really is.

"Compared to you, those bros I know at school are so low-level. Ten dollars is all it takes to order them around. I really wish I could be like you."

"Then take your studies seriously." There was a faint note of complaint in Lin Rui's voice. "Doing well in school gives you a safety net. It gives you the rational thinking you need to spot opportunities."

Toby, who stood over six foot three, fell silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "Something really absurd has been happening. Lately, I've been dreaming every night that you're tutoring me in math.

"In my dreams, you're like a tyrant. I can clearly feel how much I reject you. I don't want to listen to any of that knowledge you're teaching. I feel like none of it's useful."

Lin Rui turned his head, finally understanding why he had failed to complete several teaching missions in Nightmare Space-this big black guy hadn't taken any of it in. Teaching him was like playing the lute to a cow.

"What about now? What do you think?" Lin Rui asked.

"Can studying really change your fate?" Toby was deeply skeptical. "I'm not a top student like Cynthia. Even if I get into college, so what? Am I supposed to shoulder twenty or thirty years of student loans?

"Look at my build. Do I look like college material? Even if I get into college, no woman's going to like me.

"My plan is to enlist when I turn eighteen. The military doesn't have high recruitment standards. As long as you aren't physically disabled, you're good. After I get out, I can get a diploma at a community college, then find a job. Running a food truck, for example."

That was a lovely picture he had painted.

But Lin Rui scoffed. "With your build, could you handle the hardship of military training? Are you sure your fellow soldiers wouldn't discriminate against you and humiliate you?"

Toby's expression turned rather ugly.

"For poor people, nothing is easier or more worthwhile than studying. Even running a food truck requires arithmetic."

Lin Rui took out several burgers and tossed them into the microwave, emphasizing his words. "As for wanting women to like you, lose some weight. Eat less at every meal."

The profits from running a food truck were plain to see, and that did have a direct psychological impact on Toby.

In the past, getting a little spending money from his parents had never been easy. Today, he had earned fifty dollars just by running errands. He had seen actual money.

As for losing weight, that was even harder than studying.

"All right, I'll try to make an effort." Toby finally nodded, accepting Lin Rui's guidance. "I want to lose weight too, but I fail every time."

Just like that, a notification chime Lin Rui had not heard in a long time rang out in his mind. "Mission 'Tutoring' completed.

You taught Toby the most important piece of knowledge: the importance of studying. Reward: +1 attribute point.

The chime sounded like heavenly music, freeing Lin Rui from days of frustration. He thought, I'm never taking another mission involving Toby. This big black guy is just too hard to teach.

He added the extra attribute point to "Constitution." He had recently discovered that "Strength" could be increased through exercise, with "Constitution" as its foundation.

With a good "Constitution," training "Strength" produced better results, and even "Agility" improved along with it-but improving "Constitution" was not something a short period of exercise could achieve.

Improving "Constitution" meant getting sick less easily, having more endurance, and being better able to earn money.

The next second, another notification sounded in Lin Rui's mind. "Would you like to accept the mission 'Fond of Teaching'-supervise Toby in losing at least twenty kilograms?

Mission reward: one character card.

A card?

On the attribute list, equipment, skills, followers, and the like were all easy to understand. The most baffling thing was "Cards."

Lin Rui had no idea what they were for, but that did not stop him from being immensely curious. After some thought, he accepted the new mission, "Fond of Teaching."

Perhaps it would be something very interesting.

Just then, after carrying things around for a while, Toby felt his stomach rumbling. Instinctively, he opened the food storage cooler and took out a Big Mac meal.

"Don't eat that," Lin Rui snapped from beside him, watching him coldly. "If you want to change, start now. No putting it off, no hesitation, no making excuses for yourself."

"But... I'm a little hungry." Toby held the burger, unwilling to part with it.

"If you're hungry, drink more water." Lin Rui actually filled a large cup from the food truck's water dispenser and did not relent until he had watched Toby gulp it down. "From now on, I'm not just teaching you math. I'm supervising your weight loss too."

Toby's face immediately crumpled into a bitter gourd.

Lin Rui unloaded a handcart from the food truck, put two boxes of piping-hot burgers on it, and brought along the drinks that went with the meals.

"I'm going to deliver the food to the theatre. Call me if anything comes up." He handed the work at the prep counter over to Cynthia and left Samantha, who was handling the money, with that instruction.

The two girls were so busy they were excited. One scrambled to put orders together, while the other's eyes shone as she took payments. Business at night was even better than during the day, and a short line had formed in front of the food truck again.

This was their first night in business, and they would probably stay open until the early hours.

Their current stock definitely would not be enough, and Toby had already gone to the other vehicle for reserve ingredients. Mr. Jones was in charge of clearing trash from the tables and chairs. Once his long-gloomy face broke into a smile, he could not stop smiling.

Pulling the handcart, Lin Rui headed for the nearby Gershwin Theatre.

Manhattan at night bustled with people and was extremely noisy. A huge poster hung on the theatre's curtain wall, depicting the profiles of two characters from Wicked.

He stood beneath the poster and looked up. He knew only that the musical was extremely popular, but had never seen it. In fact, he had spent many years in New York in his previous life, yet rarely visited Manhattan.

Because the city's prosperity did not belong to the poor.

He called Andrea, but another woman's voice answered. "My name is Sophia. You must be Leon. Andrea's about to go onstage. She asked me to answer her phone."

The theatre was on the second floor. Before long, a woman in a business suit came downstairs. She looked to be in her thirties, mature and sexy, and dressed very fashionably, but her expression was quite cold.

The moment she appeared, she spotted Lin Rui pulling the handcart. She removed her glasses, bit one of the temples, and looked him over from every angle. "Andrea was right. You're very special."

"I'm here to deliver the late-night meals." Lin Rui did not know what else to say.

Andrea had brought him this business, saying that the theatre needed a hundred late-night meals for its cast and crew every evening. He had come pulling a handcart loaded with the meals, assuming he would be dealing with someone like the theatre manager.

Hand over the meals, take the money, and leave. Wasn't it supposed to be that simple?

The woman before him was clearly not the theatre manager. She looked more like a stage director or something, with sparkles on her clothes and a distinctly artistic air.

"Take the elevator to the second floor and wait backstage.

"Our show ends at around ten twenty. By then, the actors, lighting crew, sound crew, makeup artists, and everyone else will be ravenous. They'll need you."

With that, the woman turned and walked back into the theatre. Lin Rui still wanted to ask whom he should collect payment from, but the ticket checker at the entrance stopped him and directed him to the elevator that went straight up.

He went up to the second floor and entered the backstage area, stopped a random staff member, explained that he was delivering food, and asked whom he should see to collect payment.

But the backstage staff merely took him to a dressing room and told him to wait.

"I shouldn't have come so early." Lin Rui checked the time. It was not even nine yet. He had quite a wait ahead of him.

The dressing room was not quiet. During the intermission, actors came and went to change clothes, all of them young, pretty women.

Whenever they saw a man in the dressing room, they would scream at first. Once they got a clear look at Lin Rui's face, they would fall quiet for a few seconds, then quickly put their heads together and whisper before changing right in front of him without a care.

"Hey, kid. You're Leon, right?" A pretty actress walked up to Lin Rui with her breasts exposed, her eyes flirtatious and her voice teasing.

"Why does everyone here seem to know me?" Lin Rui was not intimidated either, carefully studying her large, firm breasts as they swayed.

"Andrea said she was going to introduce us to an exceptionally handsome Asian boy. The kind you never forget after one glance.

"None of us believed her. We thought she was talking nonsense. Broadway has never lacked handsome men, after all. But she swore so solemnly that even Director Sophia became interested."

The pretty actress kept clicking her tongue. After examining Lin Rui's face closely, she sighed. "You really do give off a special feeling.

"Youthful innocence mixed with maturity. You remind people of the tartness and sweetness of first love. Too bad you're still underage, or I'd give you my number."

Lin Rui held out his hand jokingly. "I could save it now and call you in a year."

"A year? You'll have forgotten all about me by then." The actress laughed and shook her head without leaving her number. She turned, changed into her costume, and left the dressing room, swaying her shapely hips.

The musical's second half began, and the dressing room fell quiet again. Lin Rui was utterly bored, but could hardly leave without getting paid, so he could only wander around backstage.

At ten fifteen, the show ended, and the audience left the theatre.

The cast and crew were either removing their makeup, clearing the stage, or... taking a meal from the insulated boxes Lin Rui had brought to fill their rumbling stomachs.

A performance lasted nearly three hours, and the actors actually exerted themselves quite a lot. They urgently needed something to eat, or they really could collapse from exhaustion.

Lin Rui saw Andrea. The white girl wore heavy makeup and played a supporting role in the musical. If she had not called his name, he would hardly have recognized her.

"Leon, did you watch our performance tonight? What did you think?"

"I didn't watch the show. I've just been waiting for someone to pay for tonight's meals."

"The theatre manager is very busy right now. There's still a lot of follow-up work to deal with after the show. You'd better not bother him, or you might annoy him and he won't order late-night meals from you anymore."

Andrea had clearly incurred some favors to bring him this business, and Lin Rui could not embarrass her either.

He only felt that next time, there was no need to come so early, and that it would be best to agree on a payment method so he would not be left waiting like an idiot.

He waited and waited backstage until nearly all the cast and crew had left. The theatre manager still had not appeared, but the chimes of midnight had.

Just then...

White mist like dry ice spread throughout the backstage area, and a cold voice came from the darkness behind it. "Demon hunter, why are you in my magic tower?"

The fashionably dressed artistic director, Sophia, emerged from the icy mist. She wore a pointed hat and a long robe, with a slender wand in her hand, dressed as a witch.

Lin Rui's heart jolted. How did I enter Nightmare Space without any warning? Has some new map opened up?