Snake God Mountain Arcade

Xin Jiu continued down the street, her gaze constantly sweeping over the shops on either side.

The Snake God Mountain Service Area's chain of businesses was much larger than she had imagined. Besides taverns and casinos, there were medicinal herb shops, weapon shops, and even a matchmaking agency.

Were snakes keeping up with the times and going on blind dates too?

In the end, Xin Jiu entered a teahouse, reasoning that tea was cheap and teahouses were also good places to gather information.

Unlike the bizarre shops along the street, the teahouse looked much more normal. Xin Jiu spotted quite a few players here. They probably had the same idea she did: gather information somewhere relatively safe.

An NPC with a gray snake head approached.

It was rather short, dressed in grayish-white cloth clothes with a towel draped over its shoulder.

"What would you like to drink?"

Xin Jiu glanced at the menu on the wall and froze. A cup of the most ordinary plain tea actually cost eighty points. A bowl of meat outside only cost fifty!

This place was such a rip-off!

"A cup of your cheapest tea."

Now she was getting a taste of what it felt like to be strapped for cash.

After asking for her ID, the server immediately went to the kitchen to prepare her tea. Xin Jiu leaned back in her chair and listened to the NPCs chatting at the next table.

"I heard the administrator from the tenth floor went to the Forest Labyrinth."

"What for?"

"You haven't heard?"

The NPC with some scales peeling off the top of its head widened its snake eyes. "I'm nowhere near as well-informed as you. Come on, tell us. What did they go to the second floor for?"

"I heard an investigator and an inspector filed a report, and word reached the higher-ups. That's why they sent an administrator to clean things up."

"An investigator and an inspector?"

The NPCs beside it all widened their eyes in surprise.

"Yeah. Apparently, they were just selected. You know my brother's on the seventh floor, right? He said the people on the seventh floor have put the word out: if you run into an investigator or inspector, kill them on sight, no questions asked!"

"Th-that's not a good idea, is it? They do hold official positions, after all. If the higher-ups find out, we'll all die."

"We'll die just the same if they report us. We already live in constant fear in the tower, and now we have to watch out for people who might snitch on us. How are we supposed to live like this?"

"Tell me about it," said a snake with yellow scales. "Our Snake God Mountain is pretty far from the top of the tower. Even if they do investigate, they might not make it here. Let's hope those investigators and inspectors stay well hidden. Otherwise..."

"If we run into them, we might as well just kill them. Save ourselves from living in fear."

The NPCs exchanged glances and broke into harsh, grating laughter.

Without a change in expression, Xin Jiu picked up the cup of tea in front of her and sniffed it. The leaves looking low-quality was bad enough, but the tea even had an earthy, fishy smell. They dared charge eighty points for this? They really were fleecing players like pigs.

She set down the cup and called the server over again.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"I just got to Snake God Mountain, and I'm a little short on points. Do you know anywhere I can earn some?"

The server tilted its head and thought for a moment. "There are several places where you can earn points, like the casino you passed earlier. There's also an arcade where you can draw games. You play whichever game you draw, and as long as you clear it, you earn points. But what you draw depends on your luck."

An arcade?

That sounded like a good place to go.

Xin Jiu asked the server for directions to the arcade. Once she had them, she thanked it and headed there.

When the server went to clear the tea from Xin Jiu's table and saw that she had left it practically untouched, its snake pupils darkened.

She hadn't drunk it. What a shame.

Ten minutes later, Xin Jiu found the arcade the server had mentioned.

Unlike the other old-fashioned storefronts, the arcade's exterior was decidedly modern.

A sign above the entrance spelled out six characters in neon strips.

[Snake God Mountain Arcade]

She pushed open the door, and cool air washed over her. They even had air-conditioning running. How cutting-edge.

The arcade's interior surprised Xin Jiu even more. Cyberpunk-style decorations were everywhere, and there were over twenty arcade machines, every screen lit up.

They were even playing music that had recently become a huge hit.

Xin Jiu remembered that this song seemed to be sung by the Nine Provinces' most popular idol, Ao something. She couldn't recall his name at the moment. She only knew it was from his latest album, which had sold like crazy as soon as it was released.

Xin Jiu walked up to the counter, where a very young-looking NPC sat.

Why did she think it was young?

Because unlike the other NPCs dressed in ancient clothing, it wore a red hoodie from a domestic brand with four large characters across it, along with a trendy pair of cuffed cargo pants.

Damn, this one was flashy.

Its head was lowered, a handheld console in its hands, both thumbs pressing away rapidly.

Hearing a customer arrive, it uttered a single impatient word without even looking up.

"Speak."

"I want to draw a game."

The NPC raised its head and glanced at Xin Jiu.

Although they were all snakes, Xin Jiu thought this snake looked much better than the others. It just seemed to have a rather bad temper.

It tapped the price list on the counter.

Xin Jiu looked where it pointed.

[Game draw: 100 points/attempt]

A hundred points per draw, without even knowing what she would get. If she drew a game with a completion reward of only a few dozen points, wouldn't she take a huge loss?

Xin Jiu couldn't resist commenting, "You really know how to do business."

She believed that with the way the Snake God Mountain Service Area operated, its GDP had to be the highest of all the service areas.

The NPC pulled its mouth into a mocking grin. "Are you drawing or not? If not, get out. Don't interrupt my game."

"..."

She only had a hundred and twenty points left. The casino was definitely out of the question, so the arcade was currently her only way to earn points. She could actually do odd jobs at a restaurant or teahouse too, but that only paid fifty points an hour.

There were still fourteen hours until she had to renew her room. With her remaining two hundred points, she could actually scrape together enough to pay for the next day.

But earning points that way was too slow.

"I'll draw."

Under a snake's roof, she had no choice but to bow her head.

"ID."

Xin Jiu gave her ID. Only after learning that she was number one on the rankings did the young male NPC give her a proper look. Young girls these days were really something, taking first place among over seventy million players.

After deducting the points, his attention returned to his game.

"Pick any machine here. Once you press the red button, you'll get three game options. Just choose whichever you like."

Xin Jiu walked to the nearest machine.

It was much like the machines she had played in arcades as a child, the kind with spinning fruit symbols.

Only those childhood machines required coins, while this one didn't.

First, she sent messages to [Heartless Dao Dabao] and [Hash Brown Heavy Dependence].

[Come straight to the arcade. You can draw a game for a hundred points.]

[Heartless Dao Dabao: Okay, thanks.]

[Hash Brown Heavy Dependence: Is the owner a snake too?!]

Xin Jiu stopped replying to him and pressed the red button. The machine let out a string of cheerful sound effects. The colorful images paired with the music had a childlike charm, but this was Snake God Mountain. Who knew what horrors lurked behind that charm?

After four or five spins, the images stopped on an apple.

Then three game titles appeared, along with their completion rewards.

[Red light, green light: completion reward, 2,000 points]

[Claw machine: completion reward, 1,500 points]

[Rubber band jumping: completion reward, 1,000 points]