Forces of Temptation

The name of Paper Gold City is taken from "Paper Drunk Gold Fans".

It is more magnificent than rust, and more flashy and erosive.

Paper Gold City is set with short days and long nights, with sunrise at ten o'clock in the morning and sunset at three o'clock in the afternoon.

After three o'clock in the afternoon, Paper Gold City turns into a sensual city that never sleeps.

After nightfall, a full moon will hang on the sky of Zhijin City. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, it looks like an oil painting accidentally blurred by water droplets. The outline is not clear, revealing a circle of wet haze moon halo.

The design of Paper Gold City is ingenious, in the shape of concentric circles. The inner circle is the central city area, most of which are spiers. The main color is black and gold. The thin pointed roofs point straight to the sky like sharp swords. Shops, high-end hotels, material exchange points and other places.

Another large circle outside the concentric circle surrounds the dilapidated walled city like the Kowloon Walled City.

In the original game setting of "Gravity", this is the gathering place of the three religions and the nine streams. There are dentists, witches, and char siew sellers.

Be extra careful when walking here, if you knock off an NPC's clothes rail, or bump into a trembling NPC uncle, you will get a string of cursing.

In the Walled City, players may get valuable information on items at a very low price, or they may spend a lot of money and only get a non-refundable and non-exchangeable spicy chicken Lan Wu.

But now, the paper gold city transformed by unknown forces is undergoing subtle changes.

……

Because of an accidental attack before getting out of the dungeon, eight people are now sitting together in a coffee shop in Zhijin.

The system time shows that it is four o'clock in the afternoon.It happened to coincide with the time when Nanzhou and the others entered the dungeon in Rust.

But different from the bright and sunny Rudu at that time, the current paper gold city has stepped into the prelude to the night carnival.

The prices here are much more expensive than in Rust City, and the NPCs are also set in human form.

The waitress who served them refreshments had a perfect smile, exquisite makeup and hair, and was completely real. It almost made people suspect that they had returned to the normal world.

Entering the safe zone, everyone showed their truest sides in a relaxed state.

After the dungeon came out, Shen Jie didn't like to talk very much, she quietly leaned back on the seat, looking tiredly at the wandering lights outside.

After the fitness coach drank three cups of strong coffee, he ordered cheap fast food such as sandwiches and burgers in one breath, relying on fast food to relieve stress.

The thin monkey didn't even dare to look at the face of the beautiful female NPC, but after the NPC left, he looked at her perfect waistline from behind with longing.

Yu Tuisi was an extremely considerate and decent person. Even after taking sleeping pills, he still supported his head with his hands, trying not to sleep.

Li Yinhang nodded with a napkin to calculate the points.

Jiang Fang stretched his arms and straddled the chair Nan Zhou was sitting on. His posture seemed very stretched at first glance, but if viewed from a third-party perspective, it was a completely domineering and calm posture.

Only Nanzhou, his state is completely the same as in the copy.

Even when he broke someone's neck just now, his expression was no different from that of picking dessert now.

After washing his hands seven or eight times, Nan Zhou carefully examined the menu and ordered a butter tart and a snow meiniang.

Li Yinhang took the menu, and as soon as he glanced at it, his eyelids twitched violently.

For her who is used to frugality, this price is almost like stealing money in public.

Two small desserts worth 150 points?

But she didn't dare to be too arrogant to her savior, and it wasn't her points that were spent, so she only dared to beep softly: "It's too expensive..."

"I want to reward myself." Nan Zhou praised himself solemnly, "I performed very well just now."

Li Yinhang: "..." There are reasons and evidences that cannot be refuted. You are right.

Before the cakes were served, Nan Zhou was attracted by a magnificent three-story building diagonally opposite the cafe.

It was extremely noisy there, as if all the human voices in the central city were concentrated there, making a noise together.

Nan Zhou: "What is that?"

The fitness trainer chewed his food and said vaguely, "Haven't you heard of 'Douzhuan Casino'?"

Li Yinhang: "..." When did "Gravity" have such an element that blatantly violates contemporary values?

Shen Jie added: "This is built by a player named Qu Jinsha."

Li Yinhang: "..." Is there really someone who is running business in this game? !

But while complaining, she soon realized that the name Qu Jinsha looked familiar.

At the same time, Nanzhou has already clicked on the player leaderboard and found the name.

Qu Jinsha, single player, ranks second on the list.

The fitness trainer who followed behind Shen Jie in the dungeon and seldom expressed his personal opinion was actually a chatterbox in normal state.

Without further questioning, he started to introduce like beans in a bamboo tube: "This Qu Jinsha is the first group of players to join, and I heard that he is a master of PVP."

"He has a good business mind and is willing to let go. He passed through countless dungeons in one go, saved 50 points, and built a small shop in the center of Paper Gold City, about [-] square meters in size. All the points were thrown in. You must know that he was in the top three of the single-player leaderboard at the time, and this deal immediately fell to the bottom."

The fitness coach was stunned: "...Look at the result, not long after, the whole building is his, and his ranking has also returned, and he has been promoted by one."

Jiang Fang got some meaning from his words.

He asked, "How long has it been since you entered this game?"

The fitness coach opened his mouth and came: "Not counting the time of the dungeon, just tossing and resting at various safe points, it will take more than three months."

Facing Li Yinhang's shocked eyes, the fitness trainer's desire to express became stronger.

"That's right, the flow rate here is completely different from the normal world."

He said: "We have communicated with other people who are new to the copy. It should only be five or six days in the real world, right?"

Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou remained silent, while Li Yinhang nodded obediently.

"Me, Hou, and Sister Shen all came in on the third day of the mass disappearance. For someone like Qu Jinsha who came here on the first day, from his point of view, he needs to start a business here for at least half a year. too much."

God TM started a business.

But there's nothing wrong with it on closer inspection.

Nanzhou shifted his attention back from the gradient neon lights outside the Douzan Casino, and spoke the truth: "Then your points are too little."

The fitness trainer who was talking eloquently: "..." Can you chat?

Fortunately, Jiang Fang relieved the embarrassment for the fitness coach in time.

He said softly: "This is normal."

Apart from buying desserts, Nanzhou is very serious about the number of points: "Staying in a safe place will consume oxygen, and it is not worthwhile to spend points on basic necessities of life."

Jiang Fang answered patiently: "Do you still remember the Wishing Pool?"

Nanzhou nodded: "Yes. Only those who rank first in the team and individual rankings can make a wish."

Jiang Fang: "What wish did you make?"

His attitude was very natural, and he couldn't tell that he was spying on Nan Zhou's heart.

Nanzhou's tone was tight as hell: "I won't tell you."

Jiang Fang didn't force him, instead he asked Li Yinhang, "Yinhang, what about you?"

Li Yinhang: "Of course I hope this game disappears and everyone returns to the normal world."

She looked at everyone and said hesitantly, "They should all think so..."

Shen Jie replied: "The three of us shared our wishes equally. The wish I made was for my daughter to be healthy for the rest of my life. Hou Xu's wish was the same as yours. Xiaoshen didn't make his wish. His wish needs to be kept until the end."

Yu Tuisi also said: "I made a wish, but Sufeng hasn't made it yet, so I let him keep his wish."

Jiang Fang asked everyone before saying to Nanzhou, "Look, the proportion of Xu'everything is over and everyone returns to the normal world' is still very large."

"Even if one of the people at the top of the list makes a similar wish, the others don't have to bother fighting for the first place. What they want to ensure is to earn enough points to maintain oxygen and basic living needs, and try to avoid entering the instance. Then live on, and when the ranking is determined, leave the game with No.1."

At this time, Nan Zhou's desserts arrived.

"Isn't the competition system completely clear?" Nanzhou asked while picking up strawberry-flavored Xue Mei Niang, "If it's a PK elimination competition system, only the last surviving individual and team can make a wish?"

"Of course, there is such a possibility." Jiang Fang said, "But according to the rules of the game, you can keep your wishes until the end. As long as someone makes a wish at the end that 'all players who have played this game will be resurrected', everyone will be happy at this stage." There is no need to take risks."

"Putting hope on others is stupid." Nan Zhou shook his head disapprovingly: "Who knows who is the first one? What if they just make a wish to let themselves go? What if the game of wishing continues from generation to generation?"

Jiang Fang said with a smile: "Don't underestimate people's pursuit of comfort and self-persuasion ability."

He watched Nan Zhou eating and listening carefully with his ears upright, he hesitated a few times with the hand he wanted to stretch out to pinch his ear, and finally touched his lips.

"When I first came in, people would always think, to accumulate enough points, to compete for the first place, just like the Liu Xiao we met in the trial level."

"Do you remember what he said? He just finished his first mission, and he just wanted to increase his rankings, so he spent points to choose the PVP mode."

"They are first-timers, so there is a sense of urgency. But what about players who have experienced a few instances?"

"Nearly dying again and again, watching others die and teammates dying, can normal people accept it so easily? Will they participate more actively in the mission, or find a way to escape and escape?"

"People are not machines. Even if they are working at full capacity at the beginning, they always have to eat and drink, and they always have to relax and enjoy this kind of enjoyment. Once you relax, you don't want to move anymore, and it's easier to pin your hopes on others."

"Anyway, for some people, no matter how hard they try, it is impossible to reach the first position. It is better to let themselves live more comfortably under limited conditions."

Immediately, Jiang Fang pointed to the Douzhuan Casino on the opposite side, and said gently: "That is a place that makes people comfortable and addicted to escape."

Although Jiang Fang's tone was relaxed, what he said made Shen Jie's trio get goosebumps all over their bodies.

Is it not the case with their mental journey?

They have all gone through the psychological process from positive coping at the beginning to a little numbness now, so that as soon as they return to a safe point, they want to bury their heads in eating, fall asleep, and rest for seven or eight days before they are full of resentment. Select to perform the next task.

Nan Zhou wiped off the whipped cream from the corner of his mouth, without any wavering: "I don't care what they think. I want to take the first place."

Jiang Fang smiled and handed him a free tissue.

Nan Zhou held the cream tower and aimed at the opposite casino again: "How did Qu Jinsha open the casino and rank second?"

"...trade points through the trading system."

It was Yu Tuisi who spoke.

He was relieved from the medicine, and, like Nan Zhou, he was obviously very interested in Qu Jinsha's fortune.

Nanzhou asked: "What is a trading system?"

Knowing that they are genuine newcomers, Yu Tuisi was not surprised by Nanzhou's question: "The trading system is not built-in with the system. You need to find an NPC in a random shop after entering a safe point like Rust Capital and Paper Gold City." , Talk to it, buy something from it, it will pop up a confirmation page, and it can only be activated after the exchange of trading rules, and it will open the trading system for you for free."

Nan Zhou understood.

In the "Cubic Ark", only Li Yinhang has bought things in Rudu, so the trading system between him and Jiang Fang is not activated.

"Once the trading system is activated, one-on-one and team-to-team transactions can be carried out on the premise that both parties agree."

He looked at Nan Zhou: "For example, I want to exchange 1000 points for the A-level items in your hand. As long as we agree on the price, enter the trading system, put 1000 points and A-level items into their respective trading grids, and after confirmation , the transaction can be realized, and there are no middlemen to make the difference."

"However, the NPC responsible for guiding will not inform the player of this, and the player needs to explore by himself. This is why Sufeng and I spent a considerable amount of time exploring various safe spots after we came in."

Yu Tuisi took a breath and continued:

"As for Qu Jinsha... His casino only gambles with points. At the gate, someone will charge a certain amount of entry fee, 200 points per person. After entering, whoever wins, the casino will draw money from it, depending on the items played. , will probably charge a commission ranging from 1% to 5%, which is how he makes money.

"What if I use props?" Nanzhou took out his summer homework book which was an A-level prop that he hadn't had time to study carefully, "With this, can't we turn back time again and again?"

Yu Tuisi shook his head, denying Nan Zhou's idea.

"First, props are often used for a limited number of times, and it is not worthwhile to waste them on gambling."

"Second, in all safe points, props cannot be used."

Nan Zhou suddenly said: "Ah..."

But he didn't finish his question: "Why is his business so good?"

Jiang Fang answered, "Because of gambling points."

Yu Tuisi nodded lightly, expressing his affirmation: "After all, it is terrible to do the task in the dungeon. If you lose here, you will be empty-handed; To risk your life?"

Besides, Yu Tuisi still had something to say.

The places that can be traded in Paper Gold City are not just casinos.

In this luxurious city, as its name suggests, there is no shortage of men and women who sell their bodies for 100 points.

Jiang Fang put his hand to his lips, and chuckled lightly: "The mentality of a gambler. It's all like this."

Yu Tuisi looked at him: "There are indeed people who have won big, and their points have risen from the top [-] to the top [-]."

Jiang Fang said calmly, "That's because Qu Jinsha allowed him to win."

Yu Tuisi: "It could also be luck."

Jiang Fang: "Are you talking about luck with the casino?"

Yu Tuisi narrowed his eyes slightly: "Do you know casinos well?"

Jiang Fang: "There are casinos in Ukraine. I have worked there and have seen a little bit."

Li Yinhang, who was listening: ...Okay, now Jiang Fang's identity is added to that of a returning traveler and a music exchange student.

The curious Nanzhou player once again raised his hand and asked, "If this is the case, why is Qu Jinsha only ranked second?" It stands to reason that he is fully capable of ranking first.

"One is because he has to pay a high monthly rent and the cost of hiring NPCs. Every inch of land in the center of 'paper gold' is expensive, and the employment system NPCs are used to maintain order. On the one hand, some losers are not allowed to Lost players renege and run away, on the one hand, they can also restrict and supervise Qu Jinsha. It can be regarded as an absolutely fair existence."

Yu Tuisi paused: "...The second reason is that after entering, the casino will provide beer, drinks and desserts and snacks for free. Many people go in to eat and drink, and then they will take a chance or two. I have to admit , The atmosphere of the casino is indeed very easy to get intoxicated, if you are a person who is not strong enough, if you go in once, there will be a second time, and a third time."

As soon as Nan Zhou stopped scraping the bottom of the dish with a small fork, the light in his eyes suddenly lit up.

The author has something to say:

What Nanzhou heard: "@#@&, @#￥Free @#￥! Dessert%...#"