PFRG: Chapter 25

The final step of signing the contract was completed. Chi Ting walked out of the exhibition area with Yue Ren.

For the first time, he felt the supreme courtesy of human welcome—to be precise, it was from the NPCs in those stores.

Compared with his previous evasive attitude, the station owner Chaplin saw that Yue Ren had been collared, and his attitude changed. He placed his hands behind his back and straightened his back as he walked. “Dear explorer, congratulations on officially owning your own slave. Over the next few days, please enjoy the unique adventure activities in the ancient city of Aleran. I believe you will experience the absolute excitement that can only be found in the adventure world.”

A smile appeared on his face as he said this. He sent a command board the size of a car key to Chi Ting. He glanced at Yue Ren with disgust. “However, there is one thing to note. The descendants of the demons are cruel by nature. If he shows any behavior of disobeying you, you must remember to let him feel the majesty that a master should have.”

Yue Ren was originally still caressing the collar around his neck, and it wasn’t known what he was thinking. Then when he heard this, he glanced at Chaplin with a calm expression.

Even such a glance was enough to make Chaplin instinctively stiffen.

Nevertheless, put on a stern look. His sharp voice raised a few octaves in embarrassment. “Look at his eyes. He really doesn’t know how to obey! Come, dear explorer. Let me show you how to make these lowly things surrender…”

He was about to press the button, but his hand became empty. The command board was grabbed by Chi Ting.

“There is no need to demonstrate. I probably already know how to use this thing.” Chi Ting casually threw the command board into his pocket. He stopped the station owner from digging his own grave in time. “It is late. I still need to go and find a place to stay. It is time for me to go.”

Chaplin didn’t know that the contract station was almost burned down because of his actions. He was stunned for a moment before his expression became a bit regretful. “Please go to the front desk to get the bill.”

A few minutes later, Chi Ting stopped and walked out of the contract station with the slave.

It could only be said that Aleran was indeed a city guarded by warriors. Even the bills were settled with treasure chests.

The selling price of a slave was five low-level treasure chests and one intermediate-level treasure chest. Since Chi Ting just arrived today, it was given on credit. According to the clerk at the cash register, these treasure chests that replaced currency could be obtained by participating in treasure hunts at major stores in the city. It was very convenient.

The main task at this stage was to collect enough treasure chests to prove themselves. All the goods in the city were traded with treasure chests. So far, the content of this ‘Lost treasure’ instance completely revolved around the word ‘treasure. It could be said that the theme was quite obvious.

Chi Ting held the slave bill in his hand. The moment he walked out the door of the contract station, he heard the person behind him chuckle meaninglessly.

He stopped after passing an intersection and looked back. “What are you laughing at?”

Yue Ren slightly raised an eyebrow. “I’m laughing at you for really having the heart of a Bodhisattva.”

From this angle, Chi Ting caught a glimpse of the collar worn around the other person’s neck. The word ‘Ting’ engraved on it entered his eyes very clearly. It was as if he was silently swearing some type of ownership.

Chi Ting lowered his eyes and looked away. He was used to this man’s strange, sarcastic words and directly changed the topic. “So what is your situation? I accompanied you this time because I wanted you to get a player identity authentication. If you are judged as an NPC, won’t it be considered invalid after you come out? Then you will still be a black household, right?”

Chi Ting spoke, and the words ‘you are so troublesome’ were written all over his face. Yue Ren felt his overflowing disgust and was in a good mood. “It is probably because my situation is too special, and this game system is too stupid. The instance program probably failed to run when I entered and misjudged me as having the identity of a slave. But I have seen the virtual panel you mentioned. This means that the identity of a player is correct. Don’t worry. This instance will definitely not let you come with me in vain. Does this answer satisfy you, my master?”

It sounded fine at first, but Chi Ting couldn’t help being silent after hearing the last words.

Was this really the first time for Yue Ren? Why did it inexplicably feel that the cries of ‘master’ one after another were more smooth and natural than the slave of that man with the square face?

After thinking about it for a while, Chi Ting decided to check it again. Finally, he confirmed that in addition to the initial identity of Chi Ting, the instance introduction and main tasks were indeed exactly the same as his panel. He was finally relieved.

This development was the first step to becoming a player, but at the same time, it created another problem. It was precisely because the system was too stupid that it judged Yue Ren as a contract slave, and the man’s abilities weren’t limited in any way. If Chi Ting didn’t watch him carefully, no one knew what he would do on a whim when he thought it was interesting.”

Chi Ting glanced at Yue Ren and thought about it. ‘I have to keep an eye on him even more closely.’

As if reading Chi Ting’s thoughts, the shadow under Yue Ren’s feet had started to move vaguely. His eyes curled up in a smile. “In fact, you don’t need to be so vigilant. After all, according to the setting here, I am your weapon to charge into battle. It is also my honor to use my ability for you.”

Chi Ting felt that this person was good at saying high-sounding words. Each sentence was better than the last one.

According to the rules, the contracted slave was indeed the master’s sharp sword to charge into battle. But no matter how he looked at it, he always felt that the person in front of him was more like a poison that would make people’s blood splash.

Chi Ting didn’t fall for this rhetoric at all. He used two slender fingers to pull the command board out of his pocket and shook it in a warning manner in front of Yue Ren. “I hope we can indeed cooperate happily and not leave behind some memories that aren’t good for everyone.”

Yue Ren smiled. “Of course, I think so too.”

Chi Ting glanced at Yue Ren’s expression a few times. From such a tone, he inexplicably felt that this person didn’t seem to think that Chi Ting would really torture him with the identity of a contract master.

There was a moment of silence. Then he could only ruefully place the command board back into his pocket. For a moment, he reflected on whether he had inadvertently given the other person the illusion that he was easy to talk to.

If this was the case, he was afraid it was necessary to find an opportunity to correct it.

Chi Ting still hadn’t figured out the answer by the time he arrived at the entrance of the Adventurer’s Hotel. Therefore, he simply didn’t think too much of it and walked through the door of the hotel with one long step.

The check-in was done quite neatly, and they were led by the employee to the door of their room.

“This is your key card. Please keep it safe.” The employee of the Adventurer’s Hotel smiled widely. ‘Welcome to the Adventurer’s Hotel. I hope to make you feel at home. In fact, we have additional hosting services here. Do you want to stay with your slave or entrust him to us for a unified management?”

The custodial service sounded like they treated the slaves as a piece of luggage or a pet.

Out of consideration for the players and NPCs in this instance, Chi Ting was too worried to let Yue Ren act alone. He gave an answer without hesitation. “No need, I’ll take him with me.”

“I got it.” The waiter heard this answer and stared deeply at Chi Ting for some reason. The polite smile on his face didn’t change in the slightest. “Then I will give you one last reminder. The city of Aleran has a curfew of 8 o’clock. In the city, you should follow our customs. No matter what happens, please be sure not to leave your room. Finally, I wish you a pleasant adventure.”

“I got it, thanks.” Chi Ting placed the room card into the card slot, nodded politely at the employee and closed the door.

The footsteps of the employee walking away could be heard outside the door.

Chi Ting quickly scanned the room and found that the suite provided to explorers was divided into two areas.

Compared to the spacious main living space outside, the room inside was more like a cage.

Looking through the iron railings, he could see shackles with chains scattered on the ground. Apparently, this was specially used to lock up the slaves during sleep, so as to prevent them from doing something they shouldn’t do while their master was sleeping.

How to put it?

Chi Ting always felt that the existence of slaves in this city really exuded a strong sense of malice from the inside out.

Facing such a large prison area, Yue Ren just walked past it without caring about it.

He went to the window, opened the curtain, and glanced out. “The view is good.”

Chi Ting glanced at it and nodded. “It is really good.”

During their check-in just now, there was basically no one in the lobby except for the hotel’s staff. He thought about the current collective main task and could probably guess that at this point in time, the players dressed as explorers should be working hard outside to collect treasure chests.

At this time, looking out the window, they could see the busy figures coming and going.

Speaking of which, the clothes of the inhabitants of this Aleran could be said to be extremely distinctive.

It was obviously a scorching day, but no one in the city wore short sleeves. It was particularly easy to distinguish between outsiders and the residents.

In contrast, these explorers were dressed coolly and conveniently. There were slaves with collars behind them, following step by step. This allowed the explorers to be easily found.

Chi Ting stood by the window like this and quietly observed for a long time.

Previously when he saw that the survival rate was 23/50, he was ready to face a fatal endgame. Now it seemed that the real situation of this instance might be completely different from what he imagined.

At the very least, the explorers who passed downstairs seemed to be in good spirits, not to mention radiant. Their strides alone didn’t show any signs of being injured.

Instead, the slaves behind them were like consumables that had been tortured one by one. Their degree of damage was different.

In terms of numbers, these explorers in the city shouldn’t all be players. Some were NPCs, but their attitudes toward these slaves were no different.

It might be that the players who came later followed these explorer NPCs who entered the city earlier, or there might be other reasons. Therefore, even though the slaves on the street were obviously seriously injured, they hadn’t received any effective treatment.

But at the very least, it could be found that the explorers who still had slaves around them were relatively safe at present. It was just uncertain for those who no longer had anyone to protect them.

Chi Ting frowned thoughtfully and instinctively glanced at Yue Ren.

The man next to him clearly didn’t look back, but at this moment, he suddenly spoke. “Even if the damage level of the slave is really linked to the player’s life in the end, I definitely won’t let you have any trouble. The NPCs in this instance aren’t strong enough to hurt me.”

His gaze swept over the storefront in the distance, and he smiled slightly. “Don’t worry, my master.”

The words came out, and there was no reply for a long time. Finally, Yue Ren looked back and met Chi Ting’s probing eyes. He blinked slowly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It is just that listening to you call out ‘Master’, I think you are very experienced.” Chi Ting thought for a while and eventually expressed the doubt in his heart. “So you turned out to be a masochist?”

“……”

Yue Ren originally wanted to tease Chi Ting with the setting of the instance. He hadn’t expected to add such an explosive label to himself.

At this time, he opened his mouth. He originally wanted to say something, but all the words were stuck in his mouth under Chi Ting’s direct gaze. It took a long time before he burst out laughing. “You are indeed the most interesting person I have ever met.”

Seeing that Yue Ren didn’t answer directly, Chi Ting suddenly felt that his guess was 30 or 40% correct.

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t continue the topic. He turned around, walked to the sofa next to him, and sat down. “Let’s talk. What do you plan to do next?”

Yue Ren didn’t answer the rhetorical question. “Don’t you already have an idea?”

Chi Ting smiled slightly. “How about we say it together?”

Three seconds later, they spoke almost simultaneously, “The curfew at night.”

The two of them looked at each other and smiled.

It seemed they thought of the same thing.

The 8 o’clock curfew.

This was the phrase they had heard the most since entering the instance.

They were really curious about what interesting things would happen then.

Chi Ting suddenly discovered that compared to Li Tao and the others, who were a bit too cautious in their actions, Yue Ren might be full of bad taste, but he actually had the same taste as Chi Ting in some aspects.

Looking back. it did seem like no one had been able to ‘go crazy’ with him for a long time.

Yue Ren confirmed the next entertainment arrangement. He stopped looking out the window, glanced around the room, and took a step.

Chi Ting had nothing to do at this time, and his eyes instinctively followed Yue Ren’s body.

Then he saw the man push open the door forcefully. Yue Ren stood in front of the shackles connected to the iron chains on the ground and thought for a moment. Suddenly, he looked back. “I’m bored. Since we are looking for clues, why don’t I experience it more immersively?”

Chi Ting: “?”

Experience? After the next experience of the collar, did he want to experience the captivity of chains?

Chi Ting considered himself well-informed. It was the first time he had heard someone make such a request to him.

Sure enough, this person was definitely a masochist, right?

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