Ita Era

Chapter 2 The World of Ita
The angel stick pointed to the free button on the vending machine: "Press."

Ding Shi reached out and pressed a button. A sound came from inside, and with a clatter, a steamed bun slid out of the vending machine and fell onto the iron basin, followed by a bottle of water.

The message reads: Free food and water will not drop again until they are completely consumed. Intentionally wasting food and water will be punished.

Ding Shi picked up the steamed bun, squeezed it, and patted it on the table, but the bun didn't budge.

Ding Shi forcefully broke off a small piece of steamed bun and put it in his mouth to chew. To be honest, the taste was okay, but it was hard.

At this point, many people will ask Angel: What should I do if I have bad teeth?
Ding Shi was used to solving problems on his own. There was a basin and water here; if he couldn't chew something, he could just soak it. As for whether he would eat steamed buns every day, a little thought would tell him the answer: if there's something free, there must be something paid for. Rather than asking about the details, Ding Shi believed the core issue was how to leave the world of Ita.

The angel waved his stick: Follow me.

Follow the angel to the front of the house, where there is a circle of light about two square meters in size. The angel says, "Teleportation array."

The subtitles appear, roughly meaning that you can enter the instance through the teleportation array, and under certain conditions, you can travel to other places in the world of Ita.

Ding Shi asked, "A copy?"

With a flick of the angel's staff, the subtitles reappeared.

The first dungeon will open tomorrow morning from 7:30 AM to 8:00 AM. This is a casual dungeon with no death penalty. After completing two casual dungeons, you will receive a one-way teleportation ticket to Ithaca City to begin a new life.

Ding Shi asked, "Why can't we return to Earth?"

The angel looked at Ding Shi for the first time and spoke a complete sentence for the first time. Her voice was sweet and cute, the kind of voice that would make you want to have a baby after listening to it a few times: "You need to find the answer in the world of Ita."

An angel brandished his staff, and a television set appeared, displaying the scene of a UN Security Council meeting. The meeting's theme: A letter suspected to be from a higher-dimensional extraterrestrial civilization had been received. The letter contained only one simple sentence: In two hours, all of humanity will enter the world of Ita.

Ding Shi extracted intelligence from this information. First, going to the Four Symbols City immediately was not a good idea. Second, no hostility from the Ita World was detected. Third, there was a death penalty for non-casual dungeons. Fourth, after using a one-way ticket to the Four Symbols City, one could no longer enter the dungeon. Fifth, strangely enough, neither the angels nor the subtitles ever mentioned the word "player," even though everything seemed like a game.

Ding Shi asked many more questions, such as why we need to go to the Ita World, what the Ita World is, and what the Four Symbols City is. The angels gave the same answer every time: "You need to find the answers in the Ita World."

……

Ding Shi sat on a large rock in front of the house, staring blankly at the distant horizon. The little angel conjured a butterfly, and Ding Shi chased after it at a leisurely pace, flying back and forth across the entire island.

When the little angel flew past Ding Shi for the third time, it paused and said, "You can open the system interface."

Ding Shi called the system interface.

Ding Shi, 24 years old, male, healthy, and has a handsome 3D photo that can rotate 360 ​​degrees. Ding Shi himself is 1.8 meters tall. His handsomeness is not the roguishness of a thug, nor the sunny disposition of a student, but rather an aura of confidence that emanates from within.

The first column in the interface has four item card slots. The system provides detailed instructions, and any card can be placed in these four slots.

Ding Shi set up the gesture according to the instructions, then snapped his fingers at a small stone in his left hand. The stone disappeared, and a stone card appeared in Ding Shi's hand. Ding Shi put the stone card into the card slot. He then took the stone card out and snapped his fingers again, and the stone card turned into a stone. The second column has four skill and equipment card slots.

There are no health bars, no mana bars, and no stamina bars, but there are physical stats: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Luck. Ding Shi's Strength is 7, Agility is 7, Intelligence is 8, and Luck is 3. Note: Luck resets daily at 24:00 and may be affected by external factors.

The first three attributes can only be increased through one's own training and learning. They may be temporarily or permanently reduced due to diseases or other factors. There is no attribute point system in the world of Ita.

The last card slot is for bank cards, and it has the basic functions of a bank app. You can transfer money, receive payments, and even buy stocks. Unfortunately, the stock listings are currently grayed out and cannot be clicked. A quick glance revealed companies like Sixiang Energy and Sixiang Agriculture, which seem to be related to Sixiang City.

The system interface displayed no talent or bloodline information; disregarding age, virtually all humans started from the same point. What caught Ding Shi's attention was a question mark on the system interface.

Unsure, Ding Shi asked, "Little angel, what's the hidden part of the system interface?"

The little angel replied while playing, "Please figure it out yourself."

Ding Shi asked, "What will happen if I don't enter the instance tomorrow?"

Little Angel: "Nothing will happen." His tone was casual, but his response was quick.

Ding Shi stopped asking questions and sat quietly on the rock. He wasn't too concerned about the world of Ita right now, not only because the past week had left him physically and mentally exhausted, but also because of the constant tension he had maintained during his six years as an undercover agent.

For the first time in six years, Ding Shi was able to think of nothing and do nothing. Simply sitting there quietly was a kind of happiness for him.

Silent all night.

I've never slept on such a hard bed before; the palm leaves on the stone bed were just for show.

Ding Shi's back muscles and bones ached terribly. He hunched over and got out of bed. He studied the vending machine for a while and found the items he needed: toothpaste for $1, toothbrush for $1, and a roll of toilet paper for $1.

Ding Shi crawled out of the house, picked a few leaves from a nearby bush, and went back inside to the bathroom. The leaves weren't enough to clean him properly, so Ding Shi had to use other substitutes. Luckily, water was free, and after using the toilet, Ding Shi washed his hands thoroughly three times.

Without a mirror or a comb, Ding Shi casually ran his fingers through his hair, grabbed a hard steamed bun and some water for breakfast, and glanced at the system panel—it was already 7:30 AM. The teleportation array outside glowed a faint blue light, with a countdown timer displayed within it.

Chewing on his steamed bun, Ding Shi looked around for a while, then jogged to a large rock, flipped it over, grabbed the earthworm trying to escape with his left hand, and snapped his fingers with his right, trapping the earthworm in his hand. His plan was simple: go fishing in the dungeon, turn the fish into cards, and bring them back to the island. He tried to catch another earthworm, but couldn't turn it into a card; the system message read: "Cannot carry the same card."

Ding Shi dug three feet into the ground and unearthed more than a dozen red earthworms. He grabbed a handful, snapped his fingers, and a card appeared in his hand. The card's name was: Lots of Earthworms Card.

Resources were scarce, so Ding Shi picked up a stone and obtained a stone card. He then picked up a chair and obtained a chair card. With nothing left to fill the last card, Ding Shi grabbed a handful of sand and obtained a sand card.

Wash hands, style hair, and at 7:55, enter the dungeon teleportation array and disappear in a flash.

(End of this chapter)