Ita Era

Chapter 38 Going Home (1)

During his two-day rest period, Ding Shi spent his time studying the Five Thunder Talisman. He focused on the Metal Thunder, and had already figured out how to draw it in one stroke. His biggest problem was that he was still getting used to it and couldn't complete the talisman in one stroke. His best result so far was ten strokes, and the biggest difficulty was drawing the Water element which generates Wood, requiring him to draw a small raindrop pattern.

The key to drawing raindrops is controlling your hand tremor. The tremor shouldn't be too large, otherwise it won't be a single stroke. The tremor shouldn't be too small either, otherwise it will be a line rather than a dot.

Just as Ding Shi felt he was getting the hang of things, the second casual instance, "Going Home," officially began.

I entered the instance at 7:50 AM and found myself in a separate room.

Subtitle: 8:00 to 8:10 is the dungeon preparation time.

It was 8 o'clock quickly, and 54 cards appeared on the table in front of Ding Shi. The system voice came over the loudspeaker like a broadcast: "Please choose one as your travel expenses."

Upon hearing this, Ding Shi glanced at his luck for the day: Oh no, 1 o'clock.

Ding Shi's hand moved back and forth on the table, tapping like a chick pecking at rice, until he picked up a card and slowly flipped it open: 100 yuan. The 100 yuan for travel expenses between 100 and 500 yuan. The card turned to ash, and ten ten-yuan bills appeared on the table.

System voice: "Special items can now be purchased. Please note that the shopping period ends at 8:10. Please note that 100 yuan is your total travel expenses."

When the product categories popped up in front of him, Ding Shi immediately saw the map. He clicked on it and found an electronic navigation map worth 500 yuan and a paper city map worth 1 yuan.

Ding Shi learned from the map information that this was a copy consisting of hundreds of cities of varying sizes. Each city, whether a large city with millions of people or a small county with tens of thousands, had a corresponding paper map.

In addition, there are timetables for planes, trains, buses, and ships for each city.

Ding Shi looked around and his gaze fell on the map package. The map package, priced at 50 yuan, contained paper transportation maps of all the cities, arranged alphabetically by the first letter of each city for easy searching.

If he buys the map pack, Ding Shi will only have 50 yuan left. For the next 7 days, he will have to walk home, enduring wind and rain.

As a modern person, Ding Shi knew all too well that he couldn't get around without navigation. He certainly couldn't afford an electronic navigation system, so he had to settle for something less. Besides, he didn't know which city he would be born in, or which cities he would pass through.

Without much hesitation, Ding spent 50 yuan to buy the map pack.

Next are the transportation options: RV 700 yuan, fully fueled and charged, seats 8 people; 7-seater van 400 yuan; 5-seater sedan 200 yuan; electric scooter 50 yuan; bicycle 5 yuan.

Besides purchasing through the current channel, players can also buy various vehicles at the car dealership near the spawn point after entering the instance. The prices listed above are just for reference. There are many vehicle models available, and prices vary. The system suggests that players team up to pool their resources for purchasing.

Next came the regular merchandise: tents and barbecue grills for outdoor camping, insect repellent, and medication for colds and fevers. There were also driver's licenses.

Nani?

If Ding Shi hadn't insisted on flipping to the second-to-last page of ordinary items, he would have almost missed this. Clicking through, the first thing he saw was a line of text: Driving a motor vehicle without a license is illegal.

Driver's license: 12 points, once all points are deducted, it is invalid.

Driver's licenses cannot be bought or sold directly. You must pay 10 yuan to take a theory test and get 90 points or more to get a driver's license.

You can take the test now, or apply for the test at a test center in any city. Note: Currently, only ten theory questions are tested. After entering the instance, you will be randomly selected to take either the second or third stage of the driving test.

Comparing the two, taking the test now is definitely the better option. Although it's been over five years since he got his driver's license, the theory test is very simple; you basically just fill in whatever comes to mind. Ding Shi, without any prior knowledge of driving, took his first mock test for the theory test and scored 76 points.

Two minutes later, Ding Shi received his driver's license. Only then did he realize something was wrong. He'd bought the map, passed the driving test, but where was the car? Where was he going to get the money to buy a car? Was this a consumer trap?

When Ding Shi clicks to end the shopping, the instance is about to enter its final stage. If players do not have time to participate in this stage, they will be randomly assigned by the system.

An octagonal map appeared in front of Ding Shi, and 54 face-down cards appeared on the table.

The system's voice was gentle and pleasant, yet sharp as a piercing arrow: "Please select your starting point for returning home."

Damn it, with only 1 point of luck, I keep dying no matter how I try to draw cards.

Ding Shi hadn't paid much attention to his luck stat until he needed it. Of course, 1 point of luck doesn't mean you can't win the grand prize. For example, 10 points of luck gives you a 1% chance of winning the jackpot. 1 point of luck gives you a one in ten thousand chance of winning the jackpot.

Ding's interpretation: Out of 100 lucky people, 99 lucky people end up in the same situation as 9999 unlucky people.

Ding Shi's hand moved across the table, pecking at the ground like a chick pecking at rice, until he caught a card between his two fingers, flipped it over, and read aloud, "Nanyin County." He then looked up at the map.

A dart is stuck at the very bottom of an octagonal map, with two words written on it: Starting Point.

Ding Shi placed a hand on his forehead, feeling extremely apologetic for being born unlucky, and asked, "Dear System, may I wash my hands?"

A sink appeared next to Ding Shi. Ding Shi checked the time and saw that he had 4 minutes left, so he vigorously washed his hands 4 times.

Sitting in the chair, I closed my eyes and used my mind to sense the energy of the card, silently chanting, "Nanyang, Nanyang, Nanyang." I figured Nanyang must be the neighboring county of Nanyin.

The chick pecked at the rice, holding the card in his hand. Ding Shi slowly moved his palm, revealing the two dots of the first character, which immediately gave him an ominous premonition. Moving it to the right, it was indeed the character "北" (North).

Ding Shixin removed his hand with a look of utter despair. The card had three words written on it: Beiyang County.

A dart appears at the northernmost point of the map, with the word "home" written on it.

Haha! Okay, you better remember this. Ding Shi was furious, and his anger turned into a laugh.

He was even wondering if he could carpool with someone since he had a map and a driver's license. But think about it, how could those who already own cars possibly draw the "South Yin North Yang" lottery?

It seems the only way is to enter the instance and then study public transportation.

First, let's rule out airplanes and high-speed trains; those are beyond my reach as someone with such bad luck. The best mode of transportation is the old-fashioned green train, because it's cheap, cheap, cheap. However, not only are green trains slow, but getting from Nanyin to Beiyang would require countless transfers. Even so, assuming I only drink free boiled water and don't eat any food, my travel expenses probably wouldn't cover such a long journey.

It seems like begging will begin as soon as you get on the bus. Although the NPCs are heartless, there are always kind-hearted players in this massive multiplayer online community.

As Ding Shi pondered this, he couldn't help but complain to the air, "System, is this supposed to be a casual dungeon? Even a loser has rights, you know!"

No one responded, and with the countdown, the dungeon preparation time ended.

(End of this chapter)