Northern Myanmar: These players are acting strangely!

Chapter 57 A Refined Beast
Ah Long took the salary card from Buck-toothed Zhang and handed it to one of his henchmen.
"Okay, wait here for a moment, I'll have someone take care of it for you right now."

Upon hearing this, Bucktooth Zhang thanked him repeatedly, looking so grateful he was practically about to kowtow to Ah Long on the spot.

Ah Long waved his hand dismissively:
"Alright, alright, I'm just following the rules."

He turned to look at the others, his voice rising several octaves:

"And you all, work hard, and when you earn money, you can take care of your parents!"

"Your parents have worked so hard to raise you, so you should repay them in some way."

While Ah Long's men were running errands, Bucktooth Zhang opened a brand new box of cigarettes and handed one to Fat Cat.

"Thank you for your care, team leader."

Then he gave one to each of the remaining people in his group.

Wang Zixu didn't want to accept the offer.

But seeing that everyone around him had reached out their hands, he silently accepted them so as not to seem out of place, holding them between his two fingers.

He looked up and met Zhang's gaze.

Those small eyes were red and swollen, as if they had stayed up for several nights in a row, and there were tears welling up in their sockets.

The ecstasy on his face had not completely faded, but was mixed with a trace of indescribable bitterness.

The interplay of these two emotions made his already comical face appear somewhat distorted.

It didn't take long.

Ah Long returned with the salary card:

“I’ve already explained it. Ten thousand yuan was transferred from your card, five thousand was given to your family, and the five thousand was a handling fee.”

"You'll get a receipt after the money is sent out; I can give it to you by tomorrow at the latest."

Buck-toothed Zhang offered another round of profuse thanks, fawningly stepping forward:

"Brother Long, it's my treat tonight. Shall we go downstairs and have some fun?"

Ah Long waved his hand and laughed, scolding:
"Do you think everyone has the same privileges as you?"

"I'm just a lowly wage earner, I still have to go to work."

Wang Zixu rolled his eyes and almost burst out laughing.

He was internally screaming: "You're on shift B! If you didn't come to work for a day, the company would probably run even more smoothly than when you were here."

After being rejected, a hint of disappointment flashed across Zhang's face, but it was quickly replaced by excitement.

He turned around and shouted loudly to everyone in the office area:
"Guys, you guys work hard, I'm going downstairs to have some fun!"

"When the time comes, I'll recommend whichever girl is the most attractive!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the office area.

As Bucktooth Zhang's figure disappeared through the doorway, things quickly returned to calm, with only the clatter of keyboards remaining.

【Holy crap, they deduct 5,000 for every 5,000 I send? That's faster than robbery!】

[The upstairs neighbor's perspective is a bit narrow, but at least they actually sent it, right? And the commission is really good; the promises our boss makes are more than enough for me.]

To be fair, Ah Long, while not a good guy, really knows how to lead a team. He's got a knack for both winning and losing.

Suddenly, I'm starting to think the people in the scam park are actually pretty nice; they're even sending money to employees' families... Am I losing my sense of morality?

I have a bad feeling about this...

[Stop talking, they're all high-income earners, I'm so envious!]

Wang Mazi noticed that Wang Zixu was staring at the door and asked:
"how?"

"Envy?"

Wang Zixu was secretly reading the comments when he was startled.

Coming to her senses, she casually pushed the cigarette beside her in front of him:
"Envy is just a facade."

He paused, then lowered his voice:
"But I have a question."

"You're saying a bunch of scammers who treat people like pigs and dogs would be so kind as to help send money home?"

If you haven't seen players' accusations against NPCs' shameless behavior and vicious methods on the forums...

He hadn't seen how those NPCs forced victims to demand ransom from their families, so perhaps he actually believed it.

But everything he saw and heard,
All of this forced him to assume the worst about Ah Long and his gang.

To everyone's surprise, Wang Mazi chuckled after hearing this, lowering his voice even further:

"That's why I never send money home."

"I think the whole 'sending money' thing is a fucking joke."

"Let's not even talk about the fact that our passports have expired and we've been staying abroad for a long time. We would have been on the list of people advised to return to China long ago."

"Take some people in the park for example. They've been missing for years in China. Their families have probably canceled their household registrations. Where can they send the money?"

Wang Zixu frowned:
"That buck-toothed Zhang..."

Wang Mazi waved his hand:
“It’s normal that some people believe it.”

"Some people come to the park voluntarily, while others are there against their will."

"What if the money they're sending is real?"

"There has to be something to look forward to, doesn't there?"

Wang Zixu sneered inwardly.

To put it bluntly, this is a gamble.

At the gambling table, money is at stake.

The gamble here is on how much conscience those criminals still have left.

But to talk about conscience with a group of scumbags who have no bottom line is a bit of a pipe dream.

Seeing his expression, Wang Mazi smiled mysteriously:

"There's a saying here that I don't know if you've heard before."

"The park makes money, and the park spends it."

As Wang Zixu listened to these words, the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off: "No..."

"Doesn't this mean that all the commissions I painstakingly earned through deception have gone back into the boss's pocket?"

Wang Mazi chuckled and lit a cigarette.
"Yes!"

"Once you get here, it'll be hard to die if we don't squeeze every last bit of value out of you."

He took a drag, exhaled a smoke ring, and then changed the subject:
"You're new here, so you haven't experienced the services in the park yet, have you?"

"Once I've hooked this fish and made a sale, I'll take you there to experience it."

Wang Zixu wanted to refuse, but he swallowed the words back.

I'm not envious, but I am also curious.

When playing games, completing the levels is one thing, but experiencing different scenes and functions is another, and you can also explore the inside of the park.

"Speaking of which... does someone like Bucktooth Zhang just take the money and head straight for the Red Chamber?"

"Send 5,000 home, and spend the remaining 20,000 on women?"

Wang Mazi stroked his chin, pondering for a moment:

"I guess he'll go to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities first."

"The clothes I wear and the blankets I use at night, I have to buy myself."

"If he doesn't buy a new outfit soon, he'll be coming to work shirtless in a few days."

Wang Zixu wholeheartedly agreed.

The clothes in the park are all old clothes taken from other people, including dead people.

Many people have no clothes to wear because of punishments or other reasons.

If the temperature drops, you'll just have to endure the cold.

Women are no exception.

On my way back to the dormitory after get off work,

Wang Zixu had seen many women who only covered their chests with two tattered pieces of cloth.

Like the girl in their dormitory who was given individual tutoring, only a few of them were still wearing their clothes intact after being forced into this situation.

Wang Mazi glanced outside furtively:
"Judging by the sky, he might just go to the casino for a couple of rounds."

"As for women, they don't actually cost much money."

He spoke with the air of someone who had been there:
"You'll understand once you experience it; the Red Building offers the best value for money in the park."

“Those local junk items only cost a hundred or two at a time.”

"Of course, if you want to try something new, like a casual lifestyle or those foreign girls who can speak English, the price will be higher. After all, things are valued for their rarity."

Wang Zixu's lips twitched. What a perfect example of scarcity making things valuable.

In this godforsaken place, everything can be priced and displayed on shelves by weight.

Money is the only yardstick; it can measure human dignity and, more importantly, human life.

A lewd smile suddenly appeared on Wang Mazi's face:
"When people go to the Red Mansion, most of them don't order à la carte."

"First, it's not cost-effective, and second, it's not fun to play."

"Set meals are the hallmark of Dream of the Red Chamber."

"That buck-toothed Zhang bastard will definitely buy the set meal."

Wang Zixu looked puzzled:
"combo?"

"What do you mean?"

Wang Mazi rolled his eyes and recited the menu as if listing dishes:
"Bestie's Bill, Emperor's Bill, VIP Bill, Mother and Daughter Bill..."

Wang Zixu choked on the smoke and coughed violently.
"Cough, cough, cough!"

"Okay, I understand."

He understood it all.

This group of people has once again lowered the bar for his understanding of the world.

They really have no bottom line.

[Tragedy! I was just feeling envious, but all the money I painstakingly scammed turned out to be spent in the park, and even the money they sent was probably fake.]

It's a miracle that no one in the park has had a mental breakdown after all this!

If what Wang Mazi said is true, then those women in the Dream of the Red Chamber are really pitiful... Even though I know they're NPCs, I still... sigh.

The NPCs in this park are truly ruthless; they give you hope little by little, then slowly extinguish it, until you finally succumb to despair.

Seeing Wang Zixu's strong reaction, Wang Mazi chuckled:
It's not that I look down on you.

“There are plenty of guys like you who look refined on the surface in the park.”

"When you first arrived, you were all incredibly arrogant, but once you really let loose, you guys were the most outrageous!"

He gestured with his lip towards the chubby kitten:

"See that? Our team leader."

"Back in Yan Country, I was a proper angel in white. When I first arrived, I was full of righteousness and extremely arrogant."

"It's said that he even fought with Brother Long."

"Tsk tsk tsk... That was awful!"

"The reason my right cheek is now half-dented is because of the beating I got from Brother Long back then."

"Look at you now, are you behaving yourself?"

"Actually, that's not the case. He was just venting all the anger he had been holding in on the women in the Red Mansion."

"Wow! That's some serious weirdness!"

"Role-playing is one thing, but they specifically target women who are menstruating, saying things like 'good luck' or 'good fortune' are auspicious omens!"

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(End of this chapter)