Players, Please Board the Train

The evening banquet was lively. With the Duchess present, many nobles were willing to give Xu Huo, the new baron, some face, especially since he looked so wealthy.

Before the banquet ended, several noble ladies came to chat with him. Out of curiosity about the newcomer and concern for the dignity of the old nobility, the elders mostly offered polite small talk without showing too much enthusiasm.

The banquet hall smelled of food and fine wine. As host, Xu Huo drank considerably and felt a little tipsy.

”Mr. Xu, do you have a faith?” Serin approached holding a wine glass.

This was his eighth time tonight opening with that question.

Xu Huo smiled half-heartedly and looked at him, ”You can’t be here in District 011 to proselytize, can you?”

Serin laughed, ”As a believer, shouldn’t one remember the god they follow wherever they are? Besides, I am a man of high character. I never refuse to help others; it aligns with my doctrine.”

He steered the topic back to the earlier question, ”Mr. Xu, are you really not considering joining our faith? That would be a good way to make connections not only in District 011 but in other Districts as well. There are many high-level players who believe in religions within the game.”

”What do you think the purpose of religion is?” Xu Huo asked, turning his wine glass.

”Of course it is to save all living beings,” Serin said, his fairly handsome face seeming to glow with sanctity. ”Most people in the world are ignorant. They spend their lives not even knowing what they truly want or where they belong. Without a firm belief, the heart cannot hold steady. So they do good and bad deeds in their lives. The world’s injustices are often the tug-of-war between good and evil.””If everyone believed and headed toward a spiritual home, wouldn’t there be far less suffering in life?”

”What you just said has nothing to do with religion,” Xu Huo replied. ”Whether a person turns to good or evil is an inner choice. Whether they join a religion or not, doing good or doing bad is still an individual’s action.”

”Do you think people are all ignorant? You are wrong. Even fools know to avoid pain. A person’s actions always fit their present self-interest, whether for actual benefit or psychological balance.”

”When people see a window, they naturally look for light. When they see light, they look for a window. You think they’re ’ignorant’ just because you stand outside the window. It’s like a tools manual — you’ve read half and learned twenty tools. Why look down on someone who has only read a third and doesn’t know the tools you do?”

Serin responded, ”Is it not right for someone to teach them tools they haven’t learned yet? If not, how could civilization be passed down from generation to generation?”

”You have two misunderstandings. First, passing the torch is also a human instinct. Second, why do you assume believers can save others?”

”What makes you different from ordinary people?” Xu Huo smiled. ”Don’t tell me it’s just an extra catchphrase.”

Serin stopped drinking, ”I didn’t expect Mr. Xu to believe in letting things take their course.”

Xu Huo patted his shoulder, ”Do you know why cults are so easily dismantled?”

”Still two reasons: first, they meddle in too many things, not just their own but others’; second, high returns mean high risk.”

”District 011 has recently introduced a new religion. If you work alone, you might as well help the Duchess pick her hats.”

After saying that he left. Serin stayed where he was, his smile long gone, but when he noticed the Duchess’s gaze, he unconsciously smiled again.

Xu Huo went to the restroom to wash his face. Looking up, he glanced at Painting Woman behind him in the mirror, ”If someone is in the restroom, you can’t come in.”

”I know.” Painting Woman typed mysteriously. ”I want to ask you a little secret.”

”Do you really dislike that man from before?”

”Want me to help you kill him?”

Xu Huo turned and looked at her for a few seconds, ”You want to kill everyone you dislike, are you getting tired?”

Painting Woman’s expression was a little troubled, ”There are quite a few people I dislike, but not every one of them can be killed. In cartoons people never die; even if their brains spill out, they still don’t die.”

”But living people can.”

”Enough. Go play. Don’t pay him any attention; if he is sensible he won’t try too hard to ingratiate himself.” Xu Huo opened the door and called out to Angel, who had just turned and was about to leave, ”It’s not good manners to wander around someone else’s home. I hope you’ll stop doing that next time.”

Angel hurriedly forced a smile, ”I just wanted to see if Miss Xu needed any help.”

Painting Woman looked at her in puzzlement.

The banquet ended smoothly. Xu Huo saw off most of the guests while Mr. Dong tidied up the aftermath.

The drunken Duchess hadn’t left yet, but Serin had gone.

Xu Huo hesitated for a moment and asked Painting Woman to help support the Duchess to a guest room.

The slightly tipsy Duchess finally opened her eyes, propping her finger towards Xu Huo, ”Come support me.”

Xu Huo stepped forward to take Painting Woman’s place, holding her steady up the stairs.

The Duchess’s gloved hand rested on his chest and tapped lightly, ”Which room is yours?”

Xu Huo said nothing and led her to a guest room, ”Madam, rest well.”

Her face slightly flushed, she kicked off her shoes and brushed his trouser leg, ”Men and women both have needs. Neither of us loses out here.”

Xu Huo bent and laid her onto the bed, pulling the blanket over her, ”A man meeting a woman shouldn’t start from the bed.”

The Duchess smiled in a way that suggested other meanings.

When Xu Huo left the room he turned off the light, then checked his messages in his own room before going to sleep.

The next day when he went downstairs, the Duchess was already having morning tea. She was casually looking through messages sent by the family assistant and waved to him, ”The Black Epaulets just released the list of those entering Zone 009. There are quite a few people, though not many high-level players. If you’re going to Zone 009, picking an E-rank dungeon isn’t a bad choice.”

”E-rank dungeons usually don’t specify Districts, but District 011 has channels to find out. E-rank dungeons are also safer. You still have a quota to enter E-rank dungeons this year, right?”

”Can you get good items from E-rank dungeons?” Xu Huo sat at the table.

The Duchess smiled, ”There are no absolutes. Someone lucky might enter a random dungeon and pull a high-grade item. Someone unlucky could have a high-grade item right in front of them and not see it.”

”From the difficulty perspective, E-rank is the most suitable to invest in.”

She rested her chin on one hand and looked at Xu Huo, ”But if you really want to go into higher-level dungeons, that’s fine. I can pull some strings to get you into a C-level dungeon and you might receive a bit of favor.”

Xu Huo drank some milk, ”Is there such a thing as a free breakfast in this world?”

The Duchess tapped her teacup, ”Isn’t this it?”

Her smile was full of mature feminine charm, ”Don’t worry about extra conditions. Just give me a certain percentage of whatever you get from the dungeon.”