When Yun You opened her eyes again, the sky had already turned dark.

Unwittingly, she had been in the Ethernet for more than ten hours.

Time in the virtual world really passed too quickly, she just participated in an assessment, and half a day had slipped away.

Fortunately, the security at the guesthouse where Yun You stayed was decent, and no one disturbed her all day.

This made sure the whole room didn't undergo any noticeable changes.

Except for the bedsheet under Yun You, soaked with sweat...

This probably was her sweating when she endured the "cost" in the virtual world.

Thinking about it now, Ethernet and reality might truly have similarities, if you use abilities in the virtual world and refuse to bear the cost, causing your Ethernet body to die, then the real-world body might also suffer consequences.

After all, talent abilities are related to the soul, and the soul... who can really explain it clearly?

"Grumble..."

During her thoughts, Yun You's stomach growled in protest, seemingly reminding her that eating was more important than indulging in random thoughts.

The little girl thought her stomach was right, so she grabbed a couple of items of clothing, put them on, and went out, heading to the universal vending machine downstairs in the guesthouse.

A guesthouse managed by gang members was never associated with the word "quiet".

Even at night, this small inn and the nearby streets were still bustling with noise.

Gamblers; gangsters looking for trouble; onlookers drinking; tourists playing mahjong; mercenaries taking assignments, and some shady contraband dealers.

Everyone could find a place suitable for themselves here, whether for entertainment, business, or work...

People were too busy with their own matters, so naturally, they wouldn't notice the inconspicuous little girl Yun You.

Yun You originally planned to just get something to fill her stomach, but the smoky smell from the fried rice stall made her unconsciously turn her head, her soul drawn by the enticing aroma.

Soon, two steaming plates of minced meat fried rice were in her hands.

Although the hygiene conditions of this kind of street vendor were truly concerning, where one might often find some strange little bugs in the food, and the ingredients were mostly leftover scraps unwanted by companies, with frozen meat older than the chef and old rice being the main components, the nutritional value might not even compare to the pre-packaged meals in the universal vending machine...

But for some reason, people just loved this freshly made food, cherishing that so-called "wok hei".

In their hearts, this was something the cold machines could never recreate.

Perhaps precisely because of this, those street vendors, which should have been eliminated by industrial production and standardized assembly lines, miraculously managed to find their own niche in Nest City.

In this era where the vast majority of people were under the firm control of giant corporations from birth to death, taking a bite of "natural" junk food might be the biggest rebellion for people at the bottom.

Thinking this, Yun You picked out a strand of steel wire from the fried noodles and casually tossed it onto the lid of the meal box beside her.

There lay several rusty steel wires and a few indescribable mutated gingers...

"Why does it taste like paint..."

The little girl slurped a mouthful of noodles, carefully tasting them, and couldn't shake off the feeling that something was odd about the flavor.

"I don't know if it's the glowing green ketchup that's the issue, or if it's the meat bits that have gone black with freezing."

[Stop overthinking, Yun kiddo, you get what you pay for, you only paid six point five, what gourmet delicacy are you expecting? It's already good they didn't add some creepy-crawly little protein chunks in for you!]

[Just a bottle of innocuous radiation-emitting ketchup and some meat scraps frozen for centuries, they won't eat through your stomach, so just eat up without worries]

Master Zero popped out at the right moment, casually mocking Yun You's pickiness.

"Uh, it makes a bit of sense."

Yun You scratched her head, then stopped being picky and slurped down the noodles in a few quick bites.

She never liked wasting food, so she even licked the sauce off the lid clean.

Except those pieces of ginger, she really couldn't get herself to eat them... They were too hard, like lumps of iron, carrying a taste of waste that screamed they were substandard products grown in radiation areas, eating them might give her a sixth finger or tentacle or something...

There were a lot of deformed people in Nest City mutated by radiation, though they usually hid in their communities and didn't come out much, making their numbers seem fewer than they actually were.

This damned place would always hold surprises, of course, also potentially shocks...

Yun You patiently packed up the meal box, threw all the kitchen waste into the incineration-type automatic trash bin on the street, and thus ended her dinner with peace of mind.

Afterward, she retrieved a parcel wrapped in black plastic from the vending machine underneath the guesthouse.

This was the "modified drugs" sent by the Apprentice Death God Organization.

According to the Ethernet's delivery rules, it should have been delivered directly to the vending machine in Yun You's room.

But since the room was a private area, the Ethernet drone could only resort to delivering it here.

Yun You hid the parcel and jogged back to her room, starting to ponder over this non-saleable drug.

And the little girl didn't know...

Just after she left, the lively street suddenly welcomed an unfamiliar visitor.

It was a middle-aged man wearing a gray robe, bald, with a frighteningly robust build of over 2 meters tall, broad and stout, with arms thicker than an average person's legs, like a massive gray bear. Just standing there, he exuded an inexplicable sense of oppression.

He hadn't installed any mechanical prosthetics, only a string of wooden beads exuding a musky fragrance hung around his neck, looking greasy, even reflective.

Contrary to his intimidating presence, his facial features appeared quite benevolent, always wearing a smile that didn't inspire a lot of hostility.

"Amitabha..."

He brought his hands together and bowed to the people on the street, a courteous gesture that was starkly different from the typical Nest City residents who tended to hurl insults involving others' ancestors.

The peculiar attire, along with the words of unknown meaning he uttered, attracted quite some attention.

But his massive build was in plain view, even with a kindly face, it still managed to deter all ill-intentioned thoughts.

People instinctively rejected him, not wanting to engage with him.

Thus, soon enough, these people withdrew their gaze and turned back to their own affairs.

Seeing this, the stout man just smiled, not saying much more.

He first wandered around the street a bit, then closed his eyes, following his intuition, slowly finding his way to the roadside trash bin...

"Here it is."

The stout man seemed to have found something, and without opening his eyes for a closer look, he suddenly reached into the burning trash bin, retrieving a piece of something charred black.

It was the radioactive ginger Yun You had earlier picked out from her bowl...

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