Survival: The Ocean (Playwright) Chapter 118: Travel

Wang Xiaodie settled into Wu Hui’s home. After all, there was plenty of room to spare.

Being provided with food and lodging, plus an Extraordinary-tier item as a gift, she figured that warming beds and kneading legs in return wasn’t such a bad deal.

The only problem was that after losing another month of her service to Wu Hui in a card game over the past two days, her mental state was starting to crack.

Wu Hui watched calmly as Wang Xiaodie used marks from the "Hundred Insect Manual" to trade for time. Once she was down to her last month, she decided to stop trading.

It was only a month; she could grit her teeth and get through it.

When Ren Yin saw Wang Xiaodie, she didn’t say much, but she quietly sat down for two rounds of cards with her, winning another month of service from her.

After serving as Wu Hui’s maid for a month, Wang Xiaodie would have to serve as Ren Yin’s for another. Truly tragic.

It just goes to show: gamblers never end up well.

The sisters, Li Xiaojing and Li Xiaoyue, had different opinions. They looked at Wang Xiaodie with unfriendly expressions, their minds filled with thoughts about how yet another competitor had appeared.

"Ahem, ladies. And that little brother over there."

Wu Tong clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention. "Over the next month, Evergreen City might see quite a few battles. Ordinary people might be fine, but low-level players are easily caught in the crossfire. I suggest you all go somewhere else to hide for a while and return once the situation here stabilizes."

Wu Hui, referred to as "that little brother," replied, "That could work."

"No objections."

"Are we going on a vacation?"

"Will our parents be okay?"

The girls began to discuss it. Wu Hui felt it was getting a bit noisy; he suddenly regretted that his companions were all women. But Du Ziming was the type who preferred to work alone, and while there were other men he’d met in games who could be potential partners, he wasn't familiar with them at all.

Take Zhao Xingluan, Zhang Dingyang, and Huang Limin, for example—he didn’t even have their contact information. Could it be that his face only attracted women?

As for the trip, the group started debating the destination.

For Wu Hui, it didn’t make much difference where they went, so he had no opinion. Li Xiaoyue, however, looked miserable—she hated going out, especially to somewhere so far away.

And in such a hot summer, too.

How detestable! Weren't summer vacations supposed to be spent at home with a computer, a phone, books, watermelon, and ice cream? Why would anyone like to go out?

"You’ll grow moldy if you stay inside all day. What’s wrong with going on a trip?" Li Xiaojing pinched her sister’s cheek.

"You violent woman, you’re always running off with men and never want to come home!" Li Xiaoyue shouted while struggling, and the two ended up brawling. Without using magic, Li Xiaoyue was definitely no match for her younger sister, and she was quickly subdued and pinned to the sofa.

Wang Xiaodie began to count. Wu Tong, Ren Yin, the twins, and herself. Five in total. And Wu Hui had previously ranked her fifth—damn it! Why was she at the bottom?

She looked at Ren Yin. Fine, she couldn't compete with her. She was practically a female version of Wu Hui. Besides, she had to work for her after finishing her shift for Wu Hui.

She looked at Wu Tong. A high-level player, someone who had grown up with Wu Hui and was even willing to help him pick up girls. She couldn't compete with her either.

But these twins—on what grounds were they better than her?

The maid fell into deep thought.

Other than being pretty, those two didn't seem to have anything special about them. Were they just stupid and easy to fool? Or was there a bonus for being twins? No, Wu Hui shouldn't be that shallow.

In reality, it was simply because he had met Wang Xiaodie later than the others. That was why her ranking was currently lower. There was no special reason; she had just been overthinking things for a long time.

The travel destination was quickly decided; it wasn't far, about two municipal units away.

Expenses weren't a concern, as everyone there was wealthy—even Wang Xiaodie, who constantly gambled away her time to Wu Hui or Ren Yin. Renting a decent place for so many people for a month only cost about ten thousand, which was less than ten points.

*Could I just lie down and not leave the house when we get there?* Li Xiaoyue stroked her chin, suddenly feeling that the situation wasn't so bad after all.

There were long-term and short-term rentals. Long-term was generally cheaper but required a minimum of two months. Short-term rentals were flexible, ranging from a few days to a month, and could be thought of as hotels without services.

They chose a short-term rental. After all, they had to come back for school. Wang Xiaodie, however, wondered if it was even necessary for this group to attend university.

But for university, aside from a few grueling majors, most were quite relaxed. Some majors only had one or two classes a day—it was incredibly comfortable. Whether you went or not didn't matter. Wu Hui also treated attending classes as a way to maintain balance.

Maintaining a normal and regular life was the key to ensuring mental stability.

Wang Xiaodie didn't seem to understand this principle. Her way of maintaining mental stability was through catharsis—like gambling, spending money, or beating up people she didn't like.

The Inquisition wouldn't bother with that level of behavior as long as it wasn't too serious. After all, it fell within the scope of what the police could handle, and ordinary people did the same. They were understaffed and could only focus their energy on more important targets.

Now, Wang Xiaodie was receiving her own retribution, having to work as a slave for Wu Hui and Ren Yin in turns.

Once again, gamblers never end up well.

Dayun City, a city primarily focused on tourism, was also located by the sea.

Wu Hui contacted the local Cocoon Company branch to learn the location of the local black market and gathered some intelligence.

The city usually only had one Level 8 player stationed there, but they had recently been transferred to Evergreen. Therefore, there were currently no high-level players, at most two Level 7 agents from the Inquisition.

Of course, if something major really happened, the high-level or even super-level players from Evergreen City wouldn't take long to arrive.

Safety-wise, there wasn't much to worry about. The scenery was nice, and the summer temperature was normal. There wasn't much worth noting. The local player market couldn't compare to the one in Evergreen, though Evergreen’s was only average; he would have to find an opportunity to check out the regional capital.

Before departing, Wu Hui had already investigated the local situation, and only then did he buy tickets for everyone. It seemed only he and Ren Yin had that kind of foresight.

As for the others, they had been somewhat spoiled by these two companions.

The train was preparing to leave. On board, Wu Hui saw an acquaintance: the second-eldest from his dormitory. He was dragging a brat around, looking for seats, when he suddenly spotted Wu Hui. He put the brat down and said, "Oh, what a coincidence? Wait, it seems like there’s one more than last time."

He held nothing but reverence for Wu Hui at this point, practically ready to kneel and ask for guidance.

"You're going to Dayun City too?" Wu Hui looked at him. "And your cousin is, too?"

"Yeah, just going there for a couple of days," he said. "Wenbei, say hello to everyone."

"Hello, big brothers and sisters." Ke Wenbei’s mouth twitched as he put on a pure and innocent look to greet them. But Wu Hui just looked at him, adjusted his glasses, and said nothing in response.