Ita Era

Chapter 39 Going Home (2)

A series of white lights flashed across the square in Nanyin County. Within 5 seconds, the once empty square was filled with 10,000 players.

System instructions: The south side of the square is a travel agency, the north side is a car dealership, and the west side is a supermarket.

It has to be said, the system is quite considerate; the plaza is as big as a dozen football fields, and running around aimlessly would waste a lot of players' time. Considerate as it is, it still manages to trap players. All the players at that moment had only one question: Which the hell is east?
On a cloudy day with no sun, in an unfamiliar environment, who knows where to go?

It must be said that this generation of players are the best players; no one complained, and everyone got to work. Before long, someone started calling out a place name: "The West, anyone going to the West, come and discuss it."

"Dongpo's journey ends here."

"Nanyue, is there a Nanyue?" A voice brought the surroundings to a standstill.

Ding Shi recalled the map and, if he remembered correctly, Nanyin County was next to Nanyue County, less than 40 kilometers away.

People may start from the same point, but their fates can be vastly different.

Ding Shi's destination was the travel agency. Crossing the square, he kept hearing players shouting new place names, but he couldn't find Beiyang, or even the character "Bei" (北). Although places with "Bei" in their names aren't necessarily in the north.

Ding Shi first saw the supermarket. Based on the information that the supermarket was to the west, he changed his route and arrived at the travel agency after walking for about ten minutes.

The travel agency was enormous, with walls covered in maps—administrative maps, urban and rural transportation maps, train maps, and highway maps. The train map section was particularly bustling, with several walls lined with people searching for the best route home.

After half an hour of deliberation, Ding Shi planned out the route. First, he needed to go to Nanying County, which was the exit from the southern mountainous area and the largest transit station for more than a dozen surrounding counties and cities. Next, he would take a train to Zhongyin County, transfer to a minibus to Shangyin County, and then transfer twice more to reach Beiri County, which was 80 kilometers away from his destination, Beiyang County.

Next, at Ding Shi, the toll was calculated. It was 5 cents per kilometer. For more than 3,000 kilometers of railway, it would only cost 176 yuan.

This won't do. Ding Shi continued to look at the map. He thought the Zhongyin Mountains were the biggest problem. One solution was to take a car around the mountains, which would be 700 kilometers shorter than the railway. Another solution was to hike 80 kilometers through the Zhongyin Mountains.

"This is difficult!" Ding Shi scratched his head and continued looking, then discovered a new route. After arriving in Nanying County, he could take a passenger boat, which was cheaper than the train fare. However, it involved going around the Zhongyin Mountains to the west, adding 200 kilometers compared to the train journey and taking significantly more time.

Ding Shi began calculating the time, and then discovered a terrible fact: he couldn't take a passenger ship or train, otherwise he wouldn't be able to reach Beiyang within seven days. An even more terrible fact: already penniless, he couldn't even afford a train or passenger ship.

A direct flight from Nanyin County to Beiyang County takes a little over 2 hours and costs 2,400 yuan. A high-speed train takes 18 hours and costs 2,000 yuan.

With this in mind, Ding Shi felt a sense of relief. Realizing he couldn't get home, he decided to buy a bicycle and ride as far as he could. If he got thirsty, he could drink from the river; if he got hungry, he could eat tree bark.

Having made up his mind, Ding Shi walked out of the travel agency. He had spent too much time there; many players had already left the square and were on their way home.

Are bicycles sold in supermarkets or bicycle shops? Theoretically, it should be supermarkets, but bicycles are classified as means of transportation, so it should be bicycle shops that sell them.

After thinking for a while, Ding Shi walked towards the supermarket, figuring he could always go through the process again.

Police sirens wailed in the distance, and the players stopped and looked around. A minute later, a helicopter and four police cars pulled into the plaza. A dozen fully armed robots, dressed in police uniforms and looking exactly alike, disembarked. They paused briefly, then quickly weaved through the crowd. Two players rushed out of the supermarket, carrying kitchen knives and bulging backpacks. Seeing the large group of robotic police officers running towards them, they turned pale with fright and were completely bewildered. Was it really necessary?
"I surrender."

The RoboCop ignored them, its iron fist striking the robber in the stomach. As the robber doubled over in pain, it slammed him into a grappling hook, knocking him unconscious. Its companions handcuffed the robber and shoved him into the police van that had followed. Once that was done, the RoboCop members got into the van and drove off, not giving the other players a second glance.

"Is it that powerful?" Finally, a player came to their senses.

Ding Shi also had great respect for his peers. If he had had such skills back then, Wang Meng and the dagger would have been sunk into the Pacific Ocean long ago.

Continuing towards the supermarket, Ding Shi saw a landmark. It was a piece of cardboard with a stone on top, and the cardboard read: "Direction to the Far North Province," along with an arrow.

Ding Shi followed the arrow toward the side of the supermarket, where there was a large banyan tree. Under the tree, more than thirty people were sitting or standing. A girl who was about 1.65 meters tall held up a piece of cardboard with the four large characters "Far North" written on it.

Ding Shi entered the crowd, about to ask a question, when someone spoke up: "Isn't it about time?"

The girl stood on high ground and said, "Please wait another ten minutes."

Ding Shi wasn't in a hurry. Within ten minutes, five more people arrived. Seeing that it was almost time, the girl called out, and a middle-aged man stepped onto a higher platform: "Everyone, please be quiet."

The man said, “Hello everyone, I'm sure you've all calculated the time it takes to travel by train and ferry. Theoretically speaking, it's almost an impossible task to go from Nanyin County to the far north. After much thought, we've finally found a solution: carpooling.”

The man said, "I've been looking at cars in the dealership for a long time, calculating fuel consumption and other factors, and I've settled on a five-seater and a seven-seater. Now we need three or five more companions. Please be patient, let me explain the rules first."

The man said, “First: All money and equipment must be handed over to me for unified management. It will be used to purchase gasoline, food, etc., and the accounts will be transparent. Second: Everyone must obey the captain's arrangements, not complain, and not bring negative emotions to others.”

Someone asked, "How are the 3 or 5 spots calculated? What are the requirements to join the team?"

The man replied, "Those who are interested can register with my girlfriend. You'll need to answer a few questions. Please understand that we'll definitely have to cut back on food and clothing along the way, and may even have to go hungry. If you're not mentally prepared for that, then forget it."

Ding Shi left immediately upon hearing this. His words sounded noble, but in reality, he was prioritizing wealthy individuals—a sound strategy to maximize profits. The problem was, he didn't disclose how much money he and his girlfriend had. Ding Shi speculated that their combined funds were only enough to buy a small car, or perhaps they were even using the money raised by passengers to buy the car without any investment.

Assuming there are 5 passengers each carrying 300 yuan, that's 1500 yuan. After buying a seven-seater car, they'll have 1200 yuan left. A typical small-displacement seven-seater car, when fully loaded, consumes less than 7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers. With a fuel price of 4 yuan, that's 28 yuan per 100 kilometers, or 0.28 yuan per kilometer.

Based on a distance of 4,000 kilometers, the fuel cost would be 1120 yuan, leaving a surplus of 80 yuan. As for food and drink, it's best to skip it and collect some bottles from the trash cans to fill with water along the way.

After some calculations, Ding Shi realized that carpooling was the only way for him to get home.

Ding Shi did not register or linger, and entered the supermarket through a side door. He was then told that bicycles were a means of transportation and were only sold at the bicycle shop.

Ding Shi strolled around and bought discounted toilet paper, discounted energy bars, and discounted bottled water, spending a total of two yuan and having 38 yuan left.

(End of this chapter)