Life Game In Other World
Chapter 1151: The Edge of the City (Request for Monthly Ticket)

Chapter 1151: Chapter 1151: The Edge of the City (Request for Monthly Ticket)

["A year and a half ago, we spent our last penny and were kicked out of West Apartment."]

[Miss spoke to me about his past employment and dedication, "I worked in a steel factory for eighteen years, nine of which I was an outstanding employee, and now I have nowhere to go."]

[They have been wandering around this vicinity for a while; they once lived in a friend’s living room for six months, until that friend was also left homeless for failing to afford the rent.]

[Three months ago, they lost contact with that friend. Miss rarely makes calls, and the couple shares one smart wristband.]

[The wristband that used to belong to Miss had been sold.]

["The cost of communication is too expensive, not something we can afford," he told me.]

Bright sunlight shone on the ice-covered road, and a bird landed on the weathered sign marked ’District 53’.

Bang——

A few scattered pieces of snow fell from the sign, blending into the snow piled on the side of the road.

The sunlight, reflected by the ice and snow on the ground, streamed through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the greasy, paint-peeling seats inside the fast food restaurant.

A hand, covered with traces of blood, gently pressed down a book so the curled pages would stop flipping.

His gaze lowered, reading the words on the book, [···In the chaotic streets, only a few stores were operating normally. Among these was the Federation-wide Jumeiduo Restaurant, they served as a haven for a few in both the bitter cold and the scorching heat···]

Squeak——

The tightly closed door of the restaurant was slowly pushed open, and the ajar door let in a bit of cold air from outside, blowing through the not-so-spacious interior.

Some figures lying on the chairs raised their heads to look toward the entrance as the cold wind passed over them.

Behind that wide glass door, a young man holding a book was carefully pushing it open and stepping inside from the outdoors.

He wore a light down jacket, a deep red scarf, thick glasses, and had fair skin.

Those gazes looking toward the entrance involuntarily lingered a few seconds longer on the young man’s clean attire, then slowly retracted their attention.

The young man, pinching his book, glanced at the old, faded-decor fast-food restaurant and nervously approached the counter.

Behind the counter was a dark-skinned, sturdy-looking middle-aged woman wearing the bright uniform of Jumeiduo Restaurant, who was currently looking down at her wristband.

"Hello, one giant burger, please."

The young man said cautiously to the woman who appeared to be engrossed in her wristband.

"Giant burger, 5 federal coins and 75 cents,"

Without raising her head, the woman casually tapped the control screen before her, "Cash or card?"

As she asked the question, she looked up at the ’customer’ in front of her and offhandedly added, "Paying by card, right? Takeaway?"

The young man, who was just about to lift his wristband to respond, paused slightly, "Card, yes, card,"

He lifted his wristband, swiped it at the counter, and hastily said before the woman turned away, "No takeaway, I’ll eat here."

The woman looked up at him, "Wait a moment,"

She turned back and called out impatiently to someone behind her, "One giant burger."

Then she continued to look down at her wristband, paying no further attention to the young man.

The young man seemed to want to ask something, but he glanced at the woman’s robust body at the counter, then meekly lowered his head and turned back around.

He hugged his book and took another look around the restaurant.

The restaurant wasn’t heated, its interior was hardly warm, but the heavy, transparent glass curtain wall was still a barrier, keeping the biting cold winds outside.

People inside the restaurant were seated dispersedly.

Some appeared to be customers, eating their food, while others lay on chairs or sat in corners, sleeping, playing with their wristbands, or staring blankly.

The young man with his book found a seat near the glass curtain wall and sat down.

Outside the glass wall were old streets, yellowing buildings, and thick snow covering the ground.

The ice and snow on the main roads outside had been cleared, with vehicles speeding by occasionally, and small groups of people standing at the corners of the streets wandering around.

The young man withdrew his gaze from outside, placed his book on the table, and tried to open it.

But before he could fully open the book, a loud shout came from the counter, "Giant burger, come and get it."

The young man immediately stood up, set down the book on the table, and walked towards the counter.

The sturdy woman at the counter glanced at him, placed the tray with the giant burger on the counter, casually threw in a paper takeaway bag, and slid the tray over to the young man.

The young man looked at the tray briefly, hesitated, but still picked it up.

After a brief pause, he opened his mouth slowly to ask, "Excuse me, have you seen anyone here pushing a shopping cart with children? They’re likely a couple using an old cart pushing two kids; the husband’s name is Miss, perhaps you’ve seen them···"

However, before he could finish his words, he saw the woman at the counter lift her head and look toward the back of the restaurant where the bathroom sign was painted, bellowing, "No bathing in the toilet, you hear me? That person over there, did you hear that?"

The young man followed the woman’s gaze to the bathroom entrance, where a figure with somewhat messy hair was holding a plastic basin, standing in front of the sink apparently ready to collect water.

The figure with the basin paused upon hearing the shout, tucked away the basin, and began to rinse his face with hands under the tap.

The woman at the counter, however, turned her head back down and continued fidgeting with her wristband as if everything that had just occurred never happened.

The young man looked at the receptionist and realized that the ’sister’ at the front desk had no interest in dealing with him.

He let out a small sigh of deflation, holding his tray as he walked toward the seat he had picked out for himself.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed that his original spot was now occupied by a youth with grey hair and an old cotton-padded jacket.

The youth was squatting on the chair, currently flipping through a book on the table with interest.

The young man hurried over, wanting to claim ownership of the book.

Then he saw the grey-haired youth look up, close the book, and while looking at him, laughed and said, "Viko’s ’At Jumeiduo Restaurant,’ are you looking for the ’Miss’ mentioned in the book?"

"You’ve read this book?"

The young man placed his tray on the table, somewhat surprised.

"I have, it’s a bestseller after all."

The grey-haired youth took a seat across from the young man.

"Then do you know where Mr. and Mrs. Miss are?"

The young man also sat down, lowering his voice and whispering, "I want to help them."

"Help them?"

The grey-haired youth glanced up at the down jacket that kept the young man clean and tidy, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The laughter drew the attention of many in the restaurant; the grey-haired youth had to quiet down a bit, and while smiling at the young man said, "There are plenty of couples around here pushing shopping carts with kids, you won’t find them with just that trait."

"Then I’ll spend more time,"

The young man said earnestly, "Maybe every one of them needs help?"

The grey-haired youth seemed to have heard something hilarious and couldn’t help but chime in, "Then help the people in this restaurant, every single one of them needs help."

He raised his hand and pointed at a garishly dressed woman sitting on a chair near the restaurant’s side door, smoking and wearing fishnet stockings and shorts, "Like her, she used to be a manager at a Note Intelligence factory. Now it’s twenty federal coins a go. Help her out, and you might get something in return."

The young man instinctively followed his pointing hand with his gaze.

At that moment, the flamboyant woman seemed to feel their stares, turned her head with her cigarette in mouth, and shouted loudly, "What are you looking at? If you’re not paying, piss off, else I’ll gouge out your eyes."

The young man shrank back in fright, while the grey-haired youth casually averted his gaze and laughed, "So, still up for ’helping’ people? There are plenty more here in need of ’help’."

"I don’t want that,"

The young man lowered his head and rapidly said, "She shouldn’t be doing that."

"She shouldn’t be doing that?"

The grey-haired youth’s tone went up slightly, looking at him mockingly said, "What, you think she’s doing it because she loves the job?"

Before the young man could reply, he took out a small paper box from his pocket and whispered with a chuckle,

"Why don’t you help me instead? K-57 psychoactive spray, a trial size that feels great. Works with or without a Mechanized Body. The Miss you’re looking for would certainly like this. Seeing as you’re a new customer, I’ll sell it to you for 100 federal coins. If you really find that Miss, give it to him, and he’ll be extremely grateful."

"Is this contraband medicine?"

The young man asked, looking at the paper box and trembling a little.

"If you don’t feel comfortable trying it yourself, we can ’help’ you get started,"

The grey-haired youth said with a smile, leaning forward slightly as if about to open the box and spray some on the young man’s face, "Trust me, after one use, you’ll never forget it."

"I, I don’t want this."

The young man paled with fear and suddenly stood up.

He glanced at the hamburger on his plate and the takeaway bag, hastily stuffed the hamburger into the bag, gripped his book, and bolted out of the restaurant.

"Little chick,"

The grey-haired youth looked at the box in his hand, chuckled, and carelessly crumpled it into a ball of paper, "K-57 doesn’t have any package."

"If it’s nothing serious, can you please not scare away our customers?"

A cold snort came from the side.

The receptionist, at some point, had picked up a mop and was now standing behind the grey-haired youth, "Lift your foot."

"Good people like me are hard to come by. If he keeps wandering around here, he’s really going to run into that bunch selling contraband drugs."

The grey-haired youth lifted his foot, letting the receptionist’s mop pass by, as he said with a smile.

Then he looked at the receptionist starting to mop the floor, "Where’s the cleaning robot of your restaurant? Why aren’t you using it?"

"That thing’s broken,"

The receptionist spat, "The company says there’s no money to buy a new one now, telling us to mop ourselves. A bunch of bastards, not even a raise."

"Companies are like that, but at least you still have a job,"

The grey-haired youth also commented then seemed to suddenly remember something, and asked in a low voice, "That Miss, have you seen her?"