Translator: 549690339
“I guess it doesn’t really matter…” Tan Xiao ran his fingers through his hair. “As long as they are pretty and have nice bodies, age and such don’t matter.” Bai Youwei’s face darkened.
Teacher Chang quickly consoled, “Red Skull, such things are temporary. The most important thing for a girl is her inner beauty, soul beauty is the true beauty…”
“…” Bai Youwei’s face turned even darker.
Shen MO silently laughed at the side, the conversation had veered off track so much that he couldn’t bring it back.
While they were chatting, a little boy from a distance came over cautiously. Probably figuring their conversation seemed very friendly, he bravely interrupted:
“Excuse me… Do you need to buy a map?”
Everyone turned to look at him.
The boy was really young, probably around ten years old. With everyone staring at him, he seemed nervous.
It’d been a long time since Bai Youwei had last seen a child.
Not only children, elderly people like Chang Weicai were also rare. Of course, her kind, the disabled, were even rarer.
“Young man, are you selling a map?” Teacher Chang asked kindly.
The little boy was holding a map in his hand. It was hand-drawn with a pencil, very detailed. You could see the traces of erasing and re-drawing.
“You’re going into the maze, right?” Said the boy, “This is the maze’s map. I’ll sell it to you for just one item.”
Everyone was taken aback.
It didn’t matter if it was someone else selling things, but it was surprising that such a young child was doing business.
Teacher Chang inevitably asked, “Young man, how old are you? What’s your name?”
The little boy didn’t answer. His eyes moved over their faces, finally settling on Shen MO, who he perhaps saw as the “leader”. He stared at him and asked:
“Do you want the map? I also have a map of the city. Every game area is marked. It will be very safe to leave the city with the map. It’s also only one item. Want it?”
Shen MO glanced at the map in the boy’s hand and asked calmly, “How can we verify your map is accurate and reliable?”
The question seemed to put the little boy in a tough spot, as he tried to find an answer.
Bai Youwei was watching the child. The kid had a round face and serious eyebrows, small eyes, and was quite cute. He was just a bit sunburnt with red and peeling skin.
Thinking about it, it was quite pitiful. He had most likely been pampered by his family before but now, they were probably gone. At such a young age, he had to learn to fend for himself.
Partly to tease, partly to test him, she asked, “Once you enter the maze, you’re not guaranteed to come out. And no one can verify the usefulness of your map. Why would I use an item to buy it? There’s even less need for a city map. Don’t you know that the game areas are always changing?”
The child was stunned, “The game area changes?”
“You didn’t know?” Tan Xiao interjected, “If no player enters the game for 7 days, the game area will move randomly. The direction and the distance are unpredictable, but it will always automatically lock onto places where people gather!”
The boy looked lost. After a while, he nodded slowly and muttered, “Oh… in that case, you wouldn’t need my map after all…”
His hopeless tone was enough to stir pity in anyone.
Teacher Chang almost couldn’t resist the urge to hand over his mud pie, but Shen MO stopped him.
Shen MO asked the boy, “What do you want the item for? You’re so young. Even if you get an item, it could easily be stolen. Worse still, it could endanger your life. An item could bring you nothing but trouble.”
Upon hearing this, Teacher Chang sobered up immediately. Although he hadn’t acted on his impulse, a cold sweat broke out. It was a close call.
He had almost spelled doom for the child.
“I want to leave,” the boy glanced at a group of young men not too far away,
“But without an item, I can’t join Brother Fei’s team..”