Exchanging Chips

Ren Yi was still pondering the casino owner's revenue model and nodded reflexively.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that his brother's words—"He can... stay dead for a hundred years"—slowly registered in his mind, causing him to snap his head up.

What did "stay dead for a hundred years" mean? If you can't settle the debt, you just settle the creditor?

Since the creditor can resurrect, as long as you camp the respawn point during the contract period and keep them in a "dead" state, you don't have to work for them?

Could the rules actually be interpreted like that?

Ren Yi felt like a whole new world had opened up to him.

"Wait, no, Ren Man." Dr. Lin paused, sounding a bit awkward. "The Alliance is urbanized now; it's a society ruled by law. You don't understand."

Ren Yi blinked.

What did that mean? His brother didn't understand "urbanization"? Was he saying his brother was from the "countryside"?

His brother might not have been in the Alliance for very long.

Of course, "not very long" was relative to his previous comment about a hundred years being "very short."

So, wasn't this Dr. Lin guy—who claimed to be a "community doctor" but acted like a "family doctor" and was now practically a nanny—a bit suspicious?

Was he a guide specifically arranged by the Alliance, or... an alarm?

However, Dr. Lin's next words made Ren Yi feel that things weren't that simple.

"But," Dr. Lin said, suddenly changing his tone and speaking with conviction.

"The more it's like this, the more actively we should integrate into society!"

"Come on, Xiao Yi, I know something fun..."

Weren't you just trying to back out a second ago? Your motive is glaringly obvious.

"Dr. Lin," Ren Yi's lip twitched as he cut him off ruthlessly, "I can't participate in the games."

Good. He was now one hundred percent certain that Dr. Lin definitely had a "history" here at Xinglong Entertainment City.

Dr. Lin also realized he had misspoken. He coughed twice, quickly changed the subject, and waved his hand at Ren Yi.

"Alright, alright, enough joking. If you really want to go shopping or trade, you have to exchange your energy crystals for the chips used here first."

"You mean over there?"

Ren Yi pointed toward a machine not far away that looked like a coin-dispensing machine in an arcade.

He had noticed earlier a young man in camouflage walking up to the machine and inserting a black envelope.

Less than two seconds later, a stack of black chips with intricate patterns slid out of the dispenser and toward the young man.

From the look of it, that envelope was likely the Participant's so-called invitation—the Instance key.

"That's right," Dr. Lin explained with practiced ease. "The value of energy crystals from different Anomalies varies slightly. Direct trading can get messy, so it's much more convenient to convert them into standardized chips. As for the exchange rate, it's posted over at the window."

He paused and added, "As for Participants, they don't need crystals; they can just exchange their Instance keys for chips."

Ren Yi nodded in understanding.

It was like needing to exchange local currency when traveling abroad. It seemed the Alliance's monetary system was quite rigorous; no wonder they had to set up a trading market in a place like a casino.

However, just as they were walking toward the exchange machine, a figure suddenly blocked their path.

It was a waiter in a sharp black uniform, wearing a half-face rabbit mask that only revealed a soft jawline and mouth. "Hello, gentlemen."

The gaze behind the waiter's mask landed on Ren Yi, who looked the youngest. He asked politely, "Excuse me, young sir, are you of age? According to our rules, those under eighteen are not permitted to enter any area of the venue."

Dr. Lin's face instantly darkened, and his tone became extremely unpleasant. "Which of your eyes sees him as a minor? Get out of the way; don't interfere with our business."

The smile on the waiter's face didn't waver as he maintained his professional demeanor. "I'm very sorry, sir, but these are our regulations. Please understand."

"If you could show us your student account to prove it has expired, we will let you through immediately."

Student account?

Ren Yi raised an eyebrow in surprise; he had almost forgotten that term. Before awakening Anomaly abilities, Anomaly Web accounts were indeed called "student accounts."

This was the default assumption that one was still a "child." They were quite strict about it.

After Ren Yi showed him his Anomaly Web account, the smile on the waiter's face became even more sincere.

"My deepest apologies, sir. It was my mistake. Welcome to Xinglong Entertainment City."

He stepped aside to clear the path and said to Ren Yi, "If this is your first time, you'll need to go to the evaluation window before exchanging chips so our staff can perform a value assessment on your energy crystals. This way, please."

With that, he made a "please" gesture, his attitude respectful and professional.

Dr. Lin snorted coldly and walked ahead, muttering, "What a hassle..."

His attitude had been somewhat sour for a while now.

The waiter led Ren Yi to the exchange machine he had seen earlier.

Hmm, "staff," huh?

Ren Yi hesitated for a moment, then took an energy crystal from his backpack and tossed it in.

The exchange machine's screen began to scroll. The colored lights on it flashed for a while, stopped, and then scrolled again.

It seemed a bit confused.

Ren Yi wasn't surprised.

Because the one he had just thrown in wasn't his illusion crystal, but his positive emotion rule crystal.

Although he had long suspected that his rule crystals might not be usable as currency, suspicion was one thing, but he had to try it out in reality.

Ren Yi looked up at the waiter to see how he intended to handle it, only to find the waiter wasn't looking at him but was staring at Dr. Lin.

Dr. Lin let out a lazy yawn. "Your machine isn't working too well."

Ren Yi remained silent, feeling a vague sense that he had inadvertently become entangled in some strange conflict.

The waiter quickly withdrew his gaze and turned back, resuming his professional and respectful tone as he spoke to Ren Yi.

"Sir, I'm very sorry, but your energy crystal may require further evaluation. How about this: for now, we will perform the exchange based on the standard base rate."

Ren Yi shook his head. "No, I'll just switch to a different one."

With that, he put in an illusion crystal instead.

This time, the exchange machine didn't glitch. The screen flashed twice and quickly stabilized. Immediately after, a stack of black chips slid out of the dispenser—quite a large amount, too.

Ren Yi gathered them onto an acrylic tray.

Just then, the waiter suddenly turned his gaze toward Ren Man, who had been standing silently in the corner like a piece of background scenery.

"And this gentleman—do you not plan to exchange any?"