I Rely On Poverty To Sweep Through Survival GamesCh42 - Intermediate Player

In the dark space outside the game.

Xiao Lan clenched 【You’re so broke you make me laugh】 in his hands. Somehow, it felt like this item existed in the Advent World to mock him, while a reward or whatever was just an offhand label for it. vUNTnu

After that, a new system notification rang out:

“Detected: Player Xiao Lan’s overall fighting strength surpasses beginner players by 200% and has met the conditions to be promoted to intermediate player. Now promoted to intermediate player.”

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Xiao Lan didn’t expect to be promoted this quickly. It had only been three instances.

It turned out that the condition for promotion was the player’s fighting strength. That was just cruel. 08JbcG

The system also informed him that he had a new private room after his promotion, and even gave him directions to the location. Xiao Lan decided to look for Wang Taidi first to do a deal using Demeter’s Blade after they returned to the player hub, then go take a look at the new room.

In the darkness, Xiao Lan suddenly recalled that he seemed to have triggered a new passive skill of 【Poverty is unable to restrict my imagination】when he was fighting Madam Bella, the one about randomly obtaining an item.

The battle just then had been intense and he hadn’t had time to take a look. That item had probably been put directly into his storage space, which was why he could only hold【You’re so broke you make me laugh】in his hand now.

Xiao Lan checked his storage space; sure enough, he discovered something white inside. Who knew what item he had randomly obtained.

Filled with anticipation, he took it out for a look:

【Name: Zhang Dong’s handwritten autograph (rare item, bound)】

【Ability: None】

【Description: Zhang Dong knows that all of you want this very much】 orKYPR

Fuck!

“Who wants this thing…” Xiao Lan passed the autograph to Luo. “Why would something like this be considered a rare item?”

Luo came closer to look at the autograph in Xiao Lan’s hand. “Probably because it was produced by the boss himself ba.”

Xiao Lan: “…” 1Z7 Qy

Indeed, in terms of the creator, it truly was very rare.

The Advent World was doomed sooner or later.

Looking at the dog-like handwriting on the paper, Xiao Lan sighed ruefully; what ought to come would still come. After going through two instances, he still received a handwritten autograph from Zhang Dong.

If Lin Yan in hell found out that he had risked everything and caused the deaths of so many players only to ultimately obtain something like this, would he be angry enough to come back to life on the spot? eRc9sv

Xiao Lan expressionlessly picked this thing up, then threw it away.

He then took a step out of the darkness.

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Xiao Lan returned to his narrow little room.

It had seemed fine when it was just one person, but with two large men, the remaining space was instantly cramped; even turning around was impossible. Helpless, Xiao Lan simply opened the door to look for Wang Taidi. 75eVzM

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Xiao Lan knocked on the neighbouring door.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Wang Taidi’s short curls poked out from behind the door. Seeing that it was Xiao Lan, he smiled happily. “Xiao Lan ah~ And Fei Luo. Do you guys want to eat together? I can show you what’s delicious in the players’ restaurant.”

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Wang Taidi closed the door and led the way. “My ge agreed to take part in an advanced instance, and he just left.”

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–

Upon arriving at the players’ restaurant. FXyvnZ

This place was enormous and decorated in a simple style. Almost everything was white, and coupled with the large glass windows, it made one feel extremely relaxed.

It was also very easy to order dishes. There were numerous windows here, and one just had to select an image on the window before the cooked dish was very quickly delivered from within. It was very unscientific, and the production method and process were completely opaque.

When Xiao Lan ate on his own before, he always entered the door and directly ate whatever was the closest. He truly had yet to discover which food tasted good.

Bringing a dining cart along, Wang Taidi added food to it as he walked and introduced Xiao Lan to the dishes at the same time; he looked like one of those people hired to lure customers into high-end restaurants. FJIHUn

“The dishes in the player hub restaurant are all free and also delicious. It’s a pity that we’re not allowed to bring food into a game, ai…”

Wang Taidi sighed as he recalled their miserable experience in Madam Bella’s manor. Why was it that all the people he knew didn’t know how to cook? Naturally, he didn’t know how to either.

If Wang Ke’s cooking was considered alchemy, Wang Taidi’s cooking could simply be described as — smelting steel.

After walking even further in, Xiao Lan realised that this place seemed to have everything one could think of. Whether it was Chinese or Asian, European or American, as long as the dish existed in the world, it could be found here. He even saw outrageous existences such as stargazy pies, mooncakes stir-fried with chilli, stir-fried noodles with surströmming… DNx63Z

It could be said that as long as you dared to eat it, the Advent World dared to provide it.

Seeing Xiao Lan’s gaze rest on the stargazy pies, Wang Taidi’s voice trembled. “Xiao… Lan… You, you, you, you think about it a little, the world still has tons of beautiful things.”

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Only then did Xiao Lan withdraw his gaze regretfully.

The three of them sat in a booth. As they ate, Xiao Lan began to chat with Wang Taidi about trading Demeter’s Blade. qynvBU

Hearing that it was worth 300,000, Wang Taidi’s eyes instantly lit up. “Trade, of course we’ll trade! We’re friends ah, I definitely won’t swindle you.”

Of course, there was no such thing as currency in the Advent World, so what the players traded with were items.

Accepting 【Demeter’s Blade】, Wang Taidi was pleasantly surprised when he tried it out. “This item! It can increase my luck with money! My god, there’s hope for me to get to 100 million now!”

Recalling how Demeter’s Blade could only decrease his poverty value, Xiao Lan thought sadly: We’re not the same…  lMcvWj

The happy Wang Taidi was like Doraemon as he took out a large pile of things from his storage space and displayed them on the table to be studied.

“Xiao Lan, you don’t have a light, right? What about this【Nuclear energy flashlight】? As long as it’s not broken, it’ll always shine…

“There’s also this: a backpack with ten slots. You probably really need this…

“【Holy nun’s heart】 can treat mild to moderate injuries. It can heal anything aside from broken bones, and can be used three times…” ebZ7UP

Wang Taidi considerately helped Xiao Lan think about which item he should choose with an earnest appearance, as if he was making plans for a family member.

Wang Taidi truly is a very good person, Xiao Lan thought.

He had been too busy to make friends at all in the past. Who would have thought that he would meet a friend like this after entering this dangerous world?

Sure enough, one’s fate in life was an extremely mystical thing. 6A3kJN

Wang Taidi then pushed over an item which resembled a plastic cup. “I’ll give this to you, so we can communicate at any time in the future.”

Xiao Lan accepted it and studied it:

【Name: Plastic friendship】

【Ability: Establishes a connection between two players. Can be cut off at any time】 nVkB6M

【Description: This is a friendship like plastic】

While the description was very unreliable, it truly was a communication item.

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“Thank you, Taidi.” Xiao Lan’s thanks was very sincere.

Wang Taidi shook his head, a little embarrassed at this gratitude. “Don’t thank me. You put in a lot of effort for us to clear the instance last time. Both my ge and I aren’t good against a boss without death conditions, and we might have needed to use other items to escape.” 7NhIK

At the mention of the previous instance, Xiao Lan recalled something. “I didn’t see Qi Ning when we cleared the instance. Does he have another way to clear an instance?”

Xiao Lan didn’t believe that an advanced player would lose in a beginner instance.

Wang Taidi nodded. “Sometimes Qi Ning will use items to directly leave the instance after achieving his goal, and sometimes he’ll stay until the end; it’s hard to say. In any case, he appears and disappears like a ghost, and it’s really hard to catch his trail.”

Xiao Lan then told him that he had been promoted to intermediate player and wouldn’t be living next door anymore, and he left his new address with Wang Taidi. FzDuno

Wang Taidi, who was still a beginner player even after three years, expressed his admiration and envy.

“Oh, right.” Wang Taidi seemed to recall something, “The interval between entering instances is longer for intermediate players, and can be a month or so. You can also stop over in the real world for three days, so you should use this opportunity to have a good rest.”

.

After bidding farewell to Wang Taidi, Xiao Lan went to his new room. 8YFgXU

It was another tall building, but there seemed to be considerably less rooms inside, and it clearly wasn’t as crowded.

Xiao Lan opened the door; the space was much larger, with an inner and an outer room. Unlike the room for beginners which was already furnished, this place was completely empty. Perhaps it was because intermediate players had more time on their hands, so they could choose their own furniture.

There was a floating panel at the entrance from which they could choose the furniture they required. Xiao Lan browsed it casually; there were quite a lot of furniture options.

He pointed at the panel and asked Luo, “Luo, do you want a bed too? We can have one room each.” F6Yaxn

Luo shook his head; he didn’t seem very happy.

Xiao Lan thought about it, and yeah, Luo didn’t need to sleep at all. When he ‘slept’ previously, it was only at Xiao Lan’s request that he switched to standby mode.

Switching his train of thought, Xiao Lan fixed up the outer room as a living room. As a straight man with no aesthetic sense and who disliked troublesome matters, he simply chose one template, and the room’s appearance instantly changed.

Seeing Luo surveying the bookshelves in the room, Xiao Lan pointed at an antique-style desk lamp. “Do you like this one?” x2R1CG

Luo turned his head and smiled at Xiao Lan. “I like it very much since it’s something sir chose for me.”

He really did look very happy.

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Don’t ask Xiao Lan how he could tell that Luo was very happy from that faint smile which was more or less the same as always; call it a straight man’s intuition.

Nightfall. cnDh9i

Xiao Lan sat on the bed; it was close to bedtime.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Luo rapped on his room door.

“Come in.”

Luo came in with a cup of milk which he gently placed on the bedside before he said warmly, “Sir, I’ve prepared warm milk for you. The amino acids in it help humans to sleep.” Tkb6pP

Looking at the warm milk next to his bed, Xiao Lan, a rough man who hadn’t been particular about anything for twenty years, was a little stupefied. He had never received such exquisite care. “Is this… a return gift for the desk lamp?”

Luo smiled. “You can think of it that way.”

Xiao Lan picked up the milk. The temperature was just right, and the rich and mellow taste was very nice.

“Good night, sir.” After Xiao Lan finished the milk, Luo took the cup and quietly left the room. fVU7hK

“Good night.”

Looking at the closed door, Xiao Lan reflected on Luo.

This person was very calm most of the time, and always helped out at the most critical moment. There was an odd sense of tacit understanding when they worked together; furthermore, Xiao Lan had an indescribable sense of trust in him.

He didn’t think he had met this person before. kdBGP6

Xiao Lan didn’t even know anything about Luo: How had Luo lived in the past, and what happened to break him into pieces? It was as if everything about this person was indistinct and shrouded in a dense fog.

And it was even harder to identify the reason for his trust and their tacit cooperation.

Not long after, the light in the bedroom went out.

On the other side. 7ieArW

In a pitch-black room.

Luo sat on the sofa and gazed at the neon lights outside the window, an indecipherable expression on his face. There was a lonely sense about him, as if he had no connection to this world.

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Perhaps, his only connection was the ‘owner’ in the other room at that moment.

In the depths of his heart, Luo wondered, who on earth was he? Or maybe… what was he? d6da9K

It had been entirely instinctual to follow Xiao Lan. At that time, an intense notion that he absolutely had to follow Xiao Lan welled up inside him, but even he himself didn’t know why.

He reached out to turn on the desk lamp beside him, and the warm, yellow light dispelled the desolation and chill in the room. Maybe it was because he had been in the dark and nothingness for too long, but he utterly loathed the dark from the depths of his soul, even if his original body was a black shadow.

Luo reached out to gently trace the outline of the desk lamp, as if the person who had chosen this lamp for him was in front of him. The light cast a vague shadow on his face.

His soft words rang out in the quiet room. “Since you’ve accepted me following you, you will never be free of me, sir.” ncL7Fy

The author has something to say:

Advent World: Clearly the desk lamp and the milk are mine, so why doesn’t anyone think of me?

Xiao Lan and Luo: Fuck off. QuBwmS