To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Chapter 404: Chapter 245 Is This Kind of Thing Right? (Part 2)

After greeting these children, Pingping noticed that one child was missing from the classroom when it was time to start.

The ten-year-old boy was very smart and quick with arithmetic. While other children were still struggling with multiplication and division of double digits, he had already mastered multi-digit arithmetic operations and could even extract square roots by hand.

Through her own Blessing, Pingping discovered that he had a natural talent for mathematics, and it was not impossible for him to become a mathematician in the future.

After the morning session ended, Pingping assigned homework to the children and then asked, “Does anyone know where Little Tommy has gone?”

Little Tommy’s desk-mate raised his hand, “He said he’s not coming anymore.”

“Why?”

“His father accidentally crashed into a nobleman’s carriage on his way home. One should not casually collide with the carriage of a nobleman. As a result, his father broke a leg, and the nobleman’s horse got frightened, so they had to compensate with three silver coins. He had no choice but to take over his father’s logging work.”

“Logging… Is he working at a lumberyard?”

“Yes, the one just outside of town.”

“Hmm, okay, I understand.”

After school, Pingping informed the sisters at the Taoist Academy that she planned to go there to check on things.

After learning of Pingping’s destination, one of the sisters hesitated for a while, then carefully took out half a silver coin from her pocket and carefully placed it in Pingping’s hand.

“Little Tommy is a good kid; I’m worried he might not withstand the environment of the lumberyard. Take this and buy him some meat, eggs, and milk.”

“Thank you, Sister.”

The lumberyard is located outside of Yifate, and to get there one must traverse the domain of the Shadows, venturing into dangerous territory.

In this world, due to loopholes in the Law, Shadows have transformed into tiny particles.

They can be inhaled into the body, taking root in the lungs and then beginning to Corrode the body from within, and unless one uses the expensive Shadow Potion, there is no relief, and the afflicted can only slowly march towards death.

This process is very long—first, the patient’s immune system collapses, dark spots appear on the skin, multiple organs in the body fail, emitting a rotten smell, and finally, the person turns into pus and completely dies.

The painful process lasts for months, and the Shadow Potion cannot cure the condition, only prologue the patient’s life.

The longer one stays in the Shadows, the higher the probability of infection; and many of Yifate’s industrial structures can only be built outside the city, making travel there a highly dangerous endeavor.

After purchasing food, Pingping started heading towards the outside.

Her nun’s robe made it easy to gain the goodwill of nearby residents; well-dressed gentlemen would stop to bow respectfully, while Law Enforcers would nod in acknowledgment.

But the further she walked outwards, the more oppressive the atmosphere became.

The transparent barrier was already visible on the horizon, and although it isolated the dense Shadows from the outside, the sense of oppression was hard to ignore.

Gone were the well-mannered gentlemen, replaced by numb-looking workers with blank expressions walking away from Yifate or returning exhausted from the outside.

Few players ventured here because of the low population density; trying to find someone to convert was tough.

The lumberyard was populous, but the road leading there was just too rough to navigate.

After declaring her intentions to the gate guard, the guard, after a brief hesitation upon seeing Pingping’s charm score of 16, whispered, “Miss Nun, the concentration of Shadows has increased lately. Hold your breath in the tunnel and then move quickly. That way, it’ll be safer.”

“Alright, thank you.”

As a player, Pingping actually didn’t need to breathe, but she thanked him politely anyway and then proceeded into the tunnel.

There were two tunnels running side by side, one for entry and one for exit.

The narrow tunnel could only accommodate one person at a time, and the sides were made of thick steel. However, because of the lack of maintenance over the years, Shadow Particles were leaking through the gaps, affecting those who passed through.

Squeezing into the cramped tunnel, Pingping crawled forward bit by bit.

Even in the game, she could feel the torment of it all.

In order to save costs, the passage was akin to a dog’s hole, forcing people to crawl, and the rough ground could easily chafe one’s knees and elbows, making the ordeal indescribably bitter.

The narrow passage was extremely dark, with only a grain-sized speck of light visible at the very end. They weren’t even willing to install a single lamp inside.

Crawling through once took ten minutes, and it wasn’t even time to change shifts.

If it was crowded, the stuffy air and the slowly permeating Shadow Particles were an absolute test and torment of the soul, unimaginable that such things could exist.

Many would develop a fear of darkness upon seeing others traverse the passage, even the brave were afraid of this place, only players with strong will like Pingping could come and go freely.

After ten minutes, Pingping finally managed to crawl through the passage with great difficulty.

Standing in the logging field on the other side, Pingping couldn’t help but let out a long breath, then said, “Okay, I’m here.”

[Really? You made it over.]

[Good thing Pingping is here, otherwise I’d never dare come alone. Such dark, narrow places are too frightening.]

[My childhood nightmare was being stuffed into a sewer pipe, then squeezed and warped through the lightless tunnel bit by bit, until finally being squished into the endless Abyss.]

[Stop, you’re giving me visuals.]

The logging field also had a barrier, but this barrier only covered a central area. If you wanted to work, you had to go outside.

The area was filled with straight, tall trees. These trees were as wide as a palm, but could grow over ten meters tall. From afar, they looked like chimneys pointing straight up to the sky.

Showered with Shadows, these trees had become very fragile, a child’s forceful pounce could knock them over.

However, if left for some time, the Shadow Particles would disperse, allowing the trees to regain their flexibility and return to their original characteristics.

Therefore, logging here didn’t require much skill, but they were always hiring because of a somewhat high worker mortality rate.

The workers had to enter the Shadow zone to log, a process that took at least half a minute. Skilled workers would take a deep breath before rushing in, but the inexperienced would gasp for air and end up being corroded by the Shadows.

Each instance of corrosion slightly increased the probability of falling ill, and even the most seasoned workers couldn’t avoid inhaling some Shadow Particles, raising the chances of sickness.

When Pingping walked into the logging field, she saw a group of children just retreating from the front.

They were dragging the trees they had felled, each one laughing exuberantly.

The logging field’s wages were quite high. For the first time, these children realized how valuable their labor was, not understanding it was exchanged with their lives.

A short boy was at the end of the group, struggling to drag a tree forward, with red marks across his shoulder from the rough ropes.

Suddenly, he felt the burden on his shoulder lighten as someone helped pull the rope, advancing together with him.

Looking up, the boy’s tired eyes lit up with a captivating sparkle, and he couldn’t help but shout, “Teacher Pingping.”

Smiling and nodding, Pingping and the boy exerted their strength together, dragging the tree toward the camp.

The person in charge at the camp was a kind man.

Known as Mr. Drywood, he looked fierce with a skull tattoo on his arm, but after seeing his information, Pingping knew he was a good person with a cold exterior but a warm heart.

Little Tommy brought back the tree for weighing. Mr. Drywood took out his pencil, did some calculations, and then said, “Two hundred thirty kilograms, sixty-five copper coins, take care of this.”

Little Tommy gratefully said thanks and carefully pocketed his day’s wages, proudly puffed out his chest facing Pingping, “Teacher, what would you like to eat? My treat.”

Grasping his hand, Pingping noticed his skin had been rubbed raw by the rope, with blood and sweat mixed together in a rather shocking sight.

Turning her head, she saw the grand Yifate in the distance, its magnificent buildings appearing hazy.

That was Yifate’s highest altitude and most expensive restaurant where just one dish cost over a dozen silver coins—a meal for the wealthy could exchange for a year of a child’s wages.

Is this right?