The Throne Under the Starry Sky Chapter 18: New tenants (below)
When the sky was getting dark, Sibi returned to the room with Jonah, who was fluttering and not touching the ground. Toba was delighted to see the astrologer come back, and immediately took out a large bag of water and poured him down to prevent him from drying out. Human-shaped jerky.
"Where are the others?" Jonah asked weakly, leaning on the bed with a rippling belly.
"A small task." The director rubbed his hands guiltily, "I'm sorry, my lord, I forgot to explain..."
"Toba, no one will mention this from now on, okay?" Jonah looked helplessly at the big face of the Bazelal farmer.
Sibi has turned his face away from looking at him, and smiled when he saw him, "I almost laughed out my abdominal muscles." The girl in green shrugged her shoulders.
"Yes, my lord! I have forgotten about your diarrhea." Toba swears attentively with the knight's loyalty.
"You said they were going to... the mission?" Jonah quickly changed the subject.
"Uncle, let me enlighten the newcomer." Sibi clapped his hands, "Listen, buddy, this is the second class of Cherry Du, you live in room a51, and you must have signed an agreement with your father. , I heard that it is a work agreement for night lighting. Most tenants, such as us, pay the monthly room rate in cash. The 15th of each month is the rent payment day. For those who cannot pay the room rate, it will be at noon on the 11th. You must move out of Cherry Crossing before 12 o'clock."
"What if you don't move?" Jonah interrupted.
A gentle little hand pressed Jonabi's rippling belly, and the astrologer apprentice nearly ejected a jet of water.
"Please don't interrupt the lady's speech, thank you." Sibi blinked his eyes innocently. Jonah nodded vigorously.
"You know, there are only three kinds of residents in Cherry Ferry. The first is the boat passengers waiting for the ferry; the second is the tenants seeking protection. No matter which kind, you need to stay here for a long time, the cheapest a-level The room rates are all astronomical figures. So..."
"Isn't there three kinds of people? The third kind...Wait, Class A rooms are the cheapest?" Jona couldn't help but speak again.
Sibby just glanced at him this time, and he shut up obediently.
"So, if you want to live, you have to find a way to make money.
There are two ways to make money. First, robbery: outside of the cherry crossing, outside of Pit No. 6 you saw just now, there are a large number of "unauthorized people" living in them. The so-called unauthorised people mean that they don't have the money to rent rooms, but People who have to stay nearby for some reason will rob each other, kill people, gather wealth, and buy room service; they will rob guests in Class A and Class G rooms—note that in terms of agreement, Dad doesn’t To protect the property of these guests, the tenants will also rob each other, and even rob the powerless.
The second method, tasks: There are two types of tasks, one is a private task issued by the tenant holding a task list, which is posted on the bulletin board on the back wall of the father’s house, and the father draws 10% of the task reward as Guarantee costs to ensure the interests of the publisher and the successor; the second is the official task released by the father through Mr. Hachime, which is undertaken by Mr. Hachime. Only people or teams with recognized strength are allowed to enter the room and view Task details. Dude, do you understand? "
Jona was dizzy, "...Mr. Hachime? Why is it Mr.?"
"This is a very long story." Sibi looked at the ceiling fascinatingly, "It's very romantic."
"I didn't see you last night, did I go to complete the task?"
"Yes, dear newbie, when you were standing on the roof playing with fire with a stupid face, sister Long Ji and I completed a super task with a difficulty level of s." Xibi said contemptuously.
"Respect the adults and the adults!" Toba sat beside him, with a helpless expression, reminding him from time to time.
Jona’s little brain is spinning very fast. Since receiving the information that "A-level rooms are the cheapest", he is determined not to be confused by the bad taste of the town manager’s unreasonable cards, and cautiously asks: "So, s How difficult is the level task?"
"Second only to m, h, vh, vvh, vvvh." Sibi blinked.
"Then s means..."
"Simple."
"The m (medium), h (hard), vh (veryhard), vvh (very very hard), vvvh (very very very hard) are medium, difficult, very difficult, very very difficult, very very very It's difficult." Jonah patted his forehead.
"Man, you're pretty smart. As the leader of the s-level mission, the publisher of this mission, the V-level tenant, Mr. Dan, asked us to interrupt the seventh spine of the a-level tenant Harold in room a77. The difficulty is not that Harold is a member of the "Sick Dogs" team, but that he must complete the task accurately and not allow him to die within 72 hours, otherwise the man will be wiped out from the world. We are here Staying outside room a77 for a whole night, finally Harold came out to urinate alone. Long Ji crushed his kneecap with a sword hilt, dragged it to a quiet place, crushed his spine with her fingers, and threw him back to the door of the room with incontinence. .
Papa thought the job was done well, and Mr. Harold was troubled by the little trouble caused by the paralysis, but he was living healthy.
At three o'clock in the morning, the sick dog team in room a77 discovered that Harold had been attacked, and assembled all the team members to launch a retaliatory attack. We took them in a big circle along the river bank and waited for the twelve hours of recourse time to complete before returning to Cherry Crossing.
Mr. Dan is very satisfied. The reward for the task is six gold coins, six gold coins! "Sibi's hands on hips and nose proudly talk about mission experience.
Jona's eyes widened. Is this the rule of the outside world? S-level missions are full of **** killings, and money becomes the axiom of cherry crossing. He couldn't help thinking of the corpses when the Redstone Fort was destroyed.
What's wrong with this world? Suddenly he hoped that by closing his eyes and opening them again, he could return to the isolated astrology tower, listening to teacher Koshava's nagging, indulging in the world of geometry and arithmetic, leaving the cruel world behind. He tried, opened his eyes, and saw the fading black stone house, and Sibi’s innocent eyes. With blood on his hands, how could he be so pure?
Jonah doesn't know what to say.
"That... Is the ‘sick dog’ made up of the tenants in room a77? Why didn’t they come to attack me? Why didn’t Dad protect Harold’s safety, nor our safety?"
Sibi turned around with a disappointed look: "You really don’t understand anything. Here is the "Cherry Crossing Survival Handbook", which explains the'additional terms' behind the guest room agreement in detail. Take a closer look. Okay. Dude, if you didn’t have an uncle by your side to protect you last night, you wouldn’t survive at half past three in the morning."
After speaking, the girl in green threw a thick book on Jonah’s bed, walked over to Toba, stood on tiptoe and patted the head of the head of the room, and said something in Toba’s ear. Words, and then went out.
Toba stood up, bent over, lit the oil lamp on the wall, took off his small round hat, and said respectfully: "My lord, I have something to go out. If you have something to do, you will yell out. We are all nearby. Without waiting for Jona to return a gift, he squeezed out of the room with difficulty, carefully closed the wooden door, and his footsteps went away.
Jona feels a little guilty for some reason. What an empty ambition is to follow the prophecy and defeat the demons. What I need to learn is how to survive first.
He settled down and unfolded the "Cherry Crossing Survival Manual" with rough pages and slightly curled edges. A thin piece of paper floated out. It was the A-level guest room lease agreement signed by him and his father. , Seeing the crooked round characters of "J. Jonah II. Astrologer Apprentice", he felt unspeakably awkward. That is not his handwriting. That is the handwriting of the devil. This is the first time he has perceived the existence of a demon in real life.
After reading the agreement, referring to the survival manual, I asked to read the 55 additional clauses on the back of the agreement one by one. These words are the only rules for survival in Yingtaodu. Some of his questions were answered immediately.
"Additional Clause 33, the release, acceptance, determination, cancellation, termination and related of private tasks:
1, m-level tenants will be given a task release form after the room rate is settled on the 11th of each month, and v-level tenants will be given two mission release forms;
2, The task release list is used to publish private tasks on the bulletin board. Each release list corresponds to a task. The alteration is invalid, the defacement is invalid, and the forgery will be regarded as a direct challenge to the protector of Cherry Crossing;
3, Tasks are limited to content that does not conflict with the rights of the above-mentioned tenants at each level. If there is a conflict, the task is deemed to have failed and the release list is invalid; the task commission can be cash or in kind, etc., and the task can set a failure penalty, but In the same way, it must not conflict with the rights of the tenant;
4, The task release form will be protected after it is posted, and any alteration, damage, or covering will be regarded as a direct challenge to the protector of Cherry Crossing;
5, If an individual or team (seeing the successor as one or more people) tears off the task release form, it will be deemed to have taken over the task, and can’t give up after taking over;
6, After the individual or team completes the task, the release sheet is returned to the protector, and the protector makes a judgment of success or failure. The rights of the above-mentioned tenants of each level shall not be violated during the completion of the task, otherwise it will be regarded as a The direct challenge of the protector himself;
7, If the task is successful, the publisher pays a commission (or in kind), the protector draws 10% (or equivalent) and then pays the successor, the task process ends;
8, "If the task fails, if there is a corresponding failure penalty on the release list, it will be enforced; if there is no penalty, the task process will end;
9, "The publisher can cancel the task after the task list is posted and before it is accepted, and the release list becomes invalid; the task cannot be cancelled after it is accepted;"
The "Survival Manual" has taken the trouble to find out various loopholes in Article 33. For example, the article does not make any restrictions on the transfer of the task list, so the task list has become the hard currency of the cherry to some extent, but it is guilty of crimes. , As a tenant without property preservation treatment, it is extremely dangerous to have a task list; for another example, if the task reward is cash or in kind, it will be drawn by the father, but the service, rights, information, etc. are not listed, so the manual It is recommended that the task issuer try to use these methods to pay remuneration — in order to avoid taxation. Jonah didn't take a closer look. Article 40 attracted his attention.
"Additional Clause 40: The establishment, existence, rights and obligations of the team:
1, Each room can form a team. The team size is between 3-6 people;
2, After signing the application form according to personal wishes and submitting the protection, the team is declared established;
3, The team can take over the task, any two or more people in the team can take on the task, it is regarded as the whole team to take on the task;
4, The team’s task rewards are allocated internally, and the team’s task penalty is evenly distributed;
5, Due to changes in personnel caused by tenants checking out, missing, dead, changing rooms, or new move-in, the team can apply to update the list of members;
6, Any member of the team is personally attacked (physically or mentally injured), the team can freely counterattack this person within the time limit for recourse, and is not restricted by the rights of the tenants within the time limit; any member of the team is subject to the team Attack, you can freely counterattack against this team within the time limit of recourse, and it is not restricted by the rights and interests of the tenants within the time limit of recourse;
7, Recourse time limit: 12 hours for class a, 24 hours for class g, 48 hours for class m, 168 hours for class v;
8, The team must undertake a mission of level m or higher every month from the date of establishment, otherwise it will automatically disband, and no new team can be formed within three months of the room;
9, The team is disbanded if the number of people is less than 3. "
The "Cherry Crossing Survival Manual" marked clause 40-6 in bold red: "Extremely important!" "This is the only item in all additional clauses that makes an ‘exception’ to the rights of the tenant."
"The first rule of survival: understand 40-6, use 40-6 rationally, and avoid 40-6 from appearing on yourself."
"Classic battle example: deceive the opponent, induce the opponent to attack one's own team members, and carry out the massacre within the time limit (attached the battlefield situation map)."
"Boom, boom, boom," a knock on the door sounded, and Jonah, who was looking attentively, raised his head, and the room manager's big head reached in and said: "My lord, my lord, the sun has completely gone down, and you should go to work. "
By the way, there is also a four-hour lighting task every day. Looking at the signature on the agreement, Jonah shook his head, raised his staff, and limped out of the house. He got out of strength, hurt his leg, and was in a mess. On the way to the town center, he raised his head and asked Toba: "Is it difficult to live?"
"The secret to health is to exercise every day, adults. Maintaining the amount of exercise is the key to longevity." Bazelal farmer bent his arm and showed his biceps, which is thicker than Jona's waist.
"Forget it."
Jonah didn't see the legendary daddy. As if omniscient and omnipresent, the image of this mysterious figure is extremely tall in his mind. But his residence is unremarkable. Although the surrounding stone houses form a circle in awe, leaving a five-hundred-foot-diameter empty round square, but the low and low dilapidated wooden house in the center of the square is protected from the cherry crossing. The glorious image of the person cannot be connected.
Toba apologetically pinched the astrologer apprentice’s neck with two fingers, gently lifted him, carefully placed him on the roof, and Jonah staggered, standing on the ragged thin iron roof. For fear of stepping on the palace of the King of Cherry Crossing.
The surroundings are completely dark, and the lifeless cherry crossing resembles a tomb. The other side of the holy river rushed and roared in an invisible place. Jonah took a deep breath, squeezed his staff, and looked up at the stars.
The starlight is so bright, "Always be in awe", he remembered the famous saying of Gilbernaion, the astrology teacher, which is the aphorism engraved on all astrological towers, telling future generations to feel their own smallness at all times. Careful heart, looking for the truth in the dark.
Star God, no matter what tomorrow, at this moment, let me borrow your power.
He closed his eyes.
The 30th star "Bear" in the first house gradually became clear in the sky, and a star line emitting strong light and heat in the pitch black split his body like a sharp sword, shooting from the "bear" to the earth now. On the back is the seventh star "Boat" in the seventh house.
Jonah raised his staff high.
The star array in the red crystal is quietly activated, and dots of energy fragments fall from the interstellar line, like broken crystals; the fragments are driven by the vortex of the star array, and the energy turns faster and faster in the complex patterns depicted by the mithril. With light, the center of the cherry crossing, the sun rose again.
"My lord! I wish to defend your glory from heaven to the death." Toba from a closed mountain village hid behind the house, muttering silently, tears streaming down his face. He stood half the head of the room, only half squatting, in case the astrologer saw his indecent manner.
Jonah scans the bright riverside town, and the shadowy Blackstone house also looks simple and austere. Only at this moment of the day, he feels like a man who has the ability to shoulder a mission, - no, like a standing The king on the shoulders of the king.