A Building Scratch Card, simply put, provided a functional building—though exactly what kind of functional building it was had to be scratched off to find out. Once scratched, it could no longer be traded.
Ding Shi went to wash his hands again...
Using his fingernail, Ding Shi scraped away the prize zone bit by bit. First, he revealed the character for "Martial," and his heart instantly soared with delight. Glancing back, he saw the little angel floating above his shoulder, staring unblinkingly at the scratch-off area. Seeing Ding Shi look over, the little angel slowly drifted away—not far, just swaying back and forth nearby.
Ding Shi chuckled and scraped off the rest: Cold Weapons Martial Arts Hall.
According to the system's description, there were three types of martial arts hall cards in total: Unarmed Combat Martial Arts Hall, Cold Weapons Martial Arts Hall, and Firearms Martial Arts Hall. In the case of the Cold Weapons Martial Arts Hall, a level-one facility would teach the use of the dao. Acquiring another Cold Weapons Martial Arts Hall card would allow it to be upgraded to level two, unlocking three weapons.
The Cold Weapons Martial Arts Hall cost 50 dao to construct, with no maintenance fees and no additional charges required. It could be relocated or demolished, costing 20 dao to move and 10 dao to demolish.
The island had plenty of open ground. Ding Shi stepped outside and looked around for a moment before placing the martial arts hall next to the teleportation array. Once he confirmed, a thirty-square-meter building rose from the ground.
Stepping inside the martial arts hall, he was prompted by the system to create a robot instructor, starting with customizing her facial features. Ding Shi wasn't a superficial person, so he didn't bother using the face-sculpting system; instead, he hit "Random." After casually randomizing more than four hundred times, a gorgeous female instructor was freshly minted.
The female instructor introduced the varieties of dao, the more famous among them being Tang dao, Embroidered Spring sabers, and horse-chopping sabers.
Ding Shi drew a willow-leaf throwing knife. "I want to learn the willow-leaf throwing knife."
"I am sorry," the female instructor said. "The willow-leaf throwing knife is actually classified as a concealed weapon and requires a level-three martial arts hall to unlock."
Ding Shi disagreed. "Its name is willow-leaf throwing knife. Knife! The knife in throwing knife!"
"I am sorry..." the female instructor repeated.
What to do? The only option was to lodge a complaint. Every game had some crappy complaint system, and most of them were just for show. Hopefully, Yita World wouldn't be so banal.
"Hey, what's-your-face, I want to file a complaint," Ding Shi called out, stepping outside and pointing at the little angel.
Flapping its wings, the little angel flew over and said huffily, "My name is Xiao Tangtang, not 'what's-your-face'!"
"I want to file a complaint," Ding Shi said.
"Why complain to me?" Xiao Tangtang asked.
Ding Shi said, "Your existence is very jarring. If you're a pet, you aren't affectionate. If you're a creature, you still interact with people. During my days in the instance, I often pondered a question: what is the meaning of your existence? I came up with two answers. The first answer: you're an observer sent by higher-dimensional alien beings, who use you to watch humanity and thoroughly understand us. The second answer: you're here to resolve troubles for humans anytime and anywhere, which includes handling complaints and finding bugs in Yita World."
Xiao Tangtang was naturally there to monitor and observe humanity, profiling the thoughts and behaviors of the vast majority by observing billions of humans, and then uncovering traits unique to a small minority.
Naturally, Xiao Tangtang wouldn't admit to being a monitor. Playing along with Ding Shi's topic, it asked, "What is the content of your complaint?" Interaction was also an observation method; it was just that the aliens didn't want the observers to be too proactive, preventing humans from deliberately pandering and flattering them to gain advantages.
Ding Shi stated his case with righteous indignation, adding, "In Earth culture, a dao is a dao—whether a broadsword, a pocketknife, a pencil knife, nail clippers, or the US dollar, they're all dao!"
Xiao Tangtang said, "A willow-leaf throwing knife is a projectile weapon."
Ding Shi said, "Any knife, any weapon can be thrown. Likewise, a willow-leaf throwing knife can be used in close combat."
Xiao Tangtang fell into thought... connecting to the master brain... Through its search, the master brain confirmed that throwing was indeed a method of using bladed weapons.
Xiao Tangtang gave the female instructor a nod and drifted away with its hands behind its back, looking a little cool and a whole lot cocky.
The robotic female instructor began tailoring a training regimen based on Ding Shi's preferences.
No rush. Ding Shi returned indoors, washed his hands, and flipped over his fifth random logistics card.
A blue card item: Heated Brick Bed, construction cost: 10 dao.
This was good stuff, but there was no rush right now.
Ding Shi went over to the vending machine and began examining the goods inside. After all, he was now a man who possessed 100 dao.
Basic living supplies, such as toilet paper, toothbrushes, and toothpaste, started at a minimum price of 1 dao. Taking toothbrushes as an example, they ranged from 1 dao to 10,000 dao, though Ding Shi could only view up to the 100-dao model. According to the description, the raw material for the bristles came from the tentacles of a crustacean species inhabiting the ocean depths of one hundred thousand meters on Planet Hulk, manufactured by the Hao Gan Jing Toothbrush Company of Planet Xiachong.
The Hao Gan Jing toothbrush had one distinct feature: once inserted into the mouth, it automatically cleaned the oral cavity, brushing wherever was dirty. It was exceptionally gentle and wouldn't even interrupt a conversation. When paired with Hao Gan Jing toothpaste, it could completely eradicate oral bacteria.
Slogan: Recommended for couples in relationships to avoid cross-infection of oral bacteria.
Browsing through the catalog, the takeaway was clear: the poor had their frugal ways of living, and the wealthy had their luxuries to enjoy. Curiously, the vending machine clearly didn't calculate prices based on material cost. Taking food as an example, one jin of beef was 1 dao, one jin of flour was 1 dao, and one jin of salt was 1 dao; for 3 dao, one could cook numerous bowls of beef noodles. Yet instant beef noodles, despite having no actual beef, cost a whopping 5 dao. Fresh beef over rice was priced at 10 dao.
In short: players were encouraged to be self-reliant.
The pricing of materials was rather surreal. Simple A4 paper and pens were very cheap, which offered Ding Shi the opportunity to study the Five Thunders Talisman. On the other hand, small mechanical parts like springs were outrageously expensive.
Ding Shi concluded: anything that didn't require modern factories and could be produced in ancient times was cheap. Items requiring lathes, electricity, or other modern power sources were expensive.
Furthermore, weapons were extraordinarily expensive. For instance, the set of willow-leaf throwing knives Ding Shi had brought out was priced at 380 dao in the vending machine. A Tang dao cost as much as 500 dao. But with a change of perspective, weapons could also be quite cheap—a kitchen knife, for example, cost only 1 dao.
Electronic entertainment products such as televisions, mobile phones, and computers were outrageously expensive, whereas a set of encyclopedias weighing a full 129 kilograms was priced at a mere 1 dao.
Given the pricing, he decided against replacing his bed; layering two quilts over it wouldn't feel much different from a spring mattress anyway. As for tables and chairs, he replaced them all with cheap sets.
Using honeycomb coal briquettes at 1 dao per hundred kilograms as fuel and equipping himself with a full set of pots, bowls, pans, and basins, he could practically bid farewell to the days of surviving on steamed buns. For safety's sake, Ding Shi took the system's advice and spent 20 dao to expand his house by ten square meters, turning that extra space into a kitchen to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
The system provided a special note: cheap items could not deviate from their intended functions.
For example, an iron bowl was a cheap container; it could hold rice, serve soup, or hold dirt. But it could not be repurposed or forged into an iron weapon.
After buying odds and ends, Ding Shi's bank card balance was down to 25 dao. He spent 1 dao on a cheap grocery bundle containing one jin of noodles, one jin of vegetables, one jin of pork, and one jin of mushrooms. He washed the ingredients, boiled the water, tossed them in sequence, seasoned it, and was done.
Too lazy to wash an extra bowl, Ding Shi grabbed a pair of chopsticks along with the wok, walked outside, and sat down on a boulder, admiring the sea view while savoring his meal.
Chapter 36