Chapter 5: My Monastic Name Is Guan Ren

After leaving the school, Chen Shang caught a nearby train and arrived at the southern side of Longmen District.

Unlike the bustling city center, this area belonged to the old city; everywhere stood rusted, dilapidated houses that had clearly gone years without repair.

As soon as he stepped off the train, a blast of sand and dust hit Chen Shang square in the face. Luckily, he had anticipated this and already donned goggles and a mask, sparing his eyes and mouth from the onslaught.

The old city bordered the slums, and it was not uncommon for thugs and scavengers to drift in, making for a chaotic and unruly mix.

Almost all vegetation here had been devoured or dug up and sold by the poor, and the basic infrastructure was far from satisfactory. As a result, even the slightest breeze could whip up a sandstorm, and the climate was far harsher than that of the city center.

Chen Shang moved carefully, avoiding the gaze of local hoodlums as he hurried along the dust-choked streets.

The order of Night Axis City could only be described as tragic; the power of the conglomerates far outweighed the law, making the existence of a “black market” one of the city’s inevitable features.

Dozens of notorious black markets hid within the city. Anyone who could locate ten of them was considered a major figure, respected by both the underworld and the authorities.

Even Chen Shang himself could not pinpoint the exact locations of every black market. With the exception of a few with fixed sites, most of them appeared at random.

While attending class earlier, Chen Shang had already drafted his first plan. If it succeeded, it would earn him his first haul of Collapse Points.

For that, he needed a helper from this place.

After making his way through the sand-lashed streets for a while, he spotted a nondescript, ramshackle little house with a pointed roof. Above the doorframe, the words “Mercy of the Buddha” were inscribed.

Chen Shang pushed open the door. The bell above it jingled crisply.

Before him spread a narrow yet splendidly ornate Buddhist hall. A golden statue of Shakyamuni rested serenely at the back, while the surrounding walls were adorned with murals of bodhisattvas and heavenly kings. Two meditation cushions were placed before the statue for worshippers to kneel upon.

In prominent view stood two glass display cases, containing all manner of handcrafted Buddha figurines and jade bead bracelets, each clearly marked with a price.

By all appearances, this was a small temple combining worship with the sales of souvenirs.

Chen Shang bowed three times before the statue and whispered, “If one sees that all forms are not forms, then one beholds the Fusion Tathagata.”

Rumble—

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the wall beside the statue. With that, a stone door swung open, revealing a passage leading deeper inside.

Chen Shang stepped into the corridor beyond the stone door. One by one, lotus-shaped lanterns lit up before him, illuminating the way all the way to a room at the end.

This room was modest, no different from an ordinary recluse’s bedroom. One wall, however, was dominated by a massive screen.

On the screen, a 3D virtual girl in a pink skirt danced seductively in a digital landscape. The screen was flooded with scrolling comments such as “A-Meng, my sweet Meng, hehe…” and “I want to be Miss Meng’s pet,” along with frequent, hefty donations.

Over the past decade, the virtual idol industry had become increasingly popular in Night Axis City, and as for the owner of this black market…

In front of the big screen stood a bald robot clad in a motion capture suit, its metallic head gleaming under the lights.

The bald robot was dancing before the screen, and with closer inspection, one could see that the 3D idol’s moves matched the robot’s exactly.

Sensing a visitor, the robot abruptly stopped dancing, and so did the virtual idol.

“Dear fans~ A-Meng’s house has a guest today, so the stream will end here~” The robot’s voice, synthesized to sound like a cute girl, nearly made Chen Shang’s skin crawl.

In an instant, the screen filled with even more frantic comments:

“Miss Meng, take me with you! Waaaah!”

“Don’t go, Meng! How can I live without you?”

“Love you all~” The robot decisively shut off the stream, and the display went dark.

Next, the robot threw a monk’s robe over its motion capture suit and switched to a calm baritone:

“A pleasure to meet you, patron. My Buddhist name is Master Guanren. Are you here to discuss scripture and philosophy?”

“I’m here to buy something,” Chen Shang replied.

“Oh? You barely look eighteen, yet you’ve come to my shop for a purchase?” Master Guanren asked, “If it’s something popular among young people, I recommend our new life-sized maid robot. With synthetic skin and a battery life of up to eighty hours, all key parts interchangeable at will. By the way, we’ve also just restocked with a dozen celebrity replica models…”

Chen Shang cut him off at once. “Give me Black Calis’s contact information.”

Hearing this, the blue light on Master Guanren’s face began to flicker. “If you’ve gotten into an online dispute and are afraid of your adversary tracing your home address, I recommend this twenty-four-hour auto-posting bot. It switches IP addresses every five minutes, enough to fool even hackers.”

“Give me Black Calis’s contact info,” Chen Shang repeated.

The light on Master Guanren’s face flickered more intensely, as if scanning Chen Shang. “I don’t know how you learned about Black Calis, but I advise you not to get involved with her. She’s a hacker with no boundaries, and nothing good comes of working with her.”

“Then tell her I’m here to offer her some fun,” Chen Shang replied.

Though his face was obscured by goggles and a mask, there was an unmistakable note of delight in his tone.

“…” Master Guanren was silent for several seconds, the lights on his face dimming. “Referral fee: ninety-eight thousand.”

Chen Shang considered for a moment and grinned. “Me, student, free, got it?”

The lights on Master Guanren’s face suddenly flashed a glaring red.

“All right, just kidding~,” Chen Shang said, waving his hand. He fished a jet-black sun-shaped badge out of his pocket. “Take a look at this.”

Master Guanren studied it, and his voice rose in a burst of electronic excitement. “A badge? You actually have a Night Badge?!”

“Found it on the street. Let’s call it the referral fee,” Chen Shang explained easily, tossing the black badge to the mechanical monk.

The Night Badge was a special collectible in this game, with many uses. Most straightforwardly, it could be used to offset a hundred thousand credits in black market purchases.

To obtain a Night Badge, one had to find hidden chests in the game world. As a designer, Chen Shang naturally remembered where most of them were.

He hadn’t lied—he’d picked up this badge from a hidden chest on his way to this black market.

“Deal!” The red light faded from Master Guanren’s face, and he nodded at Chen Shang in satisfaction.