Chapter 16: Renting a House

Su Ning hesitated but decided to enter the administrative office first, hoping to gather some information.

“Are you two planning to rent a house?”

Rent a house? Sure enough, once you leave the newbie village, long-term residence becomes an option. Thinking of the snakes and ghosts outside the safe zone, she realized a short trip outside was unlikely. So she asked:

“What kinds of houses are available? Locations, rent—can you explain?”

“Of course.”

The NPC led them to the counter and invited them to sit. With a few gestures in the air, a 3D projection appeared.

“You can see the map projection of the Quanfu District. These two tall buildings are our rental apartments on New Happiness Street. They each have multiple elevator lobbies. The apartments face north-south but have front and back doors for convenient access.”

Su Ning looked at the square-shaped safe zone, high fences enclosing it, with gates on the east, west, south, and north. The relay station was near the east gate, and the street wasn’t very long, running north-south.

To the west were two rental buildings, occupying the southwest and northwest corners, with a single row of small houses in between, leaving plenty of open space.

“What’s in the middle of the two buildings?”

“To the west of New Happiness Street, aside from the planting area, there’s the only natural horse farm in the entire Quanfu District. When you reach level ten, you can catch a good horse. This area is the shared horse farm. The first twenty renters can use it for free; after that, renting a horse stall costs money.”

“And us?”

“If you two rent successfully, you’ll be the first tenants, so it’s free.”

Su Ning raised an eyebrow, recalling something just now.

“When we arrived, there were already people at the relay station. They didn’t rent?”

“They came in the morning. Too many people. Renting a big apartment was too expensive, small ones too cramped. We can’t accommodate them all.”

Judging by the NPC’s disdain, these were clearly children who couldn’t handle things properly, having offended the NPC.

“What house types and prices are available?”

“And how far is this from Xinlu Street?”

The second question was added by Qiao Duoduo. Now that house hunting had begun, she was bombarding Huoyang with unstoppable calls.

Finally, they received news: Huoyang would reach Xinlu Street as soon as tomorrow evening.

“Not far. New Happiness Street has the best location—north borders Xinfu, south borders Xinlu, west also has Xinshou. You can see all this on your mini-map. Currently, the streets within the Quanfu District are all accessible, and traveling via the relay station is both fast and safe.”

After speaking, the NPC looked at Su Ning as if she were the main client.

“All fully furnished:

• One-bedroom, one-living room: 15 silver coins/month
• Two-bedroom, one-living room: 25 silver coins/month
• Three-bedroom, one-living room: 35 silver coins/month
• Four-bedroom, two-living rooms, two bathrooms: 50 silver coins/month

Quarterly payment gets a 10% discount, yearly payment gets 20% off, choose any layout. How does that sound?”

Su Ning felt a headache coming on and rubbed her forehead.

“Excuse me, can I ask about the cost of staying at our inn?”

“Madam, if renting a house is more expensive than an inn, why rent a house at all? Everyone would just go to a hotel room. Unless you pick the cheapest bed at the inn—ten copper coins a night in a large dormitory. Still better than sleeping on the street.”

Su Ning rolled her eyes silently. With rent this expensive, hotels were out of the question. She didn’t want to sleep in a large dormitory. The system’s ten silver coins were definitely not wasted. She produced Madam Li’s token (henceforth referred to as the “Black Card”) and held it between her fingers.

“Discounts?”

After all, her master mentioned 60% off for food and lodging, but she wasn’t sure if it applied to renting.

The sales clerk took the card, his expression lighting up. Tentatively, he asked:

“Is this from Master Li or General Li?”

Su Ning looked at his changing expression and frowned. Her master hadn’t said anything like this.

The clerk, noticing her frown, quickly corrected himself:

“Sixty percent! Sixty percent! Plus a free horse stall.”

He returned the card to Su Ning.

“Take a look at the layout of the one-bedroom apartment.” Then he asked Qiao Duoduo, “You and Huoyang?”

Qiao Duoduo nodded, secretly giving a thumbs-up under the table.

Su Ning understood.

“We’ll rent together, but live separately—one apartment each. One-bedroom, one-living room, both with sixty percent off, right?”

“Yes, yes. Apartments on the 12th floor and above are lofts; below 12th are standard suites. What style do you prefer?”

They finally chose the northwest corner apartments on the top floor (21st floor), the two opposite-end suites—Su Ning facing north, Qiao Duoduo south. They shared nearly 100 square meters of rooftop terrace, putting them in a great mood.

By the time they finished renting, it was afternoon. Qiao Duoduo had Su Ning accompany her to the Past Events Restaurant, claiming a surprise awaited her.

Indeed, when Qiao Duoduo presented her master’s token, the manager personally attended to them and guaranteed that, in the future, Su Ning, Huoyang, and Qiao Duoduo would eat and drink free at the restaurant. However, the restaurant’s food and drinks wouldn’t restore HP or MP—they were purely for satiety.

Still, the two were very satisfied and even enjoyed a free lunch. Qiao Duoduo said she would come to help in the kitchen that evening.

“Su Ge, we’re settled here. Let’s go explore.”

The afternoon sun was perfect for practicing skills. Otherwise, Su Ning might soon become a full-time cook.

“The east is where we came from. The west can wait until level ten. North is the grassland—you can already see sheep. South seems like a quarry, all rubble. Monsters are unknown.”

Su Ning checked the mini-map while confirming with Qiao Duoduo.

“North grassland, wind blowing through the grass, seeing cows and sheep—how wonderful!”

If Qiao Duoduo could remain this thrilled after seeing the sheep, that would be even better.

The fat sheep, labeled “Lv. 6 Sheep, Lv. 7 Sheep,” rolled around in groups. Whether due to thick wool or overeating, they were all round and plump.

Sheep moved in herds, which was tough for two fragile players.

After several minutes of waiting and scouting, Qiao Duoduo finally hit a small sheep at the edge with an arrow.

Unexpectedly, the sheep’s first reaction wasn’t to charge the attacker but to panic and run into the herd. The quiet flock scattered immediately.

“Does it… fear humans?”

Facing an empty attack range, Qiao Duoduo scratched her head awkwardly.

“No worries. If brute force fails, change tactics.” Su Ning opened the shop and spent 20 copper coins to buy two hemp nets.

“Practice. Let’s capture it.”

After two hours of struggle, they finally trapped a fat sheep in their nets.

Su Ning first cast a Moonlight Curse, only to find the sheep didn’t lose a single drop of HP. Unbelievable!

“Magic defense maxed!”

“What’s magic defense?”

Su Ning almost forgot—Qiao Duoduo was clueless about MMORPGs.

“It’s resistance to magic skills.”

“So what about my bow?”

“Physical attack.”

“And fists?”

“Physical attack.”

“Got it.”

Qiao Duoduo, stronger in strength, kicked one of the sheep’s legs, unsure if she broke it, but the HP did drop slightly.

Thus began the bloody battle: Su Ning wielded a dagger, Qiao Duoduo a kitchen knife. After over ten minutes of combined attacks, the sheep was finally killed.

Why not just slit its throat for instant death? If they did, the bleeding effect would continue, and the HP bar would slowly decrease anyway.

To minimize damage to the pelt, they repeatedly attacked the neck, head, and legs.

In the end, the sheep provided 15 experience points, 22 copper coins, and 8 cards.