Jiang Yu never imagined that after transmigrating, he wouldn’t even be able to afford a bowl of rice topped with food.
“Two thousand Dennies for a box of eggplant and minced pork over rice?
Why don’t you just rob people, ma’am?” The voluptuous boss lady was about to launch into a string of curses, but upon seeing her customer’s handsome face, her eyes first darted down toward his lower half before she leaned in with a beaming smile.
“Oh, handsome.
What’s wrong?
A bit short on cash?
How about this: big sister will treat you to this meal!
Come keep me company tonight and talk with me—my heart’s been feeling so stuffed up lately.” Jiang Yu remained completely unmoved by her flirting.
He glanced at the price list.
“Give me two steamed buns.” As he spoke, he prepared to pay with his phone.
Just then, a fair-skinned hand reached over.
The boss lady grabbed his hand, lightly scratching his palm with her finger.
Her seductive eyes locked onto his, seemingly trying to convey a secret message.
“Handsome~ Plain buns aren’t nutritious at all.
Why not have some seafood to build up your strength…?” *Smack!* Jiang Yu mercilessly slapped her fair hand away.
“If you’re really that lonely, figure it out yourself, or hit up Afterlife.
Payment went through.
I’m taking the buns.” Snatching up two soft steamed buns, he tore off a plastic bag from a nearby hook and turned to leave without giving the resentful boss lady another glance.
[Spent: 500 Dennies.
Remaining Dennies: 20,500] A system notification popped up.
Jiang Yu took a glance at his meager twenty thousand Dennies and said nothing.
He found a quiet corner and began eating his breakfast.
“It’s a Companion Hollow!
Run!” “Mommy!
*Sobbing*…” “Guys!
Today I bumped into a Companion Hollow outbreak live…” “You’re still livestreaming at a time like this?!
Are you crazy?
Run!” “Fm my life!
I have an eight a.m.
class…” …
Just as he was about to take a bite of his bun, the street erupted into total chaos, filled with shouting and screaming.
Curious, he turned around to look, only for a jet-black barrier to swallow him whole.
*Holy shit…* Before he could react, Jiang Yu was dragged into the suddenly materialized Companion Hollow.
A Hollow was an anomalous spherical space that appeared out of thin air and consumed everything.
The space-time environment within was chaotic and disordered, and any living creature swallowed by it would mutate into a dangerous Ethereal.
When he had first transmigrated to this unfamiliar world, he had been swallowed by a Hollow once before.
Fortunately, his luck had been decent back then, and a guy named Rein had rescued him.
Compared to his first time wandering into a Hollow, he was far calmer now.
*Sigh.
Now that things have come to this, let’s eat first.* “Halt!
Hey!
I’m fucking talking to you!
Turn around!” Just as he prepared to bite into his bun once more, a harsh shout barked out from behind him.
He turned his head to look.
A menacing bald man strutted over with an arrogant swagger.
Bulging muscles strained beneath full-sleeve tattoos on both arms, marking him instantly as bad news.
*Bro, seriously?
You’re robbing me for a steamed bun?* Thinking the bald guy was coming after his food, Jiang Yu quickly stuffed his buns back into the plastic bag.
To his surprise, the bald man walked right past him, heading straight toward a man in a suit who was organizing his briefcase.
Seeing the thug approach, the suit-clad man turned and bolted, but before he could get far, the bald guy caught up and kicked him to the ground, sending the briefcase flying from his hand.
“Fuck!
You son of a bitch, running?
You think you can fucking run from me?!” The bald thug bent down, slapped the black fedora off the man’s head, and barked, “Hand over everything valuable!
Hurry up!” Grabbing the man by his purple tie, the bald thug yanked him to his feet and pulled out a sharp knife from behind his back, brandishing it threateningly.
The suited man remained surprisingly calm, unhurriedly taking out his wallet and phone to hand them over.
When encountering desperate thugs inside a Hollow, complying with their demands was usually the smartest course of action.
It wasn’t worth throwing away your life over a bit of cash.
“This…
this is everything.” “What’s in that bag?!” The thug pointed a tattooed arm at the briefcase on the ground and shouted.
“It’s client…
tenant information.
I’m a real estate agent…” *Smack!* The thug delivered a hard slap across the man’s face.
The brutal force left a bright red palm print, sending his glasses flying off his nose.
“Don’t fuck around with me, or I’ll kill you!” The bald thug glanced sideways at the young man standing nearby to watch the show.
“Hey!
You!
Go pick up that bag!” Jiang Yu blinked in confusion, a bite of bun still clamped between his teeth.
He pointed to himself.
“Me?” “Yeah!
Fucking you!” The thug’s beefy face twitched, his eyes glinting with malice as he waved the knife around.
“If you don’t wanna die, do what you’re told!” With the bun still in his mouth, Jiang Yu nodded, picked up the briefcase a short distance away, and handed it to the thug.
“Heh!
Kid, you’re pretty fucking cooperative.” The bald man took the briefcase, praised Jiang Yu, and unzipped it to rummage around for anything valuable inside.
Jiang Yu said nothing and took two steps back.
He reached behind his back and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun gleaming with a dark metallic sheen.
Then, he produced an extended barrel module and snapped it onto the weapon.
– [Name]: All Men Are Equal [Affix]: Frugal (Green) Effect: 50% chance upon firing to not consume ammo.
– Raising the long-barreled shotgun, he fired point-blank at the bald man.
*BANG!* The blast blasted the thug backward several feet.
He twitched twice on the ground before going completely still.
Taking another bite of his bun, Jiang Yu sneered dismissively.
“Dumbass.
Who do you think you’re fucking ‘fucking’ around with?
I transmigrated to an alternate world—if I had to let a dumbass like you drop f-bombs on me all day, wouldn’t my transmigration be a total waste?” The thug who had been acting so fierce moments ago was now sprawled on the ground like a dead dog.
The suited man, visibly stunned, scrambled up from the ground and hurriedly thanked Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu waved a hand in dismissive brush-off.
Holding the slightly warm barrel of his gun, he took a bite of his still-warm bun and headed off toward an area where help was most likely to arrive.
Although he didn’t know much about this world yet, he had picked up some basic survival knowledge from informational flyers.
Generally, there were two main ways to escape a Hollow: wait for official rescue teams, or follow the guidance of a Proxy’s Carrot.
Of course, that wasn’t counting a few unconventional methods.
Having been in this world for less than a month, he didn’t know any Proxies, so his best option was waiting for official rescuers.
If he got lucky, he might run into a wild-spawning Proxy or some friendly Hollow Raiders, which would let him hitch a ride out on their Carrot.
“Wait!
Little brother!” The suited man called out behind him, but Jiang Yu kept munching on his bun and paid him no mind.
In a Hollow, trouble was a lethal commodity, and he had zero desire to court it.
The man hurried forward to catch up and stepped into Jiang Yu’s path.
Spotting the shotgun in his hands, he gave a sheepish laugh and stepped to the side.
“What is it?
Speak.” His tone was flat, his expression cold and detached.
“Um…
friend, Hollows are filled with danger.
I want to hire you to protect me until we get rescued out of here.
I’m willing to pay twenty thousand Dennies…” *Twenty thousand Dennies?
What am I, a beggar?* Taking a bite of his bun, he walked around the suited man and kept moving.
“Thirty thousand!” Seeing that the youth didn’t even pause, the man quickly raised his price.
“Fifty thousand!
How about fifty thousand?!” The man gritted his teeth and shouted out a high sum.
“One hundred thousand!
I’ll pay one hundred thousand Dennies!” He had no choice.
Nobody knew what horrors lurked inside a Hollow.
If he hadn’t been meeting a client to discuss a business deal, he would never have come to a place like this, let alone get sucked into a Companion Hollow.
Fortunately, the young man before him harbored no ill intent.
To escape safely, he needed an Agent who could protect him—and this youth was clearly his best option right now.
After all, he couldn’t guarantee that the next person he encountered would be friendly.
*Whoosh!* A gust of wind rushed past.
The suited man instinctively shielded his eyes with his arm.
A moment later, he lowered his arm to find the young man standing right in front of him, grinning radiantly.
The man adjusted his glasses, which were missing one lens.
“Heh…
little brother, your movement is so agile.
You must be an expert Agent keeping a low profile.” “Heh!
Big brother, you sure have a great eye for talent!”