Chapter 9: 009 Treasure Hunt
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It was another sunny morning when Chen Xu woke up, stretched lazily, and got out of bed. He pulled the curtains open, letting the golden sunlight wash over his face, warming him up and making him close his eyes in contentnt. He savored this mont of relaxation and tranquility.
He was growing more accustod to such leisurely days.
Outside, he heard the sound of water hitting the ground; it was Luo Xiyun watering the vegetables planted by the roadside.
He turned back, picked up a thick marker, and wrote the number 120 on the wall.
This marked the 120th day since entering the dreamscape, with two-thirds of the ti already passed.
...
It had been three months since Luo Xiyun had arrived.
As usual, he brushed his teeth, washed his face, shaved, changed clothes, and had breakfast. Then, he slung a hiking backpack over his shoulder, opened the door, and stepped out.
As usual, Luo Xiyun had already finished watering the plants and returned to her own room.
The street outside had undergone a dramatic transformation compared to three months ago when he was alone. Various plants now occupied most of the space, leaving only narrow pathways.
Vegetables were the main plants, complented by so flowers and greenery around them. They were arranged quite neatly, giving the garden a landscaped appearance.
This was undoubtedly Luo Xiyun’s work. Except for the vegetable seeds, which he procured, the flowerpots and soil were all items she had moved over from local flower shops, and she took care of them regularly.
Chen Xu walked out of this vegetable garden and arrived at the alley to the left, which had beco his garage.
He chose the SUV he drove most frequently. Over the past four months, he had driven any luxury car he could find, most of them just once or twice because they were impractical.
He had to carry a lot of things whenever he went out, so naturally, a small vehicle was unsuitable. The comfort level of trucks was sowhat lacking, making a large SUV the best choice.
Before setting off, he took out a simple hand-drawn map, his self-made treasure map.
Since Luo Xiyun’s arrival, his workload had decreased by half, giving him more free ti. Thus, he embarked on a treasure-hunting journey. This crude map in his hand was the result of these past few months.
“I’ve explored nearly everything around here; this ti, I’ll go farther,” he thought.
With a destination in mind, he drove there directly.
XX Road was the city’s most famous and bustling comrcial street. Because it was relatively far, he hadn’t explored it until now.
After parking the car, he grabbed his tools and walked toward the nearest comrcial building.
Upon entering the door, everything was pitch black. He put on a headlamp and held another flashlight in his hand. He imdiately saw several “lucky box” vending machines placed nearby.
“Another one of these scammy things.”
That’s what he said, but he still stopped. He put down his tool bag, slipped on a mask, then took out a hamr and shattered the outer glass with a bang.
A puff of dust rose up. After months without cleaning, a thick layer of dust covered everything here, and any movent sent it billowing into the air.
He stepped back a few steps, waiting for the dust to settle before stepping forward to take out the boxes inside, opening them one by one.
“A face mask, what brand is this? Never heard of it.”
“A phone case, worth a few bucks tops.”
“Earphones, so no-na brand.”
“A 50-yuan voucher from so online store, ha ha…”
…
With each box Chen Xu opened, he made a snide remark.
These lucky box vending machines had recently surged in popularity. Scan a code for thirty yuan and you’d get a box; according to the promotion, it could contain a phone, a DSLR, a tablet, and so on.
However, over the past few months, he’d smashed open maybe a hundred if not dozens of these machines, and never found any of the advertised goods. It was all inexpensive rchandise.
When he picked up the second-to-last box, he felt it was a bit heavier.
“Must be perfu,” he guessed. Having opened so many boxes, he could roughly tell what category of item it was just by its weight.
Once he opened the box, he was a bit surprised to find an Apple X phone packaging box inside.
“Could it be an empty box?”
He was highly skeptical, considering an Apple X cost about ten thousand yuan. Would the people stocking these machines really be willing to spend that much?
He swiftly unboxed it, and to his surprise, it was indeed a phone. It looked brand new, and upon powering it on, it quickly went to an activation page.
Following the prompts, he activated the phone and entered the system. He checked the serial number in the settings, and it matched the one on the outer packaging.
“Hopefully it’s not so knockoff,” he still had his doubts. Nonetheless, he packed the phone into his backpack and noted the position of this vending machine and the number of the box on the treasure map.
He was quite certain that everything in the dreamscape aligned with reality.
In other words, anything found in the dreamscape had to exist in the sa place in reality once he woke up.
For example, if this lucky box yielded a smartphone, then in reality, the lucky box of the sa number in this vending machine must also contain a smartphone.
That’s why he called this kind of expedition a treasure hunt.
For the past few months, he went treasure hunting whenever he had the ti. However, the harvest was not substantial.
Technically, the wealth of this entire world was there for him to take. But no matter how great the wealth in the dreamscape might be, it was aningless if he couldn’t bring it out.
Similarly, even if he knew which house had large caches of cash or whose safe was packed with the most jewelry, it was also pointless. He couldn’t exactly go stealing just because he knew once he woke up. That would be utterly foolish.
Real opportunities to make money from this were scarce, and it completely relied on luck.
After all, projects like the “lucky box” were far too rare. He had smashed and opened dozens of vending machines yet only got one phone. Such odds were touching, to say the least.
Then he opened the remaining boxes, finding no other treasures, and continued on his way.
The entire building was dark, covered in dust, and looked like sothing straight out of a horror movie. Chen Xu took a casual stroll through the first few floors before leaving, finding the place too oppressive.
Upon leaving the building, he felt a sense of relief, thinking to himself that he should avoid these comrcial buildings in the future. After all, they held little value for him.
Next, he walked onto the pedestrian street, gazing at the dust-laden and leaf-strewn paths, feeling sowhat sentintal over how, in just a few months, the once beautifully decorated street had fallen into such disuse.
Boom.
He had barely taken a few steps when there was a dull rumble. Looking up, he saw a thick layer of dark clouds looming in the sky.
It was about to rain.
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