26 Algate City (1/2)

Chapter 26: Algate City

[System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you now have access to Zero, your spawn location will be Algate City, you are now considered a citizen of the Dominion Empire.]

[This is a message from VALOR, we would like to thank you for playing the game so far, we hope that you enjoyed it and will continue to, many new options are now available to you, you will find an information booklet in your inventory which compiled all the new additions. We wish you all the best]

This was the first thing Li Wei saw after the flash. Confused, he looked around him to find that his environment has completely changed. He was now standing on the side of a road, around him, were mostly fields that have just been seeded. There were also some farm houses scattered around as well as what looked like a monastery far in the distance.

The first thing Li Wei noticed was not the field, but rather the heat. Compared to Little Root Town, the temperature here was much higher, it felt like a hot day of summer. This was actually one of the differences from the Beginner's Town, Zero had different weather and season settings, it replicated the real world's conditions. These would not greatly influence gameplay, but would add some dynamic elements to the game.

About one kilometer away, Li Wei could clearly see the outline of the walls of a large city. He quickly concluded that it was Agate City, the city he was assigned to, and naturally, he proceeded towards it.

While walking, Li Wei almost forgot that this world was supposed to be invaded by monsters. There were no monsters or any sort of threat in sight. Instead, around him, the endless fields looked like they would reach the horizon, it was a peaceful scene.

The environment was very calm and enjoyable, it gave similar vibes to the countryside Li Wei had visited in the past. The environment was completely different from what was described by the system when he first entered the game but there was a reason why players were spawned in this environment.

There were 12 main cities in the Dominion Empire, each one with different characteristics. The Dominion Empire would shelter players from a part of Asia and one of the cities allocated to China was Algate city. Naturally, even if the city could accommodate millions of players, there would not be enough place for the whole population, this was why many quests directed players towards other smaller towns and villages in their respective county.

Although players were allocated to a city, they could choose to leave the city for a better one whenever they wanted. There were teleportation portals that linked the 12 main cities and the capital but there was, naturally, a fee was associated with that journey and not everyone could afford this service during the early stage of the game.

Algate City was as large as a mega city and its county, the Algate County, specialized in agriculture, its production supplied the entire Dominion Empire, it could be said to be the granary of the Dominion Empire.

Players spawned at these big cities since they were the safest places of the empire. Many quests and dungeons were available for players to level up and once they reached level 20, an expansion that allowed the players to explore the rest of the continent would be implemented. The monsters and demons mentioned in the lore were naturally powerful enemy, with their actual strength, players had no way to defend themselves against them. And so, they were given a safe environment to increase their strength before the battle.

While Li Wei was walking, he could see a group of farmers tending to their fields. There were also guard towers and sentinels scattered around the city but the guards were not particularly welcoming.

Li Wei walked towards Algate City, enjoying the light breeze and the scent of the fields and after 20 minutes, he eventually reached the city gates. Li Wei took his time to enjoy the walk, he lived in the center of Beijing and rarely had the occasion to enjoy nature as such. If he could, he would like to just lie down on the grass and take a nap. However, this was not possible, he was already lagging behind several players, if he did not want to end up as a normal cannon fodder, he needed to start moving and increase his strength.

In front of the city gate, Li Wei stopped to look at the massive entrance. The city gates looked imposing, they were at least 10 meters wide and had guard posts on both sides of the gates. The wooden gates looked like they were reinforced by metallic bars and covered with weird symbols which Li Wei guessed to be magic runes.

The first impression Li Wei got when looking at the city was that it was a typical medieval city. With giant stone walls having several defensive structures on top of its towers. Li Wei could see that several guards were stationed at the top of the walls looking at the horizon like statues.

The gates were large and could allow a lot of people to go through at once. However, this was only for the people leaving the city. For those who wanted to enter, there were 2 waiting lines. Fortunately, when Li Wei arrived, there was only one merchant caravan being checked by a group of guards. Li Wei walked towards the other empty line where two guards were standing.

He was actually surprised upon seeing the guards, they were both level 20 which was twice as much as his level. If the guards who were guarding the entries were that strong, how much stronger were the NPCs there?

Li Wei took a quick glance at the merchant in the other line only to witness the scene of the merchant stealthily placing a bag of coins in the arms of a guard.

'Even there... Corruption can really be found everywhere' thought Li Wei.

But at least, he confirmed that even the merchant who was supposed to be weak was actually level 12.

Li Wei turned his head and walked towards the entrance but he was immediately stopped by the 2 guards who lowered their spears just in front of Li Wei.

”Halt, present your identity crystal and pay the entry fee please!” said one guard

”Huh? What are these?” asked Li Wei with a confused expression.

”Are you new here adventurer? In that case, please follow me to the guard post, we will make a quick registration there!” said the guard before raising his spear as he started to walk towards the guard post.