Bai Mu found a very ordinary hotel. He actually had better options, but the hotel owner here was nice because he didn't discriminate; even the registration process was very simple—just write down your name, whether it was your real name or not was irrelevant.
A world without internet… Bai Mu looked at his phone beside him, washing his clothes. He had fought a pursuit team in the alternate dream. Although he hadn't taken any bullets, he had suffered quite a few injuries.
The wounds had healed, but his clothes were no longer clean.
After washing his clothes, listening to the noise coming from the other side of the not-so-soundproof wall, Bai Mu picked up his phone and started looking at it. While reviewing his actions in the alternate dream, he realized he had overlooked many things.
Not just freebies, but many things that could be used here, such as solar charging panels, large batteries, etc. With those things, his phone could at least keep running.
Instead of anxiously watching the battery level on his phone gradually decrease, even though this world had no internet, there were still many things he could watch on his phone.
Bai Mu had made all the preparations. After successfully reaching another city in the alternate dream, he would definitely find two data cables, set up a computer, and download a lot of things to his phone.
But before he could do any of that, he was taken down by the natives of the alternate dream.
The phone that Torn had given Bai Mu was still there, but it was too clean, with nothing on it, so Bai Mu lost interest after looking at it for a while.
"Sleep!" Hearing the noise from next door and upstairs, Bai Mu turned off his phone and closed his eyes to rest.
Not being in a city filled with zombies, he could sleep peacefully even with the noise.
Early the next morning, Bai Mu left the hotel in clean clothes, along with other people, but they didn't pay any attention to each other.
Most of the people staying here were outsiders; the locals needed hotels, but obviously wouldn't choose this kind of hotel.
Being unfamiliar with the area, Bai Mu went to the steamed bun shop on Ster Street again.
"What, it's you again?" The owner of the steamed bun shop frowned slightly when he saw Bai Mu arrive again. His business wasn't exactly booming, but he saw quite a few people every day.
The only reason he remembered Bai Mu was because this guy had left a deep impression on him before.
"The steamed buns here are delicious."
The steamed bun shop owner chuckled. Did he think he didn't know if they were delicious or not?
Ster Street in the lower city wasn't a wealthy neighborhood. People buying breakfast here prioritized quantity, and only then did they care about the taste.
The extremely self-aware shop owner was a businessman: "Pay first."
Bai Mu took the money, and the shop owner was a little surprised: "Looks like you've found a job."
"Yeah, cleaning the sewers."
"...That's definitely suitable for strong people." The steamed bun shop owner obviously knew what cleaning sewers was like, but he didn't advise Bai Mu against it.
Although the job was dangerous, it was a quick way to make money. Sometimes he would even think about doing it part-time. However, in Rota City, sewer cleaning was one of the jobs with the highest injury and death rates, even higher than those cleaning high-rise windows.
"Boss, I want to go check out the upper district."
"You've got money, go yourself! If you pay enough, someone can carry you there!" The steamed bun shop owner's face darkened. "Don't bother me while I'm doing business!"
Bai Mu left the steamed bun shop with the buns. It seemed the strange dream issue in the sewers hadn't become widely known, at least not to the steamed bun shop owner who dealt with many people in his business.
Or perhaps he arrived too early, and the shop owner hadn't received the news… which was rather unusual. There was a clock at the steamed bun shop; when Bai Mu arrived, it was already past ten o'clock.
This showed that the Otherworld was still quite distant for ordinary people.
Bai Mu left Ster Street. He had money in his pocket and wasn't in a hurry to contact the Upper City. He treated his trip as a vacation; his money could support him for a while.
There was no news of an epidemic on Ster Street, meaning the probability of a biohazard outbreak in the city was low. At least he didn't want to cause one here, so there shouldn't be any other unexpected events.
If one did occur… then Bai Mu thought he should talk to the local government and send out some vaccines.
The Upper City wasn't difficult to reach. Although it was where the wealthy lived, it wasn't a completely different world from the Lower City. While the city's development was still some distance from full modernization, it had already entered the industrial age.
As long as it wasn't someone like a homeless person coming here, entering the Upper City wouldn't be too difficult. Bai Mu encountered no substantial obstacles, except that there were significantly more patrolling police officers in the Upper City than in the Lower City.
The people in the lower city were mostly dressed casually, while in the upper city, well-dressed people were everywhere. The well-dressed residents of the upper city didn't have the 'hodgepodge' style of the lower city.
The two places were clearly distinct.
Everything in the upper city was orderly, while the lower city gave Bai Mu a chaotic impression.
People there tended to fall into two extremes: the first were like homeless people, simply lounging around like turtles sunbathing; the second were busy making a living, coming and going in a hurry.
For people in the lower city, if they were ambitious and wanted to experience life in the upper city, they would probably try their best to get there.
The upper city was also quite attractive to Bai Mu; after all, he was a modern, promising young man. In the alternate dream, he had killed a lot of zombies and even some people… all to survive.
Upon arriving in the upper city, Bai Mu's first thing to do was to find out the local housing prices.
After understanding the situation, Bai Mu felt that trying his best wasn't a bad idea. He'd see how things went in the next dream. For now, he'd focus on renting. In the lower city area, rents ranged from 30 to 100 yuan, with prices increasing closer to the upper city.
In the upper city, rents generally started at 150 yuan, and even those low prices wouldn't get you a very nice place.
For something better, you'd need at least 300 yuan.
"And I happen to have a great place here, only half an hour from Rota Avenue, for only 298 yuan a month!"
"..." Looking at the agent's flowery words, Bai Mu remained silent. How to put it? Money in this world was worth a lot, around 1:10, with fluctuations, but not by much.
"Hmm, since it sounds so good, why am I the one?"
"Isn't it a coincidence? The previous tenant just moved out and you came." The middle-aged agent was smooth-talking: "And there are many wealthy ladies living nearby."
"Hmm? Tell me more." Bai Mu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Seeing an opportunity, the agent immediately began explaining the situation there. While Bai Mu didn't know much about Rota Avenue, the agent's detailed explanation quickly gave him a good understanding of the area.
It was a prosperous street named after Rota City, and as the most prosperous street in Rota City, many wealthy people lived nearby.
Bai Mu listened attentively.
(End of Chapter)