Slums

Arriving at his house, Lay is welcomed by a bunch of kids who ask him to play hide-and-seek with them.

Lay is already familiar with this situation and easily coaxed the kid. According to him, the time is nearing 8 PM so the kids should obediently go home lest they make their parents worry. Thankfully, one of the kid's parents spoke at the right time and persuaded his daughter.

With the departure of one of their playmates, it didn't take long for the rest of the kids to go home to their families. Lay didn't forget to thank the parent who rescued him from a cute predicament before saying goodnight to all the kids.

Turning around, Lay swiftly unlocked the door of the house before going in.

The inside of the house is blanketed with darkness, but just like with the kids Lay is already used to the situation. Relying on his great memory and keen eyesight, he located the cupboard which stored candles and a match.

Carefully lighting one candle, Lay set it on the only table on the first floor before he got busy in the kitchen.

Several minutes later, the dinner is ready. Pulling his chair towards the table, Lay feasted on his 2,992nd candlelight dinner. While waiting for his body to digest his food, Lay made himself coffee.

He wouldn't enter Otherworld tonight after a brief consideration. The main reason is the existence of the Blood Moon in the game. The event starts at 6 PM and ends at 6 AM and is a staple of the game.

Within the time frame, monsters in the wild will receive a buff that boosts their stats by 10% making the feat of defeating them twice as hard. Thankfully, the developers are not completely heartless, monsters with the Blood Moon buff will give 1.5 times more experience than monsters without the buff. Accordingly, certain materials and equipment will have their drop rate increase by 150%.

One hour passed in the blink of an eye. Getting up from his seat Lay completed a set of exercises before getting ready to sleep.

Getting out of the bathroom, Lay put on his clothes and lay down a bed sheet on the linoleum-covered floor. Afterward, he took his pillow and blanket on top of the plastic cabinet before blowing the candlelight and falling asleep.

The next day, Lay woke up at exactly 5 AM. The first thing he did was drink two glasses of water to rid himself of dehydration. Not long after, he brushed his teeth and washed his face before taking a walk outside.

Though their neighborhood is a slum, it is not overcrowded. From his memory, there had only been about 20 families when he first moved in with his sister. As of now, the number only increased by 10. Therefore, few houses were connected to each other, and some of the houses even have lawns including Lay's house.