Chapter 24 Still Lack of Understanding
The real estate agent might know some of the wealthy ladies and landladies living near Rota Avenue, but Bai Mu was certain they wouldn't want to be used as a gimmick for business.
Bai Mu listened intently because he thought of his backpack.
It contained five bottles of viral stock solution. If he took these and unleashed some malice from human infighting near Rota Avenue…
he could instantly become the most famous person in Rota City!
"I'll go check out Rota Avenue first, I'll come find you later." Bai Mu handed the agent five yuan as payment for the introduction to the upper city.
Then Bai Mu decisively left the agency. The agent, holding five yuan, was stunned. Wait, what happened to the promised rental? Had he been slept with by a man?
"What kind of person is he?" the agent muttered, having wasted a lot of breath, and continued working, not intending to cause trouble for Bai Mu. Bai Mu left decisively, but at least he paid—five yuan! After all that talking, it wasn't a complete loss.
The middle-aged real estate agent glanced at the listing. Houses near Rota Avenue weren't this cheap; rent there started at 500 yuan. Anyone who could easily afford that would be very comfortable living there.
There were no bad houses near Rota Avenue.
The house he showed Bai Mu would normally cost at least 700 yuan a month to rent. The reason for this ridiculously low price was something that had happened there.
It wasn't that the house had become a haunted house due to a murder, but rather that there had been a recent problem with the dream world going out of control.
The Upper City police department was very powerful, and the Dream World Management Bureau paid far more attention to the Upper City than the Lower City. Therefore, the dream world going out of control there was resolved without much impact.
However, this couldn't be hidden from the wealthy circle, so the house where the dream world went out of control remained vacant.
For the homeowner, this was a real misfortune. Leaving the house vacant was a waste, and they couldn't demolish and rebuild it. Even if they did rebuild, everyone would know about the dream world going out of control incident, and rebuilding a house there wasn't something that could be done casually.
So the homeowner contacted a real estate agent, asking them to arrange for some people to stay there for a few months, to let others know that the uncontrolled chaos of the dream didn't affect the residents.
The rent would return to normal by then, and these few months wouldn't be a waste of the empty house. Time heals all wounds, but the homeowner didn't want to waste the wealth the house could provide.
Even earning less was better than nothing, especially since the reason for the price reduction was understandable and not intended to maliciously affect surrounding rental prices.
Due to the location, the price reduction couldn't be reduced to almost free.
Even with a reduction, they needed to maintain appearances; a monthly rent of nearly 300 yuan wasn't cheap for many. People who could easily afford 300 yuan for rent wouldn't mind spending twice as much to find a better place.
Normally, people who could afford 300 yuan wouldn't look for a place that pushed their limits, and these people were good at comparing options and had many opportunities; there was no need to take such a risk.
The middle-aged agent had already recommended this property to many people, but after learning what had happened, those who were initially interested immediately changed their minds, some even becoming violent.
He figured he could wait a bit longer. It wasn't like the house was impossible to rent out. For example, some people who liked to save face but weren't rich might grit their teeth and rent it.
Then they'd brag about living near Rota Avenue, but so far, the agent hadn't found anyone like that.
He didn't want to wait any longer. The property prices were going to drop a bit, which affected his income. If it still couldn't be rented out, the landlord would definitely have to change owners.
Backpacking, Bai Mu arrived at Rota Avenue. As the most bustling street in Rota City, it felt even better to Bai Mu than the middle-aged agent had described.
Seeing is believing, right? Just looking at this bustling street made him want to go back and check out the property again.
But since he was already here, he might as well look around first. As for the property the middle-aged agent mentioned, if it were really easy to rent out, would he even have a chance? It didn't matter if he waited a little longer. Here, Bai Mu stood out.
Most people were dressed in suits, while Bai Mu, carrying a backpack and a suitcase, was quite different.
However, Bai Mu walked around without any guilt. He hadn't committed any crimes, and although he carried a lot of dangerous items, he hadn't encountered any checks from the local police yet.
He had nowhere to put these things, so he had to carry them with him. He could just throw away his firearms wherever he could find them; if someone found them, they wouldn't have matching ammunition, and a more environmentally friendly way was to dismantle and discard them.
But he couldn't just randomly throw away the bio-virus, could he?
"A Dream Experience Store?" Walking down the street, Bai Mu saw a store that was themed around dreams.
This was quite different from what Bai Mu knew. According to the gunman, Eller, dreams were like special controlled substances; if used properly, they could be beneficial, but if used improperly, they could easily cause problems.
Like a nuclear power plant and a detonated nuclear bomb, both involve the use of nuclear energy, but the consequences are completely different.
He stumbled upon a shop related to "Otherworldly Dreams" on a street near Rota Avenue, reminding Bai Mu of the Americans in his own world, also during the Industrial Revolution.
People there drank radium water like a beverage.
Could this "Otherworldly Dreams" shop be the same?
Thinking this, Bai Mu went in. Having come across this, why not check it out?
These shop owners dared to open near the most prosperous area of Rota City; if there were any problems, Bai Mu wouldn't be the one to run into them.
However, entering the shop left Bai Mu somewhat disappointed. It wasn't what he expected. "Otherworldly Dreams"... just clickbait! This was simply a "Otherworldly Dreams" themed shop.
Bai Mu felt it would be more suitable as a department store, selling "Otherworldly Dreams" themed merchandise.
He even saw something resembling a chamber pot—who knows which "Otherworldly Dream" replica it was from?
Besides that, Bai Mu also saw items resembling flashlights, basins, model guns, and what appeared to be porcelain from last week.
These obviously fake items were quite popular, but compared to other customers, Bai Mu attracted more attention upon entering.
The main issue was that he came in with large bags and packages, giving the impression of a customer but more like someone who had come specifically to deliver goods.
A shop assistant approached him: "Hello, do you need any help?"
"Let me take a look first, will that thing work?" Bai Mu pointed to a 'cellphone' in the store. The shop assistant smiled and shook his head: "Sir, most of the products here are 'counterfeits,' many don't have the original effects."
Hmm? Most of them?
Bai Mu felt he still knew very little about this world.
(End of Chapter)