A small girl dashed up to Su Xiao, her face brimming with a cheerful smile.
"It's me~! I'm Kanna. How do I look? Super cute, right?"
The little girl had a lively personality and spun around in front of Su Xiao, showing off her cuteness.
Su Xiao scrutinized her carefully and realized that this girl wasn't the "Kanna" who could devour everything.
"You're not Kanna."
"Got me, huh? Looks like I still need to work on my speech." The girl dropped the act and stopped trying to be cute.
"So, how about this? I'll help you understand the Reincarnation Paradise, and in return, you pay me 50 Paradise Coins."
Su Xiao did need information about the Reincarnation Paradise, and this fake "Kanna" seemed like the best option.
"Deal. How do I transfer the coins to you?"
Su Xiao's straightforwardness surprised the girl.
"Aren't you afraid I might scam you? You know, there are plenty of swindlers in Reincarnation Paradise."
Su Xiao's sword, [Dragon Slayer], appeared in his hand, and he coldly stared at the girl.
"If you scam me, I'll kill you."
The girl chuckled lightly but was visibly unsettled.
"Seems like you're new here. Outside of the Arena, contractees can't attack each other in Reincarnation Paradise. This is a safe zone."
"Is that so? But in the derivative worlds, it should be possible."
Su Xiao's icy gaze made the girl take a few steps back.
"Whoa, whoa! We're not enemies! I wouldn't scam you." The girl was clearly intimidated, realizing this guy wasn't someone to mess with—likely the kind of person who kills without hesitation.
Thinking quickly, the girl decided to back off from trying to scam him.
[Ding! You have received 50 Paradise Coins from Contractee #13013.]
The girl's face turned bitter, and she looked at Su Xiao with a mix of annoyance and resignation.
"It's too crowded here. Let's go to a café and talk."
Resigned to the situation, the girl led Su Xiao to a nearby café with a quirky name: "Cats and Dogs".
"Welcome... Oh, it's you, little Xiluo! Did you find a new client?"
A sultry woman with a seductive outfit approached. She had an impressive figure—ample chest, long legs, and black stockings. Standing in heels, she was nearly as tall as Su Xiao.
"Boss, I'll have a watermelon juice. What about you, client?"
"Just water." Su Xiao replied dismissively, unwilling to drink anything from strangers.
"Don't worry, we service workers are different from you contractees. We don't have any ulterior motives."
Su Xiao tapped his finger on the table, getting straight to the point.
"What's a service worker?"
Xiluo took a sip from her drink before explaining. Very quickly, Su Xiao understood what service workers were.
In Reincarnation Paradise, there are two main types of people: contractees and service workers. Contractees are constantly tasked with dangerous missions, but service workers, like Xiluo, provide essential services, such as selling goods or running restaurants.
Service workers were originally failed contractees from their first world missions. Without them, contractees wouldn't have basic necessities. Reincarnation Paradise doesn't have a typical marketplace or exchange system; everything relies on service workers to facilitate transactions.
One upside of being a service worker is that they only need to enter a derivative world once every two months, while contractees face much more frequent and perilous missions.
Xiluo feared Su Xiao because if she were unfortunate enough to encounter him in a derivative world, her meager combat skills would mean certain death.
Xiluo handed Su Xiao a transparent tablet.
"This has detailed info on Reincarnation Paradise. It's verified by the system, so no funny business."
Su Xiao took the tablet, surprised by its advanced technology, which could project 3D images. He began to learn more about the vastness of Reincarnation Paradise.
The place was enormous, housing more than 100,000 people—though no one had an exact count due to the high mortality rate among contractees.
According to Xiluo's data, the death rate for contractees in their first world mission was 80%. The rate dropped to 60% for the second world, and to 50% by the third world. Su Xiao didn't bother checking the rest of the stats.
The sheer danger that contractees faced made survival in Reincarnation Paradise extremely difficult.
Most of the shops in the area were run by service workers, catering to the daily needs of contractees.
At the heart of Reincarnation Paradise were about a dozen buildings, all crucial to contractees, such as the Attribute Enhancement Hall.
After reading the last bit of information on the tablet, Su Xiao put it down.
"One thing I don't understand: the tablet mentions that contractees can stay in Reincarnation Paradise for three days after returning from a world, before being sent back to the real world to await the next mission. Does this mean I can return to the real world?"
Xiluo, sipping her drink, nodded.
"Yes. After completing a mission in a derivative world, you get three days here before you're sent back to the real world. You usually stay in the real world for about a week before Reincarnation Paradise summons you for the next mission."
At that point, Xiluo's face turned gloomy. She glanced enviously at Su Xiao.
"Service workers, on the other hand, only get three days a month to return to the real world. I miss my family so much..."
Xiluo rested her chin on her hands, pouting a bit.
"Oh, right. Another thing—you can use Reincarnation Paradise to hide your real appearance, to prevent other contractees from hunting you down or harming your family. It's a lesson learned the hard way."
She gestured to herself.
"This look I'm using is something I paid 500 Paradise Coins for. I had to modify my appearance."
Su Xiao remained unfazed.
"I don't need to hide my face. There's no one I care about."
Hearing his reply, Xiluo fell silent, quickly realizing it wasn't a topic worth pursuing with someone like him.
"You've seen the data, so the transaction is complete. One last piece of advice—don't mess with the 'mages' in derivative worlds. Those guys are monsters, like walking turrets."
Xiluo shivered slightly, as if recalling a bad memory.
"Mages? Are they really that powerful in Reincarnation Paradise?"
Su Xiao's faint smile made Xiluo tilt her head in confusion.
"They aren't just powerful—they're absurdly strong. Every adventurer group recruits mages. You know, I've gone through two derivative worlds, and both times I paid mages to protect me."
Su Xiao nodded, but inwardly, he felt a thrill. His new class, Shadow of Extinction, was the nemesis of all mages. He hadn't fully grasped the strength of this new power yet.
It wasn't a question of whether mages were strong, but whether they'd even survive after encountering him.
(End of Chapter)