[NR] Field Trips Never Change - Chapter 634 (Patreon)

Jason sighs, the System has so many angles it is working from to limit Energy use. Now, some might suspect that means Energy is some sort of higher power compared to Mana and Qi, but Jason doesn’t think that is the case. Rather, it is simply the method that the System uses to control things and what the world itself seems to be powered by.

It would be like making a language go extinct so your officials can use it to talk openly about secrets. Lazy and prone to error. The System is just getting away with it because it is strong enough to. At least the System has some restrictions on it, because kings have killed babies over the possibility of a threat to their throne, let alone a god machine. Jason sighs and settles back into cultivation.

Then time passes and days go by until Rosha and Courtney make it back to the clearing.

Rosha rushes past Jason and glomps Lily.

Both Jason and Courtney shake their heads before heading into the original building to talk over what he got from the trade.

Courtney, “So, sadly they didn’t have too much in the way of Energy techniques and what not. Or rather, I guess you could say they have a good bit, but compared to the worth of your manual, me and Rosha got more out of the deal than you did.”

Jason, “Was it really worth that much?”

Courtney shrugs and explains what she found out about the subject. “Anyway, we’re each going to get eight rods and 7734 gold pieces. Besides that, you get five Energy skills, 12 Energy formations, and you get to pick from a list of Energy based materials. Not sure the exact amount as it is one of those things where you’re going to have to negotiate for yourself. They’ll just provide the list and a general idea.”

Jason, “If I’m getting all that, how much are you two getting?”

Courtney, “We don’t quite know yet, though it will be quite a bit. We’ll get the list treatment for our skills and there won’t be any enchantments. Yours are predetermined only because they only have those as books.”

Jason frowns, “Nothing against you, but how did we do so well? None of us are that adept at negotiating to squeeze blood from the stone that is a kingdom.”

Courtney grimaces, “We ended up leaning on a person from Rosha’s family. As you rightfully pointed out, a kingdom is above our paygrade.” She shrugs, “There was nothing we could do about it.”

Jason sighs, “Well, at least they don’t know what you’re getting.”

Courtney nods, “We’ll have enough skills to choose from that I can grab a few that will help set up some NeoRealm based stuff. A thing we clearly have a dire need of. If I’m honest, I also need people irl. As it is, my organization is purely bet based.”

Jason, “I’m going to be honest, I don’t see much hope of that.”

Courtney shakes her head, “Yeah, but I’m trained for this so I have to try.”

Jason, “No matter how much the government tries, they aren’t going to make irl interactions a common thing. They’d have to shut down NeoRealm completely and I don’t think they have that power anymore. If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if in some places, the System has more control over the government than the officials do. They offload way too much stuff to it.”

Courtney, “Not much to do about it. There is a reason NRGP is now the currency everything else is judged against.”

Jason laughs, “Way more than just ‘a’ reason.”

Courtney nods, “We do what we can. If anything, I hope what you’ve shared might in the long-term help with the situation.”

Jason raises an eyebrow, “First off, I’m not trying to fix the world by sharing this. If anything, it will break the world. Besides that, cultivation will push people to be in NeoRealm even more.”

Courtney, “What do you even mean? You have to be logged completely out to cultivate, don’t you? You haven’t been holding out on us with some special method you can do in VR?”

Jason shakes his head, “Nothing like that. And I mean, sure, people will be out to cultivate. Except, that isn’t really interacting with the world, now is it? No, what I mean is that cultivation literally gives you more time, but NeoRealm multiplies it. If you live twenty extra years, an easily achievable number by almost everyone, that means an extra century of time in NeoRealm.”

Courtney, “I would think that with the extra time, people would be more willing to use it irl? I know I would. There is so much to see and do out there.”

Jason, “Okay, fair enough. However, that’s a rich man’s viewpoint. While the difference between having money and not is smaller than ever, you still have some privileges I could never dream of in my current situation. And that is with my mom’s job!

“More than any time since the information age, people do not move around. These arcologies have become like a thousand tiny agriculture villages. Most people never go more than a few miles from their apartment except for a few field trips and maybe when they marry.”

Courtney frowns, “Is it really that bad? I mean, I’ve read the reports, but that seems worse than even the reports seem to indicate.”

Jason shrugs, “I’m sure those reports are factually accurate. Except the devil is in the details. They probably have some statistics on how most people have visited another arcology at least once and many more trips to the farms and nature preserves outside?”

Courtney nods, to which Jason laughs, “Well there you go! They have, in fact done that. There is no lie. One of the government mandated field trips is to ride a train to one of the neighboring arcologies in a round trip. And of course there is a non-stop stream of classes heading out to the gardens at the base of our arcology.

“But be honest with me, would you really count that as going out and experiencing the world? It isn’t a vacation or them moving. They’re simply being shipped out there, shown it exists, and then shipped back. And the farms are even sillier. You experience nature more in the indoor parks. Though I guess going outside has the chance of experiencing weather.”