Terek nodded, hearing Tai's question. "Uhh, yeah. There are aliens, but you probably won't find any here. I've been keeping watch of this city since our universe officially merged with the Aether Universe and I haven't seen anyone enter this city that isn't human, except pets like your dog there," Terek said, glancing at Fenrir. "If you want to see any intelligent aliens, I suggest going to 'Aether City - 1'."

"It's basically the hub of this mega planet that Earth got absorbed into," he added. "By the way, what level are you?"

Hearing Terek ask about his level, Tai raised an eyebrow, wondering why he wanted to know what level he was. Tai wasn't the smartest guy, and he knew that there were a lot more people that were way smarter than him, but he knew that revealing important information like his level was probably not a wise idea.

Instead of revealing his level, Tai decided to instead lie about his level, choosing level 20 to be a nice and low number. "20, why do you ask?"

"20, huh. Well, you're quite a ways off, but when you reach level 100, you'll be forced to do a trial. If you die in the trial, it's fine, you won't die for real, but you won't be able to take the trial again until a month, but if you don't die and manage to clear the trial, the system will give you things that will help you. I'm pretty close to 100 myself. I just need 9 more levels."

The knowledge that he would be forced to take a trial at level 100 was very helpful for Tai. Maybe if he cleared the trial, he could possibly get his leg as a reward. Also, Tai confirmed that he wasn't at the top of the food chain here. There were probably many people who are part of the UEE that got to go to the Aether Universe early that are at a higher level than him and have a much better understanding of the system.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Terek has been very helpful, but Tai was kind of antisocial and didn't like talking to people unless he had to, so he chose to end the conversation there. "I'll be going now."

Terek nodded and waved goodbye, smiling at him. "Have a good one, and stay safe!"

As he walked away, Tai thought about what he should do first in the Aether City. Should he go and find a job? Or go for the alternative and go to the Adventurer's Guild, or maybe find a hospital and find out the cost of regrowing his leg.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Tai pondered his options. There was really no bad option except that Tai didn't want to work in a 9-5 job, so that was out of the question. Going to the Adventurer's Guild and doing some missions would net him income that he could spend to get food, and maybe even rent a place to stay.

In the end, Tai chose to find a hospital to see how expensive regrowing a leg would be to have a goal for how much AC he would need, so off to the nearest hospital he went.

As Tai traveled around the Aether City, he was surprised at how easy it was to get around. When he first arrived in the city, he thought that he would definitely get lost, but to his surprise, he wasn't. There were large, holographic signs that clearly showed where everything was, and if he was ever lost, there were drones that could lead the way.

Along with the holographic signs that led the way, there were also empty big holographic signs that Tai guessed to be billboards. They were empty for now, but as society slowly got used to their new situation, they would eventually fill up with advertisements.

When Tai arrived at the hospital, Tai noticed that it was one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city, probably about as tall as the Burj Khalifa in the old world, but it still wasn't the tallest. Entering the hospital, Tai was greeted by a robotic drone.

"Welcome to Aether City - 432 - 5 Hospital. What can I do for you?" the drone asked him in a weirdly calming robotic voice.

"How much does regrowing a leg cost?" Tai asked, getting straight to the point.

"Regrowing a singular leg costs 20,000 AC," the robot answered as it displayed the price in front of him via a hologram. "Would you like to do this procedure?"

"No thanks. I don't have enough AC to do it." Turning around to leave, Tai now had a new goal: rack up 20,000 AC to regrow his leg.

Hearing that he didn't have enough AC, the robot left him alone and went back to waiting for new customers.

"I guess I should go to the Adventurer's Guild now, huh?" Just like the trip to the hospital, there were many signs that pointed the way to the guild. Along the way, Tai saw a UEE soldier with two black horns atop his head, boarding a humvee. "I thought Terek said that there weren't any aliens here?"

Ignoring the soldier, Tai looked in front of him as he arrived at the guild. Compared to the hospital, it was much, much smaller. The guild was the size of a small building and had 4 stories. It also looked different compared to the city. Whereas the city was a futuristic black and blue, the guild was red and black with some white accents making it stand out.

Entering the building, some people inside looked at the new arrival, some staring at his missing leg before going back to what they were doing. Unlike the hospital, no robot came to greet him. There were also no robots that he could see anywhere even though this place was owned by the system.

See, the robots offered jobs to its inhabitants and some of the humans that arrived in the city had taken the job of managing the guild instead of doing the missions that the guild offered.