Gloomy, desolate, and rarely seeing the light of day.
Massive pipes freely discharged industrial wastewater into the river, accompanied by the putrid smell of underground sewers, as a steel behemoth stood here.
Rusted and shrouded in haze, green Alchemist Baron gases continuously spewed from its body.
Those were vats standing atop factories.
This underground city, pieced together with steel grates, is called Zaun. It is filled with smugglers, looters, and unrighteous individuals, along with forbidden mages or mad scientists conducting various illegal and unstable human experiments or scientific research.
The only administrators are the ruthless large and small gang organizations, the noble Alchemist Barons, and the various families from Piltover hidden behind the Barons.
Zaun's Lower District, Inner Sea Harbor, Slaughterhouse.
The entire slaughterhouse was divided into twelve sections, with a massive cable car Running through the whole factory. The rumbling sound of machinery echoed deafeningly throughout the slaughterhouse.
A group of busy figures unloaded goods, including various poultry, from merchant ships that had been smuggled into Zaun via the inner sea and had not yet paid taxes in Piltover.
A slightly robust, black-haired young man sat at the workbench, skillfully grabbing a large rooster from a nearby big box. With a strong grip, he pressed down on the rooster's wings with his fingers, then completely pinned it onto the workbench.
The so-called workbench was actually an enlarged washing station, but instead of wire mesh, it was made of slightly raised small cylindrical posts and a frame.
Plastic pipes were connected beneath the washing station, and these pipes, in turn, connected to large wooden barrels. The chicken blood, naturally, was precious and could not be wasted.
The black-haired young man held a sharp ox-ear-tipped knife in his hand and expertly sliced the rooster's neck. Blood gushed out like a fountain, with only a few drops splashing onto his cheek.
Simultaneously, with a high-pitched shriek of "cluck, cluck, cluck...", the rooster stretched out its two claws and elongated its neck, letting out its last mournful cry in its life. Two minutes later, it lay on the ground, twitching and taking its last breath.
As the black-haired young man was plucking the feathers from the large rooster, a line of text suddenly appeared at the bottom of his vision: [One-Handed Weapon Proficiency +1, Current Proficiency: 48/50]
Wearing a coarse canvas vest, the black-haired young man was draped in a dirty, soiled burlap hood. The muscles in his exposed arms were clearly visible. His skin was a vibrant wheat color, and his height of 1.8 meters, coupled with a long-unshaven beard, made him appear more mature.
And for cleanliness, he had gathered his messy black hair and tied it into a small ponytail at the back of his head.
After working for a long time, Durin felt a soreness in the corners of his eyes and subconsciously rubbed them with his arm.
At that moment, an old man holding a copper tobacco pipe and wearing a black long gown walked over. He gently placed his outstretched left arm on Durin's shoulder. However, this hand was a finely crafted mechanical hand made of brass and gears.
The old man asked with concern, "Durin, are you sick today?"
"No."
"If you're not sick, keep working! Don't be lazy. You only earn 3 silver ring coin a month. If those gang thugs see you not working, you'll definitely get a beating, and they'll deduct a day's wages! That's 10 copper circle coins!"
Each section of the slaughterhouse had a managing team leader, and their monthly salary was 12 silver ring coin. Furthermore, to ensure these team leaders managed diligently, the Alchemist Baron even allowed the factory manager to give them a 1% commission each month, usually around 4 silver ring coin.
Durin was about to answer something.
The old man, however, continued to say with a chuckle, "Oh, Durin, tomorrow is Sunday, and it's your turn to rest. Do you want to go to The Last Drop in Black Alley with me for a drink? Do you know what happened in Piltover yesterday?"
"What happened?"
Durin asked without lifting his head.
Piltover, also known as the Upper City, and fully named Piltover, is situated on a cliff adjacent to the city of Zaun. This city largely relies on Zaun's cheap labor to produce various inexpensive goods for its sustenance. It is not only a prosperous technological city located above Zaun but can even be considered the cultural center of this world.
But the people of Zaun don't like Piltover; they're happy whenever something bad happens to Piltover.
As expected, when the old man saw that Durin didn't know, he immediately became interested and began to speak eloquently: "I heard there was an explosion in Piltover's Academy District! An entire building was blown to ruins, and the anxious Piltoverianss sent Enforcers everywhere to search for a group of children from Zaun. Hahahahaha, it's simply too amusing!"
"You didn't see those Enforcers Running around Zaun like headless chickens, it was hilarious, tired like pugs."
Durin's expression, however, was very calm; he had no interest whatsoever in the explosion.
Simply put, it had nothing to do with him!
Could it even add a single coin to his pocket?
The answer was naturally no!
Therefore, Durin had long lost his curiosity about this world, and his once ridiculous idea of dating all the female champions of Valoran had silently been put aside. All that remained was vigilance towards this world; the pressure of survival weighed heavily on Durin, a pressure that had been starkly pressing on his heart since he had lived for more than half a year.
Making money was Durin's top priority!
So, Durin continued working while replying, "No, I don't have that much money. I still hope to move out of the Slums soon, even renting a small room in the Entresol Level would be better than where I live now. Sigh, I've also been buying Dragon Cinnamon Spirit to make medicinal soup recently. That stuff is air-shipped from Ionia, and one tael costs 15 copper circle coins. I really wish I could break a copper circle coin in half to spend it."
"And The Last Drop's minimum spend is one silver lun coin. I can't afford that!"
"Ha!" The team leader puffed on his tobacco pipe, exhaling smoke as he indifferently said, "You certainly have ideas, but who told you to be so foolish as to become a mage's assistant before? This is Zaun! You should be grateful you didn't lose your life; you're already incredibly lucky. I remember, that mage paid you quite a bit of money back then, didn't he? A golden hex!"
"..."
Durin did not reply.
As the team leader said, when he first came to this world, seeing an advertisement for a mage's assistant, he eagerly applied, hoping to seize the opportunity to become a mage and turn his life around overnight. Unfortunately, he did work as a mage's assistant for a while, but later, the mage, in order to test a brand new necromantic spell, couldn't find a test subject for a while and simply used Durin as an experiment.
Fortunately, Durin did not die in the end, nor did he lose an arm or a leg, but his abdomen still suffered internal injuries. Afterward, the mage compensated Durin with a golden hex and also introduced him to a black market doctor with decent Medical Skill. This doctor instructed Durin to continuously purchase an Ionian herb called Dragon Cinnamon Spirit, prescribing daily decoctions to regulate his body.
However, the cost of the herbs was truly too high, and Durin needed to decoct them daily, so after more than half a year, the 1 golden hex had been spent, leaving only 6 silver ring coin and 60 copper circle coins.
The exchange rate between golden hex, silver ring coin, and copper circle coins typically maintained at one golden hex for 24 silver ring coin, and one silver lun coin for 100 copper circle coins.
Durin calculated that his monthly medical expenses were 2 silver ring coin, rent in the Slums was 1.5 silver ring coin per month, plus food and drink expenses of 1.8 silver ring coin, totaling 5.3 silver ring coin per month.
If not for that one golden hex as support, Durin, whose monthly income was barely 3 silver ring coin, wouldn't have known how he would have survived for the past half year.
"How much more do you have left to process? It's almost eight o'clock, time to get off work." The old man continued to ask, "Are you sure you don't want to come with me for a drink to relax? It's finally your day off."
"Almost, just the last one." Durin glanced at the cage next to the workbench, which still had one pigeon left, and casually replied, "No, I'll just buy something to eat and go home to rest."
Durin skillfully used the ox-ear-tipped knife to kill and process the last poultry in the cage.
Durin had to repeat this kind of work hundreds of times every day.
Ring-a-ling!
The harsh ringing brought the entire slaughterhouse to a halt; the deafening roar of machinery suddenly ceased, and the grime-covered workers emerged in groups of two or three, laughing and chatting about nothing more than where a new dancer or prostitute had appeared.
Durin, on the other hand, showered in the slaughterhouse's adjacent bathhouse, put on relatively clean clothes, and then exited the slaughterhouse, taking a two-layered gauze mask with him.
As night fell, Durin gradually left the slaughterhouse; darkness and silence enveloped all his senses, with no other light in his vision except for the faint glow of the Entresol Level and the weak starlight twinkling in the sky.
"By the way, how long has it been since I transmigrated?" Durin couldn't help but mumble, "Counting the time, it's been about eight months, almost a year, hasn't it?"
That's right, Durin was a transmigrator, having been in this world for over half a year.
Zaun's first impression on him was: terrible air, so bad it was unbearable; a deep breath would lead to a violent cough.
Before transmigrating, he was just an ordinary worker who enjoyed riding motorcycles; as he changed clothes and prepared to go out, his vision suddenly went dark, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a rubbish heap, wearing a motorcycle riding suit.
To be precise, he was woken up.
The first to discover Durin were a group of beggars scavenging for trash; seeing Durin's attire, they mistook him for a noble who had accidentally stumbled into Zaun. Thus, with a mix of fear and flattery, they woke him up, preventing Durin from dying on the streets of Zaun.
Upon waking, Durin realized that the language these beggars spoke was something he had never encountered before, yet he could inexplicably understand them.
Now, it seemed, this was a small perk granted by his golden finger upon transmigrating.
In fact, when Durin heard that this was Zaun, he realized he had transmigrated.
Moreover, he had transmigrated into the familiar game League of Legends, specifically to the continent of Valoran in its background setting—a world where human lives were as cheap as grass. Here, there were condescending idiotic Celestials, brain-dead warlords resurrected from the underworld, and a foolish prince who only knew how to cry out in pain.
Even if he had to transmigrate, he would have preferred to go to stable countries like Demacia or Noxus, or to become a Piltoverians who could exploit others, rather than ending up in Zaun, the industrial sewer.
A place without three things: no government, no laws, no order.
Penniless, Durin, with only his mobile phone, stumbled upon Ben Suo's Grocery Store, the most reputable store in the Entresol Level, and hoped to exchange his phone for a high price.
However, without internet, the phone was only capable of taking photos.
The other party was dismissive, believing that the well-made phone's photos couldn't be developed, rendering it useless, and was only willing to offer 3 silver ring coin. They were, however, more interested in Durin's motorcycle suit, willing to pay 4 silver ring coin for it.
Durin eventually exchanged his phone and motorcycle suit for seven silver ring coin and tried to rent a room and find work in Zaun.
However, Zaun was filled with various scammers, thieves, and thugs. After countless unexpected tricks and deceptions, Durin, having lost 3 silver ring coin, barely managed to get a job at a slaughterhouse in the harbor of Zaun's Lower District. Then, through the introduction of his team leader, he rented a decent room for 1.5 silver ring coin per month, finally settling down.
Later, at the slaughterhouse, he started with the most basic task of moving chopped meat, then learned how to slaughter poultry, until he successfully killed his first rooster, at which point his golden finger officially activated.
A very simple golden finger, although it was just a plain white system panel with black text, it at least brought some light and hope to Durin's seemingly endless days.