At the Economics College of HN University, in the girls' dormitory, a pure and charming young woman stared at the hung-up phone in a daze. "I haven't even said anything, and you've already transferred the money? Do you even know how much I need? You little brat, you wouldn't be brushing me off, would you?"
"Ziyin, does your brother have that much money to transfer to you?" At this moment, a sweet-faced girl walked over and asked.
Wu Ziyin shook her head. She wasn't sure either. Her brother's salary wasn't high, and he had to send her living expenses every month, so he couldn't possibly have saved much. But besides her brother, she had no one else to borrow money from.
"I tell you, that woman must be doing this on purpose. She's probably trying to get back at you because the man she likes has a crush on you. And a bottle of cheap cosmetics is somehow worth eight thousand?" The girl indignantly said.
"Forget it, I'll just keep my distance from her in the future. It was my fault anyway; I can't blame anyone else. Besides, I looked it up online, and that cosmetic really is worth over eight thousand," Wu Ziyin said helplessly, but a trace of mist clouded her eyes. She knew full well that the woman was doing it on purpose, but what could she do? She could only blame her own carelessness. That eight thousand was already half a year's worth of her living expenses, and she felt incredibly wronged.
"You know, with your personality, you're bound to suffer big time sooner or later. Sigh, it's my fault too. If I hadn't bought that game helmet, I'd have the money to help you out now," the girl sighed.
"Mei Mei, don't say that. You've already lent me all your living expenses. I don't even know how to thank you. How are you going to get by this month?" Wu Ziyin expressed her gratitude to the girl in front of her, who was not only her roommate but also her best friend, always there to support her.
"I'm fine. Worst case, I'll cry and throw a tantrum in front of my dad. He won't let me starve," Mei Mei said nonchalantly.
At that moment, Wu Ziyin's phone buzzed with a message. She opened it to find a deposit notification. When she saw the two thousand yuan that had been transferred, she froze for a moment.
"Wow, Ziyin, your brother really has money! My dad only gives me 3,000 yuan a month, and getting an extra penny is hard. Your brother just transferred you 20,000 yuan in one go. What a good brother! I want a dozen of him," Mei Mei teased.
Wu Ziyin didn't respond to that but quickly called her brother back. When the call connected, she immediately asked, "Brother, where did you get all that money? You're not doing anything bad, are you?"
"What are you thinking? Do I look like the kind of person who does that? I've just earned some money playing games recently," Wu Shaochen replied.
"Games? Can you really make that much money from games?" Wu Ziyin clearly didn't believe it, as she didn't play games herself and couldn't comprehend it.
Hearing this, Mei Mei quickly interjected, "Is your brother playing Divine Oath? If he is, it's possible to earn tens of thousands of yuan if you're good enough. Several big players from our novice village are making tens of thousands just by selling equipment."
"Ah?" Wu Ziyin was taken aback. She knew many of her classmates, including Mei Mei, played this game, but she never thought games could be a way to make money.
"Yeah, it's Divine Oath. I made some money selling equipment before. Don't worry, I haven't done anything wrong. If it's not enough, just ask me for more," Wu Shaochen's voice came again.
"Okay, thanks, brother, but I don't need that much. You still need money yourself, so I'll send some back to you," Wu Ziyin said, though she couldn't fully understand how games could be so lucrative. Still, knowing her brother wasn't doing anything bad eased her concerns. But all of a sudden, having so much extra money left her feeling a bit overwhelmed.
"It's fine, I have enough. You keep it for yourself. Buy some clothes or cosmetics. A girl should always be a little delicate. I didn't have the money before, but now I do. Don't let yourself suffer," Wu Shaochen said.
"Brother..." Wu Ziyin's voice became thick with emotion.
"Alright, alright, go handle your business. You wouldn't have called me for money unless something really happened," Wu Shaochen said.
"Okay, I'm hanging up now. I'll come visit you once summer vacation starts," Wu Ziyin replied.
"Alright."
"Hang up already?" Mei Mei asked.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Wu Ziyin wondered.
"Sigh, I was hoping you would ask your brother for his game ID. The game has barely been online for two days, and he's already earned tens of thousands. He must be really good at it. If he could carry me, that would be great," Mei Mei lamented.
"My brother used to play a lot of games, but I'm not sure how good he is. But Mei Mei, do you really think you can make that much money in a game?" Wu Ziyin was still skeptical.
"Definitely. I don't know about other games, but in Divine Oath, if you're skilled, earning several tens of thousands in a day isn't hard. Do you know the most powerful player, Chenfeng? From yesterday to today, he's earned almost 500,000 just from selling equipment. That's not even counting the gold he has. I heard the system rewards him with 80,000 to 90,000 gold. Right now, one gold is worth 10,000 yuan, so in just over a day, he's earned over a million, and this is only in the early stages. It'll only get more as the game progresses," Mei Mei said excitedly.
Wu Ziyin's jaw nearly dropped, her mind blown by this information.
"Then... maybe I should try playing too?" Wu Ziyin said, feeling tempted.
"Oh! That's right, your brother just transferred you 20,000 yuan. Even after paying that terrible woman 8,000, you'd still have 12,000 left. With the remaining money, you can buy a helmet. It's settled then, you're playing!" Mei Mei decisively said.
After hanging up the phone, Wu Shaochen put his helmet back on and entered the game again. He wasted no time and headed straight towards Black Bear Ridge, where there were many level 17 black bears, which were the monsters he would be farming next.
Upon arriving at Black Bear Ridge, Wu Shaochen immediately focused as he saw the huge black bears. He cast his Insight skill.
[Black Bear]
Level: 17
Health: 23,000
Physical Attack: 350
Physical Defense: 180
Magical Defense: 100
Speed: 40
Skills: Slam: Deals 140% physical damage to all targets within a 2-meter radius and reduces their movement speed by 30%. Cooldown time: 20 seconds.
It seemed that normal monsters no longer posed much of a challenge. He could simply mass farm them—one hit from a three-layer poison effect on a black bear, and he didn't need to worry about it anymore. With 152 poison damage, three layers would deal a total of 456 points, and in 60 seconds, that would be 27,000 damage, easily enough to take one down.
Wu Shaochen continued his hunt, slashing three times at each black bear and running away. Soon, a large group of black bears was following him. One by one, they fell behind, and Wu Shaochen was enjoying the experience, feeling a sense of true satisfaction.
However, this satisfaction was short-lived. By the time he killed the 89th black bear, the system had only given him two prompts.
"Ding! Killed a [Black Bear], earned 200 experience. Defeating a monster 5 levels above grants an additional 100 experience. 20% of the experience is divided among pets. Your pet, [Silver Taiwolf], gains 60 experience."
"Ding! Immortal Body effect activated. Maximum health increased by 1. Your Immortal Body talent now grants an additional 218 maximum health."
Indeed, there was no increase in his talent. Wu Shaochen reread the system prompts several times to confirm, then checked his talent. The poison damage was stuck at 240. To verify, Wu Shaochen killed two more black bears. He gained experience, and his Immortal Body talent increased, but his poison talent didn't improve. This was something Wu Shaochen had never expected.
He had thought that as long as he kept farming, his talent would continue to grow. Now, it seemed there was a limit. However, it made sense; otherwise, continuing at this rate would severely affect game balance.
"Does this mean my poison damage will never exceed 240?" Wu Shaochen mused, feeling a bit frustrated. Although 240 per second was terrifying at this stage, as player power increased, this damage would soon be insufficient. If that was the case, this talent might prove to be a burden.