At Hainan University of Economics, in the female dormitory, a sweet-looking girl stared at the disconnected phone, momentarily unable to react. "I didn't even say anything yet, and you already transferred the money? Do you even know how much I need? Smelly big brother, are you just trying to brush me off?"
"Ziyin, does your brother still have money to transfer to you?" A sweet-faced girl approached and asked.
Ziyin shook her head uncertainly. She wasn't sure. Her brother's salary wasn't high, and he had to send her living expenses every month, so he probably didn't have much savings. Besides her brother, she didn't know where else to borrow money from.
"I'm telling you, that woman must be doing it on purpose. It's because she likes the guy who secretly admires you that she's intentionally going against you. She demands eight thousand yuan just for a broken bottle of cosmetics," the girl vented her frustration.
"Forget it, I'll just stay away from her in the future. It really was my fault for breaking it, can't blame anyone else. And that cosmetic product really does cost over eight thousand, I checked online," Ziyin said helplessly. Though she knew the other party did it deliberately, what could she do? She blamed herself for being careless. Eight thousand was more than half a year's living expenses for her, and she felt quite wronged.
"You, with this kind of personality, you're bound to suffer a big loss sooner or later. Aiya, it's also my fault. If I hadn't bought the gaming helmet, I could have helped you with the compensation," the girl said.
"Weiwei, don't say that. You lent me all your living expenses. I don't know how to thank you, and how are you going to get through this month?" Ziyin expressed gratitude to the girl in front of her, her roommate and best friend, who had been helping her at school.
"I'll be fine. Worst comes to worst, I'll cry to my dad, throw a tantrum, or threaten to hang myself. He won't let me starve," Weiwei said casually.
Just then, Ziyin received a text message on her phone. Opening it, she saw it was a notification of the deposit. Looking at the twenty thousand yuan that had been deposited, Ziyin suddenly felt a bit at a loss.
"Damn, Ziyin, your brother is quite rich. My dad only gives me three thousand yuan for living expenses a month. It's hard to ask for even a single yuan more. With just one phone call, your brother gives you twenty thousand. Such a good brother, send me one like that," Weiwei teased.
Ziyin didn't respond immediately. Instead, she quickly called back, and as soon as the other person answered, she asked directly, "Brother, where did you get so much money?"
"I made some money recently from playing games," Wu Shaochen said.
"Games? Can you really make that much money from games?" Ziyin clearly didn't believe it. She wasn't much of a gamer, so it was hard for her to understand.
Weiwei, who was nearby, quickly added, "Is your brother playing Oracle? If so, as long as he's good, making tens of thousands of yuan from selling equipment isn't impossible. There are several big shots in our newbie village who have earned tens of thousands by selling equipment."
"Ah," Ziyin was taken aback. She knew many classmates around her played this game, including Weiwei. Although she didn't mind people playing games, she had never thought games could make money.
"Yeah, it's Oracle. I sold some equipment earlier and made some money. Don't worry, I haven't done anything bad. If it's not enough, I'll find more for you," Wu Shaochen's voice came from the other end of the phone again.
"Okay, thanks, brother. But I can't take that much. You need to use it yourself. I'll send some back to you," Ziyin said, relieved to know her brother wasn't up to anything nefarious. Still, suddenly having so much money was a bit overwhelming for Ziyin.
"It's okay, sis. I still have more. Use it to buy clothes, cosmetics, whatever you need. Girls should always look their best. In the past, I didn't have much money, but now that I do, we shouldn't have to endure hardships anymore," Wu Shaochen said.
"Brother..." Ziyin's voice choked up.
"Alright, alright, go take care of things now," Wu Shaochen said. He knew Ziyin wouldn't call him for money unless something serious had happened.
"Yeah, I'll hang up now. I'll come visit you during summer vacation," Ziyin said.
"Mm."
"Hung up?" Weiwei asked beside her.
"Yeah, what's up?" Ziyin asked curiously.
"Oh, I was going to ask you for your brother's game ID. The game's only been open for less than two days and he's already making tens of thousands. Your brother must be really good in the game. It would be great if he could teach me," Weiwei lamented.
"My brother used to play games a lot, but I'm not sure how good he is. But Weiwei, can you really earn that much money in games?" Ziyin still couldn't quite believe it.
"Definitely. I don't know about other games, but in Oracle, if you're skilled, making tens of thousands a day is not difficult. Do you know the top player, Chen Feng? From yesterday to today, he's made nearly half a million just from selling equipment, not counting the coins in his inventory. I heard he also received system rewards totaling eighty to ninety thousand coins. Each coin can sell for ten thousand yuan now. So in just over a day, he's earned over a million. And that's just the early game. Later on, it'll be much more," Weiwei said excitedly.
Ziyin was left stunned, her mouth wide open. This was completely beyond her understanding.
"So... should I start playing too?" Ziyin was intrigued by what she heard.
"Yeah, your brother just transferred twenty thousand to you. Even after compensating that woman eight thousand, you still have twelve thousand left. You can use the remaining money to buy a helmet. Okay, decision made!" Weiwei decided firmly.
Meanwhile, after Wu Shaochen hung up, he put his helmet back on and reentered the game. Without further delay, he headed deeper inside. Ahead was Black Bear Ridge, where many level 17 black bears awaited, the monsters he planned to farm next.
Arriving at Black Bear Ridge, Wu Shaochen instantly focused. He cast Insight first to assess the situation.
[Black Bear]
Level: 17
HP: 23,000
Physical Attack: 350
Physical Defense: 180
Magic Defense: 100
Speed: 40
Skill: Swipe: Deals 140% physical damage to all targets within a 2-meter range and reduces their movement speed by 30%. Cooldown: 20 seconds.
It seems regular monsters really pose no pressure on me anymore. I can just dive right in for group farming. Three rounds of Poisonous Essence on a black bear means I don't have to worry much anymore. With 152 poison damage per tick, three layers mean 456 damage, reaching up to 27,000 damage in 60 seconds, which can directly take down the bear.
So Wu Shaochen started farming recklessly. He would hit each black bear three times and then retreat. Soon, a large group of black bears followed behind him. Slowly, the bears trailing behind would fall one by one. This method made Wu Shaochen experience true satisfaction.
However, this satisfaction disappeared when he killed the 89th black bear, as he only received two system prompts:
"Ding! Killed [Black Bear], gained 200 experience. For every five levels higher, gain an additional 100 experience. 20% of the experience is allocated to your pet, Silver Tai Lang, gaining 60 experience points."
"Ding! Immortal Body activated, maximum HP increased by 1 point. Current Immortal Body increased maximum HP by 218 points."
That's right, without the talent upgrade. Wu Shaochen repeatedly checked the system prompts, confirming there were none. He then checked his talents, and the poison damage was still stuck at 240 points. To verify, Wu Shaochen killed two more black bears. Experience and Immortal Body points increased, but talents did not. Wu Shaochen started to feel uneasy; he had never considered this situation.
He had assumed talents would keep growing as long as he kept farming. Now it seemed there were limitations. However, he could understand; otherwise, continuous farming would disrupt game balance.
"Does this mean my poison damage will max out at 240 points in the future?" Wu Shaochen thought with frustration. While 240 damage per second was formidable at the current stage, it might not be sufficient as player strength increased. If that were the case, this talent would be quite limiting.