Twenty bucks wasn't much, but it marked an extremely important beginning, carrying an extraordinary significance. It at least proved that John Han's chosen business model was feasible.
After completing that first order, John immediately updated his shop, posting more services. He listed tasks such as gathering herbs on Forest Planet, killing monsters, completing side quests, mining on Iron Planet, forging equipment, seeking revenge, assassinations, and so on—over a hundred tasks covering all the common boosting services in the game "Galaxy Wars."
Additionally, John introduced various package deals, trying to cover every possible customer need. The prices varied according to the difficulty of the tasks. Regardless of the task, the prices were set one-third lower than the market rate, with the lowest hourly rate still at $4 and the highest at around $10.
On the first day of operation, within 24 hours, John received a total of three orders, working 15 hours in total, with an average hourly rate of $6.2, earning $93 in total.
For a regular booster, playing games for 15 hours straight would likely leave them mentally exhausted. But John was still energetic, not feeling tired at all. Moreover, while controlling the robot to play the game, he managed to self-study for 8 hours, cleaned his house, cooked two meals, and even took a nap.
For John, earning $93 was quite significant. If he could maintain this rate, he would make over $2,700 a month, surpassing his earnings as a warehouse manager.
The next day, John received six orders, working a total of 19 hours, with an average hourly rate of $6.9, earning $131.1 in total.
Perhaps due to word-of-mouth, on the third day, three previous customers returned with new orders, and a dozen new customers also appeared. John finally experienced the feeling of being overwhelmed with orders.
Since the game couldn't run multiple instances, even with the robot running 24/7, it couldn't keep up with the demand. John had to reluctantly apologize to some late customers, explaining that their orders would be queued and would take some time to complete.
"Boss, hire more people! If you can't handle it, I'll find someone else."
"My friend said your prices are fair and you're fast, but now there's a wait? Are you kidding me?"
"I've never seen anyone turn away money. Forget it, goodbye."
The disgruntled customers who couldn't place orders were placated only after John apologized profusely and promised to hire more hands and offer discounts.
The new computers and robot assembly materials had already been ordered and were expected to arrive the next day. However, even after arrival, assembly would take time.
That day, under John's control, the robot worked tirelessly, not taking breaks for bathroom trips, meals, or rest. Its dedication even moved John, making workaholics pale in comparison.
When some lubricant leaked, John simply opened the metal box cover, added more lubricant without stopping the machine, and the robot continued its work.
Due to the overwhelming number of orders, John set a new record that day, earning $152!
If this income remained stable—which seemed likely given the high demand, returning customers, and new customers pouring in—John's computer and robot could generate over $4,500 a month, rivaling the income of manual laborers.
But this was far from John's limit.
On the fourth day, the new computers and robot parts arrived.
John bought three computers and enough parts to assemble three robots, spending over $10,000, nearly exhausting the $20,000 he borrowed from Butcher Shawn.
Despite entering a state of near poverty again, John felt no anxiety.
Why worry, when cash flow was continually coming in?
After carrying the boxes home, John assembled the computers and immediately started building the robots.
With the experience from assembling the first robot, the second one was easier and even received some modifications and optimizations for greater stability, eliminating the lubricant leakage issue.
In one day, while continuously operating the first computer and robot, John assembled the second robot. After testing its stability, John put it to work immediately.
At this point, John had four backlogged orders, with new ones still pouring in. This was despite many customers opting for other shops due to the wait.
With the addition of new computers, John's workload significantly lightened.
After a busy day, John felt a bit tired. Taking a break between completing one order and starting the next, he headed to Aunt Wang's food stall.
Leaving home severed the signal, causing the robots to stop operating the computers. This was a limitation of the current setup, as the neural control device had a limited signal range that disconnected once John left home. For now, John had no solution to this problem.
"I need to stock up on food and try to eat at home as much as possible," John thought.
"Aunt Wang! A large bowl of beef noodles, with two eggs! And extra meat!"
With a steady income, John no longer had to be frugal with food.
John's generosity startled Aunt Wang for a moment before she responded, "John, you're here. Sit down, it's almost ready!"
The fragrant beef noodles were served, with two poached eggs hidden beneath the noodles and six or seven large chunks of beef on top, the broth glistening with oil. John added a big spoonful of chili, stirred it in, and started eating.
It was the best meal John had eaten in years. After finishing the broth, he paid the bill—$22, which could have fed him for an entire day in the past—greeted Aunt Wang, and headed to the supermarket a few hundred meters away.
He bought some instant noodles, pasta, vegetables, and on his way home, stopped by Butcher Shawn's meat stall.
"I'll take two pounds of pork head meat, and two pounds of fresh meat. I've transferred the money."
John didn't have a refrigerator at home, so he couldn't buy too much fresh food.
Butcher Shawn glanced at John and silently cut the meat.
"What have you been busy with these days? Haven't seen you out."
Handing the meat to John, Shawn finally asked.
John smiled, "Starting a business!"