Monsters surged like a tidal wave, unleashing a barrage of attacks, filling the screen with dazzling lights. Numbers representing lost health floated above the heads of the monsters and characters. All these numerical calculations were handled by the chip in John's brain, while all logic judgments and decisions were processed by his human brain.
Visual processing, pattern recognition, logical judgment, and final decision-making are areas where the human brain has a natural advantage. Even a child can pick out relevant numbers amid numerous distractions, but high-performance computers struggle with such tasks. The same applies to logical judgment and decision-making.
Conversely, numerical calculations and short-term memory tasks are incredibly challenging for the human brain. Even a math prodigy struggles with complex calculations involving hundreds of numbers instantaneously. For computers, even John's homemade primitive chip, these tasks are trivial.
By combining the two—leveraging each other's strengths and compensating for weaknesses—John achieved a synergy where one plus one far exceeded two. This confidence allowed John to perform extreme operations and take on the Serpent King dungeon with such poor attributes.
Under John's command, the robot precisely and deftly operated the keyboard and mouse, guiding the game character through exact maneuvers. Despite the horde of monsters, the character weaved through them like a butterfly, minimizing damage and maximizing output.
Potions were consumed at the most critical moments, skills were unleashed for maximum effect, and movement was always optimal.
The first wave of monsters was cleared smoothly, followed by the first mini-boss, then the second wave of monsters...
John focused intently on calculating all sorts of data. At this moment, the primitive chip in his brain was overclocked to 30KHz, performing over 30,000 floating-point operations per second. Despite this, the control of the other three computers was slightly affected, reducing their performance from expert to skilled.
An hour passed swiftly, and with all preliminary monsters dealt with, the character now stood before the final boss, the Serpent King, as planned.
John intended to defeat the Serpent King in 25 minutes.
The preliminary maneuvers, bleeding, damage boosts, and buffs were executed flawlessly. Gradually, the Serpent King's health bar began to deplete.
The entire process was fraught with danger. Several times, the character's health bar dropped to precarious levels, where any mishap would mean losing all progress. Yet, each time, John masterfully maneuvered the character, turning imminent defeat into victory.
The most perilous moment came when the health bar dropped to just 30 points. With potions on cooldown and the character poisoned, losing 20 health per second, any other player would have resigned themselves to defeat. But John remained composed. Just as the health dipped to 10 points, insufficient to sustain another second of damage, the potion cooldown ended. A large health potion restored the character, narrowly avoiding death.
While it appeared dangerous, there was never any real risk. Every number and time frame was meticulously calculated by John.
For ordinary experts, a single such operation would be enough to boast about for days. For John, it was merely standard procedure.
Under these circumstances, 24 minutes later, the Serpent King fell with a mournful cry. A cascade of materials and equipment dropped, and the system promptly awarded the character an honor title.
This task was complete.
Finishing a minute ahead of schedule was due to the inherent randomness in games. Today's good luck shaved off a minute.
An hour and a half, earning 150 bucks—an hourly rate of 100 bucks!
Whew...
John sighed in relief. "If only I could get more tasks like this."
With a consistent hourly rate of 100 bucks, one computer could earn 2400 a day, four computers 9600, and monthly earnings would hit 30,000.
But John knew that such tasks were rare.
At that moment, in Ironwood City, David was anxiously waiting, feeling on edge.
Typically, the Serpent King dungeon took about an hour and a half. Now, only an hour and twenty minutes had passed, so it couldn't be completed yet.
"Even for an expert, clearing it in one go isn't likely. I better not ask. If I bother them and they drop my task, it's over. I'll wait three hours. In three hours, they can attempt twice. Whether they succeed or not, there should be a result."
David tried to reassure himself and continued waiting. But shortly after, a notification chimed. Opening it, David saw a message from the Revival Game Studio.
"Hi, the task is complete. Please log in to verify. Kindly confirm receipt and leave a positive review if you're satisfied. Thanks!"
What the…?
What's going on?
Including login time, it had only been an hour and twenty-five minutes. Already done?
Even experts couldn't be this fast, right?
At this moment, David felt despair instead of excitement.
A scam, definitely a scam.
David didn't respond but nervously logged into his account.
What? Why am I in the Serpent King's chamber? Is this… the Serpent King's corpse? So many coins and equipment, all dropped by the Serpent King?
My title… Serpent King Slayer? I got the honor title? No way, the Serpent King was really defeated?
David's mind was blown, initially in disbelief, then overwhelmed with joy.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
David hurriedly expressed his gratitude while confirming receipt and leaving a five-star review: "The shop owner is a true expert!"
He took a screenshot of the defeated Serpent King, the purchase confirmation, and the chat with John, and posted it in the game group.
The group fell silent for a moment before exploding.
"Holy crap? For real? David's trash gear cleared the Serpent King dungeon in an hour and twenty-five minutes, for 150 bucks?"
"This isn't just an expert, but a super expert!"
"And the price is so low, and the speed so fast?"
"David, which shop did you use? Tell me, I've been stuck on the Red Iron Behemoth for five days!"
"Stop stalling, my Planet Devourer has been stuck for three days. If I don't clear it, my materials will expire, and I'll be sleeping under a bridge!"
"David, bro, uncle! Dad! Hurry up, which shop was it?"