Chapter 14

Chapter 14: I Really Am Rich.

[We agreed to struggle in despair together, yet you secretly turned on cheats.]

[Are two skills really possible?!]

[As everyone knows, players of One Thousand and One Nightmares can only possess one initial skill. So what exactly is going on with this little newbie? Can some big shot explain?]

The colored barrage slowly drifted across this livestream room once again.

[Theoretically, yes, but...]

There were exceptions to everything.

What was more, the game had never explicitly stated that players could only possess one skill.

The so-called “can only have one skill” was merely experience summarized by players and viewers based on the past. It was not necessarily accurate.

It was just that One Thousand and One Nightmares had always taken delight in toying with players and never did charity work. Any gift required paying an exorbitant price.

With such a high starting point, no one knew what kind of price this little newbie would have to pay in the future.

[This livestream room is becoming more and more interesting.]

Ning Rong looked at the old woman before her.

“So, can we have a proper talk now?”

The old woman sighed. She stingily tucked away the game bill Ning Rong had given her, then took another rattan chair out from the shabby guard booth, signaling for Ning Rong to sit and talk in detail.

The cigarette from earlier had already burned out, so the old woman took out another ladies’ cigarette and lit it.

She held the cigarette between her fingers but did not smoke it. Her gaze was vacant, as though recalling the past.

“Many years ago, a wealthy businessman came to the village and said he wanted to invest here and make us rich.”

At this point, she gave a bleak laugh.

“The people in the village had been poor for too many years. We were so poor we could barely go on living. When someone said he wanted to build a vacation resort here, of course we welcomed him with open arms.”

“At first, that rich businessman really did seem sincere. He said he would pay the majority, and the households in the village only needed to contribute some money too. Later there would be dividends and such. I didn’t understand the details, only that in the end every family in the village took out all their savings to support this vacation resort.”

“At that time, we were all dreaming of getting rich. Every day the villagers lived full of hope, but...”

At this point, the old woman became agitated again.

Her eyes were filled with pain and hatred, and they were beginning to redden faintly once more.

“But when the resort was only half built, that man ran away!”

She stood up, emotional, her voice trembling. Ashes from the cigarette burned the back of her hand, yet she felt nothing.

“Our money was all thrown into it! But that man could no longer be found!”

Hearing this, Ning Rong already roughly understood what had happened to this village.

The wealthy businessman had run off with the money, causing the already poor village to become even poorer, and the promised vacation resort was abandoned halfway.

Naturally, the dream of getting rich was shattered as well.

From then on, they hated every outsider.

In their eyes, outsiders were all liars.

Whenever outsiders came here, the villagers would stage a chasing game, watching with revengeful satisfaction as the outsiders exhausted themselves trying to survive.

At this point, the white-haired old woman, her face full of wrinkles, could not help covering her face and crying.

“He deceived us! He deserves to die! Deserves to die!”

After saying that, the old woman faintly showed signs of going berserk again.

[Oh no, the old hag looks like she’s about to unleash her ultimate move!]

[The little newbie’s skill should still be on cooldown, right? Run! Little newbie!]

[I don’t dare watch anymore!]

Just as the devoted fans were worrying themselves sick over Ning Rong, a notification for completing the side quest suddenly rang in her mind.

[Congratulations, player, for completing Side Quest — Explore the Village’s Secret.

Reward: One ownership certificate for Su Mountain Vacation Resort.]

[Side Quest Two: Resolve the villagers’ resentment.]

These two prompts sounded one after another.

Ning Rong froze slightly.

The meaning of the first prompt was...

She had become the owner of this vacation resort?

Seeing that the old woman was about to enter a berserk state again, she spoke.

“Elder, listen to me.”

The greatest boss of Countdown, who was on the verge of going mad, looked at Ning Rong with a sinister gaze. Before harvesting her life, she mercifully gave her one more chance to speak.

“What do you want to say?”

Ning Rong’s tone was calm.

“The vacation resort has already been taken over by me. I will lead you all out of poverty and into prosperity.”

[???]

[!!!]

[No, how dare you say that?]

[How is this any different from directly provoking the boss?!]

[It’s over. The little newbie is about to get hit point-blank with the boss’s ultimate move.]

In Ning Rong’s view, most of the villagers’ resentment came from the anger of being deceived and the misery of poverty.

The vacation resort was only half built. It would be a pity to let it lie abandoned here.

If they could live satisfying lives by relying on the resort, then this resentment would naturally disappear.

After hearing her words, the old woman froze slightly, then sank into even greater madness.

“That person ruining the village wasn’t enough, and now you’ve come too?”

After saying that, black mist spread around her body.

Her eyes carried a chilling coldness, and the way she looked at Ning Rong was like looking at a dead person.

“You are all liars! Liars!”

Seeing this scene, Ning Rong still sat steadily in the rattan chair.

“I am different from that person.”

The old woman asked darkly, “How are you different?”

Ning Rong answered concisely.

“That person was a fraud pretending to be wealthy, but I am not.”

Her tone was sincere, her expression serious.

“Because... I really am rich.”

After all, her identity in the game was Invisible Tycoon.

If she was a tycoon, how could she not have money?

[???]

[!!!]

[No, how did she say “I really am rich” in such a calm tone?! She actually said she really is rich. This time, she truly showed off successfully!]

[Honestly speaking, this little newbie really knows how to act cool! Earlier it was “play to your heart’s content,” and now it’s “I really am rich.” As expected of her.]

[Her acting skills are almost on par with “Movie Emperor,” ranked nineteenth on the overall leaderboard, right? Damn it, I’m really starting to believe her.]

[If I were the game boss, I’d definitely be fooled by the little newbie. Her tone is so certain!]

The boss stared directly into Ning Rong’s eyes, unwilling to miss even the slightest change in her expression.

“What if you’re lying to me?”

Ning Rong smiled faintly.

“Then let me... stay here forever.”

While Ning Rong was trying hard to gain the trust of the Countdown boss, the system’s mechanical broadcast suddenly rang in her mind.

[Player Jian Hui has died.]

This player had ultimately followed in his mother’s footsteps and failed to survive to the end.

Human life, in a horror game, was the cheapest thing of all.

Ning Rong lowered her eyes, hiding the complicated emotions within them.

Not long after that prompt sounded, another mechanical voice rang out.

[Player He Yueye has successfully escaped.]

Ning Rong quickly realized that the “He Yueye” in the system prompt was the He Ye she knew.

It seemed that from the very beginning, the other party had never planned to become close with them, and had even given a fake name.

[He Ye is absolutely the player I’ve seen most obsessed with killing and backstabbing.]

[Using Jian Ru as a shield before was one thing, but now she even made sure to eliminate the roots and killed Jian Hui too.]

[Jian Hui is truly miserable. This mother and son pair both fell at He Ye’s hands.]

[But there’s nothing wrong with what she did. If you don’t cut the grass by the roots, are you supposed to leave Jian Hui alive to cause future trouble for her?]

[This batch of newcomers seems pretty solid. The little newbie is strong, and He Ye is also quite good.]

[I’m kind of looking forward to the newest newcomer rankings!]

Absolute Kill.

This was the fourth day after entering the instance.

From the original fourteen players, only four remained now.

Besides Zhou Yujing, Gu Yu, and Juan Juan, there was also one random player.

Compared to half a day ago, Gu Yu looked several degrees more exhausted.

“We’ve already obtained the key clue. The key to clearing the instance should be in the river at the very center of the map.”

“In a moment, I’ll dive down to investigate.”

“If I can’t come back up, then think of some other way.”

The random player immediately relaxed when he heard he would not need to go down himself, but thinking of the task afterward made him irritable again.

“Other than going into the water personally, what other way could there be? NPC houses have tools like fishing rods and such, but we can’t get them anyway.”

After saying that, he gave up and said,

“In the end, it’s because our skills aren’t strong enough.”

Juan Juan glanced at him expressionlessly.

“It’s only because you aren’t strong enough.”

The player gave a snort and shot back,

“Oh yeah? Then are you very strong?”

“If you’re so strong, then turn the situation around.”

“If you don’t have that ability, then shut the hell up!”

Juan Juan’s face instantly became extremely ugly.

[Juan Juan getting roasted for once.]

[With so many teammates dead, the players’ mental defenses really are due to collapse.]

[Zhou Yujing’s girlfriend is already doing side quests, while over here they still haven’t finished the main quest.]

[What? Side quest? Then what about the other players?]

[Six players total. Aside from Zhou Yujing’s girlfriend, of the other five, three survived and two died.]

[The survival rate next door is actually that high?]

[Can’t help it. Someone was way too reliable and directly carried two teammates.]

[Someone? Who? Don’t tell me you mean Zhou Yujing’s girlfriend?]

That viewer wickedly replied,

[Guess.]

Gu Yu did not hesitate.

After explaining everything clearly, he plunged into the water with a splash.

Ten minutes passed.

There was no movement on the water’s surface.

Fifteen minutes passed.

Still no movement.

At the twenty-minute mark, the system broadcast sounded in the minds of the remaining three players.

[Player Gu Yu has died.]

Another one was dead.

Seeing that only a few people remained, the already unstable mentality of the random player completely collapsed.

This time the one who died was a player who looked somewhat capable.

Of the remaining man and woman, the woman looked down on everyone all day long, and the man was like a mannequin, so emotionless he was nearly empty.

No matter how he looked at it, neither of them had the ability to clear the instance.

Overcome with rage, the random player decided that before dying he might as well enjoy himself one last time.

He used the most expensive item he had and kicked Juan Juan into the water.

He cursed loudly,

“Aren’t you so capable?”

“Didn’t you say my skill wasn’t strong enough?”

“Since you’re so amazing, then you go down there and find the way to clear the instance—”

He still wanted to keep cursing when the scene before his eyes began to rewind wildly.

It was as if they were inside a car speeding at terrifying velocity.

And outside the window was nothing but blurred scenery rushing backward.

They kept shifting through time and position. Scene after scene of what had happened before flashed before their eyes one by one.

They were like spectators, watching everything the players had previously gone through.

Half a minute later, everything returned to its initial state.

Aside from the eight dumbfounded random players, everyone else understood clearly.

This was Juan Juan activating her life-saving skill—

Rollback.