Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Negotiating a Big Deal.

Hearing the hotel final boss’s question, Ning Rong said calmly, “I came to discuss a big business deal with you.”

Final Boss: ...

She said hoarsely, “All of you, come in.”

As the group followed the final boss into the room, Ning Rong’s livestream room had already exploded.

[Did you all notice it?]

[We noticed, we noticed!]

[Her skill looks like it needs to be used together with game coins.]

[Making the hotel final boss appear voluntarily cost 5,700 game coins. Looks like the effect of her skill is directly proportional to the number of game coins used.]

[If she’s rich enough, wouldn’t she be able to do whatever she wants in this game?]

[Theoretically, yes.]

[Would this game really be that kind-hearted? I don’t believe it.]

[There must be a price, but since she’s so rich, I’m guessing she can compress that cost to a very small degree.]

[I can’t understand why she’s so special.]

At this time, a colored barrage belonging to a high-level viewer drifted across the livestream.

[After watching over a thousand streams recently, perhaps she is not the only special one.]

Audience: !!!

That was exactly what they thought.

The game would definitely treat all players equally. It could not possibly single out only one player as special. Since there were players like her, that meant the game was still the same old game. Nothing had changed.

The big-shot viewer continued posting barrage messages.

[There really are players who possess several skills like her.]

[However, among them, her skills are currently the most interesting.]

Audience: ???

The information revealed by the big-shot viewer was too much. For a moment, they did not even know what to ask first.

This game had already existed for several decades.

At the beginning, there were only a few hundred players. Gradually, it became thousands, then tens of thousands.

Then, to the current tens of millions of players.

Over all these years, the game had also gone through several rounds of updates and replacements.

The sudden appearance of special players different from previous players could only mean one thing: the game had secretly updated again.

And every time the game updated, in most cases it meant higher difficulty, more ways to play, and more stimulation.

That was not good news for players.

Of course, a game with no hope of survival at all would be too unplayable, and viewers would also find it boring.

People say heroes emerge in chaotic times. The same applied when the game updated.

Many powerful players appeared during update periods. They would become the light of humanity and lead humankind farther forward.

For example, the current number one on the overall rankings, Endless Domain, rose to fame during the game’s first major update.

After standing out that time, he gradually replaced the previous top figures and occupied the number one throne for several decades.

And now, the game was about to welcome its third major version update.

[Got it. Looks like the game secretly raised the difficulty again.]

[No wonder there have been slightly more squad-wipe streams lately than before.]

[The game updates are getting more and more frequent. A moment of silence for the players. But... it’s great for us viewers. Fun to watch, love to watch it! More! Hehehehe.]

—

The room where the final boss lived was naturally exquisite and luxurious. Even though it was on the second floor, it was unexpectedly huge—twice as large as the luxury suite on the top floor.

After nine o’clock, the lights in the hotel corridors had all turned green, eerie and unsettling, but the lighting here was still a gentle orange, carrying a sense of peace and warmth. There was even the scent of women’s perfume in the air.

Shen Xuan and the others were especially tactful. They knew they were only ordinary players riding along in a big shot’s wake, so they obediently went to other empty rooms. They had no intention of staying here to eavesdrop.

There was a reception room inside. After Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing sat down on the sofa, the final boss also sat opposite them.

Only after there were no idle bystanders around did the final boss speak again.

“A big business deal? What exactly do you mean?”

Ning Rong smiled faintly. Instead of answering directly, she made casual conversation first.

“The hotel is running at a loss. You must be under a lot of pressure.”

The final boss stared at her without speaking.

As if she had not noticed the death glare at all, Ning Rong continued, “You probably can’t even pay the employees’ wages anymore, right?”

[Chatting casually with the boss—Little Newcomer is really something.]

[I’ve watched so many runs of One-Thirty, and this is the first time I’ve seen such a calm and peaceful final boss.]

[In previous runs, the final boss always appeared right on time at 1:30 a.m. and started slaughtering everyone. This one is actually kind of approachable?]

[Heh, only approachable in front of Little Newcomer. After all, she’s a rich sponsor.]

The final boss poured herself a cup of water. After taking several sips, she finally said, “Yes. So? What are you trying to say?”

Ning Rong guided her patiently. “The hotel business is bad. Have you ever thought about why?”

That was something the final boss really had considered. With melancholy, she said, “This hotel was built by my father when he was young. It has existed for fifty years now. Its style... has long fallen behind the times.”

Back then, this hotel had once been her father’s proud masterpiece, bringing their family endless wealth.

Unfortunately, people’s tastes were always changing. Even NPCs were no exception.

Ning Rong continued, “Have you never thought about redesigning the hotel exterior? The rooms inside also all need renovation and redesign.”

Even the rooms carried an obvious outdated sense of era, and those styles had clearly already been eliminated.

It was as if something painful had been struck. Obvious anger rose on the final boss’s face. She stood up, voice manic.

“Do you know how much money it takes to drastically renovate the hotel on top of its original structure? Do you know how much it costs to remodel the entire interior?”

That was an enormous sum of money!

And over all these years, because of her poor management, she had already squandered the family fortune. She could no longer afford such a huge expense.

At this point in the conversation, Ning Rong knew the key moment had arrived.

She accepted the tea Zhou Yujing had prepared for her, took a slow sip, then said:

“I can pay that money, but...”

Zhou Yujing: ???

Hotel Final Boss: !!!

Audience: ...

[I’m not surprised at all. Not one bit!]

[I guessed this long ago! Even though I guessed it might go this way, I’m still shocked by Little Newcomer’s wealth!]

[Damn, that’s not a small sponsor. That’s a giant sponsor!]

[How many game coins does she have?! How many exactly?!]

The final boss looked at her suspiciously.

“You’ll pay that money? You have money?”

It was not that she did not trust Ning Rong. It was simply that Ning Rong had no reason to be trusted.

She was only a newcomer who had cleared one game. No qualifications, no foundation. How much money could a player like that possibly have?

Even if a top ten overall-ranked veteran came, no one would dare speak so boldly.

Ning Rong’s tone was calm, but every word carried weight.

“I have money. You do not need to doubt that. But I must become the person with the greatest authority in this hotel.”

Otherwise, would she spend a huge sum of money just to make wedding clothes for someone else?

The final boss did not believe Ning Rong could produce such an enormous amount of money.

Her tone was dismissive, clearly not taking Ning Rong’s words seriously.

“Sure. If you can bring out tens of millions, I’m willing to hand over ownership of the hotel and willingly work for you.”

[Boss, you fool!]

[Deep down, the boss simply doesn’t trust Little Newcomer...]

[But honestly, working for Little Newcomer wouldn’t be a loss at all. If she works for her, this hotel can survive. Otherwise, sooner or later it’ll shut down.]

Ning Rong nodded. “Words alone are not enough. Let’s make a written agreement.”

The final boss said darkly, “An agreement? Fine. But if you can’t produce that money, you won’t survive this game!”

By the end, her words were full of threat. If it were not because the time had not yet reached 1:30 a.m., she would not have settled for verbal threats alone.

Ning Rong’s tone remained as calm as ever.

“I know.”

“Then let’s sign it!”

The final boss personally wrote the agreement. It was simple, just recording what the two of them had discussed.

Ning Rong would provide the money to completely renovate the hotel and become its owner, while the final boss would remain in the hotel to manage it for Ning Rong. Of course, all major decisions would be made by Ning Rong. The boss only needed to follow the employee rules then.

After all, the final boss was bad at management. If she were still left in charge, no amount of money would be enough to waste.

The moment the two signed their names on the agreement, a familiar mechanical system voice sounded in Ning Rong’s mind.

[Congratulations, player, for completing the random side quest — Solve the worries of the hotel’s big boss.]

[Reward: Hotel deed.]

Only after confirming the hotel had truly fallen into her pocket did a few traces of a smile appear on Ning Rong’s face.

[What a money addict.]

[The way you say that—as if anyone doesn’t love money?]

[Is it that ordinary players like Shen Xuan don’t love money? It’s just that they can’t earn any.]

[This game is truly stingy. One round gives at most a few hundred or a thousand! What can a few hundred do? Even the most ordinary item costs over a hundred.]

[Among the poor, the rich lady is precious.]

[The person above really knows how to make sentences.]

After her troubles were resolved, some of the killing intent on the final boss lessened.

Of course, it was not completely gone. For her, the predicament had been relieved, but not fully solved.

The final boss coughed lightly and asked, “How much money do you currently have?”

Ning Rong smiled slightly. “What do you want to do?”

“I owe the employees three months of wages. Since you’re the boss now, pay their salaries first.”

Ning Rong: ...

In the end, the wages were not settled immediately, because Ning Rong did not want to hand the chance of direct clearance to Juan Juan and the others.

“The wages can wait. First, send a few of my companions out of the game.”

She would pay the employees in full, and the boss would send them out of the game. Equal exchange. Very fair.

The final boss stared at her, afraid she might simply run away. After all, that was a huge amount of money.

Ning Rong said, “My boyfriend and I will stay behind for now.”

Only then did the final boss say in a proud and icy tone, “Come with me.”

When Shen Xuan and the others came out of the room and heard this news, they were instantly stunned.

They were both delighted and unable to believe it.

They were actually going to leave the game this easily?

Is that real or fake?

The big boss walked in front, taking them along side paths, leading them to a sewer drain in the back kitchen.

“Jump into the drain and you can leave the game.”

A wave of foul stench came from the drain in front of them. Beside it were vegetable scraps and all kinds of kitchen waste. Unlike the relaxed Shen Xuan, Ning Rong looked at this drain, which was obviously used for dumping slop and garbage, and didn’t know what she was thinking.

Shen Xuan said expectantly, “Then I’ll jump first?”

Rather than saying he trusted the boss, it would be more accurate to say he trusted Ning Rong.

Since Ning Rong had asked the boss to bring them here, then this had to be the escape passage to leave the game.

Ning Rong said calmly, “Wait first.”

She remembered that the escape well in the previous game looked completely ordinary no matter how you looked at it, while the sewer drain in front of them, no matter how you looked at it, was only a normal place cooks used to dispose of garbage.

A faint sense of discord rose in her heart, but unfortunately, her two skills were still on cooldown.

When Ning Rong subconsciously glanced toward the personal page in the upper right corner, she unexpectedly discovered that her main skills had increased from three to five—

[Money Can Make Ghosts Push the Mill]

[Smash People With Money]

[I’ll Give You Fifty Million, You Give Me…]

[Take Someone’s Money and Help Them Eliminate Disaster]

[When Money Reaches Even a Pig’s Head Rots, Official Matters Get Done]

Two extra skills had appeared all at once. Was it because she now had more fixed assets under her name?

At present, she owned a vacation resort, and also owned a hotel.

If properly operated, they should continuously bring her abundant income...

There was no time to think more. Ning Rong directly activated the newly obtained skill, [Take Someone’s Money and Help Them Eliminate Disaster].

Ning Rong leaned slightly forward and lowered her voice. “I promised I would settle three months of unpaid wages for your employees. Since you’ve received benefits, then the place you brought us to should be the real escape passage, right?”

The very next second after Ning Rong finished speaking, the boss’s expression changed drastically!

“Sorry, I remembered wrong. It’s not here.”

【Hahaha, just as expected! This obviously wasn’t the escape passage. What kind of escape passage still has rotten vegetable leaves in it?】

【The newbie is pretty cautious.】

【The moment the newbie threatened her, the boss immediately told the truth.】

At this time, the big shot’s colored barrage slowly drifted across the screen once more...

【Has it occurred to anyone that this might be the effect of a skill, rather than the result of a threat?】

Audience: ???

Damn, she had already used skills twice before, right? And now another new skill appeared?