Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Become the Richest Person Soon.

Yan An let out a long breath of relief. Without realizing it, his clothes had already been soaked through with sweat.

He gave a bitter smile. “My skill can distinguish truth from lies. Sorry, I just used my skill on you.”

Choosing a faction was a matter of great importance. He had to be sure that every word Moonlight said came from her true heart.

Of course, sincerity could change in an instant. But at least at this moment, she was sincere. And he believed that a person like Moonlight would not easily change factions.

Ning Rong said calmly, “Understandable.”

Earlier, had she not also used an item that could determine whether the other party was friendly?

In the end, before this meeting, they had only been strangers. Before becoming familiar, both of them had their reservations toward each other. But after this conversation, they had both shown their sincerity.

For now, this was a conversation that satisfied both sides.

Ning Rong accepted the “Forced Binding” item from Yan An.

She lowered her eyes and examined the tiny glowing sphere in her palm. One only needed to input the other party’s name and appearance to lock onto them. Of course, if one did not know their name or appearance, various keywords could also be added to identify them.

How strange.

But ever since the horror game descended upon this small world, some things could no longer be viewed through common sense.

Back then, how had the other party locked onto her identity? By name? Or by keywords?

Ning Rong put away the item, then casually took out two items that removed negative debuffs.

These were extremely useful to players, expensive, and always limited in quantity in the shop. They would only refresh again after clearing one game.

After keeping some for herself, the number of items Ning Rong could take out was not many. But that “not many” was only by her own standards.

The moment he saw the two items, Yan An’s eyes widened slightly. “These are...”

Ning Rong spoke concisely. “I won’t take your item for free.”

Yan An looked overjoyed. This truly surprised him.

In his view, the items Ning Rong brought out were far more valuable than the item he had given her.

Just these two items were worth nearly twenty thousand game coins.

He would not ask how Ning Rong had obtained these items. Since she could parachute directly into the top ten of the newcomer rankings, that alone proved she had the ability.

Yan An said solemnly, “Moonlight, on behalf of the other players, I thank you for your generosity. These two items you contributed are very precious. Perhaps they can save two people’s lives!”

Ning Rong smiled faintly. “Because my boyfriend once had items maliciously blocked by someone, I can deeply understand how players feel when they have no life-saving items.”

Yan An: “???”

The hand he had extended paused slightly.

That sentence was probably the real point of why Ning Rong had specially taken out those two items.

Based on what he had previously learned, he quickly formed a guess.

He carefully chose his words and asked, “The one who blocked your boyfriend’s items... was someone from the National Team?”

So that was why she had directly stated her attitude toward the National Team on the player forum?

Although Yan An phrased it as a question, he already had an answer in his heart. He straightened his back and said seriously, “Who was it?”

This time, Zhou Yujing answered. In a clear and proper tone, he said, “It was Chi Cheng. And he also heavily used his skill in reality to fabricate rumors between me and his daughter.”

Yan An frowned slightly. The amount of information in that sentence seemed a bit excessive.

He rarely paid attention to romantic disputes among players. To be frank, he already had too many things to focus on daily and had no leisure to enjoy gossip.

The name Chi Cheng was also very unfamiliar to him.

He said, “Chi Cheng should be from a branch team, right?”

“Sorry, I don’t know the full situation. I’ll investigate this matter thoroughly.”

After saying that, to show his sincerity, Yan An added one more sentence, “Give me three days.”

What Ning Rong wanted was exactly that sentence from Yan An.

“Good, then we’ll wait for your good news.”

The conversation came to a pause, and only then did Ning Rong and the others finally have the mind to eat hotpot.

Because they happened to be hungry, this meal lasted a full two hours. Ning Rong only needed to eat the whole time; things like swishing meat in the broth were all handled by Zhou Yujing.

Yan An only ate a few bites before he was full, purely because he was stuffed with dog food...

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Yan An kindly reminded her, “Since you won’t say who dragged you into the game, then I won’t ask for now. You must protect yourself.”

From the fact that Yan An had come to the meeting alone, Ning Rong could tell how seriously he took this meeting. Most likely, the matter of her being dragged into the game had left a considerable shadow on him.

She gave a slight nod. “Alright.”

Yan An said sincerely, “Keep in touch. Once there’s news about Chi Cheng, I’ll notify you immediately.”

“Alright.”

Yan An winked at her. “Once this matter is over, let’s properly talk about you joining the National Team.”

Why not talk about it now? Of course because discussing it now would seem lacking in sincerity. Only after handling Chi Cheng’s matter would it be appropriate to discuss what came next.

Ning Rong smiled. “Sure.”

After Yan An left, Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing did not hurry to leave. Instead, they drank barley tea while talking about the game.

Ning Rong played with the teacup in her hand. “When I cleared the game, would Yuan Pei receive a notification?”

After all, Zhou Yujing had played the game for over a month longer than Ning Rong, so there were things she did not know that he had at least heard about.

Hearing that, Zhou Yujing shook his head. “No. And for people like them who escape directly through items, they won’t receive any rewards after settlement.”

Ning Rong thought thoughtfully. “So right now, he might think I already died in the game?”

Zhou Yujing narrowed his eyes. “But we can’t rule out that there are some items that can confirm your status.”

That was indeed a problem.

There were far too many kinds of randomly dropped items in this game. What she currently understood was only the tip of the iceberg. She could not be sure what items Yuan Pei possessed.

Ning Rong stroked her chin and said, “So if I want to drag him into the game, it’s best to do it quickly.”

That way she could catch Yuan Pei off guard.

As for why she had not mentioned Yuan Pei to Yan An, she had thought it through carefully.

After leaving the game, she had asked Lu Wen whether he knew about “Wilderness.”

After receiving her message, Lu Wen immediately sent a huge pile of rainbow farts.

He said “Wilderness” was a great philanthropist, a selfless senior, the white moonlight in the hearts of countless players.

And Lu Wen was far from the only one who thought so.

From those scattered words, Ning Rong could roughly sketch Wilderness’s public image.

In front of players, Wilderness had always appeared with a positive image. He had indeed done many practical things for players. He held symposiums and provided valuable game experience to juniors.

At present, he had no negative scandals whatsoever. Noble, friendly, mild-tempered, law-abiding, compassionate toward juniors—perfect to the point of having no flaws.

Ning Rong was confident she would go far in this game.

But no matter what, she was currently only a newcomer who had entered the game a little over half a month ago.

As for Wilderness, he was a veteran player with a game age of ten years.

In those ten years, he had gained many die-hard fans, and also status that she currently did not possess.

It would be very hard to shake the image of such a person.

At least, it was not something the current her could do.

If she said that Wilderness had targeted her, a newcomer, and that he might have conflicts with Boundless Domain, how many people would believe her? If Wilderness then manipulated public opinion, the situation would likely become very unfavorable for her.

At the end of the day, the thing she most needed to do right now was increase her influence, and then one day in the future, tear open Wilderness’s perfect false mask.

Of course, whether the person targeting her was really Wilderness still had no final conclusion.

Everything was only her speculation.

So after dragging Yuan Pei into the game, she still needed to verify that matter.

After drinking a cup of barley tea, Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing left the hotpot restaurant and returned home.

As soon as she got back, Ning Rong planned to first inspect her vacation resort, then use the binding item to drag Yuan Pei into the game.

This time, after returning, she discovered that during this period, the vacation resort had earned 490,000 game coins for her.

Was it a lot?

Yes.

But not enough.

Since the game had provided an inspection option, that meant an on-site visit was very necessary. She planned to go take a look and see whether there was still room for improvement in operations.

Ning Rong studied it for a while and discovered that she could only enter the resort alone for inspection.

That was fine too. She casually handed a batch of items to Zhou Yujing.

Zhou Yujing, “???”

“Lu Wen will come over later.”

Thinking that she had not mentioned this name to Zhou Yujing before, Ning Rong deliberately added another sentence, “He’s the one I mentioned to you last time.”

Zhou Yujing gave an oh, his tone unreadable. “The little underling, right.”

Ning Rong pinched Zhou Yujing’s face. “Yes. He gave me a lot of useful information. I originally planned to bring him into the next game, but I really don’t have time.”

Her next game was a little special.

She was going to settle some conflicts with Yuan Pei inside the game, so she truly had no attention to spare for Lu Wen.

But she also could not just watch Lu Wen die.

Then she could only give him a few more life-saving items.

Zhou Yujing lowered his eyes to look at the various items in his palm. His hanging black hair covered his expression. “Then there’s no need for this many.”

Ning Rong, “???”

She was in a hurry now, so she could only explain simply, “I have money.”

These items that could be bought in the shop might be expensive to others, but to Ning Rong, they were ordinary.

“Then let’s do it like this. After he arrives, he’ll wait at the neighborhood gate. You just go hand the things to him.”

“Okay.”

“He’ll probably arrive around three in the afternoon. Hm? It’s already almost three now. Then you can head out.”

“Okay.”

After giving her instructions, Ning Rong tapped the option labeled [Inspect Assets] in her [Personal Space].

The next second, her whole person disappeared.

Zhou Yujing checked the time. It really was almost three.

He took the items and went to the neighborhood gate.

When he arrived, Lu Wen was already waiting there.

With just one glance, he could confirm the other party’s identity.

Because the difference between players and ordinary people was huge. Not to mention this person had his head lowered the whole time, constantly sending messages. Ordinary people would think he was playing on his phone, but fellow players would know that he was browsing the game forum.

He walked a few steps straight to Lu Wen.

The moment he saw him, Lu Wen froze for a second. “Zhou Yujing?”

Zhou Yujing gave an mm.

Lu Wen looked behind him. “Where’s my sis?”

Zhou Yujing said, “Rongrong has something to do.”

Lu Wen looked a little disappointed. “Oh.” He had originally thought he could see Ning Rong today. He had not expected that she had no time to meet him, but it did not matter. They would meet again sooner or later.

Zhou Yujing handed the items to him. The items were packed inside an ordinary snack bag. If others saw it, they would only think it contained some food.

Lu Wen lowered his head and looked inside the bag.

There were actually this many items inside!

And they were all useful items for him!

What was more, among these items, there was even a name-change card.

His sis was truly too detail-oriented!

She had even noticed the detail that he had no money to change his name!

He was so touched that the corners of his eyes became moist!

Although Lu Wen had long known Ning Rong was rich, he was still stunned by her generosity.

What virtue or ability did he have, to have managed to hug such a thick thigh?

He must have been blessed for three lifetimes to meet his sis!

This was his only sis!

And also his forever sis!

If Ning Rong had been here, he would definitely have hugged her thigh and shouted “My sis!” three times.

After Zhou Yujing delivered the things, he turned to leave. Behind him, Lu Wen said reluctantly, “My sis didn’t go into another game again, right? Tell her I’ll be staying in A City for several days recently. As long as she needs me, I’ll come whenever called.”

“And I’ll share some with Qin Jue.”

Qin Jue?

Who was that now?

Zhou Yujing’s departing steps became even faster.

When Ning Rong opened her eyes again, she had already returned to Su Family Village.

Stepping onto this land once more, she quickly noticed the difference. Unlike before, the villagers of Su Family Village now all had light on their faces, full of hope. Any malice toward players, any dissatisfaction with the current situation, had all completely disappeared.

When Ning Rong arrived at the entrance of the vacation resort, the old woman in the security booth noticed her immediately.

The former dungeon boss, whose combat power had once been explosive and whose expression had always been gloomy and frightening, now smiled at everyone she met. The moment she saw Ning Rong, she walked out of the security booth and greeted her proactively, “Ah, the big boss has arrived.”

The old woman’s tone was very enthusiastic, as though she had seen some important figure. Ning Rong had once seen the old woman covered in killing intent. Compared with now, she was like a completely different person.

Although Ning Rong was still not quite used to the title “big boss,” the old woman had certainly provided enough emotional value.

Ning Rong simply said, “I came to take a look.”

The old woman smiled broadly. “Looking is good. After you finish looking, please also give us some suggestions. See where we haven’t done well enough, so we can continue improving.”

Ning Rong had not expected the other party to be so perceptive, seeing through her purpose in coming here at a glance.

She actually did not understand business operations that well. This inspection was mainly meant as encouragement plus motivation.

Ning Rong coughed lightly. “You’re doing well at the moment, but I think you can do even better.”

“If the revenue can double, then when the time comes, I’ll give every one of you a raise.”

The moment they heard about raises, the old woman’s eyes lit up instantly.

She rubbed her hands together and asked, “Really?”

Facts proved that even a dungeon boss could not escape the temptation of a salary raise.

With the promise of a raise as bait, the old woman declared on the spot that she would work herself to death, and would supervise everyone else into crazed overtime every single day, operating twenty-four hours a day, making sure Ning Rong would become the richest person as soon as possible.

Ning Rong: …

That was not necessary to that extent.

You could not become fat in one bite. Becoming the richest person was the kind of thing that should be taken slowly.