Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Black-Hearted Capitalist.

Although Yuan Pei’s companions didn’t have particularly strong feelings toward him, they had at least spent a few months together. Suddenly learning that Yuan Pei was truly gone still left the group with rather complicated emotions.

One of the companions suddenly asked, “Who targeted him?”

Anyone capable of producing a forced-binding item was clearly not an ordinary person. Just thinking about it made it obvious—when had Yuan Pei offended someone that powerful?

For now, none of them connected it to Yuan Pei’s mission target—Ning Rong. After all, Yuan Pei’s mouth tended to offend people in general, and he had personally said that his mission target was insignificant, so they all momentarily went down the wrong path.

The girl who had used the item to check Yuan Pei’s condition said, “Forget it. Let’s report this to the boss first.”

The boss would probably assign someone else to deal with the mission target next. They just didn’t know who would end up taking such a boring task.

—

At this time, Ning Rong also saw the so-called faction point rankings. Only after joining a faction would the ranking system officially open.

The rankings were divided into a total points leaderboard and a Crown Prince individual points leaderboard. The top ten individuals on the personal leaderboard were currently publicly named. Once half a month passed, they would, like the Crown Prince identities themselves, become anonymous.

As for the total leaderboard, it was divided into the Red Faction total points leaderboard and the Blue Faction total points leaderboard.

Currently, Blue Faction total points: 137,151. Red Faction total points: 126,832.

The number one on the Crown Prince individual ranking was named Lin Qin, belonging to the Blue Faction, with a total of 41,098 points.

In other words, nearly one-third of the Blue Faction’s total points were contributed by this person alone.

The Red Faction’s highest individual scorer was currently “Sweet Big Smile,” with 23,122 points.

Ning Rong glanced at the forum and noticed that players still didn’t understand the exact scoring rules, and could only wait for official announcements.

She quickly noticed a hot post pinned to the top—

【Why is the new player Lin Qin ranked first on the Crown Prince faction leaderboard?】

This player Lin Qin… is actually a newcomer?

She quickly clicked in.

【Cut the nonsense and get straight to the point.

I had the fortune of being matched into the same game instance as Lin Qin.

This player seems to be a lone wolf, very cold, with a gloomy aura, not very talkative, and not easy to get along with. I didn’t interact with him at all. The only reason I knew his name was because he cleared the game one step ahead of me and the system announced his name.

That’s the background.

I’ve only been playing for about a month and a half. He should be around my level, definitely a newcomer; otherwise, we wouldn’t have been matched into the same game (although the newcomer protection period is gone now). Honestly, I know nothing about his skills, but they must not be weak. His personality is definitely not gentle either.

Those who follow the forum should know that this Crown Prince from the Blue Faction didn’t originally have his name on the list. He was added later. How he did it doesn’t need me to spell it out, right?

I don’t want to comment on his actions—it’s meaningless. He won’t be the first to choose this method, and he won’t be the last.

But no matter what, he is still a newcomer. Why does he have so many more points than the veteran player “Sweet Big Smile”?

The faction war has only just begun. Right now, Blue Faction is in the lead.

Our Red Faction players need to unite, quickly figure out why his points are so much higher, and determine the exact scoring rules!】

There were many comments below.

Some were explanatory.

【Let me add a few words under the original post.

I’m sure everyone has noticed the victory conditions. The game clearly states that once certain conditions are met, the game will enter the settlement phase.

What conditions? Not clear yet.

But at that time, the Crown Prince’s personal points plus 10% of his faction’s total points will become the final score. The Crown Prince with the highest final score among the ten will rise above the rest and successfully ascend the throne.

From this, it can be seen that points are important—very important, extremely important.】

But how do you earn points? I have no clue at all.

Lin Qin probably has an idea in his heart, but he clearly won’t say it.

To be honest, the moment the faction war updated, I immediately joined the Red Faction, but my points showed 0. I don’t even know how to earn points!

Those who have ideas, let’s communicate with each other!】

The comments below were all similar.

【I also joined a faction, also at 0 points. At first, when I saw Lin Qin’s points, I thought I could do it too, now I think… I can’t…】

【So how exactly did Lin Qin get his points? How can there be so many?】

【The Blue Faction’s point growth rate is obviously faster than the Red Faction’s. Are there really that many people siding with the tyrant? Even just for the 999 game coins after staying a month, it shouldn’t be like this, right?】

【Are there really so many people eager to see the game fully descend into this world? What are you all even thinking?】

While Ning Rong was quickly scanning the comments, Yan An sent a message.

【Yan An: Out already?】

Ning Rong just so happened to have something to ask Yan An as well, so she replied with a simple “mm.”

【Yan An: A lot of things have happened recently. Meet in person?】

Ning Rong replied that it was fine.

They agreed on the usual time and usual place to meet. After she roughly understood some of the situation, she closed the game forum and asked Zhou Yujing beside her, “About points, do you have any thoughts?”

Zhou Yujing leaned his fluffy head over and said, “I suspect the Princes may have point bonuses.”

Only Princes can appear on the personal ranking list.

Although the top ten all have different points, all of them do have points.

Meanwhile, many ordinary players said that even after joining a faction, their starting points were still 0. From this, it was clear that ordinary faction players did not find it easy to earn points.

Ning Rong had the same guess.

The previous rankings being removed was instead a good thing for Ning Rong. She did not need too much attention focused on her, nor did she need too many people paying attention to “Moonlight.”

After more than ten days, even the personal ranking list would also become anonymous.

The era of total chaos was truly coming.

—

Ning Rong did not rush to join a faction. The faction war had only just begun, and the fifteen-day public Prince list period had not ended yet. Now was the time to observe quietly.

There should be countless players like her observing quietly.

She glanced again at her [Personal Space].

Perhaps because her assets had increased again, this time, next to [Inspect Assets], a new option appeared: [Choose whether to bring accompanying personnel (temporary limit: 1 person) Yes / No]

Seeing this new option, Ning Rong felt a bit surprised, but also not too surprised.

When a boss goes out, how can there be no assistant or bodyguard? How could a boss always go alone to inspect things? That would definitely not happen.

Ning Rong looked at the time. It was already close to 2 a.m.

She said to Zhou Yujing, “I’m taking you somewhere.”

“Okay.”

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had already arrived outside the Su Mountain Resort Villa.

Even though it was already 2 a.m., the entrance of the resort was still brightly lit like daylight—luxurious and grand. Just looking at it gave a sense of shock.

It was peak summer. The resort was lush and green. Without even listening closely, one could hear cicadas, frogs, and other animals forming a summer symphony.

When Zhou Yujing clearly saw the imposing entrance of the resort, he first froze slightly, then slowly reacted.

Ning Rong had mentioned it before.

This is her asset…

As soon as Ning Rong arrived, the elderly woman dozing off in the security booth immediately noticed her. At first she thought she had seen wrong, then looked again before confirming she hadn’t.

Why was the boss here at this hour for an inspection?

As expected, as long as one is a boss—regardless of gender or age—they all have the potential to be a black-hearted capitalist who loves to act unpredictably. Was the boss here to check whether they had been working properly?

The old woman rubbed her eyes and forced herself to wake up to greet her.

“Boss, you’re here.”

Ning Rong nodded. She did not forget what she had promised Black Shadow, so she brought it up first.

“I plan to assign a few people to work at the resort. If they perform well like you all, their salary will be doubled. If they slack off or cheat, their wages will be deducted. After three warnings without improvement, they will be expelled from the resort.” This was also what she had agreed on with Black Shadow earlier.

She didn’t keep idle people here, and Black Shadow had agreed as well. After all, stable jobs were hard to find these days, and well-paid ones were even harder.

Hearing this, the old woman chuckled and said, “Boss, six people came yesterday saying it was your instruction. Since I didn’t hear your order directly, I didn’t agree and just told them to wait.”

Ning Rong said, “You did well. Tomorrow morning I’ll meet them personally. If there are no issues, you can arrange work for them.”

“Alright, boss.”

Ning Rong walked up the steps. “Tonight, I’ll stay here with my boyfriend.”

The old woman paused slightly. The boss even brought her boyfriend?

They had to serve them properly—absolutely not embarrass the boss!

Thinking of this, the old woman straightened her back and said, “Boss, please follow me.” Then she shouted toward a direction, “Old Fang, keep an eye on things here.”

The man called Old Fang, an elderly man with a sleepy expression, responded in a hoarse voice, “Got it.”

—

As the owner of the resort, Ning Rong naturally had privileges.

She had a dedicated residence here, and only she and those she approved could stay in it.

At the front desk, Ning Rong glanced at the price list. The room types were presidential suite, single room, double room, family suite, hot spring suite… The cheapest was the single room at 1,999 game coins per night. The presidential suite cost 200,000 game coins per night.

Her finger lightly tapped on the presidential suite as she asked, “Has anyone stayed here before?”

The old woman scratched her head, her wrinkled face showing a flattering smile. “Not yet, boss.”

Ning Rong suddenly thought of the dungeon boss she had encountered at the amusement park before.

She described him: two horns, eyes faintly blue under light, a black car with license plate 666, a rather unpleasant personality, and a habit of looking at people with contempt.

After hearing the description, the old woman curled her lip and said, “Probably a rich second-generation from the Gu family.”

Ning Rong: …

She didn’t expect to hear that kind of term inside a horror game.

But she also realized that Su Family Village had already completely separated from the game.

However, there were still many, many areas that had not yet detached from the game…

Which meant there were also many, many horror game assets that could become hers…

Ning Rong had just taken a resort villa from the boss for free not long ago, and she was in a good mood.

She reminded, “Someone like him is very suitable to become a customer of the presidential suite.”

The old woman looked thoughtful. “Boss, I’ll do my best to make him stay here!”

Ning Rong patted the old woman’s shoulder in satisfaction.

Zhou Yujing, watching from the side: …

It seems his girlfriend really does have the potential to be a black-hearted capitalist.

However… she felt even cuter now.