Chapter 23: The Power of Money
Chapter 23: The Power of Money
Even though it was already very late, Xing Ye still didn’t sleep. He only had three days’ time and needed to make every second count.
He laid on the bed, scrolling through his phone. He ignored the parts about the system and just focused on the information on his current identity.
He poked around for a while before chuckling to the mirror: “Who said I had no special abilities? This identity of mine can practically be called a super power.”
”What happened?” The mirror could make small actions and hopped over from the headboard to peer at Xing Ye’s phone.
Xing Ye let the mirror look at his phone. It was the original body’s bank information, with a number of 0s trailing at the balance. He had a ridiculous amount of money for a high school student.
”Eh, it’s not even that much money.” The mirror said disdainfully, “In the real world, I’m also very wealthy.”
”What a coincidence, me too.” Xing Ye tapped the mirror surface.
”Hmph, it’s definitely not as much as me.” The mirror continued on arrogantly.
The mirror was clearly a very proud person, the kind where if something happened and they didn’t show off, they would be unhappy. Xing Ye didn’t mind him flaunting: “Since you’re also wealthy, you should know the power of money, right? Although I don’t have any special abilities, money is my ability.”
”But this is a supernatural world. The other players’ special abilities and identities are unknown, so no matter how useful money is, can it bribe a ghost? If you can’t find her head in three days and bring over a chest full of money, will that Miss Human Head spare you?” As a high level player, the mirror felt that it was his obligation to remind newbies that they weren’t in any ordinary world.
”Who says I want to bribe the ghosts or players?” Xing Ye laughed, “Let’s sleep. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
”Oi, tell me now!!” The mirror jumped around Xing Ye’s pillow, trying to attract his attention.
”Shush, go sleep.” Xing Ye casally grabbed the mirror and stuffed him inside the covers, right against his chest. The mirror immediately quietened.
After a good night’s sleep, Xing Ye got up the next day and immediately created a temporary Wechat group chat. He gathered all his school cronies there and made an announcement: “Starting today, split up and watch Cao Qian and Wu Yu for me. If anything happens, even something as minor as going to the bathroom for a minute longer than normal, report it to me. I’ll pay a thousand yuan for normal news and if I think it’s valuable, I’ll do 10k a piece. Don’t report to me in this group chat, just DM me.”
After he sent the message, the bunch of the guys in the group chat exploded. One after another, they expressed their agreement. They would even count how many grains of rice Cao Qian and Wu Yu ate for lunch.
Mirror: “...”
Xing Ye sent another message: “Make sure those two won’t discover you. No money will be given to those that are caught- you guys better keep an eye on each other.”
The little bros in the group chat all agreed. Somebody asked Xing Ye why he wanted them to watch those two and without another word, Xing Ye just directly kicked him from the group chat, implying that those who spoke out of turn wouldn’t get anything. Everybody in the group chat promptly shut up.
Mirror: “...”
”I’m not sure if Cao Qian has a teammate or not, but Wu Yu definitely has one. Furthermore, they both have more experience than me and there’s also no way that they would work to find clues with me. Thus, I’d might as well just have people trail them so if something happens, I’ll know immediately. Furthermore, Wu Yu is clearly a following fate camp player- his luck is his trump card. If we watch him, there’s a chance that he might find a QR code.” Xing Ye said to the mirror. “It’s not like everybody has superpowers like in cartoons. This is only a slightly supernatural world, so the sheer number of people will still be useful. Don’t think that I just have ten or so people with me, each of them have their own connections and to make money, they’ll find even more people. By that point, more than half of the school would become my spies. Say, isn’t this a super power?”
”Yeah…” The mirror was very reluctant in his reply.
”Yesterday, I realized that players have a sense of superiority over ordinary people in game worlds. They hold little guard towards ordinary people and if something happens, they would even kill them. However, even if they can kill one person, they can’t kill ten or a hundred, and it’s even more impossible for them to be able to wipe out the entire school. After all, there may be a clue on somebody.”
”However, this might expose your identity.” The mirror said worriedly.
Whenever the situation was critical, the little mirror would always forget his own arrogance and reveal his true emotions.
”Yeah, the people in the group chat or their connections might include some players. However, I’m letting them ascertain the identities of two players and also giving them an opportunity to hide amongst ordinary people- why would they go against it? Right now, we know the identity of three players. There’s only four left; compared to several hundred, even if they wanted to hide information, it would be like an ant trying to shake a tree.”
”Besides,” Xing Ye grinned, having already planned everything, “If somebody really came to find me, wouldn’t they be exposing their own identity?”
The mirror was dazed. Only after meeting Xing Ye did he discover that fate could actually be challenged like this and that such a way could be used to view the game world. Xing Ye was clearly a new player without any special abilities, but he was always able to make everyone else seem like novices in comparison.
I really played the game incorrectly… the mirror thought dejectedly.
”You probably don’t need me to help you find a QR code, right?” The mirror said unhappily, “I’m just a tool you can use, so I’m probably also considered an opposing fate player now. I might not have my luck anymore.”
”No, I believe in your luck.” Xing Ye said confidently, “The fact that you met me in the previous world is already a testament to your amazing luck.”
Mirror: “...Aren’t you too shameless?!”
Who knew that somebody could actually be shameless to such a degree! It was simply too infuriating.
After seeing the mirror’s spirits recover, Xing Ye said: “I was just joking, I just wanted to cheer you up a little. Don’t undervalue yourself, everybody has their own worth. Your abilities aren’t just what fate bestowed on you, it’s what you earned with your own hard work. At least for me, in this strange world, having a little mirror that I can open my heart to and trust is very good.”
Xing Ye didn’t know what could’ve happened if his mental state broke while he was thinking about his little brother and he didn’t run into this lively mirror in the Magic Mirror world.
”All right, my preparations are pretty much done. I should start moving.” Xing Ye got off bed and washed up, casually texting the homeroom teacher a request for a three day leave before walking out the school gates with the mirror and his phone.
Mirror: “Eh? What are you doing? The mission item has to be on the campus!”
”I know, I just need to check something.” Xing Ye said, “The world in the novice level was very well developed and also had a very large map. However, in this one, everything is just squeezed onto the campus. Think carefully- the campus has seven unimaginable horrors and is also a completely sealed off boarding school. This background completely limits the players’ thinking to the campus. But in reality, when an ordinary student encounters something supernatural, wouldn’t the first thing they do be report it to the police?”
Mirror: “...”
He didn’t think of that at all.
”Let’s take a step back; even if they didn’t report it to the police, they would at least find an exorcist. What can just a few high school students, summoning all their courage to find a human head, really do?” Xing Ye nodded, “We pay taxes to the government for a guarantee of our safety- I’m going to report it to the police.”
The completely sealed off boarding school didn’t allow anybody to leave school grounds. Xing Ye took out all the cash in his dormitory; the amount of money a rich second generation kid had on hand was really ridiculous- there was actually 200,000 yuan. Furthermore, all this money was just carelessly scattered in his bags and cupboards.
Xing Ye directly walked to the guard gate office and plopped his butt on the chair, speaking to the security guard: “I suspect that somebody wants to harm me. Either you let me go out and report it before hiring some bodyguards, or I’ll sound the alarm right here.”
There were two indoor security guards that took turns on shift all year around and this was probably the first time they saw a student as unbridled as Xing Ye. When they then saw the money he had heaped on the table, they were completely stunned.
Xing Ye observed the two. Security guards in an ordinary world would definitely let him pass. The only ones that would deny him were either players or guards that were controlled by the system.
”This…” The security guard was tangled, “Why don’t you just call to report it to the police, students aren’t allowed to leave.”
He’s restricted to school grounds? Xing Ye took out his phone to dial 110 but it didn’t go through. He made the two security guards call the police and this time, the call was picked up. However, the police just took it as him overdramatizing everything and stated that they wouldn’t come without a homicide.
TL’s note: 110 = Chinese 911
It looks like this world was restricted to the campus, but if someone was killed, the police would come. Players couldn’t call the police but NPCs could- it was another way to discover if somebody was a player or NPC.
”If it’s like that, I’ll at least need some sort of weapon to defend myself.” Xing Ye said, “Give me your electric baton.”
”This…” The two guards looked at each other in dismay.
Xing Ye opened his bag and started to stuff the money heaped on the table back into his bag: “For every extra second you guys think, I’ll deduct 10,000. 1, 2, 3..”
After ten seconds, there was already 100,000 less on the table. The two security guards hastily agreed: “Alright, alright, alright! I’ll give you the electric baton, don’t put the money away!”
Xing Ye smiled slightly as he stuffed the two’s weapons and their chargers into his bag before returning to the dorm with the mirror.
If he had a body, the mirror definitely would’ve been dumbstruck. He never thought that the identity the system gave players could be used like this. In the first world, Xing Ye used his gender to his advantage while this time, he exploited his rich second generation character settings. Xing Ye’s way of clearing games was always very different from the standard.
There was actually a specialized bank with well-developed facilities that catered to students on campus. As a VIP user, Xing Ye didn’t need an appointment to withdraw one million in cash from the ATM. Although he could do e-transfers, a large display of cash had a much bigger visual impact.
After getting weapons, Xing Ye started to look through his phone. He already had an uncountable number of messages with stuff like, Cao Qian got up ten minutes earlier than normal, Wu Yu looked stranger than normal, etc.
Regardless of if the news was real or fake, Xing Ye sent them all 1000 over. To get truly useful information, he would have to invest a lot at the start. Right now was a critical period for him.
After sending ten or so thousand, he finally found some useful news:
Cao Qian, who couldn’t play the piano, suddenly visited the school’s piano room and took away a music book.
Wu Yu was quietly whispering with an upperclassman that they had never seen him with before.
During break time, Wu Yu used a special spray to make the female teacher faint. He wantonly groped her and wanted to take another step before being stopped by the student following him.
Xing Ye sent each of the three 10,000 and sent the student who stopped Wu Yu’s evil actions an extra 5000.
Wu Yu was truly scum- he would be Xing Ye’s first target.
Kiki: Ik the ML seems a lil useless rn, but I promise he does play a very, very, very important role in the novel!!