Next to a small restaurant near a corner of the industrial zone, a luxurious Mercedes-Benz was parked.

A man and a woman were eating rice noodles and sweating bullets inside the restaurant.

Lin Yixin looked at the price and asked, “Lu Chen, why do you think these Crossing-the-bridge noodles are 6 RMB more expensive than others?”

I didn’t look up from my food. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because the toll is included in it!”

“Pu!”

The diners around us spat out their food at the same time.

Halfway through the meal, a sense of loss suddenly caught up to me. “Yiyi, didn’t you say you were going to treat me to a meal at Land of Sweet Dreams? How did it turn into a noodle bowl that costs only ten or so RMB…”

Lin Yixin advised patiently, “A person should be frugal with their funds.”

My face was drained of blood. “You… you’re driving a Mercedes-Benz and you’re telling me to be frugal? You probably burn two noodle bowls worth of money each time you step on the gas!”

Lin Yixin smiled. “You think I’m rich? This car is mine, true, but I’m actually so poor I’m almost at the point where I have to beg on the streets. Worse, you came around and swindled dozens of gold from me, sigh…”

“Right, keep crying about how poor you are…”

Lin Yixin pursed her lips lightly before changing the subject. “Hey, do you know that that Li Le we beat up just now is also at Floating Ice City? He’s even gathering a bunch of hooligans in hopes of building a powerful guild.”

“Trash,” I said indifferently.

Lin Yixin giggled in agreement. “Exactly. You should still be careful though. Li Le may be lacking in every other area, but money isn’t one of them.”

I gave her a nod and a confident smile. “Don’t worry, it’s true I’m incomparable to him in terms of family background and assets right now, but in the game I have a million ways to send him to hell!”

“Mn!”

……

Late in the night, 10 pm.

After the black Mercedes-Benz stopped beneath my apartment, I got out of the car and said, “Thanks for tonight.”

Lin Yixin rolled down the car window and smiled at me. “Aren’t you going to invite me upstairs?”

I replied while grinning, “Feel free to join me, but you won’t be going anywhere else tonight if you try.”

Caught off-guard by my reply, she stuck her tongue at me and smiled. “Forget it then. Goodbye!”

She started up the car and drove away like the wind. Apparently, she was really worried that she wouldn’t get back in time.

By the time I went upstairs and returned to the workshop, Du Thirteen and Gui Guzi were already asleep. There was a slip of paper on the table that said, “Boss, sleep soon. We have work tomorrow at 6 in the morning!”

I was certain that the note was written by Gui Guzi because it was bold, cursive and very impressive. I've seen fair share of Du Thirteen's writing throughout my life, and as far as I could tell, his calligraphy skill during his fourth year at the university was the same as when he had been in kindergarten. There was no chance this writing was his, at all.

I smiled as I stared at the note. It felt pretty good to have a brother or two in the family. Du Thirteen was the first person to enter my life half a month ago. After him, it was Gui Guzi and Lin Yixin. That sense of loneliness I had been feeling was long gone.

I took a bath and went to bed.

……

When I woke up the next day early in the morning, Du Thirteen had bought us some deep-fried dough sticks and sesame seed cakes. I drank some plain water and cleaned up my portion of the breakfast.

“It’s really early. What’s the job?” I checked the time and saw that it was only 6:30 in the morning.

Gui Guzi said, “Last night a guild contacted us about clearing a high-level quest. They also asked us to boost a Level 21 player at least 5 levels in 10 hours. They’ll pay us 100 gold for it!”

I was surprised. “100 gold for just 10 hours of work? This guild seems very rich!”

Gui Guzi nodded. “That’s why we’re logging in earlier than usual. I’m not sure Brother B and I have the firepower needed to complete this job, so I’m asking for your help, boss!”

I smiled. “No problem. Where are we meeting?”

“The eastern gate of Floating Ice City!”

“Got it!”

I logged in after finishing breakfast.

Swhoosh!

After appearing inside an inn in Floating Ice City, I went to repair my equipment first. Then, I stocked up on some common potions. I still had plenty of Rank 3 Health Potions from Lin Yixin, so this was adequate preparation.

A beep suddenly entered my ears. Someone named “Life of Luxury” had sent me a friend request. It was such a cool and luxurious ID that I felt like giving them a thrashing.

I added the stranger as a temporary friend, so that his ID would be deleted after he logged out and accepted the call request that came a couple of seconds later. He said, “Brother, I saw the Blood Skeleton you’ve put up at the auction house. Is it possible for me to make you a better offer and buy it off your hands directly?”

“Oh really?”

I walked to the auction house and checked the latest bid. The Blood Skeleton’s price reached 743 gold, so I replied, “The latest bid is 750 gold. How much do you plan to offer me?”

“What? 750 gold…” Life of Luxury was clearly caught off-guard by the price tag. Some hesitation later, he made up his mind and said seriously, “I can offer you 1000 gold for the Blood Skeleton. Is that okay?”

“No problem. Bid 1000 gold now, and I’ll confirm the transaction right away!”

“Okay!”

The reason Life of Luxury called me directly in the first place was probably because he was afraid that someone would offer a higher bid than what he could afford. At 5-star HP and Defense, my pet was way better than the Wasps and Green Praying Mantises listed.

About 10 minutes later, the latest bid refreshed into 1000 gold. I immediately confirmed the transaction.

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, player “Life of Luxury” has bought your item “Blood Skeleton” for 1000 gold. 950 gold is transferred to your account after a 5% trading fee is deducted!

……

I checked my bag and saw over 1000 gold inside it. Now I’m really rich, haha!

I logged into Heavenblessed’s official trading platform and split 900 gold into 9 transactions. Then, I set the price tag to 90 RMB per 1 gold. The value of gold was already depreciating, so I had to sell it while it was still worth something. After all, gold wasn’t nearly as stable as the currency it could be changed to, RMB.

After everything was set up, it was just a matter of waiting for the money to enter my Chinese Construction Bank card!

Du Thirteen and Gui Guzi chose this moment to arrive at Floating Ice City and add me to the party. After I clicked “Yes”, another beep followed.

System Notice: Player “Young Master Le” has joined your party!

Young Master Le? A bit of doubt entered my mind. Why does it feel like I’ve heard this name somewhere?

I was treated to a great surprise when I arrived at the floating bridge at the east gate of Floating Ice City. A Level 21 warrior was standing next to Du Thirteen and Gui Guzi. His ID was Young Master Le, and he was a brawny barbarian clad in an Iron-grade metal armor. His pale and handsome face didn’t mesh well with his body, however.

The barbarian was none other than the Li Le who had gotten a faceful of red wine by me, followed up by a KO kick from Lin Yixin, also known as Young Master Le. The surprise turned to pleasure when the realization hit me.

At this day and age, anyone who called themselves “young master” was either crazy or stupid.

The world is unexpectedly small, isn’t it? Who would’ve thought that Li Le would become our employer? Hmph hmph, I’ll slaughter him good. There’s no better target than someone who was confirmed to have more money than sense!

I strode over to the group, and Gui Guzi immediately raised his hand and called out. “Haha, our boss is here!”

Li Le turned around and saw a man clad in black metal armor and dark-cyan cloak walking toward him. Unfortunately for him, I had no face to reveal my true identity. He only knew that I was Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, a famous player in Floating Ice City and a frequent visitor of the Top 3 placement of the Heavenly Ranking.

Li Le nodded and greeted me, “Hello, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!”

I nodded in return before replying, “Let’s go. Show me the quest location!”

“Yessir!”

Gui Guzi performed as ordered, and to my surprise the place we were heading to was Ghost Valley. Li Le was planning to farm Blood Skeletons and Cyan Skeletons to level up his character? If he hadn’t hired Gui Guzi and me, his only fate at that location was to be getting one-shot by everything he came across.

“All you need to do is to kill 1000 Blood Skeletons and 1000 Cyan Skeletons. Also, the mobs might drop some cards. Those belong to me as well!” Li Le said in a cold and arrogant tone.

Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen frowned immediately. They clearly didn’t like his attitude as well.

I gripped the handle of my blade and said coldly, “In this business, the cards belong to the biggest damage contributor. We agreed to your terms, but don’t forget that the terms only stated we would help you gain 5 levels in 10 hours. You will respect the deal, won’t you?”

My tone allowed no rebuke, and Li Le was stunned by my firmness. He nodded. “F-fine then. The cards are yours. I’ll just take the experience…”

I sneered. I could already see that he was the kind of person who feared the strong and bullied the weak. He clearly knew that he was weaker than me, and he dared not challenge my authority.

“Let’s go!” Li Le urged.

But Du Thirteen spoke up. “Wait, we’re still missing one person!”

I wasn’t sure who he was speaking of, but I didn’t question him.

A few minutes later, a beautiful and sexy priest entered our view. It was Murong Mingyue!

What’s going on? Since when did she get together with Du Thirteen?

Thankfully, Murong Mingyue cleared up my confusion the moment she arrived. “As promised, I’ll heal you all for ten hours for 1 gold per hour. Don’t you dare go back on our deal once it’s done, hmph hmph!”

I see, Du Thirteen invited her to be our healer. The cost to hire her was surprisingly low, however. 1 gold per hour was way too little for a second-promotion priest like Murong Mingyue. That being said, partying with us meant that she would level up much quicker than usual. That must be one of the reasons why she was willing to accept such a paltry condition.

Four damage dealers and one priest. A class high-DPS five-man party was formed just like that.

……

We trekked through Frost Forest. I took the lead, Gui Guzi guarded Li Le, and Du Thirteen watched our back. Gui Guzi was a Magic Knight; a tank among the defensive professions, so he was the ideal choice to protect someone.

Holding a staff in her hand, Murong Mingyue caught up to me and walked together with me.

I shot her a glance and smiled. “Priest, you should leave the front to the warriors. You’ll be safer if you stay at the back.”

Murong Mingyue smiled back and replied, “It’s fine, these small fry can’t do anything to me!”

After that, she cocked her head and smiled at me meaningfully. “So, Sinks Into Sand, how much did you get from selling that Blood Skeleton?”

“1000 gold.” I didn’t try to hide my profit from her. “Everyone calls me Broken Halberd, so why do you call me Sinks Into Sand?”

“Heh, I just enjoy calling you that, that’s all~”

A small smirk crossed Murong Mingyue’s face. The way she and her long hair fluttered slightly under the moonlight looked incredibly seductive.