As I walked into the bank, I fainted right there. Was this a bank? Or was it an ancient pawnshop from ancient China?
Looking at the floor plan of the adjacent building, I realized that only the ground floor was a pawnshop, the second floor was for exchanging game coins for cash, the third floor was for topping up point cards, the fourth floor was for bank loans, and the floors from the fifth to the 98th were offices and the housing for bank staff, and the 99th floor was for exchanging game coins for cash.
Setting the game coin exchange for cash on the 99th floor wasn't excessive. What was excessive was that there was no teleportation link above the fifth floor, and one had to walk...
I strongly criticized the evil businessman Tian Ji Company. After looking at it, it was stated that for an item in the pawnshop, only 500 silver coins were given for a gold item, and all the prices were half of the purchase price in the store. If players couldn't redeem the items on time for various reasons, Tian Ji Company would make a profit.
I checked the current exchange rate on the second floor. 1 gold coin could be exchanged for 45 world coins. At the time of exchange, a 10% handling fee was charged. It was BS again.
I looked at the point cards on the third floor. I didn't know my account number, so I entered my game name. The screen showed: "Your free account will expire in 74 hours. Please recharge promptly."
Damn! I said why I never needed to recharge. It turned out that I was given a month of free game time for some reason.
The recharge methods were for game coins recharge and bank account recharge.
My bank account had 0 coins. What to recharge? I'd rather use game coins.
The game charged 1 world coin per hour. A monthly subscription was 500 world coins. Only players who played for 17 hours a day would subscribe monthly. Of course, I chose the monthly subscription.
I paid 11 and a half gold coins and stepped onto the fourth floor.
The review procedures for bank loans were quite strict. They refused to lend me because they found my real account had no money. I proposed using my game assets as collateral, and that manager agreed. However, they told me that before repaying the loan, my town of Friendship and other items couldn't be traded. If there was a loss in Friendship Town or if the equipment dropped, the bank would issue a warning and forcibly collect the loan in one day later.
The loan interest was 1% per day at a high rate, and the principal would fluctuate according to the exchange rate. For example, now 1 gold coin could be exchanged for 50 world coins, and one month later 1 gold coin could be exchanged for 10 world coins. Then, I would have to repay the bank five times the loan amount!
My town of Friendship was valued at only 10,000 gold coins. It almost made me crazy. The Shepherds' Set could be loaned at 1 million, but I was reluctant to pay that interest, so I only used a Shepherds' Ring as collateral and borrowed 100,000.
Walking on the street, I realized that I already had several million world coins in my possession. If I exchanged this money for cash and went to the Tiger King to explain my situation and ask him to arrange an operation for me, I could recover quickly.
Returning to the real world, how would it feel? Would it be like entering another space in the game?
To the real world, according to the rules of reality, according to the rules of 2050, to play a new game?
Even if I recovered, with my current physical condition and the knowledge I learned poorly twenty years ago, what kind of job could I find?
What could I do with several million? Start a business? Never done that.
Probably, I should return to the game to make money. Since that's the case, why not take advantage of the opportunity to be online for 24 hours now and earn more money to spend?
Also, according to the aunt who helped me with my bath, my body is truly in a state that is unbearable to look at. It would be difficult to find a girlfriend, right...
In a real world without friends or a lover, everything starts from scratch, just like when I was born in the Lost Village.
I shook my head vigorously. The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt. I'll wait for a while. Besides, this money was obtained by mortgaging my Shepherds' Ring. I won't use it recklessly.
When Friendship Town becomes prosperous, with an income of tens of thousands of world coins a day, it won't be a problem to earn enough money soon.
Put aside the real-world matters and think about what to do now.
Now the construction of Friendship Town relies entirely on the help of one's friends. This is really not a good solution. Baxter has even been exhausted.
Bai Yu is a level-up enthusiast. I can't expect him to do more for my town. Honey and the ones who are on guard duty are both less than twenty years old. There's really no way to entrust them with management tasks.
Lankes and the Blood Wolf, etc., show up whenever there's a fight. If we really asked them to handle internal affairs in the town, it would be impossible.
Jean should be reliable, but his gang has just been established, and many things need to be done by him.
So, with the financial problem solved, people and friends are the most important things. A trustworthy friend is something you can't always count on, but finding talents is easier.
I currently have 127,000 gold coins on me. After deducting the funds I plan to use, there's still some left. Let's check the black market to see if there are any talents I can use.
The black market in Tianzhu City is much larger than that in Xiali City. There are tens of thousands of talents in it. I've been there many times, but I've always been short of money. I'm not even brave enough to look at those high-level talents.
As I walked into the black market, I saw Laure coming out of the talent market, followed by a group of imposing NPCs. At a glance, most of them were above level 100. The lower-level ones were clearly some master-level NPCs of life occupations.
Since the combat NPCs hired by players don't drop items when fighting and don't give experience points to their masters, their only role is to help the players with tasks. With the increasingly difficult high-level tasks, the hiring craze of various groups has temporarily declined.
However, as the wars between gang forces increase, high-level NPCs have become more popular. Looking at the team behind Laure, I wonder which guild that opposes him will suffer again.
Although our relationship isn't good, he's still Senorita's brother, so I took the initiative to say hello to him.
Laure glanced at me and said nothing. He just walked past me without saying a word. That was very impolite. One day, I'll acquire your Haient Group!
You think it's impossible? I've already owned two god-level sets (the Tiger God set has been included in my plan) in just one month of playing the game. I have a promising town with a bright future. We can now be considered billionaires!
While daydreaming in my mind, I walked into the talent market.
There are still several player-owned shopkeepers selecting talents in the black market. There aren't many master-level players in the game yet, but there are over a hundred in the Xiaoliang Kingdom alone. As long as you have 1,000 gold coins, you can open a shop. So now, shopkeepers are relatively easy to come across.
These people running their own shops are different from me, the lord. Since they are running their own businesses, they are responsible for all the purchasing and production themselves. Their profits are much higher than those of my shops. They can also have NPCs develop some new products.
In my shop, there is the high-intelligence NPC Julie. The management is decent. The other shops are in a mess managed by those NPCs. There are even cases of buying at high prices and selling at low prices. The profits of my ten shops might not even be as much as one well-managed player's shop.
There are also many noble and boss-like NPCs here selecting talents. The job-seeking NPCs are also promoting themselves more vigorously. The black market is very lively.
And I even discovered job-seeking players.
Normal players can go to various shops to work, but the income is very low. Usually, they go there to practice skills, but they can quit at any time.
To work in the black market, you must complete some hidden tasks. As long as you are hired in the black market, the payment is several times or even ten times higher than working outside.
After looking around, the NPCs with reasonable prices have been hired almost all. The most important thing is that I can't find a suitable talent for management.
I was about to leave disappointedly when I suddenly noticed a strange person. This person was dressed in noble attire, yet he was standing among a group of NPC job seekers. Moreover, he was shouting: "Job hunting!"
I walked over and said in surprise, "You? You're not a noble, why are you coming out to seek a job?"
This noble was not old, and he looked rather handsome. He smiled elegantly at me and said, "Although I come from a wealthy family, I don't want to rely on my parents' legacy. So I came out to work and earn money by my own efforts."
I immediately developed a favorable impression of him: "So, what's your occupation?"
The noble smiled and said, "I have been proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting since childhood. Now I have reached the master level. I am also good at archery, swordsmanship, and riding. I have many advanced combat skills. My combat level is 130. Besides, I have also learned various manufacturing techniques. As long as the materials are good, I can create equipment of the precious star level. I can also... Oh, it's all because I'm too eager to learn and want to learn everything, but I'm not very good at anything. Up to now, only a few of my life skills have reached the master level."
I was so astonished that my eyes were about to fall out. Could this be the legendary full-time worker! Oh my god, I'm so lucky! My job change has a chance!
With a trembling voice, I asked, "Then, how much do you want?"
The noble showed an arrogant yet calm expression on his face, looking like a saint. "Money is not important to me. What matters is being able to exert my talents and realize my own value! You seem to be very compatible with me, so I'll make an exception. As long as you provide my basic living expenses and give me a small reward, that's fine."
I was ecstatic. Only a little? I was just asking the price casually to try my luck. Now it seems there's a chance! Besides encountering a full-time worker, maybe I can also hire a super subordinate!
Nervously looking around, there were no other recruiters nearby. I leaned close to the noble's ear: "Then, tell me quickly, how much?"
The noble said calmly, "Actually, I'm quite tired of coming out to look for a job. It would be better if I could find a stable job and work for a longer period. So, I want a one-year contract. I will only charge 10,000 gold coins. At the same time, the penalty for breach of contract is set at 100,000. Of course, I will only do the work within my ability. Any work beyond my ability I can refuse."
1 year for 10,000? My god, it's definitely not expensive! And it's super super cheap! I'm going crazy! Why do I always encounter such good things!
I excitedly said, "OK! 10,000 it is! Let's sign the contract!"
The noble nodded and said, "You're very straightforward. I didn't misjudge you. 10,000 gold coins. You pay first."
I gave him the gold coins and signed the contract at the fastest speed. I excitedly opened the "Employment" window to see the attributes of my new subordinate.
"Jenofonte, 55-level con artist, no combat skills, no life skills, special skill: Lying..."