Chapter 112: Never Say “Never”
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The System said, “Relax, it’s just that it involves the sources of ingredients, which is important. I have to make a health pill that is related to us. I won’t seize your body if it were a small matter…”
Fang Ning regained the right to his body and he immediately played it off, “Oh, the incident from before gave me quite a fright, so I’ve been raising funds to invest in something related to vitality production. I’ve personally went to finance organizations and they’ve can give me ten billion in cash; all I have to do is sell a portion of my restaurant’s shares…”
President Zhao waved his hand dismissively, “You shouldn’t go to that bunch of land sharks; your restaurant is a cornucopia, and it’ll definitely only develop further. If you really need so much money, you can go to the Qi City’s Chamber of Commerce and ask for financing; I would gladly act as your guarantor. You won’t need to sell your restaurant’s shares then; you would just need to pay back interest regularly, and the interest rate isn’t very high either.”
An amount like ten billion would be difficult for even somebody like President Zhao to pool immediately. He would never say that the ten billion came from his own savings.
Fang Ning was no idiot; even he could tell this future father-in-law of his really did trust him completely. Who would dare offer to be the guarantor of a loan of ten billion? Even the closest of sons-in-law wouldn’t dare think of it.
He didn’t respond with any unnecessary negotiating immediately. Besides, he had Sir System, what did he have to lose?
Fang Ning then said, “I didn’t want to trouble Uncle before, but since Uncle has already offered, I can only offer my gratitude for Uncle’s effort. I’ll tell Zhao Ying to go to the Chamber of Commerce next time she needs finances.”
President Zhao answered, “That’s good. However, don’t invest so much for now because Fatso Liu said that he’ll look for a few more investors so that everyone will be paying a few thousand first to test the waters. Since success will be hard to say and there might be plenty of pits that we might fall into too. It would be better if the risks were shared equally. Once our investments show significant progress, then we’ll invest more and secure more shares.”
“Alright, I’ll listen to Uncle. I’ll invest 20 million first.”
After discussing matters on the planting of the Vitality Crops, Fang Ning was brought aside by Madam Zhao, who wanted to share the so-called blessing of Bodhisattva with him.
After the sharing session was over, Fang Ning understood everything immediately.
He had witnessed when Xue “The Flight” Feng had received the Bodhisattva Spirit King’s magical energy from before, so why wouldn’t he be able to guess what Sir System had done?
Xue Feng had just gotten a little bit, but according to Madam Zhao’s description of the situation, the magical energy she had received was the size of a bowl. The difference was incomparable.
Sir System wasn’t someone that would let go of any benefits; it had sacrificed Fang Ning’s Relief Time while he was sleeping, but not only did it not reap any benefits, it had to suffer losses too. It was no wonder the System was throwing a tantrum; after it had been stifled by Fang Ning, it was no wonder it started acting like dried fish again…
…
After he swapped his stand-in mechanical puppet in and he had returned to the farm villa on the outskirts of Qi City, Fang Ning no longer teased the System after knowing the truth. He knew where to draw the line; he wasn’t a person to add salt to someone’s wound…
He didn’t want to risk his holiday…
After he realized that there were no more important matters to attend to, he started gaming to his heart’s content.
It was the first day of his one-week holiday after all…
He was gaming from the afternoon of the first day to the morning of the second day; a whole night had passed just like that…
The System spoke up then, “You still have six days of vacation left.”
Fang Ning didn’t care; he had six days left.
He continued gaming and a whole day passed by once again.
The System spoke again, “Your vacation ends in five days.”
Fang Ning didn’t care; he had five days left.
…
The seventh morning of his vacation arrived in the blink of an eye.
Fang Ning didn’t care and continued gaming; “Dragon Ascending The Heavens” was already extremely renowned in the game’s community.
It was everyone’s first time seeing a player farming the Instance Dungeons of Bosses for six days and six nights straight. Not only was the gameplay constantly inhuman, the vicious player would completely seize the announcement headlines of the channels in-game. Who wouldn’t pay attention?
People with a stronger willpower and more agile gameplay than Fang Ning existed, that was without a doubt; but nobody would be able to contend with his crazed passion towards gaming…
With his insane gameplay while he farmed the Bosses’ Instance Dungeons solo, Fang Ning had more top-tier equipment for his current level than he needed. The equipment he had looted couldn’t even be bought in the players’ marketplace. Buyers had to post announcements to obtain the equipment, which would only be sold at the highest price. Even the equipment of premium players couldn’t compare to his!
This ridiculous player was equipped head-to-toe in top-tier equipment; his awesomeness was beyond comparison and he made a big show of it everywhere he went too…
Everywhere he went he would be surrounded by players all calling him various names; those that went “God!” or “Boss!” were fine, but some called him “Husband!”. It would be fine if female players did it, but male players too?
‘So much noise! I still can’t create my “Soaring Dragon Matchless Alliance” so I can’t be a guild master yet, which means I also can’t recruit anyone into my guild. Without anyone in my guild, I can’t ask anyone to clear the space for me!
‘I miss “Filling the Sea with Ashes”, he was always the first person in my guild to clear the space for me…
‘Sadly, I can’t go look for him now, since I’m using the Cultivation Module of the Venerable White Dragon sockpuppet.’
He had always been using Fang Ning’s identity while playing the games, and when he had dissolved the guild he had given Fang Ning’s phone number to the other player too.
It would be possible for them to reunite once more since Fang Ning had long thought of all possible dangers and problems that would have arisen; he already had a big plan set up, he just lacked the funds to carry it out.
Once he had the necessary equipment, he would participate in placement matches and rank high in them. Once that was done, some treasure seekers would then approach him for endorsement. It would be bigoted of him, but as long as he was getting paid, he would be all for it.
A few already had their eyes on the “Pioneer of Cultivators”, “Dragon Ascending The Heavens”, but Fang Ning felt that their products were fishy, and so he rejected their offers, just in case he wrecked his reputation if he did accept.
This stupid game really was a good game since it had a Cultivation Module, but the amount of premium players in it was just a little too much. Although it was said that equipment can be obtained through grinding the game, but there was an internal player’s market that allowed actual cash to be used in transactions. As long as the equipment or items were related to cultivation, all transactions were charged with a management fee too. Premium players could easily buy materials from normal players at ridiculous prices.
The developers of the game were confident people, they weren’t afraid of the players making under-the-table transactions: buying items in-game at a very low price to avoid being charged with the management fee only to sell it at a high price in real life.
Fang Ning’s ability to pay-to-win just couldn’t compare to the others; although there were a lot of missions in the game had plenty of loopholes, the rewards were just a bit too stingy. He had only one mission left too, so all Fang Ning could do was grind for currency in-game until he had enough to create a guild.
With his inhuman gameplay skills and his overactive imagination, as well as his years of gaming experience, Fang Ning wasn’t worried that he wouldn’t be able to grind for money in the game.
The only thing he was worried about was that fellow that transferred money out of his account like it was nothing…
Fang Ning was busy showing off in his placement match when that fellow that transferred money out of his account like it was nothing opened its mouth.
The System said, “Huh, the equipment you have on really does cost quite a sum huh, Host? I calculated the offers I saw in the announcements that have appeared these past few days, and you could stand to earn millions…”
Hearing this, Fang Ning immediately quit showing off, no, playing in the placement match.
His face was one of shock, “What are you trying to do?! This is the result of a week of hard work. It’s already so expensive in the initial stage of the game, I won’t be able to afford it at all, so don’t you dare sell it off in secret!”
“I won’t sell your equipment secretly, I’m just saying that you can sell your equipment to earn money, Host.”
“You want me to sell it myself so that you can once again transfer money out of my account like it’s nothing right?!”
The System complained, “Why are you suddenly being so accusatory?! You game because you’re good at it, so the money you earn through gaming is yours to keep; I’m a Great Hero that will never lay a finger on your money! Unlike the money earned from the restaurant and from serving justice, which was earned through my effort and thus naturally goes to me.”
Fang Ning was exasperated, “You would really be so kind and generous? The Fang’s Restaurant was my idea, yet you’re so stingy about it. You only give me 30 thousand and no bonus; I can’t even compare to the top management of a restaurant…”
The System paid no heed to the second half of Fang Ning’s statement and only retorted to the first part, “I’ve always been a righteous, kind and generous System! Don’t you see me serve justice daily? Didn’t you see me offer ten billion to President Zhao once he mentioned about the investment in the Vitality Crops?”
Fang Ning shook his head in disbelief, “Only an idiot would believe you. You only said things that worked in your favor. Be honest, what are you planning?”
“Ugh, you’re always too smart, Host. If I suffer too much pressure, my efficiency in farming monsters will drop…”
“You aren’t even human, so why would you feel pressured? Don’t think that just because you’re mimicking the way I speak that I’ll treat you like a human. If you don’t come clean, I’ll just continue gaming.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll say it. Since you already have a source of income, don’t focus on earning money through the loopholes of that stupid book. If I spend all patching and fixing bugs, I’ll waste too much time that should be used to farm monsters. Then my development will slow and I’ll be weaker than the other Bosses; when that happens, you won’t be able to play “The Discord of Beasts” in peace either…”
Fang Ning laughed dryly, ‘It spoke with a firm tone but what it said held no power. This stupid System really is scared!
‘After spending a few days thinking things over, it must have finally realized that it could only develop games that were stupider than it was…
‘Forget it, I know my limits. I still have to rely on Sir System to survive in these dangerous times. It’s already spoken so, how can I not accept his request?’
Fang Ning nodded his head, “Hmm, I’m the one that’s truly kind. Since you’ve already said it like that, I’ll have to accept your request. I won’t continue mining the loopholes of the precious gaming book, but I can’t exactly ignore those Mission Rewards that appear on my doorstep right?”
“There’ll never be any more Mission Rewards that’ll appear on your doorstep since the Missions I’ll be putting out from now onwards will require a large amount of effort…”
“Let me remind you not to use the word ‘never’ anymore. That word is the ultimate planting flag term seen in novels.”
“Alright, I’ll never use that word anymore…”
Fang Ning nodded his head in satisfaction, “Hearing you speak gives me absolute confidence that your intelligence will never surpass mine…”
“…”
…
Since Fang Ning had gotten the System’s clear-cut guarantee, his motivation to farm the game increased greatly. He used to be afraid that the System would sell his equipment, or even worse, transfer his money that he had gotten from selling his equipment…
He continued gaming until the morning of the second day, where he then placed first in most placement matches. And so an insane legend that spent seven continuous days and nights in “The Discord of Beasts” was born…
Numerous famous treasure traders started contacted this insane legend in hopes that this amazing person would use their store name when he founded his guild.
Once they found out that this amazing person would be founding a guild called “Soaring Dragon Matchless Alliance”, they started racking their brains on how to add their store names to the guild name or how to combine both names into a better-sounding one…
Apparently somewhere in the north in the real world, the Mount Indigo Monastery had been burning incense quite constantly these past few days; news of it had spread like wildfire through Weibo and Wechat…
…
The System said, “Your holiday is over, time to return to the System Space to work…”
Fang Ning impatiently quit his game and relinquished control of his body before shirking back into the System Cyber Café.
Time really passed too quickly. If only time spent playing would as slowly as it did during work or class…
As Fang Ning mumbled to himself, he started cultivating the complete modern illustrated version of the “True Bodhi Tactics”.
A while later, his QQ went off with a notification of a message from Zheng Dao.
Fang Ning set his book down and settled into his chair before opening his QQ message. It was the perfect opportunity to take a break, he was so sleepy…
The message from Zheng Dao read, “Venerable White Dragon, I have a message I need you to pass to the Venerable Dragon God.”
Fang Ning tilted his head to the side and leaned against the back of the chair, his face betraying his lack of sleep. He typed lazily, “Oh, speak slowly. No need to be so polite.”
“This humble servant is incredibly ashamed. I might not be able to serve the two Venerable Ones anymore…”
Fang Ning sat up immediately, his brain alert as he typed his response hastily, “Why? What difficulties are you facing? Be straightforward. I am a kind person.”
Right after he finished typing, Fang Ning glanced at the System Map; Zheng Dao’s indicator was still blue and he was still showing up as Fang Ning’s follower. The System’s certification of loyalty was extremely reliable so it meant that Zheng Dao wasn’t quitting of his own volition, which made Fang Ning relax.
However, Zheng Dao’s current location was pitch-black, which meant it was still an uncharted territory.
What exactly had happened?
