A Clear Conscience Never Hurt (Thanks to Xiao Han of Yuequan Bay for the Silver Alliance!)

The following afternoon, around three o'clock.

After repeatedly taking computers apart and putting them back together countless times, I finally accumulated over 50,000 Skill Experience. Without hesitation, I upgraded Advanced Throwing to Lv. 10, gaining 6 Strength and further increasing my throwing damage!

Beside me, Lu Xiaobei was diligently reading, still absorbed in that horror novel.

Suddenly, she silently tossed the novel into the drawer, her face pale.

"What's wrong?" I turned and asked.

"Nothing..."

She seemed thoroughly frightened by the plot in the book. "Ding Han, do you think ghosts really exist in this world?"

"I don't know..."

Speechless, I said, "I'm not sure whether ghosts exist, but plenty of people really do have ghosts in their hearts."

"Luckily, I don't have any ghosts in my heart. I've lived my whole life with an utterly clear conscience."

She patted her chest, and it actually echoed...

I lowered my head and glanced at her.

Lu Xiaobei stomped her feet angrily, then grabbed the novel from the drawer and walked out.

I frowned, locked the computer, and took the chance to follow her outside. Before long, we reached the canal. I saw Lu Xiaobei look around furtively, then swiftly pull the novel from her pocket and throw it into the canal!

Good grief, she'd been so scared by ghosts that she threw away the book. Was she afraid of being cursed?

Inside the internet cafe.

Lu Xiaobei returned, looking calm and composed, as though everything was under her control.

Just then, someone came in from outside. It was Milo.

"Huh?"

Lu Xiaobei stood up with a smile. "Milo, why are you here?"

"Luo'er, what are you here for?" I asked with a grin as well.

"Nothing. I just came by to take a look."

Lu Xiaobei got up and acted as a guide, taking Milo around the internet cafe. In truth, the place was small, with nothing much to see.

Soon afterward, Milo dragged over a chair and sat with us behind the bar counter. He seemed to have something on his mind. After thinking for a long while, he finally said, "I have an idea. It isn't fully formed yet, but I really want to tell you two about it."

"Go ahead."

"I think this internet cafe is doing pretty well, and I want to invest in it. I happen to have sixty thousand yuan sitting around. If you don't mind, I'd like to invest it in your internet cafe, expand it a little, and make it more competitive. What do you two think?"

Lu Xiaobei and I were both stunned.

I never expected Milo to have made so much money after singing in bars for just a few months!

"Luo'er."

I lowered my voice, looking grave. "That money isn't from some rich woman keeping you, is it? Xiao Bei and I really can't accept that..."

"Fuck you!"

Milo stretched out his short leg, trying to kick me, but I easily dodged.

A pathetic Level 1 rookie like him had agility that simply wasn't worth mentioning before a Level 20 second-tier powerhouse like me.

"Of course not. This is my share of the bar's profits. I made the arrangement with the owner when I started singing there, so you can spend it without worrying."

"Ding Han, what do you think?" Lu Xiaobei turned to look at me.

"It works..."

I nodded. "Xiao Bei also happens to have thirty thousand yuan available. That gives us around a hundred thousand yuan in funding, enough to upgrade and optimize the equipment and expand Feiyang Internet Cafe to fifty computers."

"Really?"

Lu Xiaobei's face lit up with excitement.

At that very moment, a system ringtone sounded beside my ear. A new quest had been triggered!

[You have triggered the daily quest Legendary Internet Cafe on Qianjin Street (A-rank)! Quest: Help Lu Xiaobei optimize the business model and raise Feiyang Internet Cafe's daily revenue to first place among all internet cafes on Qianjin Street. Reward: Massive Experience Points, Bloodthirsty Assault (S-rank Skill Tome)!]

It was actually an A-rank daily quest!

My heart surged with delight, and the quest reward was even an S-rank skill!

During the closed beta, I had seen this skill book before. It could instantly unleash three consecutive bursts of heavy damage and convert 20% of the damage dealt into health. It was an incredible skill—not only did it have terrifying damage output, but it could save your life at crucial moments!

"Ding Han, do you have any ideas?" Milo asked.

I pondered for a moment. "What a coincidence. Old Wang's bun shop next door has been up for transfer recently. The buns he makes are sour and hard—even dogs won't eat them—so the transfer price definitely won't be high. We can take over the shop, knock through the wall between us, and use the bun shop's space to add at least thirty more stations to our internet cafe. By then, we might really become the most competitive internet cafe on all of Qianjin Street."

"That works!"

Milo immediately took out a card and handed it to me. "All sixty thousand is on this card. The password is 1-6. I'll leave it to you."

"Alright."

I looked at Lu Xiaobei. "Shall we go negotiate for the shop right now?"

"Okay!"

Next door, Old Wang had been running his business badly. With a miserable expression, he said he had no idea where he had gone wrong and felt as though the entire world was targeting him. I comforted him, telling him not to be too sad. The world was so big—who had the spare time to target him? It was simply because his buns tasted awful. Old Wang became even sadder.

The transfer went smoothly. We spent only thirty thousand yuan to secure the shop for a year, then immediately hired workers to knock through the wall.

Milo had taken the day off from work. After everything was done, he treated Lu Xiaobei and me to skewers by the roadside. Naturally, I firmly refused to drink this time and drank Nutritional Express with them instead.

"Since we've decided to work together, we need to make this official."

Milo looked at us and said, "Xiao Bei, after the internet cafe is renovated, how do you plan to divide the shares?"

"Milo, how about this?"

Lu Xiaobei said, "You invested sixty thousand, while the overall value of my internet cafe after expansion will be around two hundred thousand. So I'll give you 30% of the shares."

"That's fair and reasonable."

"As for Ding Han..."

Lu Xiaobei looked at me. "You came up with the plans, and your contribution has been immense. I've decided to give you 10% of the shares as well. I'm the owner, so I'll hold 60%. What do you two think?"

"I get shares too?"

Hearing Lu Xiaobei's words, I felt unexpectedly delighted.

"If Xiao Bei is giving them to you, take them."

Milo said, "I think you really do play a major role at the internet cafe. You have every reason to receive that 10%."

"Alright, then."

I nodded. "Thank you, boss!"

Lu Xiaobei narrowed her eyes in a smile and said nothing. She merely lightly tapped her beer glass against my bottle of Nutritional Express.

Late at night, Milo and I said goodbye to Lu Xiaobei and headed back to our place.

On the way, I spotted a book rental shop near Creek City University. It was called Auspicious Bookstore, and it was packed with black-covered classics, along with some comics.

A thought suddenly came to me. There was something I would feel awful not doing.

So I turned and entered the bookstore. After searching through the horror section, I actually found it.

Don't Speak, Someone Is Under the Bed!

I paid ten yuan as a deposit and rented the book.

"You're reading that?" Milo asked.

"No."

I shook my head. "I have another use for it."

"What use?"

I briefly explained my idea.

"You really are utterly wicked..."

Milo said in pained indignation, then casually slipped a dirty little novel into his pocket.

The next morning.

I arrived at the internet cafe early and took over from Zhao Yihang, who had panda eyes.

There were few customers in the morning, so I sneakily went over to the faucet, thoroughly soaked the horror novel I had rented yesterday, then tossed the drenched book into the drawer.

Lu Xiaobei got up very late today, probably because she had drunk too much beer last night.

Past ten, she finally came downstairs dressed beautifully, then sat beside me and played with her phone.

As I took apart and reassembled a computer, I waited impatiently.

Finally, Lu Xiaobei reached into the drawer. Then, as if she had been electrocuted, she sprang to her feet. In her hand was that soaking-wet novel!

"Ghosts... ghosts..."

She froze in place, her face drained of color.

"Lu Xiaobei, what's wrong with you?!"

"There really are ghosts... I clearly threw this book away... How could this happen... Could the things described in the book be real..."

She suddenly flung the book away, then quickly clutched my arm. She looked up at me, her face full of helpless fear.

I finally couldn't hold back my laughter.

"You..."

Lu Xiaobei finally realized what had happened and punched me hard!

"You did this, didn't you?! Ding Han, doesn't your conscience hurt at all?"

It hurt, but doing bad things really felt great!

I spent half an hour coaxing her before she finally calmed down. At noon, Sakura arrived early, while Lu Xiaobei and I went to the electronics market. We spent sixty thousand yuan buying a batch of computer towers, LCD monitors, and miscellaneous equipment wholesale at two thousand yuan per set. These components were enough to assemble thirty new computers. Once the new machines were installed, this internet cafe's competitiveness would rise to a whole new level!

At my suggestion, Lu Xiaobei made a trip to Creek City University and reached a partnership agreement with one of its colleges. That college's CS tournament would be held at Feiyang Internet Cafe, which would attract a great deal of traffic.

Seven days later.

The CS tournament ended. All sixty computers at Feiyang Internet Cafe were in operation, and during peak hours, the vacancy rate was kept below 10%. On weekends, customers even had to wait for a computer. Revenue continued to rise, and we soon reached the quest objective.

Late at night, twelve o'clock.

Just as I finished a bowl of instant noodles and was about to fall asleep, a ding dong sounded beside my ear.

[Congratulations, you have completed the daily quest Legendary Internet Cafe on Qianjin Street (A-rank)! Reward obtained: Character Experience +300,000, plus an additional reward: Bloodthirsty Assault (S-rank Skill Tome)!]

At last, it was mine!

I took the Skill Tome from the Dimensional Storage Space. As my gaze lingered on it, streams of text drifted out.

[Bloodthirsty Assault] (S-rank Skill Tome): Second tier. Deal three attacks to the target for up to 100%/150%/200% attack damage, and convert 20% of the damage dealt into health. cooldown: 30 seconds. Cost: 5 Essence Points. Required: Super Weapon Master. Required: Second tier.

Looking at the skill description, I was ecstatic.

Its maximum output was 450%, and it could convert 20% of its damage into health. The cooldown was only thirty seconds. Calling it an early-game god-tier skill would not be an exaggeration at all!

"Whoosh!"

With a flick of my hand, Bloodthirsty Assault turned into a streak of light and seeped into my body, becoming a new icon in my skill bar.

After pouring in a massive amount of Skill Experience, I directly upgraded it to Lv. 10, maxing out its damage and gaining an additional 6 Agility!