Someone Came Calling

Although everyone tacitly left her alone for now, and even Su Yitong had not thought of declaring her the property of the Su Family, that was only because the skill was not particularly useful at present. It was like a mystic going around helping people attract wealth—valued, but not truly taken seriously, like some little trinket.

But things would be different after the Game Invasion.

If one faction's loot from every dungeon run was worth 30% more than that of other factions—even just 10% more—they would eventually leave everyone else far behind.

Players were not earning much money yet, so her asking price was not high either. But as players grew stronger and earned more, the price of her skill would inevitably rise.

Either she would not use it, or she would have to maintain a balance—make those major factions balance one another and reach an understanding that none of them would touch her.

Since she needed balance, she could not be too greedy. If she dared demand a share of a team's final dungeon earnings, she would not survive three days. But if she charged too little, she would not be satisfied either. She admitted that no matter how restrained and cautious she was, she was greedy by nature.

Still, this problem would be easy to solve. It just depended on whether news of her talent had gotten out...

As she was thinking, she received a call from the security guard, who said that two people were looking for her. They claimed to have played the game with her on October 10.

The guard's tone was extremely strange. He probably had not expected that people living in grand villas would also play games and meet up offline.

Yu Xunge understood. Players.

She was not afraid. Since they had come to visit formally in broad daylight, whatever their purpose, they were at least showing goodwill for now. She told someone to bring them in.

The visitors were a man and a woman, dressed casually, but judging by their posture and bearing, they were most likely from some unit. She led them inside and had them sit down. After serving them two glasses of water, she got straight to the point and asked why they had come.

The ponytailed woman said, "Hello, my name is Zhao Shuying. We're with the state."

When Yu Xunge heard that they were from the authorities, she thought, Finally, they're here!

She had long since found the answer to the problem troubling her. How could she maintain balance? Find someone stronger to keep everyone else in check.

Yu Xunge nodded. "What a coincidence. So am I."

Zhao Shuying was inexplicably amused by Yu Xunge's deadpan joke and laughed, but her expression relaxed somewhat as well. She had been worried that Yu Xunge might be the sort who became arrogant after obtaining a fortunate encounter. Now, at least on the surface, she did not seem particularly hostile toward the authorities. "You know what I mean."

Yu Xunge took control of the conversation. "You need my God-Bestowed Talent and want to work with me?"

The word "work together" made the crew-cut man's heart sink. Of course, what they wanted was not cooperation. They wanted to recruit her. Cooperation implied equality, profit-sharing, and payment for every use. But he also knew that moral coercion was the stupidest possible approach. Besides, the notion that this game might be the beginning of an invasion by alien civilization was still only speculation. They had no concrete evidence.

Wu Qingbai still could not stop himself from being stupid for a moment. "Miss Yu, have you never considered serving the country?"

Yu Xunge said, "I pay taxes."

Wu Qingbai said, "."

Zhao Shuying laughed again. She cleared her throat and composed herself. She and Wu Qingbai had spoken with no fewer than eight hundred, if not a thousand, players recently. Yu Xunge was neither the friendliest nor the most hostile among them, but she was undoubtedly the calmest.

Upon learning who they were, she had shown neither excitement nor resistance. She had no sense of superiority, yet she was not nervous or fearful either. This was a resolute person.

Zhao Shuying immediately discarded every line she had prepared and asked directly, "How would Miss Yu like to cooperate?"

Yu Xunge said, "I can use Fate Gear four times a day to alter someone's Luck Value. I'm willing to sell you three of those slots. I don't care how you use them, who you cooperate with, or who you negotiate with. But I can't stay here every day. I think you can look into my movements. After leaving the entertainment industry, aside from classes and training, I enjoy traveling."

Rather than ask how to solve that problem, Zhao Shuying asked, "What price do you have in mind?"

Yu Xunge named an outrageous price. "Three gold per use." And once players reached higher levels and earned more money, she would raise the price.

Wu Qingbai said, "That counts as high income. You'll have to pay 45% tax. I mean, every time."

Yu Xunge said, "..."

Zhao Shuying said, "..."

Yu Xunge picked up her coffee cup. "It's getting late." Get the hell out of here right now! Get as far away as possible!

Zhao Shuying picked up the glass in front of Wu Qingbai and shoved it into his hands. Shut up!

Zhao Shuying began bargaining. "That price is too high. We may have many people, but you've played the game too. You know how hard it is to make money in there."

Yu Xunge said, "God-Bestowed Talents come in all kinds. There might be some that can make money." She was not merely saying it casually. Though she had never encountered one herself, there was a Food God, a Thief God, and a Water God, so why could there not be a God of Wealth?

Zhao Shuying's expression remained unchanged. Even though Yu Xunge had actually guessed correctly, nothing showed on her face. The authorities had a total of 520,000 players, so naturally some possessed God-Bestowed Talents related to making money. But that was only an A-rank talent, not a money-printing machine!

Three gold per use was far too expensive. It was not as though they had no players with Luck 10, though there were only two of them...

After that, Zhao Shuying and Wu Qingbai took turns trying to persuade Yu Xunge to lower her price. One played hard while the other played soft, and from time to time Wu Qingbai would deliberately act foolish to ease the atmosphere. They were clearly longtime partners and seasoned performers.

Yu Xunge had not cared much about this matter at first, but faced with their determination to secure her cooperation, she finally grew curious. "Can you tell me why you need my talent so badly? Scientific research? International affairs?"

Zhao Shuying and Wu Qingbai shook their heads. Their stance was clear: they could not say.

Yu Xunge could not even read any information from their faces.

Even though in her previous life she had occasionally followed massive forces like the Su Family and Liang Family into dungeons, she did not know much more than ordinary people. She had learned many things from the news, such as the timing and number of participants in the closed beta, and the ordinary objects that had undergone mutations... As for the real inside information, she had no way of knowing it.

So what exactly could make these people need her God-Bestowed Talent so badly?

Scientific research might need a bit of luck, but what it relied on was brilliant minds and long research processes. It would not require long-term cooperation.

International affairs? Hm, even more absurd.

That meant it could only be related to the game.

Crafting equipment?... Dungeons?

Or perhaps she could make an even bolder guess. Did someone have a way to enter the game?

That was right. Who said there had only been three closed betas in total? And who said that no one could enter the game after the closed beta ended?

In her previous life, the authorities' strength had always overwhelmingly surpassed that of the major families and financial conglomerates. Could that really have been purely because of righteousness and numbers? She did not believe it! Forget anyone else—Su Baige and Liang Yuchuan's uncle probably dreamed of becoming king.

Yu Xunge's heart beat faster and faster, and her eyes grew brighter. She sat up straight and stared at the two people across from her.

Wu Qingbai and Zhao Shuying said, "..."

Don't look at us like that. You're scaring me.