Xu Clan's Second Attempt to Recruit Lin Qing; Lin Qing Swears In as the Fourth Elder's Adopted Daughter

Once he had gotten stronger, he could bring gold into the game and simply buy lots of monsters.

Dusk fell.

The two left the beach and parted ways at the village entrance.

Back at the Fourth Elder's residence, Gao Linzhi went to his room and began assigning points to raise his strength.

This was the best part of playing a game!

His skills now were:

[Disguise Art (0/100), Basic Fists and Feet Lv. 10, Basic Spear Technique Lv. 0, Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art (incomplete), Basic Defense Lv. 0, Basic Medical Skills Lv. 0, Basic Lightness Skill Lv. 30, Basic Perception Lv. 0, Basic Parrying Lv. 20, Basic Stealth Lv. 0, Basic Movement Technique Lv. 0, Basic Dodge Lv. 0]

He thought it over and decided to put points into lightness and dodging.

He wasn't afraid of dying. Increasing those two skills would lower the chance of his character getting trapped.

Then he spent 3,000 experience points to raise Basic Lightness Skill to level 60.

Next, he spent another 3,000 experience points to raise Basic Dodge to level 30.

He moved around and found that he could jump much farther and higher than before.

Basic Dodge was a passive skill, and only came into play when someone attacked him.

Perhaps his point allocation wasn't ideal, but it didn't matter. He planned to max out everything anyway.

His physique had also undergone a transformation: [Physique (5+12)]. He now had a total of 17 points.

Even if other players maxed out their basic skills, they could only reach the limit of 10 points. They had to level up to break through it.

But to level up and gain experience, they had to fight high-level monsters, and those fights were costly.

In short, pay-to-win players and ordinary players weren't playing the same game. The latter were just part of the former's game content...

Other players were stuck with an incomplete version, and even if they wanted to pay, they couldn't. Only he could.

After assigning his points, Gao Linzhi took stock of himself and felt his physique had improved tremendously.

His five senses were incredibly sharp.

His eyesight had become excellent, and he could hear the faintest sounds.

He felt strong all over, and even his steps were lighter.

He could give it a proper test tomorrow.

Just then, he suddenly heard faint voices nearby. They belonged to Lin Qing and the Fourth Elder.

"Elder, I'm learning too slowly. I heard Canxue has already learned several basic skills at the Martial Arts School. Is there a way to learn them faster?"

"Don't rush. You need to be patient. You two have different talents. Yours will only show its worth in the late game, while his comprehension is exceptionally high. He's only strong in the early game; there's no guarantee he'll survive to the late game. As long as you're careful, you'll definitely make it that far."

"But I need to be strong in the early game right now. People from Xu Corporation are watching me. When one plan fails, they'll certainly come up with another. You can't stop the wind from blowing just because you want the trees to be still. You can spend a thousand days robbing someone, but you can't spend a thousand days guarding against a thief."

"All right. There is a way to learn faster."

"Elder, tell me quickly."

"When you fight BOSSes, they can drop something called a 'Skill Book.' The village happens to have some stored away, but they're too precious. All five elders have to agree before we can give you any."

"Then please ask the other four elders for me. Once I've learned all kinds of skills, I'll work hard for the village and make it the strongest and richest village in the area."

That was quite a grand promise.

Gao Linzhi thought to himself.

"Alas, that'll be difficult. You may have talent, but without contributions to the village, even I can't persuade the other four elders to give you anything."

"But I don't have strength right now, so I can't contribute. Without contributions, I can't get Skill Books, and without Skill Books, I can't get stronger... The only way to break this vicious cycle is to ask you to invest in me first, Fourth Elder. I promise I'll repay you a hundredfold." Lin Qing spoke with conviction.

Well, the way to break the vicious cycle was for you to learn the skills.

Gao Linzhi wanted to see whether the Fourth Elder would agree.

The voices fell silent for a long while.

At last, the Fourth Elder spoke again. "All right. I'll put my old reputation on the line and ask for a complete set of Skill Books for you. But after that, you must hurry to level up and improve yourself. During the upcoming monster attacks, use your talent to contribute and show them what you're capable of."

"Thank you, Elder. I can't return to the real world right now, and I have no one here to rely on. If you don't mind, I'd like to take you as my adoptive father." Lin Qing's voice was full of sincerity.

"Hahaha, that sounds wonderful. I'll take you as my adopted daughter!" The Fourth Elder was delighted.

Well, she'd even found herself a godfather.

Gao Linzhi shook his head.

For modern people, it wasn't just adoptive fathers they'd betray; they'd turn on their own fathers without a second thought. You couldn't expect modern people to have any moral scruples.

He didn't hear anything else after that, so he went to the bookshelf in his room and continued reading.

The night grew deeper.

It was peaceful that night, and no monsters attacked the village.

Gao Linzhi hoped things would stay peaceful like this. Peaceful growth was best for him, after all.

But Lin Qing was right: you couldn't stop the wind from blowing just because you wanted the trees to be still.

At ten that night, someone from Xu Corporation came to the door.

It was Xu Qi, whom he'd met before.

On a night like this, the only people who dared to walk around the village were Corporate Players—not because they could log off to hide and act without restraint, but because they had no choice.

The Rogue Players were all in their courtyards and houses, practicing their skills.

Xu Qi knocked on the courtyard gate, and Steward Zheng opened it cautiously.

Xu Qi explained why he'd come. Then, led by Steward Zheng, he went to see Gao Linzhi.

As soon as he saw Gao Linzhi, he got straight to the point:

"Brother Canxue, Young Master Xu invites you to join Xu Corporation. You'd come in as a Department Manager, with six teams under you."

"Department Manager? That's a generous offer. But do you think I'll believe you?" Gao Linzhi smiled. The offer was certainly tempting.

He'd worked at Xu Corporation before.

The hierarchy was manager, Department Manager, Center Manager, Vice General Manager, General Manager, Vice President, president, Board of Directors, and chairman.

A Department Manager was solidly middle management, with considerable authority—enough to manage thousands of employees.

This world was very different from the one he'd crossed over from.

Xu Corporation managed an entire region, with over a million people.

In terms of rank, this Department Manager position was at least equivalent to a senior government official.

If Gao Linzhi agreed, he'd rise to the top in a single step, breaking through the rigid class barriers.

Lin Qing and Li Ziming had previously been low-level managers, each overseeing seven or eight people.

Xu Qi gave his word at once. "This time, it's definitely genuine. We can have one of the village elders sign a contract. Surely you'll believe us then?"

Gao Linzhi replied coolly, "Do you take me for a fool? You've already infiltrated most of the village. Why would I trust them?"

"Then how about having the Fourth Elder vouch for us?" Xu Qi clearly wasn't going to give up until he got what he wanted.