Could This Be a Scam?

Yu Xunge's attitude made a complete one-eighty. She took away the water in front of them and asked, "Coffee, juice, or tea?"

Zhao Shuying: "..." This was bad. She had a bad feeling about this.

Wu Qingbai coughed twice into his fist. "Don't be like this. You're scaring us."

Yu Xunge made them each a cup of her best coffee, then took several plates of snacks she had made from her game inventory—the highest-rated ones that had not exceeded 80—and set them on the table. "Please forgive my poor hospitality earlier."

Zhao Shuying: "...Just say it."

Yu Xunge said, "Then I'll be direct. Do you have a way to enter the game?"

Zhao Shuying and Wu Qingbai looked as though they had been punched. The outcome they had least wanted to see had happened after all. Yu Xunge's talent was too unusual, and their attitudes had been far too obvious. It was no surprise that she had figured it out.

Their expressions soon turned solemn and serious. Wu Qingbai said, "If you want to know more, you'll have to join us. Don't worry, the benefits we offer are excellent, and we'll give you the greatest freedom possible within the rules and regulations."

Benefits meant her contributions would definitely outweigh her income. Freedom within rules and regulations meant no freedom at all.

She had already seen through the routine of these two actors. Yu Xunge shook her head regretfully. "It seems we won't be able to cooperate."

Her attitude made it clear that there was nothing to discuss.

Zhao Shuying took out her phone. "Would it be convenient for me to make a call?"

Yu Xunge raised a hand. "Go ahead."

After Zhao Shuying left, Wu Qingbai asked seriously, "Can I ask why you're unwilling to join us? Is it because you don't trust us, or because you simply don't want to?"

"I don't trust you, and I don't want to," Yu Xunge said candidly. "I know this game is extraordinary, and I know you're doing something great. But wherever there are people, there will be factional disputes and conflicts over profit distribution. Can you honestly say there won't be any? Even my old shitty company had three major factions. I can't deal with that stuff."

Wu Qingbai asked, "What about the Su Family?"

"I never considered joining the Su Family. I never considered joining any faction. I'm a lone wolf, a free agent. Sure, there are plenty of risks, and I won't get access to the real good stuff or insider information, but it's still better than wasting time scheming against each other."

Wu Qingbai fell silent. He could not refute Yu Xunge. Wherever there were people, there would inevitably be disputes and factions. Even if everyone shared the same goal, even if some people had no selfish motives at all, differing philosophies would naturally split them into groups—the hardliners, the moderates, the radicals—each with further differences of their own... Not to mention that people could not possibly be entirely without selfish motives.

A crisis meant upheaval. There would always be people who wanted to reshuffle the deck and start over.

Even he and Zhao Shuying did not belong to the same faction. Their team-up was not just cooperation; it was also meant to keep each other in check.

Honestly, he was tired of it too. He had wanted to quit long ago, but going it alone meant ending up in Yu Xunge's current situation—knowing nothing and unable to get near the truly valuable things.

Just as the two fell into silence, Zhao Shuying returned. She said to Yu Xunge, "Whether we end up cooperating or not, you'll need to pay one use of Wheel of Fortune for this information before we tell you."

Yu Xunge never begrudged necessary expenses. "Fine!"

Zhao Shuying took out a transparent crystal the size of a blueberry and handed it to Yu Xunge.

[Skill Storage Stone (Single-Use)]: Use a skill on the crystal to store that skill for someone else to use. Crush it when using it. (Creator: Yi Chang)

Yu Xunge had seen skill stones in her previous life, though she had not known much about them. They were not something she would ever buy. Spending dozens of silver coins, or even several gold coins, on a skill that could only be used once was far too extravagant.

This was her first time seeing a blank one. She used [Happy Again, Aren't You] on the crystal. Red mist spread inside it, turning the entire crystal red. From a distance, it looked like a small cluster of red fog. She checked her skill and found that [Happy Again, Aren't You] had entered its cooldown period.

So it could not let someone bypass the cooldown. Still, this item could ensure that skills with limited uses would not go to waste.

She immediately asked, "How much do these crystals cost?"

Zhao Shuying smiled, put away the red mist crystal, and revealed the smile of a top-selling social media merchant. "Three gold each."

Yu Xunge: "..." Karma came fast.

Three gold each was naturally a joke. Zhao Shuying said, "If you're buying, I'll give you a friends-and-family price. One skill crystal for five blank crystals."

Yu Xunge said nothing. She was considering whether she should look for a way to make them herself. Buying stock from others all the time was too much of a loss.

Zhao Shuying did not mind Yu Xunge's silence and began offering her payment. "We do have a way to enter the game. Our actual bodies go there; it isn't like playing the game during the closed beta. Once you enter, death is real death. We can bring you in and even provide protection, but you'll need to pay for all of that with Wheel of Fortune uses."

The positions of the two sides in the deal instantly reversed.

Yet Yu Xunge was not anxious. She only felt excited. So there really was a way to get there. "Where would I arrive?"

Zhao Shuying said, "One of our people bought a small house in the Undead City, Dark City. His talent lets him open portals, so he can send us into Dark City."

Mm, very good. The enemy's headquarters.

Zhao Shuying watched as Yu Xunge's expression shifted from excitement to calm. "What? You don't like it?"

"...I do." Her game character did not look like her in real life anyway, and she also had a disguise skill... Yu Xunge asked, "Then how do we get out?"

Zhao Shuying said, "That involves another paid service. We can turn everyone into cute little animals, then another player who can disguise himself as an undead will bring us out of the city."

Yu Xunge could turn into an animal herself, and she could disguise herself too. But if she did not want to expose those skills, she would have to pay. She covered her forehead. Her head hurt. It felt like she had happily signed up for a zero-cost tour, only to be dragged into forced spending the moment she arrived at the destination. "..."

The smile on Zhao Shuying's face grew brighter and brighter. Even Wu Qingbai beside her smiled happily.

Yu Xunge asked, "Is there a time limit? Once I'm there, can I stay as long as I want?"

Zhao Shuying said, "You can. But whether you're going there or coming back, every use of our portal requires fifty [Wheel of Fortune] skill crystals. Naturally, we'll provide the blank crystals."

That price could hardly be called cheap.

But this was a monopoly. Since she was not joining them, she naturally had to pay a higher price. That was reasonable.

Still, as long as she could enter that world, it meant enormous wealth. A more expensive ticket was worth it.