Chapter 244: Opportunity
The entire battle was quite uninspiring, so much so that even the commentator felt awkward offering analysis, and the audience in front of their screens yawned endlessly from boredom.
Because compared to the ability user battles with their effects maxed out, and the previous combat power tests, this fight between five men and one ox was no different from primitive hunting.
On one side was a mutated wild ox with ordinary attributes, entirely unremarkable save for its greater strength and thicker hide. Moreover, Bai Mo had little experience fighting in a non-human body.
The difference between bipedal humans and quadrupedal oxen, in particular, made him, accustomed to using his hands, quite uncomfortable.
On the other side were five ordinary young people desperately striving for a better future. They weren't armed with any divine artifacts, just a common iron sword from the beginner village, so naturally, they couldn't pull off any fancy moves.
Essentially, they continuously rotated, trading blows and maintaining a state where everyone was merely at critical health but not dead, gradually chipping away at the wild ox's health bar.
Perhaps these five truly possessed a talent for team-based monster hunting, as they astonishingly managed to defeat this wild monster that Bai Mo had possessed without a single casualty.
Statistically speaking, this mutated wild ox was significantly stronger than all five of them, ordinary people. If it were a real-world mutated wild ox, perhaps this rookie team would have been completely wiped out.
"This must be a professional team, their health management and positioning awareness are too strong!" Three of the five men had less than ten percent of their health remaining, while the other two had less than thirty percent.
Although the battle process was incredibly dull, the final outcome – a victory without a single loss – still made many viewers' eyes light up.
What happened next, however, was far more than just "eyes lighting up."
"Bang!" The wild ox's body suddenly vanished, transforming into five streaks of light that each shot into a player's body. Their expressions quickly changed.
"A reward of ten thousand Contribution Points per person... We might have entered a fake game." The few men exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief.
They all understood what ten thousand Contribution Points meant. Killing a single monster awarded them a million Hua currency – this was already beyond their comprehension.
"It seems they've received a rather substantial reward after killing the monster!" The commentator's words immediately captured the attention of countless viewers.
Everyone wanted to know just how generous the rewards in this virtual network were. After all, it was a system backed by the state; it shouldn't be too shabby.
If the rewards were indeed generous, many wouldn't mind spending more time playing the game to earn extra income.
"Could you share your feelings with the audience in front of their television screens?" The commentator, having dispelled his invisibility, began to interview them.
"Excited!"
"Extremely excited!"
Since they had been informed beforehand that interviewers might follow them at any time during this event, they weren't surprised by the sudden appearance of the reporter behind them.
"Is it because of the abundant gains?"
"Yes! We are incredibly grateful to the nation for giving us this chance to strike it rich!" For the first time, these frustrated young men from the lower strata of society genuinely thanked the state. The sudden windfall made them feel lightheaded, and their words began to ramble.
These Contribution Points, valued at over a million Hua currency, were undoubtedly an enormous fortune for these young men, who were at the bottom of society and earned only one or two thousand a month.
"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!" Just as they were being interviewed, five crisp sounds interrupted their conversation.
"And they even leveled up...?" Even they felt a bit astonished.
"Is this one of those web games where you hit level ninety-nine with a single slash?!" The audience in front of their screens collectively complained, "Why didn't it also come with a Dragon-Slaying Blade?"
"Five people killing one low-level monster, and the experience gained is enough to level up an entire group?"
"This is a shill, absolutely a shill!"
Although the commentator didn't ask how much reward the few people had actually received, the audience could sense from the young men's suppressed ecstasy that the items dropped were definitely very valuable.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be unable to control their expressions. A normal person wouldn't be this overjoyed finding a thousand Hua currency, needing to forcibly suppress their emotions.
"But their acting is too good, right?"
"I know a relative who works in the operations department of this VR System; I'll go ask around."
"Thank the nation for giving them a chance to strike it rich? What exactly is he doing?" Some high-ranking individuals thought further. They quickly had their subordinates investigate and found that each of the five men's Contribution Point accounts had an additional ten thousand points.
Although this wasn't a large sum for them, accustomed to complicating simple matters, they naturally wouldn't believe this was merely a sudden whim of Bai Mo's.
In fact, it truly was just a sudden thought of his, to see to what extent he could alter the destinies of these young men.
In a sense, controlling the right to issue Contribution Points, he was like someone wielding the ultimate "Godly Tycoon System," able to generate as much money as he wished, as long as it wasn't excessive enough to let inflation destroy the credibility of the Contribution Points.
Thus, money no longer held much meaning for him. He was currently testing his hypotheses everywhere, hypotheses about the path forward for the future.
"Find people to keep an eye on these five," said the higher-ups. At this moment, these five poor youngsters, still immersed in the joy of their sudden windfall, were unaware that they had become the focus of countless eyes because of this unexpected fortune.
After the interview concluded, the five young men walked together towards Zhuque City, from where they had come.
"It's a good thing this AI, while much smarter than the ones we usually deal with in online games, kept making strange moves that hindered its own attacks. Otherwise, we'd all be heading back to the city," they remarked. After calming down from their ecstasy, they began discussing the recent battle.
"Yeah, I saw it try to ram us with its front hooves many times, but it only ended up losing its balance by relying on its hind legs to support its body, and falling to the ground."
"Could this be a design bug?"
"If it really is a bug, can we farm it again?"
"Bro, check how much health you have left..."
"What a shame, a million Hua currency!"
"Who'd have thought playing online games could make you rich? When I go back, I wonder if my mom will still nag me every day."
"Whether my mom nags me or not, I'm not sure, but those relatives who scorn the poor and fawn over the rich will definitely come crawling. They used to look down on me and gossip about me all the time. I'd like to see just how thick-skinned they can get."
"How are you planning to use this money? Although it seems like a lot, a million Hua currency actually can't even buy a Xuanhuang Fruit."
"I plan to use four hundred thousand to build a new house for my family, then spend two hundred thousand to buy Spirit Stones and try to break through a few times, to see if I'm fated for it. If I successfully become an Ability User, then the remaining four hundred thousand will be my cultivation funds. If I don't succeed, I'll use two hundred thousand of the remaining four hundred thousand to start a small business, and the rest to get a wife."
"Brother Kang, your plan is truly meticulous."
"Of course, I've thought about it many times already. If I ever won the lottery, my money would be distributed exactly like this. I've just been missing the chance to win the lottery!"
Comments