Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 87: Micro-Business

A steel rod as thick as a bowl’s mouth shot into the sky, piercing the shadow puppet. The Ripple Energy it contained acted like sulfuric acid, rapidly corroding the paper figure’s flat body.

The gash at its waist began to fade and soften, the damage swiftly spreading to its torso and limbs.

Ghostly blue flames erupted without warning, turning the paper body into scattered ash. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Unbearable, intense pain made the paper figure want to scream, but the ghostly blue flames burned far faster than it could shriek.

A chill night wind sighed, carrying frigid air and scattering the ashes.

[Spiritual Body of the Shadow Puppet 1/1 Killed]

[Regular Task "Shadow Puppet Play" Completed]

[Overall Player Performance: A-. Game Coins and Experience Points increased to 135%.]

[Calculating Rewards...]

Eh, it’s dead already?

Li Ang was somewhat disappointed. As the freely falling steel rod was about to hit the ground, he used the [Fragment Scatter] ability once more. The resulting shockwave slightly slowed the rod, allowing him to catch it deftly and securely.

This Shadow Puppet Spiritual Body was so fragile and weak, providing him only 135 Experience Points and Game Currency—not even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth. No wonder the System only gave an A- overall evaluation.

Bullying weaklings... is actually quite enjoyable.

Li Ang shook his head, put away the steel rod, and after confirming no one was around, stepped out of the alley. He pulled out a coin and rode the kiddy ride again.

"Dad’s dad is Grandfather. Dad’s mom is Grandmother."

It was a case of meeting a worthy opponent, a true talent. No matter how many times he rode, Li Ang never tired of this unrestrained joy.

「One week later, in the classroom.」

As the saying goes, "Broken bones take a hundred days to heal." Li Ang’s respected homeroom teacher, Mr. Shi Qingsong, was still recuperating at home. His substitute, Tang Hanyi, was a young woman who had graduated from a prestigious university.

She had long hair, round-framed glasses, and wore professional attire. With a tranquil and gentle demeanor, she was a beautiful, twenty-three-year-old "people’s teacher."

"Miss Tang, how should I solve this problem?" Li Ang raised his arm high, his face full of a thirst for knowledge.

With a smile, Tang Hanyi said, "Student Li Ang, you should try to figure it out yourself."

Li Ang twirled his pen. "Um... I don’t quite understand the approach for this problem. Could you guide me a bit?"

Tang Hanyi shook her head gently and whispered, "That won’t do. Please be quiet."

Li Ang frowned. "Miss Tang, that’s not right. Isn’t it the duty of a ’people’s teacher’ to guide students through problems?"

Tang Hanyi took a deep breath, almost losing her gentle and dignified smile. "It’s exam time now, Student Li Ang. If you don’t remain quiet, I’ll have to ask you to stand outside."

"Alright."

Li Ang nodded and wrote on his test paper: "Answer omitted."

Tang Hanyi, who had been standing before his desk watching him, nearly choked on her own saliva. A vein twitched at the corner of her eye as she silently moved away from Li Ang’s desk.

At only twenty-three, Tang Hanyi was fluent in eight languages—English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic. She held a master’s degree in law and a PhD in foreign languages and literature, making her the elite among elites.

Guiding mere high school students through their history curriculum was naturally a piece of cake for her.

Indeed, to avoid overly surprising the school authorities, she had deliberately downplayed her credentials.

Besides being a "people’s teacher," Tang Hanyi was also an employee of the Special Affairs Bureau. She and a small squad of field agents were undercover at the Experimental Middle School of Yin City.

The Special Affairs Bureau’s manpower was quite limited. Therefore, dispatching such a small field team to the school was certainly not for the purpose of ensuring students studied diligently and made daily progress.

Tang Hanyi’s security clearance wasn’t high enough for her to be privy to the team’s actual mission.

She only vaguely understood that it likely related to the abnormalities on Qianhua Road; the Experimental Middle School of Yin City happened to be situated on a critical geographical node within this series of anomalies.

Further details and classified information were beyond Tang Hanyi’s reach. She had not yet gained player status and was merely an intelligence analyst, lying in wait undercover at the school.

Standing at the podium, Tang Hanyi cast an imperceptible glance at Li Ang, who was engrossed in writing below. I originally thought this job would be a breeze, but I never expected this brat to be so damn annoying AAAARGH! she roared in her heart.

Sensing the acting homeroom teacher’s "benevolent" gaze, Li Ang looked up and flashed Tang Hanyi a slight smile. It sent shivers down her spine, and she quickly lowered her head, pretending to scrutinize the test papers.

After swiftly completing the test paper, Li Ang propped his head with one hand. He pretended to gaze out the window, but in reality, he was mentally browsing the items in the game’s store.

The game was still in its early stages, so the store’s functions had not been fully unlocked. There were only twenty items on the shelves, refreshed daily.

The quality of these pieces of equipment, items, or skills ranged from [Common] to [Rare], [Excellent], and [Perfect], and their prices also varied dramatically, from 2,000 Game Coins up to tens of thousands.

There was the [High-Speed Alloy Dagger] capable of executing twenty cuts per second;

the [Pioneer Flintlock] that took a minute to reload each time but had a bullet impact comparable to a main battle tank’s artillery;

the [Old Empire Long Handle Greatsword] with a total length of 40 meters;

the gauntlet [Goliath’s Fist], which could launch the user’s fists;

the [Permanent Cat Transformation Potion] that cat lovers would likely be ecstatic about;

a truckload of coal bricks known as [Super Delicious Strawberry-Flavored Rough Coal] that had no Special Effects other than staving off hunger;

and the [Willing to Hook Fishing Rod], which ensured a hundred percent chance of catching big fish.

To be fair, the Special Effects of these items were quite decent. However, the prices were generally too high—about two to three times more expensive than equipment and items sold by players on the forums.

Players generally believed it was only worth purchasing from the store when it featured items with exceptionally powerful Special Effects that were otherwise unavailable on the market.

On the forums, some players with previous experience in micro-businesses swiftly sensed an opportunity. They spontaneously formed "Gold Farming" groups, collecting daily information about the store items encountered by various players.

They pooled money to buy rare equipment and items not yet sold in the real world, thereby earning cash profits.

A fair number of players had made a fortune this way, and many micro-business alt accounts constantly posted related threads on the forums.

"[Congratulations to the Gold Farming team founder, Miss Wang Dazhuang, on acquiring her Boeing 737 private jet! After joining the Gold Farming group just three months ago, Miss Wang Dazhuang, through her own hard work, has proudly obtained her aircraft. She’s Gold Farming’s new empowered woman: career in one hand, family in the other! Enthusiastic and brimming with youthful energy, she bought this big plane so all her ’family’ in the Gold Farming group could experience the thrill of flying!]"

Posts like these were rampant on the [Black Market Exchange] page, much to the annoyance and consternation of the forum management team. Consequently, the moderators locked all these micro-business accounts in the "little black room."

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