Chapter 56: Open Up! Delivery!

Wu Chang didn't change his own nickname; what he changed was the nickname of the reflection's avatar.

The avatar possesses all the player's permissions, naturally including an independent nickname.

As a part of himself, he could freely choose which nickname to display on the leaderboard.

After being reminded by the Divine Tongue and the Surge of Killing Intent, he checked the forums and learned that top-ranked players using nicknames for advertising wasn't unheard of.

But previously, only players ranked in the top ten of minor leaderboards did this—like those on the Life Skill Proficiency rankings.

On leaderboards determined by raw power, the top players were all core members of major factions and didn't need such methods to make money.

Especially the Speedrun Leaderboard—the most direct showcase of personal ability—no one had ever used it for advertising.

The top advertising spot on minor leaderboards cost ten thousand Rotten Silver Coins per cycle.

In the Abyss Game, one cycle represented the shortest cooldown period of a dungeon—fifteen days.

Wu Chang's leaderboard would certainly be worth more, but how much exactly, he couldn't estimate yet, so he started with twenty thousand.

Twenty thousand Rotten Silver Coins for the number one spot on one leaderboard.

He underestimated the appeal of the Speedrun Leaderboard's top spot—or rather, underestimated his own popularity.

Less than a minute after changing his nickname, his registered temporary email inbox hit 99+ notifications.

After filtering out messages from various factions trying to recruit him, and then filtering out those not seeking advertising but wanting to negotiate deals, he ended up with one contract.

Ten minutes later, the number one spots on the C-rank and B-rank Speedrun Leaderboards changed their names to:

"Jinxiu Trading Alliance: High-Price Buyback of Dungeon-Obtained Antiques."

Before changing the avatar's nickname, Wu Chang specifically researched the client.

Jinxiu Trading Alliance was a commercial consortium, a second-tier faction, purely a business organization whose every action was driven solely by money.

The current advertisement, for instance, was meant to promote their premium customer service.

Although the Abyss Game operated independently from Blue Star, it hadn't escaped Blue Star's influence.

The exchange rate of one Rotten Silver Coin to one thousand yuan indicated that many players would convert their hard-earned Rotten Silver Coins into real-world currency.

Even though every player knew the Abyss Game was a platform to change fate, and that every Rotten Silver Coin was extraordinarily valuable.

Yet when facing real-world hardships, many players had no choice but to make decisions.

The tradability of Rotten Silver Coins quickly made wealthy players in the real world rich within the game as well.

When they accumulated so many Rotten Silver Coins they couldn't spend them all, they began pursuing something different.

For instance, antiques and artworks from the other world that could be brought back to reality.

To meet the needs of this class, the Abyss Game had spawned a new profession: Art Connoisseur.

They would authenticate antiques obtained from dungeons, testing the minimum Inspiration level required to appreciate their beauty, thereby determining rarity.

Many high-Inspiration artworks could sell for tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands—of Rotten Silver Coins per piece.

Spending tens of thousands of Rotten Silver Coins on antiques or artworks that didn't boost combat power sounded absurd, but converted, it was merely tens of millions of Huaxia Yuan.

Compared to real-world artworks that sold for hundreds of millions yet possessed zero supernatural qualities, dungeon-obtained equivalents far surpassed them in both artistry and rarity.

When others displayed a 600-million-yuan "Sunflowers," you displayed a dungeon-obtained "Sunflowers of the Bygone Era"; when others displayed an 800-million-yuan "The Scream," you displayed a dungeon-obtained "The Ancient God's Scream"—wasn't that a dimension-lowering strike?

Whether it drove people mad after seeing it was beside the point; the sheer prestige was unmistakably arranged.

Calculated this way, the cost-effectiveness of dungeon artworks instantly skyrocketed.

Ding dang.

As the clinking of metal coins echoed in his ears, Wu Chang's account gained forty thousand Rotten Silver Coins.

If nothing went wrong, in half a month, he'd receive another forty thousand Rotten Silver Coins.

Unfortunately, the lowest-tier leaderboard couldn't be selectively hidden—if you chose to display personal info, your rank would be shown too.

He didn't want to expose too much information and let others probe his secrets; otherwise, selling all four leaderboards—even with a "buy three, get one free" deal—could earn him over ten thousand Rotten Silver Coins per month in the Abyss Game.

He stared at his account balance and swung a fist in excitement.

This was the way to make money he'd been looking for.

If traffic could be monetized, who'd still suffer as a Life Skill player running a street stall?

But then he thought: while he was turning hard-earned traffic into Rotten Silver Coins, the clients behind the client were already enjoying pleasures from the Abyss Game—and his joy faded.

He clicked his tongue, vowing that if he ever got the chance, he'd find an antique streetlamp in a dungeon and sell it to Jinxiu Trading Alliance.

With the Rotten Silver Coins deposited, he first spent eight thousand to upgrade the Thunder Art Fragment to D-rank.

Then he began browsing armor and potions.

Given the Abyss Game's favoritism toward him, his next dungeon wouldn't be easy.

Although the D-rank Terralizard Leather Armor offered good value, it was already falling behind in strength—he needed a custom-made set with stronger effects.

With his attribute points now focused on Energy, besides healing potions, he also needed energy-restoring potions. A rough calculation showed the money he'd just earned wouldn't leave him with many Rotten Silver Coins.

The Surge of Killing Intent and the Divine Tongue were right—Solo Players were indeed hard-pressed.

Leaving the Crimson Courtyard, his consciousness returned to reality.

Wu Chang was about to pack and check out when a knock came at the door.

"Anyone home?" A cheerful voice called from outside.

Wu Chang asked, "Who is it?"

"Chengle Waimai! Open up and collect your order."

Wu Chang narrowed his eyes, leaned forward slightly, and watched the door warily.

He had ordered takeout—but Chengle Waimai usually left it at the hotel's first-floor front desk.

And for the person outside, he had a sinister premonition.

!

The fake delivery guy outside was strong—he was also an Abyss Game player, and he'd come for Wu Chang.

When was his identity exposed?

Was it the email sent by the Brocade Commerce Guild?

That didn't make sense — inside was a standard contract; all that was needed was to sign it, change the nickname, and have the Rotten Silver Coins transferred, and everything would be completed automatically under the control of the Abyss Game.

Could it be that…

He suddenly thought of one possibility, relaxed his tense body, pretended he hadn't noticed anything, and called out:

"Wait a moment!"

He jogged to the door and opened it. Sure enough, outside was not the delivery rider from "Cheng le ma", but two unfamiliar men.

The one standing in front knocking was a young man with a baby face, about the same age as Wu Chang, clearly a fresh graduate intern.

Behind the young man stood a middle-aged man of thirty-five or thirty-six. The man was on the thin side, with a buzz cut, and his position was extremely tricky, blocking the key escape route from the e-sports hotel.

Wu Chang frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

The baby-faced one pulled out a police badge, smiled harmlessly, and said:

"We're from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Wanghai Headquarters. Half a month ago, you acted bravely on the Route 17 bus at Nanshi Station and subdued a criminal, correct?"

Wu Chang nodded. "That's right."

"We'd like to ask you to come back with us to give a statement."

Wu Chang was silent for a moment, then asked, "Are you really criminal investigators?"

The baby-faced one smiled and said, "Pretty strong anti-fraud awareness. Here's my badge number — you can call and verify on the spot."

"No, what I mean is, something that happened half a month ago and you're only now coming to take my statement — isn't your efficiency a little low?"

The moment Wu Chang said this, it left both the baby-faced one and the buzz-cut middle-aged man speechless.

The baby-faced one opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain, and turned to the middle-aged man for help.

The buzz-cut middle-aged man had a thick enough skin; he braced himself and said, "The bureau was busy with work a while back, and we trusted you weren't a bad person, so it got delayed for some time."

That was actually true.

Blood Thorn had just been escorted to the police station by concerned citizens, and before they could even take a statement, an earthquake warning came and the whole city had to evacuate.

After that, for a long stretch, they were all busy wrapping up the work from that day, running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

It wasn't until a few days ago, when the hospital confirmed there was no way to wake Blood Thorn, and called the police to come by, that they remembered this matter.

Wu Chang shrugged and, turning the tables, said, "In that case, let's not waste time — let's go."

The baby-faced one and the middle-aged man exchanged a glance, then followed Wu Chang downstairs.

Arriving at the two men's car, Wu Chang voluntarily opened the door and sat in the back seat. The baby-faced one took the driver's seat, while the buzz-cut middle-aged man sat in the back seat with Wu Chang.

The car drove along, and soon the Wanghai Headquarters came into view, but the car didn't stop and kept going.

The middle-aged man had wanted to say something, but seeing that Wu Chang's expression was as usual, with no confusion or surprise, he didn't speak.

The car turned a few corners and finally stopped in front of a members-only boxing club.

The three got out. The baby-faced one opened the access control with a face scan, led Wu Chang into the club, then turned to Wu Chang and said:

"Welcome to the Bureau of Anomalous Phenomena Management."

(End of this chapter)