Chapter 68
The equipment was too complete—even a boxing ring had been prepared.
After saying goodbye to the dispirited and dejected Boss Zhang, Jiang Jitang returned home smiling, his face almost stiff from grinning. Soon, Boss Qian called, saying he had prepared a gift of thanks.
“The children’s fitness equipment you wanted, I had A-Hao get it ready. You just need to pick it up.”
With that, Jiang Jitang also received two stationary bikes, plus scattered items like children’s yoga balls, step platforms, balance balls, and badminton sets.
He was really lucky—both bosses were generous.
Looking at the shopping credit he couldn’t spend yet, he asked the system: “System, would the sports uniforms count as training equipment? Narrowly, maybe not, but broadly, it should, right?”
A bubble frame appeared: [Yes.]
“Alright.”
Punch Frog’s belly came with a blue belt, so Jiang Jitang bought a blue adult quick-dry sports shirt to modify.
Using Punch Frog’s body measurements, he quickly carved a foam model, covered it with plastic wrap, and completed a “mannequin.”
Then Jiang Jitang cut paper along the mannequin, fitted it, and finally cut out a fixed paper clothing piece to measure.
He worked meticulously—foot on the sewing machine pedal, hands guiding the thread, double-stitched edges, reinforced seams, trimming the threads.
One adult sports quick-dry suit was divided into a vest and pants—a complete set. On the chest, he sewed a tiny cartoon frog patch resembling Punch Frog.
“Gurgle, gurgle…” Only after finishing did Jiang Jitang realize it was dark. No wonder his stomach growled.
He always forgot everything around him when focused on work, missing meals—bad habit.
Holding his stomach, he went downstairs and cooked a luxurious bowl of wontons.
The steam warmed his face and his hungry stomach. He drank the broth, eating even the tiny shrimp on the bowl’s edge. “Alive again.”
“Guu.” Golden Eye also put down its bowl, burped contentedly.
They laughed together, as if a simple bowl of wonton soup surpassed all delicacies.
[‘Wonton’ successfully prepared, one-star. Traits: Satiety +3, Mental +2, with ‘Accelerated Mental Recovery’ effect lasting 10 minutes. Preserves for 72 hours at room temperature; consume within six hours after opening. Record this recipe?]
“Huh?” Jiang Jitang put down the bowl. “Record it. Can recipes be made outside too?”
[The virtual kitchen is for taskers to research recipes. That doesn’t mean recipes can’t be updated outside,] the bubble frame explained.
[Previously, no.]
[Non-star recipes cannot be recognized.]
Jiang Jitang understood—because this bowl of wontons, from ingredients to preparation, was of exceptional quality, it triggered the star-level recipe effect.
So he could cook more dishes and possibly create more star-level recipes. Ten one-star recipes would be easy to achieve.
He contacted his ingredient supplier and ordered ingredients for the luxurious wontons: wonton wrappers, pork belly (30% fat, 70% lean), free-range eggs, baby bok choy, scallions, dried shrimp, salt, MSG, and cooking wine.
The ingredients were simple, but the “luxurious” title came from the presentation: two fried eggs at the bottom, wontons with white wrappers and pink filling in the middle, baby bok choy on top, a golden egg sheet, thick layer of cooked meat and juices, sprinkled with scallions and dried shrimp—nutritious, tasty, and filling.
The supplier responded, pitching some grass-fed beef: “We just got a batch. Great quality, low price, discount if you buy over 100 jin.”
Jiang Jitang quickly recalled the news: “Because country XX opened agricultural exports?”
“Yes, you know their ranches are abundant and beef quality is excellent.”
“Send me beef shank, brisket, and tenderloin. If the quality is good, I’ll order more.”
“Got it.”
After dealing with the supplier, he contacted the jade cutting and polishing factory to schedule a visit.
“Day after tomorrow, agreed. These two raw jade pieces are large, will take some time. Nine in the morning.”
The raw jade from the task world carried strong life energy. Jiang Jitang wanted to try making magical items with it. He was confident. Whether the homemade magic items worked in the Cube World didn’t matter.
These trivial tasks were like tangled threads—he needed to sort them one by one. With a stable rear, he could sprint forward to level up.
“Oh, right,” he recalled, “no mini-games these past two days. Is it because 500,000 new players entered recently, and the Cube World is chaotic, so they paused for a few days?”
The system didn’t respond—whether by default or avoidance, he didn’t know.
These 500,000 players were influential, using real-world connections and in-game rewards. Jiang Jitang felt even his alias couldn’t protect him.
Whether they wanted cooperation, coercion, or replacement, Jiang Jitang had no interest. His first choice remained the C-Nation government.
If he had to work with a violent organization, he’d choose the biggest one.
So avoiding mini-games lately was fine; he could re-enter once things stabilized.
Training equipment was ready, but Jiang Jitang didn’t like doing tasks when tired at the day’s end.
Lying in bed scrolling through his phone, he saw Boss Zhang’s social media. The young man, more athlete than businessman, looked lost, unsure about his future.
Jiang Jitang checked his previous posts—Boss Zhang seemed to miss his national team training days.
Originally, he didn’t want to meddle—they’d settled business. But Boss Zhang genuinely had a childlike sincerity, and was generous.
“Hey, Sister Xia, I want to ask—does our department plan to provide training bases for players? Yes, including boxing? International-level athletes? Can we recruit that level? Okay, can you send me the assistant recruitment form? Thanks.”
Jiang Jitang forwarded the form to Boss Zhang without comment. Boss Zhang replied almost instantly: “Thanks!”
—
Jiang Jitang slept well. The next morning, after showering, breakfast, and a short rest, a bubble frame appeared.
“I feel amazing today. System, submit order.”
As soon as he spoke, a black vortex engulfed him.
When he regained consciousness, the stench of sewage surrounded him. The clean Jiang Jitang with the scent of soap gagged.
Looking up, he saw far away a dazzling metropolis, like stars in the night—skyscrapers, 24/7 lights, technology thirty years ahead.
Yet next to it were slums, the contrast striking.
“Ugh.” The foul smell brought him back to reality.
Around him, countless cold, hostile eyes glowed in the darkness. But when they saw him, hostility was covered by another emotion.
‘Is this a beast world too?’ Jiang Jitang wondered.
Walking past sewage-filled paths, homeless people, and gray beasts sickly in corners, his question didn’t diminish—it grew.
Had he entered a slum or a violent district?
Darkness, stench, chaos—a place of abandoned humans and beasts. Yet this place existed right next to a high-tech metropolis. The contrast was brutal.
Such magical scenes he had only seen in videos—rich mansions beside slums in some miraculous country, or nations exporting maids with extreme wealth disparity.
‘C-Nation is better.’ Jiang Jitang stepped over a pile of excrement, memories of his previous life flashing.
In magical world metropolises, similar sights existed—luxury hiding filth and disease. The privileged sought superiority through contrast.
Close-kin marriages caused most nobles to be sick; ugly deformities were physical, beautiful faces often hid mental illness. Jiang Jitang was particularly handsome, and particularly troubled.
He pushed over the mansions along the slum edge like sandcastles.
“Plop.”
A gray, pus-covered creature rolled to his feet, blinking, mewing in pain.
Beautiful eyes, nearly blue-purple with flecks of gold. Jiang Jitang was captivated. He squatted, noticing bugs crawling through the wounds in the matted fur.
“I declare—you successfully staged a scam.”
Silent power flowed into the broken body, along with pity and love from another world, dispelling death energy from the beast.
The fur gained sheen and color; its damaged wings regenerated, fluttering intermittently.
It was a small, plump bee.
Previously skinny, gray, wingless—it had looked like a discarded plush slipper. Now, restored to its apple-sized form: yellow and black, fluffy, with large blue-purple eyes taking up a third of its face.
Jiang Jitang blushed—both an insect and a fluffy cute creature, and it had wings.
Plump and egg-shaped, small head, big rear, short dull golden stinger, tiny crown on its head, two round wings flapping.
Heart—completely hit.
Beasts in this world were unnaturally cute, perfectly matching human aesthetics. Jiang Jitang couldn’t even model such beauty.
Looking around, alone, he held the struggling plump bee, declaring to the system: “System, see? It staged a scam on me. It wants to go home with me.”
Bubble frame: … You have six points, figure it out yourself.
“Then can I use a Companion Pass?” he asked.
“One enough?” the system countered.
Before he could understand, an unusual sound came nearby.
“Awooo—” Shadows appeared in the dark alley, moving with a stench of blood.
A nearly human-height black wild dog emerged—emaciated, dark gray fur clinging to its bones, new wounds over old, eyes full of killing intent.
“Mew.” The plump bee trembled.
Instinctively, Jiang Jitang hid it in his hood and drew his armor-piercing tranquilizer gun.
If it bit, he wouldn’t die anyway.
Tense atmosphere—but the imposing black dog rolled to his feet, carefully biting his pant leg.
“Awooo~” the dog whined.
Allergic to fangs and aggressive dogs, Jiang Jitang stiffened: …This is a real scam this time.
“Mew—”
“Wow! Wow!”
“Shh~”
More shadows emerged from all directions, filled with deadly aura, surrounding him.
The plump bee hid in his hood, watched by all these jealous eyes, prickling with fear.
“Now, do you think one Companion Pass is enough?” the bubble frame asked softly.
“…”
Not enough. Definitely not enough.
