Chapter 2
[Host, please, hurry and clear the dungeon! Those other players have already been searching for clues around here for ages.] 888 was nearly breaking down, watching Lu Chuan still haggling over “gold recycling.”
“Relax. Isn’t this also exploring the dungeon?” Lu Chuan said casually, strolling from shop to shop asking around.
[Newbie Dungeon (8 players total): Haunted Construction Site]
[Dungeon Info: Mary Tower has been abandoned for years. The developer plans to demolish and rebuild. However, construction crews have suffered repeated accidents there. The site is now in urgent need of workers. Perhaps something is buried beneath, tempting people to dig it out…]
[Clear Conditions:
Method 1: Survive 7 days inside the construction site. Timer starts upon entry. Survivors pass with a baseline evaluation.
Method 2: Any player uncovers 60% or more of the dungeon’s truth for a group clear. Each additional 10% raises personal evaluation.]
[Hint: This is a new world. Newbies, be bold—expand your networks. You might just stumble across a life-saving item.]
After reading the dungeon info, Lu Chuan sized up his surroundings.
888 had once explained that Evil World’s main system was like a giant soap bubble, and dungeons were smaller bubbles nested inside.
Each dungeon was a complete world with its own order, and they could even interact. Once inside, 888’s powers would be sealed, and players could only rely on abilities granted by Evil World. 888 had once pulled in low-level gods as hosts, trying to cheat the system—but without fail, the main system detected and killed them.
Checking his pockets, Lu Chuan now found a local ID card and bank card issued for this dungeon.
His eyes quickly spotted something:
Amid the bustling streets, a nearby utility pole was plastered with flyers. Anyone paying attention could see them clearly:
“Construction Site Hiring: Urgently need 8 workers. Food and lodging included. 1000/day, paid daily! Contact: XXXXXXXX. Worksite: directly opposite Mary Tower.”
Obviously, this was the construction site the dungeon wanted them to enter.
With ID and bank card in hand, Lu Chuan wasn’t worried. He immediately decided to cash in his gold at a gold shop.
888 panicked, trying to appeal to his “God of Wealth” instincts: [Host, look! The construction job pays 1000 a day. Don’t you want to earn that? I can’t cheat for you inside the dungeon, but I can monitor the other players’ progress…]
“Work? Are you kidding me? I’ve got over a million in hand and you want me hauling bricks?” Lu Chuan was shocked. “System, why do you think I worked those jobs? For money. Now that I have money, why would I keep working?”
[But you can’t just ignore the dungeon! Newbie dungeons are the easiest and best chance to earn high ratings. If you fall behind at the start, you’ll have a hard time later.]
From experience, 888 knew: low ratings in newbie dungeons meant fewer resources later—fewer resources meant earlier death.
It really didn’t want another dead host.
Not far away, the players who had left earlier were already analyzing the situation seriously:
“Newbie dungeons are usually benefit runs. As long as we use our starter skills well, we can get decent ratings—maybe even items if we’re lucky,” said the man claiming to be from the Abyss Guild. “If you perform well, I can recommend you.”
“This dungeon’s requirements are clear: survive seven days in the construction site. Since the location is fixed, we must stay there. As for uncovering the truth, without life-saving items we shouldn’t risk it yet.”
“The IDs and bank cards the system gave us are clearly for applying at the site.”
“If we go to the wrong site, it’ll be trouble. These street ads are the system’s hint. Once we go in, paranormal events will probably start. When that happens, we need to cooperate and survive together.”
“No time to waste. If we’re late and don’t get hired, we’ll fail the dungeon outright and be erased by the system.”
888 overheard their analysis and desperately wanted to relay it to Lu Chuan, to at least instill some sense of urgency.
But inside the dungeon, it couldn’t leak any hints—or the main system would detect and punish it, endangering the host even more.
Meanwhile, Lu Chuan took his time, picking the gold shop that offered the highest price, selling his starter gold, chatting with the shopkeepers for gossip, and even keeping part of his mind free to banter with 888.
He was multitasking to the extreme.
“The recruitment is obviously aimed at us newbies. Once we apply and step inside, the survival timer starts. But if I don’t enter yet, the timer doesn’t run. That means I can use the time outside to gather intel,” Lu Chuan said casually. “I’ve worked on construction sites before—I know the usual pay. If this site is offering such high wages, it means the project’s urgent and they can’t find workers locally.”
Construction crews usually came in groups. If the pay was really this good, they’d have already dragged in all their cousins and buddies.
[But if you don’t go in, it’ll be harder to investigate.] 888 could only hint vaguely. After all, those players who applied were learning nothing outside.
“The gold shop owner just told me that the abandoned Mary Tower used to be a landmark building in this city, with very deep ties behind it. Even if something went wrong, the news would definitely be covered up. The gold shop owner doesn’t know much either.”
Lu Chuan smiled faintly. “The dungeon only says we need to survive seven days after entering the construction site. It never said we have to go in as laborers. System, you really don’t understand your host’s true potential.”
888 had no idea why the topic had suddenly circled back onto itself again.
Meanwhile, Lu Chuan had already had the gold shop wire 1.52 million into his bank account and was striding out the door, heading straight for the city’s most luxurious mall.
[Host, what are you planning to do?]
“I’ve worked jobs for so many years, I’ve picked up some insights.”
Sitting in the back seat of a private car, Lu Chuan said to the system, “If you can be the client, don’t ever be the contractor. From the bottom, you can’t see the whole picture. To figure out what exactly went wrong with the Mary Tower project and how to solve it, the information a mere worker could get in seven days is extremely limited. So of course, we need to go to the people who actually understand everything.”
888 had to admit, Lu Chuan’s reasoning made a little sense.
[So what do you want to do?]
“Of course I’ll show you the power of money.” Lu Chuan gave a confident smile. “For example—what if I bought the construction project outright?”
888 immediately went into a frenzy inside his host’s mind.
[I can’t give you more gold that would disrupt the dungeon’s economic ecosystem. 2500g was already my limit.]
[Host, be realistic. Even if you turned 1.5 million into 15 million at a casino, you still couldn’t buy a construction site.]
Lu Chuan clicked his tongue.
No wonder 888 had failed so many times before.
Money had to be spent properly.
If you spent it well, money would only grow into more money.
*
Lu Chuan looked like a walking brand logo.
From the clothes he wore, to the accessories on his wrist, to the luxury car parked outside—everything screamed status.
He even had a personal chauffeur, waiting respectfully in the car for him.
“Boss, we’ve arrived,” the assistant said as he opened the car door.
At the entrance, the private bank’s branch manager, Hubbard, was already waiting with a welcoming party.
“Mr. Hubbard, I’m Assistant Wang, the one who coordinated with you earlier. This is our boss’s son, Young Master Lu.” Wang got out first, lowering his voice as he spoke to Hubbard. “Our Young Master Lu doesn’t know much about business, but he’s a kind and generous man.”
Hubbard understood immediately.
This Assistant Wang was no ordinary man either—two nights ago at the nightclub, he had not only booked out the entire venue, but had tipped waitstaff thousands apiece. When drunk, he had even let slip that their Young Master Lu was on close terms with Mayor Bruce.
Just yesterday morning, the headlines were all about the mysterious rich heir from the East, dining with the mayor and laughing together, with rumors that he planned to invest in the city.
The newspapers and internet were flooded with handsome photos and glowing coverage of “Young Master Lu.”
That very morning, the head office had personally called Hubbard, instructing him to fully accommodate Assistant Wang and take good care of Young Master Lu. Wang had mentioned that this time, the loan application was no small amount—Young Master Lu intended to buy Mary Tower, renovate it, and rename it after his mother as a birthday gift.
This was a big client.
Lu Chuan lowered his sunglasses slightly, looking a little arrogant. “Oh, what a shabby old place. Never mind, just hurry and buy Mary Tower already. Mr. Hubbard, do me a favor and arrange a meeting with the owner.”
“Of course. The owner, George, is an old friend of mine.” Hubbard smiled smugly.
If he could help his friend offload that troublesome property, he was sure his friend would reward him handsomely in return.
888 was dumbstruck.
The luxury car, the designer watch, the villa—all rented.
The assistant and chauffeur—hired hands.
The dinner photo with the mayor—Photoshopped.
The newspaper headlines—paid for.
As for the call from head office, Lu Chuan had bribed someone and played up his supposed “relationship” with Mayor Bruce, saying he wanted to do an internship at the bank, which prompted the call.
Because the call had come from head office, Hubbard never once doubted Lu Chuan’s identity.
Different people vouched for Lu Chuan in different ways, and when combined with the money he’d spent upfront, the result was a flawless web of lies.
[Host, you’re good, but all this background is fake. And there isn’t enough time to actually buy the site…]
“System, are you stupid? As soon as my time’s up, I’ll leave this dungeon.” Lu Chuan was utterly calm.
“Besides, I only said I want to buy it—I never said I will. Deals falling through is perfectly normal. And of course, before buying something, I’d need to inspect it. With all the incidents at Mary Tower, its owner should be the one begging me, not the other way around.”
Author’s Note:
Lu Chuan’s approach is actually very simple.
He had no intention of honestly working at the construction site to dig up the truth.
If you look at how con artists posing as rich heirs swindle money at home and abroad, you’ll see the tricks aren’t complicated at all—but they still work, haha.
Okay…I absolutely love him. Not only does he have an extreme love for money but he knows how to use it well. Respect.