Chapter 21
Starry Shasha had never met anyone like Lu Chuan in her entire life.
She couldn’t quite understand why he valued money so much. For players like them, wealth was just an external thing; game skills were what truly mattered.
Still, for some people in the guild, fighting for power and profit mattered even more than clearing dungeons.
So while Starry Shasha couldn’t understand Lu Chuan’s behavior, she respected it.
“I don’t need my share.” Starry Shasha had barely spoken when Lu Chuan cut her off.
“Good, then we’ll do twenty–eighty.” he said immediately.
“…What I mean is, I want to give my share to Captain Shen and the vice-guildmaster.” Starry Shasha clarified.
For a moment, their eyes locked—neither willing to give way.
Starry Shasha could forego benefits for herself, but not for Captain Shen or the vice-guildmaster, who had shown her immeasurable kindness. She would not compromise on their behalf.
“Fine.” Lu Chuan, thinking himself magnanimous, decided he couldn’t bicker with a minor girl. What needed to be given, he would still give. “But you have to cooperate with me, understand? This isn’t just for you—it’s for Shen Li, the vice-guildmaster, and the future of the Star Guild.”
“As long as you don’t mind my class skill, I’ll fully cooperate.” Starry Shasha said seriously.
“That’s exactly it. If your skill weren’t useful, I might not even give you those shares.” Lu Chuan laughed.
Starry Shasha didn’t quite understand, but still agreed.
When she finally left Lu Chuan’s room, she smashed it into a wreck on her way out, the noise so loud it drew the whole building’s attention.
Many players peeked their heads in, but none dared to intervene.
What a joke. On one side was the guild’s carefully nurtured genius seed, Starry Shasha—even if she was about to fall off the rookie leaderboard, she was still the leadership’s darling. On the other side was the super-genius the vice-guildmaster had poached from other guilds at enormous expense, even assigning Shen Li as his mentor. Neither of them were people the ordinary members could afford to provoke. All they could do was watch.
Fortunately, they hadn’t fought each other. Starry Shasha stormed off, leaving only the ruins of the room and Lu Chuan standing amidst the mess.
“Alright everyone, show’s over.” Lu Chuan shrugged helplessly. “Does the guild have any guest hotels? I’ll make do there for now. Tomorrow, I’ll send the repair bill to Miss Shasha.”
“Yes, yes!” A bolder player—who thought he had some background—stepped forward cautiously. “Mr. Lu, I can take you there. It’s my father’s hotel. But judging from this room’s state, you’ll probably have to stay outside for a while.”
Starry Shasha had smashed everything that could be smashed. Restoring the room to its original condition wouldn’t be easy.
“What can I do?” Lu Chuan sighed deeply. “I’m new here. I don’t dare provoke her.”
“Mr. Lu, why did Miss Shasha come to make trouble for you?” players asked.
“Probably because I stalled the reimbursement process for one of Captain Shen’s teams. I didn’t reject it—their expenses were legitimate—but the process was wrong.” Lu Chuan tilted his head, speaking offhandedly.
The players listening all sucked in a cold breath.
Seriously? How dare you?
Captain Shen’s teams were all elite soldiers, and Miss Shasha had always treated Shen like family. For a newcomer like you to provoke him—no wonder she was furious!
“What? Shouldn’t I treat everyone equally?” Lu Chuan asked, confused.
“No, no, nothing wrong at all.”
“Mr. Lu, you’re truly a good finance director.”
“Haha, sticking to your principles is definitely the right way.”
None of them dared tell him the truth. It was hard enough keeping themselves safe.
Who were they to worry about this super rookie? The vice-guildmaster had dug him up at any cost, even sending Captain Shen himself on a spaceship to fetch him.
Meanwhile, Starry Shasha followed Lu Chuan’s instructions and wandered the streets.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for several groups of people to approach her.
“You’re not qualified to talk to me. Get someone with real weight.” Starry Shasha peeked at the little note Lu Chuan had given her and recited the words.
Thanks to her hooded robe, her face was hidden. She didn’t even need to act—just say the words flatly, without emotion.
Still, the listeners were all shocked.
The guild’s famously mild-tempered Starry Shasha was this angry? Clearly, that Lu Chuan had really provoked her.
Many hurried back to report.
“I think Shasha’s run out of patience.” A pale, pampered young man analyzed. “Lu Chuan showing up means the guild plans to shift resources away from her and toward him. Of course she wouldn’t accept that. And with her cursed ability making her unfit for team play, this was bound to happen—she’s seizing the chance.”
“That Lu Chuan—just because the vice-guildmaster backs him, he thinks he’s untouchable? He doesn’t realize that while dungeons are dangerous but predictable, the real world outside is even more dangerous.” Another young man sneered.
Though their player levels weren’t high, they were decked out in gear only top players could own.
After all, their elders were all guild veterans.
Those elders fought and bled in dungeons just to give their children a future. In the Star Guild, even the vice-guildmaster could only barely maintain order. If the old veterans ever got angry and defected with their resources to another guild, the Star Guild would collapse.
That was why, despite his power, the vice-guildmaster couldn’t simply eliminate them.
No matter how useless their children were, their elders still had ability.
“This Lu Chuan is obviously the vice-guildmaster’s pawn. He’s an outsider—he has no idea how things work here. Daring to touch the guild’s industries, he won’t even know how he died. So what if he’s a super-genius? Plenty of geniuses have died in this guild.”
“We don’t even compete with the top dogs for rare items anymore. All we want is some spending money, but even that they won’t allow? Then they can’t blame us for what happens.”
The spoiled heirs chattered back and forth, already sealing Lu Chuan’s fate.
They wouldn’t kill him—they still had to leave the vice-guildmaster some face.
But a lesson? That was unavoidable.
This time, they’d even drag Starry Shasha into it as a scapegoat.
Soon, Starry Shasha was invited into a palace-like luxury estate.
Unlike the perilous dungeons, this place held every kind of indulgence imaginable.
The second-generation heirs lived lavishly off their elders’ resources, unwilling to risk their lives in dungeons, preferring to squander recklessly.
One glance and Starry Shasha recognized them all.
They were children of the guild’s old high-ranking players.
Ha. Their elders had grown too old to fight dungeons, but still had plenty of energy to breed. As long as they had enough children, surely one would turn out well.
Not entirely wrong, perhaps. But for the Star Guild now, these parasites gnawed far too deep.
“Miss Shasha, we are the guild’s old guard. Only we truly care for it.”
“That’s right, Miss Shasha. We can’t let Lu Chuan continue like this. We need to teach him a lesson.”
“We’ll take care of it—you just need to step in at the key moment.”
…
Starry Shasha didn’t know how to respond, but Lu Chuan’s note said: ‘Keep quiet and just nod.’ So she did exactly that.
She didn’t know why, but even though Lu Chuan wasn’t there, she felt as if countless strings had sprouted from these spoiled heirs, and all of them were firmly in Lu Chuan’s hands.
That guy really was kind of terrifying.
Starry Shasha lowered her head silently. Thinking of how Captain Shen had told her to “teach Lu Chuan how to clear dungeons” and the like, she felt she might end up disappointing his expectations.
Lu Chuan, however, acted as if nothing had happened. After moving his clothes into the hotel, he carried all the ledgers and office materials into the half-abandoned warehouse to work.
Oh, and a few finance staff followed him there to help with the books.
They didn’t really like working overtime, but since Lu Chuan could allocate them overtime pay according to official guild policy, they went along cheerfully.
Who knew how long Mr. Lu Chuan would remain in this position, but a finance director who actually gave ordinary workers overtime pay was rare indeed. Might as well make money while they could.
Lu Chuan looked like he was carefully auditing accounts, but in reality he was locked in constant back-and-forth with the system.
“System, where are those people now?”
[About ten minutes away.] #888 estimated their speed and distance, giving a relatively precise answer.
Inside dungeons, under the suppression of the Evil World’s system, #888 couldn’t offer much help. But outside of dungeons, its capabilities were vast.
That was why Lu Chuan’s attitude toward #888 had recently softened considerably.
This system was the plug-in he couldn’t do without on his road to becoming Guildmaster!
Sure, even without the system, his wit, ruthlessness, and black heart would eventually earn him the presidency. But that would take a lot more time. With #888’s help, he could get there much faster.
Only a fool refuses a shortcut.
It’s not that people hate shortcuts—it’s that they hate not being the one who gets to take them.
[Host, are you really going to confront all of them at once? If something goes wrong, you might get hurt too.] 888 felt things were moving too fast. The host had only been in the guild for a few days, and already he was stirring up such a big storm. Wouldn’t it be better to take things slowly?
“Of course it can’t be slow. System, you’ve never worked in an office, so you don’t know. A leader parachuted into a new place must establish his tone of work immediately, striking before others can react. If you take it slowly and let everyone get familiar with you, it actually becomes harder to build authority. Trust me, I’ve worked plenty of jobs—this is how every successful leader does it.” Lu Chuan had learned this from experience. The path he was walking now was one no one else could replicate.
Only by doing what ordinary people couldn’t could he stand out from them, becoming “mythologized,” “legendary”—the first person who came to mind.
Otherwise, why do so many CEOs, already making piles of money, still show their faces in public? Aside from vanity, it’s about tying themselves to their brand, building confidence in the market and the public. That’s the real goal.
[Fine, host, they’re almost here.] When it came to arguments, #888 had never won a single round against Lu Chuan.
“Starry Shasha’s with them, right?”
[She is.]
“Good. Then no problem.” Lu Chuan propped his chin in one hand. “Honestly, if I hadn’t already bound with you, I’d be tempted to develop an ability like hers. It’s just too perfect for me.”
#888 immediately felt a surge of crisis. [Host, the God of Wealth is your true calling! There’s no position in the world more suited to you than that!]
“I know, I was just saying.”
No—even saying it was dangerous.
#888 decided it would have to keep a closer eye on Starry Shasha from now on, just in case the host ever spent points to develop an ability like hers.
—
Outside the warehouse.
A group of second-generation heirs, trailed by their lackeys, escorted Starry Shasha to the site.
“Miss Shasha, Lu Chuan is inside. We’ve prepared several items for you. As soon as you act, we’ll turn and leave—you won’t be discovered.” They immediately handed her a bag of tools, clearly hoping she would do the dirty work so the blame wouldn’t fall on them.
“I don’t need these.” Starry Shasha ignored them. “Captain Shen just messaged me—the operation is postponed for now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
With that, she turned to leave.
What? After coming all this way, they couldn’t just turn back now!
The second-gens panicked and rushed to stop her. “Miss Shasha, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! If we leave today, Lu Chuan won’t be here tomorrow. We need to act now.”
“That’s right, Miss Shasha. We’ve heard Lu Chuan is already checking into the tax issues of these private industries in Morningstar City.” These guys had always lived off their fathers’ reputations, running little industries without ever paying taxes. Now that Lu Chuan was digging into it, they knew the game was over.
For freeloaders like them, even giving up a tiny bit of profit felt unbearable.
“Out of my way. I have to report back to the captain first.” Starry Shasha was getting angry.
“Wait, Miss Shasha—”
Just then, a sudden gust of wind blew through.
In the confusion, someone yanked off Starry Shasha’s cloak. The youthful girl’s face, topped with a pair of beast ears, was suddenly exposed in broad daylight.
“Crap!”
“What kind of trash quality is this thing?”
“Shit, run!”
…
Of course the second-gens knew about Starry Shasha’s ability. As long as she wore her cloak that sealed it off, she was harmless. But somehow the garment tore with a single pull.
Damn it—whose stupid hands did that?
Too late now. As soon as Starry Shasha’s face was revealed, her class skill activated.
Demon—[Lucky Demon].
[Lucky Demon]was one of the rarest demon-class abilities. It could only awaken in players who had survived a brush with death, and each upgrade came through sacrificing teammates, enemies, or even innocent bystanders. It was practically the infinite-stream version of “Dragon Overlord.”
Once activated, it didn’t distinguish friend from foe—everyone around her would plunge into extreme misfortune. Even Starry Shasha herself would suffer endless disasters, triggering countless side quests at once.
But she would also be lucky, because amid the misfortunes, a sliver of fortune always remained.
For example, if she triggered the ability while walking down the street, she might suddenly be hit by a rain of arrows. Everyone nearby would be caught in it. But even if a hundred arrows pierced her, not one would hit her heart.
Extreme misfortune, coupled with extreme fortune.
Luck and demonhood, intertwined.
This ability was a double-edged bomb. It allowed Starry Shasha to find loopholes and side routes in deadly dungeons—but also dragged her into constant danger. Any partner who wasn’t strong enough would die without even knowing how. Of all who had teamed with her, only Shen Li had ever survived unscathed.
The ability of this “Lucky Star” was infamous across the five great guilds. Anyone who wanted to recruit her had to ask themselves if their life was tough enough to survive it.
Fortunately, in the real world she always wore her sealing cloak. Once she fully mastered her power, she could become one of the guild’s deadliest weapons.
But now, someone had stripped away her defense.
The second-gens froze.
What?
How could this happen?
Was the cloak really that flimsy?
Before they could run more than a few steps, the warehouse suddenly erupted into raging fire. Not only was the blaze bizarre, but smoke spread everywhere.
The finance staff inside barely had time to react before collapsing in heaps.
As finance director, it wasn’t surprising Lu Chuan had bought a few useless tool cards.
Ignorance was the best protection for them.
Lu Chuan glanced at the ledgers and asked #888, “You’ve backed them up, right?”
[Of course, host.] To #888, such trivial data hardly even counted as memory space.
“Good.” Lu Chuan stretched, fighting spirit blazing. “Now it’s time to really carve the meat off these people. Hah—what’s robbing a bank compared to looting the rich directly?”
#888 silently mourned for the poor souls outside.
Meanwhile, those outside were still utterly confused.
“Help! Someone save them!”
“Who hit me?”
“Ah! My ledgers!”
“Someone’s sabotaging us in the chaos!”
…
In the extreme disorder, nobody knew who was doing what. The second-gens couldn’t make out a single face, unaccustomed to such scenes. They didn’t even think to use their items. Their lackeys did remember, but very few items were suitable for such conditions anyway.
No one knew how long it lasted before a torrential flood suddenly poured from the sky, extinguishing the flames and soaking everyone to the bone.
Just as the second-gens were about to curse, they saw Captain Shen Li storming toward them with a squad at his back.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no.
And at that exact moment, Lu Chuan stumbled out, bedraggled, supporting several fainted finance staff. Spotting Shen Li and his men, he immediately raised his voice in complaint.
“Captain Shen, thank goodness you’re here! I’m completely innocent!”
“My team and I were quietly auditing accounts here when these people suddenly attacked, setting fires and hurting my staff. If I hadn’t used some tool cards to protect them, we’d all have been burned alive!”
“The account books were all destroyed— we almost lost our lives too.”
“What does the guild mean by this? I just joined, and you’re already trying to rob me and kill me?”
“I’ve shed blood for the guild, I’ve balanced the guild’s accounts, and now I’m going to report this all the way to the vice-guildmaster and president!”
“Captain Shen, this is bullying taken too far.”
Lu Chuan wailed loudly, but between the lines, he shifted all the responsibility onto those spoiled second-gens.
The few finance staff beside him who still retained some consciousness burst into tears as well, each saying they thought they wouldn’t live to see the sun tomorrow.
They hadn’t expected to survive the dungeons, only to nearly die in the Infinite Realm instead.
Such injustice, truly unjust.
The second-gens were dumbfounded. They had no idea what had just happened. They had only brought Starry Shasha along to give Lu Chuan some trouble, and somehow her ability had activated, somehow a fire had broken out, and somehow they had ended up carrying the blame.
Shen Li looked at the chaotic scene before him, then at the theatrically pitiful Lu Chuan, and felt as if his gray hairs were sprouting even faster.
As if anyone would believe you.
He was the one who had sent Starry Shasha to help Lu Chuan—she didn’t know a thing. How could she possibly join forces with these useless second-gens to try to harm him?
And Lu Chuan? The same guy who had dared to raise his own value in front of the five great guilds? You expect me to believe he could be set up by a few brats like this?
Besides, Starry Shasha had never once sent him a message on her own. For her to suddenly do so this time, asking him to bring men here—if Lu Chuan weren’t behind this, stirring things up, Shen Li would never believe it, not even in death.
Why had he been so stupid as to send Starry Shasha to connect with Lu Chuan in the first place?
Shen Li turned his head and saw Starry Shasha carefully pulling her hood back on. Though her face was expressionless, Shen Li, who knew her well, could tell she was very happy.
The kind of happiness that comes after pulling a prank.
This child hadn’t shown such joy ever since all her fellow genius rookies had perished in internal strife.
Ah, what a sin.
All because of this Lu Chuan!
Shen Li didn’t know Lu Chuan that well, but he knew that people with low rationality values were capable of doing absolutely anything.
Right now, it was obvious Lu Chuan had set up these people—and yet Shen Li couldn’t expose him.
Or rather, Lu Chuan was banking on the fact that he couldn’t.
“Take them all back first. Let the vice-guildmaster decide.” Shen Li waved his hand decisively, ordering everyone to be brought back. “Oh, and notify their parents to come to headquarters for a meeting. As elders, they ought to know what’s going on too.”
Shen Li cast another glance at the second-gens as he spoke.
Their faces turned ashen.
Why had it come to this?
Could Starry Shasha’s ability really be so powerful now? Just revealing her face was enough to twist things into such a mess?
“System, Starry Shasha’s ability is amazing. I really want it.” Lu Chuan once again sighed in admiration. “If I had her ability, I’d have a 100% clear rate in every dungeon.”
Be human, host. You’re already a professional troublemaker.
If you had that ability on top of it, forget being a God of Wealth—the Plague God system would suit you better.
#888 felt that sometimes, having a host with too low a rationality score was not a good thing at all.
—
The vice-guildmaster was leisurely drinking tea in his office.
Suddenly, the door burst open. Shen Li entered alone to report the situation.
The more the vice-guildmaster listened, the more troublesome it sounded.
“What’s the situation now?” The vice-guildmaster doubted his own memory. Hadn’t Lu Chuan only joined them about a week ago? And in just a few days, such a disaster already?
“There are at least ten or more senior players gathered outside. They never even show up for regular meetings, but now they’ve all come.” Shen Li sounded half gloating. Who liked seeing those freeloading old-timers, who never contributed but always took, strutting around like they owned the place, living off past glory? The guild had plenty of players with higher merits, but these people always clung together, filling the guild with filth.
“Lu Chuan’s really given me a tough problem.” The vice-guildmaster massaged his temples. “Fine, since it’s come to this, there’s no avoiding it. Let them in.”
“Yes.” Shen Li nodded, then hesitated a moment before speaking again: “Vice president, maybe you should reconsider… are you sure I can really handle Lu Chuan?”
This kid was young, but crafty as a demon.
Shen Li doubted he could match him.
“Before, when you said that, we could have discussed it. But now…” The vice-guildmaster hesitated, then steeled himself. “Lu Chuan is a double-edged sword. Used well, he could bring about a complete transformation for the guild. You have the seniority and the strength to keep him in check. If not you, then I’d have to personally manage him. And Shen Li—at my age, you wouldn’t really have me step in myself, would you?”
Vice president, right now you’re strong enough to strangle an ox with one hand.
Shen Li wanted to cry. He felt unlucky.
If he called Vivian and the others now, maybe—if Ocean Heart was willing to pay the price—they could even discuss transferring Lu Chuan to another guild.
—
“Our ledgers, all burned to ash. We’d nearly finished balancing the accounts.” Lu Chuan put on a victim’s face and wept in front of the senior players who had suddenly appeared. “You veterans know better than anyone how important these things are. But now they’ve all been burned, leaving no evidence. Truly vicious methods!”
“And me and my people— we were nearly burned alive.” Lu Chuan sighed dramatically. “If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation, I’ll never let this go!”
The senior players’ faces turned dark green.
They were all old foxes, not gullible rabbits. Of course they knew what was really happening—but they had no justification, and they’d been caught red-handed.
Was Lu Chuan planning to extort them?
The vice-guildmaster entered, then froze at the doorway.
Everyone inside turned to look at him, faces showing every color of frustration.
And there, the cause of it all—Lu Chuan—sat devastated, looking utterly bullied, raising pitiful eyes toward him.
The vice-guildmaster’s hands itched.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the guild had just personally invited in a monumental troublemaker.
Awww Shasha had fun pulling the prank! How cute