Chapter 24
In low-level dungeons, only a few NPCs were smart enough to feel real. But in this high-level dungeon, even ordinary NPCs seemed alive.
The next day, Lu Chuan’s fruit shop doubled its prices, yet plenty of players still came.
They seemed convinced this new fruit shop had some hidden connection to the year’s sacrificial ritual, buying nonstop.
There were lots of players in this dungeon—some left over from the last cycle, some new arrivals with keys like Lu Chuan’s group, and some lucky fools who had stumbled upon a dungeon key by chance.
But all shared one trait: they didn’t care about money.
Fruit couldn’t possibly cost that much, right?
Yet as players threw their cash around, clueless NPCs got the wrong idea, assuming the fruit was special, and also flocked to buy.
The shop’s profits became enviably high.
At first, Shen Li could still watch idly, but after a few days he had to roll up his sleeves and help settle accounts for the long lines.
Lu Chuan, meanwhile, was planning to open a second stall selling local souvenirs.
Shen Li couldn’t take it anymore. “It’s been half a month! Selling fruit is one thing, but now souvenirs too? Are you seriously planning to strike it rich here? This pile of cash isn’t even a fraction of ten billion!”
Lu Chuan even wanted to push Sasha to loosen her ability a bit, so more key NPCs would come buy.
If Shen Li hadn’t stopped him, she might’ve fallen for it.
By now, Lu Chuan guessed Shen Li’s patience was running out.
An S-rank player—proud and ambitious. How could he ever understand the life of a small-time hustler? That he’d already helped run a fruit shop for half a month was patience enough.
For half a month, Shen Li had been selling fruit for him without receiving a single coin in wages. Shen Li didn’t care, and Lu Chuan pretended not to notice.
But now that Shen Li was starting to grow restless, Lu Chuan needed to provide some real information.
“Don’t worry, big brother. At most another day or two, and we’ll definitely meet an important NPC. If we don’t, I promise I’ll go investigate with you.” Lu Chuan said seriously.
“I don’t believe you. Do you really mean that?”
“Seal of Contract. You should know it. If you don’t believe me, we can sign one.” Lu Chuan pulled out the Seal of Contract.
“You even have that?” Shen Li began to doubt his life. Had Lu Chuan really only cleared two dungeons? Why did it feel like he had just as much stuff as him? Could it be that Lu Chuan had looted the dungeon boss’s entire home?
“No need, no need. Such a precious item should be saved for the blade’s edge. I’ll just give you a few more days.” Shen Li replied immediately.
But the very next day after their talk, the village chief of Li Family Village came to their door.
Shen Li was completely unprepared. At the time, he had still been thinking about how to persuade Lu Chuan to take the dungeon more seriously—if he’d just put even a fraction of his energy into the dungeon instead of money-making, it would’ve been enough.
So when the chief arrived and said he wanted to meet the fruit shop owner, Shen Li was dumbfounded.
Of course, Shen Li knew the Li Family Village chief. He had existed the last time Shen Li entered this dungeon. But Shen Li had changed his appearance now, so the chief couldn’t recognize him.
This chief always played the bureaucrat with players—getting even a single honest word out of him was harder than climbing to heaven. Press him too hard, and he’d vanish. Try to threaten him with violence, and he could trigger the sacrificial ritual early, invoking the evil god’s power to punish players. Aside from the evil god itself, he was the most troublesome boss in the dungeon.
And yet, here he was—coming to see them in person?
Why?
Shen Li couldn’t make sense of it.
[Host, this NPC has a heavy divine aura. He’s likely a high priest or similar figure, probably even higher-ranked than Lucas. Be careful.] #888 reminded him.
What kind of dungeon threw such a big boss at them right from the start?
Was bringing Starry Sasha along really accelerating the dungeon’s progress?
“Don’t worry, system. He’s exactly the one I was fishing for.” Lu Chuan didn’t even bother hiding his little scheme.
[Host, what do you mean by that?] #888 remembered Lu Chuan’s earlier advice: whenever you don’t understand something, ask. That way, you highlight the host’s brilliance.
Besides, with other players already in the dungeon, if it didn’t ask, Shen Li or Starry Sasha would.
It was already useless for helping the host in dungeons—if it couldn’t even help him show off, it really might get replaced!
“At tourist sites, most of the storefronts are run by locals, or at least by people related to them,” Lu Chuan explained with worldly experience. “Sure, outsiders can sometimes open shops, but they’ll usually be shunned, and their shops can only be far from the main site. So, I told the other players and shopkeepers right away that we three siblings are children of Li Family Village. That way, no one would reject us.”
[But then why would the chief come?] #888 pressed.
Lu Chuan praised the question in his heart.
Tsk. Someone had to ask.
Shen Li, smug with his S-rank status, was too proud to.
Starry Sasha was too much of a fool to.
It was only in this Infinite Realm that people like them could use their class abilities to climb into guildmastership. In Lu Chuan’s original world, people with strong skills but no social sense couldn’t even compete with office clerks writing PowerPoints.
In comparison, #888’s presence was very necessary.
“When I started selling fruit so well, other shopkeepers came to ask me about it. I told them we were locals. Naturally, they’d go back to the village to check. The more they asked, how could the chief not hear about it?” Lu Chuan countered.
[No wonder the chief came!]
“No, that alone isn’t enough.” Lu Chuan shook his head. “System, you don’t understand the chief’s role here. Yes, he has authority, but he also carries responsibility. A chief who bullies people and does nothing—how could anyone support him? Only a chief who firmly protects the village earns real respect. Selling fruit doesn’t matter. Even if I make money, they can’t stop me. But when I started selling tourist souvenirs…”
In a tourist village, the villagers’ biggest incomes came from running inns and selling local specialties.
Selling fruit successfully was one thing—it just proved his ability. But if Lu Chuan touched the souvenir business, that was stealing the villagers’ livelihoods!
Imagine you’re the chief, supported by the people. Outsiders show up claiming to be villagers’ descendants—that’s tolerable. But then they start competing for the very business your people survive on. Could you just sit back?
If the chief didn’t step in and dissuade Lu Chuan, and Lu’s business took root, the chief himself might lose his position.
Strong dragons don’t suppress local snakes. On someone else’s turf, if you don’t pay respect and instead grab business, you’ll be opposed everywhere.
Even in the real world, local governance required relying on the chief and village committee to push policies through.
Here in a dungeon world without states or order, the chief was a local emperor. Protecting the village’s interests was his duty.
But Shen Li, the clueless captain, and Starry Sasha, a naïve minor, couldn’t possibly understand that!
Probably none of the other players did either.
In the Infinite Realm, once you became a player and got noticed by a guild, you rose above the masses. Few had ever suffered the hardships of real life, let alone learned to use that experience to clear dungeons.
[Host, you really worked odd jobs everywhere before? What a waste of your talents. A Guildmaster should be none other than you!] #888 said with heartfelt admiration.
It even felt now that not just the Star Guild, but all five major guilds should let the host be president.
“Chief, what an honor, what an honor. Sister, hurry up and bring out our fruit platters.” Lu Chuan also recognized the chief, having seen his photo on Li Family Village’s promotional wall. He quickly put on a smile and signaled Sasha to serve something.
Sasha froze, but Shen Li interjected, “Sasha, go cut some new fruit for the chief—pick the good ones.”
Lu Chuan the profiteer always used unsellable fruit—overripe, ugly, or small—for the platters in his shop. He even hired NPC temps to cut them, then marketed them as “limited edition” and tricked players into paying big money.
But now the chief himself was here—how could they serve that trash? Wasn’t he afraid the chief would just summon the gods and have them all killed? And with Starry Sasha accelerating dungeon progress just by being present, the further she stayed from this, the better!
“Alright.” Starry Sasha hadn’t realized Shen Li was sending her away. She obediently went to cut fruit.
“What’s the boss’s name?” The chief carefully scrutinized the three siblings, finding no trace of familiarity.
“My surname is Jin.” Lu Chuan replied with a smile.
“So it’s Boss Jin. Our Li Family Village is full of Li. No family named Jin, no Li marrying into Jin.” The chief snorted. “And yet, Boss Jin, you claim to outsiders that you’re from our village?”
“Chief, you can’t just stand in our shop talking like this—people will think you’re here to cause trouble. Sit, please. Big brother, don’t just stand there, boil some water and brew the best tea for the chief.” Lu Chuan ordered matter-of-factly.
Shen Li bit his tongue but obeyed.
They couldn’t afford to offend the chief—he was a key NPC for clearing Li Family Village.
“Chief, as you can see, we’re just running a small business, making a living here. As for what I say outside, well—you know how businessmen talk. It shouldn’t be taken too seriously.” Lu Chuan kept smiling. No one could hit a man with a smiling face, and being so young, the chief couldn’t keep a stern look forever.
“Little Jin, I’m much older than you, so let me teach you some sense. If you sell fruit under the Li Family Village name, we won’t trouble you. But if you use our name to sell those unregulated tourist goods, that won’t do.” The chief didn’t mince words—he had come here for this reason, and he had to spell it out so the young man wouldn’t play dumb.
“That’s my mistake.” Lu Chuan pretended to realize suddenly. “So all the souvenir shops around here are run by Li Family villagers? Sorry, chief. I’ve been too busy with business since arriving and didn’t pay attention. Rest assured, this shop will only sell fruit. I have no intention of competing with the villagers.”
“Yes, as long as you mind your place, our village won’t drive you out. I know selling fruit isn’t easy—it’s costly and spoils quickly. We won’t squeeze you out completely.” The chief’s tone softened at last.
“Of course, I believe that.” Lu Chuan beckoned Shen Li and Sasha back with the tea and fruit, letting them listen to how he handled the chief. “Before renting this shop, I did ask about local customs. Please don’t take offense, chief—we siblings just want to survive.”
The chief sipped tea, sampled two grapes, and gestured for Lu Chuan to continue.
“I heard Li Family Village has always been devout, never wavering over the years, united as one. I thought, a place with faith must have good fortune. Businesspeople like us rely on good fortune. Now that I’ve met you, chief, I understand why this village thrives in peace and prosperity. To be honest, I worried you might drive us siblings out. But seeing your kindness today—I’m truly grateful.”
“As long as you do honest business, of course we won’t drive you away.” The village chief was quite pleased by the flattery. “Besides, you haven’t even entered the village. If you weren’t trying to switch to selling tourism products, I wouldn’t have swallowed my pride to come here this time.”
“Of course, I understand. It’s just that we didn’t think things through earlier.” Lu Chuan kept smiling. “Chief, they say there’s no time like the present. Since you’re here, I won’t keep anything back. Originally, I planned to think it over more carefully, but seeing how open-minded and generous you are, I feel I can bring the plan forward.”
“What plan? Let’s hear it.” The chief seemed to have had a sensitive spot poked and immediately grew alert.
Shen Li tried to give Lu Chuan a signal, urging him to be very careful with his words.
The chief had already experienced countless player schemes and had developed a conditioned reflex to be wary.
“It’s nothing much.” Lu Chuan scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly. “I just noticed that Li Family Village is backed by mountains. This land isn’t good for grain, but for fruit trees it’s more than enough. We three siblings have always been in the fruit business, and as you can see, our sales are good—never enough stock each day. Fruit itself isn’t worth much; it’s the transport and storage that make it expensive. If we could source directly from Li Family Village, my costs would drop immediately, and I could even expand to more stores elsewhere.”
Hearing this, the chief’s wary look faded by more than half. “Really?”
“If you hadn’t come today, Chief, showing such generosity and broad-mindedness, I would’ve just kept watching for a while. But since you’re so fair, we’ll also return the favor. Right now Li Family Village relies on tourism, so of course there’s income. But I noticed there are still many children here—if you want them to leave the mountains one day, just selling tourism won’t be enough. Another source of income means another safeguard. When tourism is in the off-season, at least you won’t be sitting idle. Don’t you think?” Lu Chuan said sincerely.
The chief popped a few more pieces of watermelon into his mouth, his expression heavy. “What you say… does make sense.”
Tourists always came in waves, mostly around the festival. After the festival, there were hardly any visitors, and the village’s income dropped sharply. Having another income source would indeed be a good thing.
“But you’re all so young. If our village starts growing fruit, the investment will be huge, and the returns take time. Can you really handle such a big business?” The chief still hesitated.
“Chief, you underestimate us. We three siblings have traveled far and wide for years; we do have some connections. Ever heard of Hubbard?”
“No.”
“He’s a bank manager. He can give me a loan.” Lu Chuan stopped there. “On my own, I can’t absorb all the fruit from the village, but with a bank’s backing, it’s different. Of course, for credit evaluation, we’d need you to prepare some things too, to highlight the village’s advantages.”
“Our only advantage is tourism.”
“Not necessarily—your culture, history, unique traditions, human stories… all of that counts. People in high society love that kind of thing, old-fashioned and authentic. I can even invite the bank people over. Once they see Li Family Village has potential, the loan will come through, and the money here will start flowing.” Lu Chuan coaxed patiently.
“The only thing worth showing in Li Family Village is our festival ritual.” The chief sighed. “Why not let the bank people watch that?”
Shen Li, listening at the side, was so excited he almost laughed out loud.
The chief was actually offering to invite them to the ritual—that had never happened before.
Starry Shasha glanced at Shen Li in confusion, sensing he was about to burst with laughter.
She felt something was off and secretly pinched him.
The sharp pain snapped Shen Li back to his senses, and he quickly rearranged his expression.
Caught almost laughing at this moment—what a joke. He was a senior player, how could he be so careless? Shen Li berated himself silently. But there was something about Lu Chuan—his words just drew people into his beautiful visions without them realizing it.
If he were the chief, he probably wouldn’t be able to resist either.
“A ritual? Sorry, Chief, I don’t really understand those things, but aren’t rituals usually bloody?” Lu Chuan looked uneasy. “Couldn’t you show something else? Like dances, old books, or moving love legends?”
Seeing Lu Chuan flatly refuse to join the ritual, the chief’s last bit of suspicion eased greatly.
“Don’t worry, the ritual isn’t so scary.” The chief thought for a moment, then smiled. “How about this—tomorrow I’ll send some of the village youth to help out at your fruit shop. I can see you’re busy. As long as you truly want to help the village, I won’t be stingy.” With that, the chief stood up to leave.
“I’ll walk you out, Chief.” Lu Chuan frantically signaled to Shen Li.
Shen Li caught on immediately, and with lightning speed packed the most expensive fruit into a gift basket, forcing it into the chief’s hands as they escorted him to the village gate. Only after the chief left did the three of them turn back.
Of course, other players who had been watching the chief closely noticed all of this.
So the new fruit shop family really were special NPCs—they actually had such a good relationship with the chief?!
Once back in the shop, Shen Li used his ability to carve out a relatively safe space, dragging Lu Chuan and Starry Shasha inside before daring to speak.
“Captain Shen, your ability is amazing. You wield the Cleric-type’s [Creation] skill with such mastery,” Lu Chuan said with genuine admiration.
Shen Li’s skill had originally been the lowest-grade [Construction], but he had leveled it up little by little into [Creation]. Now he could not only build small independent spaces in dungeons, but also create nearly anything except items with special properties.
For example, as long as he understood the structure and mechanics of a gun, he could conjure one out of thin air.
This ability was especially powerful in dungeons, so much so that the system often limited him—restricting usage counts, weakening its power, or otherwise handicapping him. Only in low-level dungeons could he use it freely. But doing too many low-level runs would hurt his mission ratings, so although some players liked to “flex” in newbie zones, truly ambitious ones like him rarely did.
This was precisely why Shen Li, despite his low emotional intelligence, could rise to the guild’s upper ranks and still be entrusted with leading two of its most promising newcomers—his ability was the best protection.
“The space I can build is limited, so let’s be quick.” Shen Li said urgently. “Lu Chuan, you did great. Now the chief trusts us. If we can get invited to the ritual, we’ll be ahead of the other teams. To claim a lordship title, we must attend the ritual, learn what god the village worships this year, and once we find the god’s true form, we’ll have a chance at the title.”
“But didn’t we refuse the ritual already?” Starry Shasha asked curiously. “Will the chief still invite us?”
“The chief said he’d send the youth here tomorrow to help—that really means to watch us. As long as we work earnestly during this time, he will invite us.” Lu Chuan said confidently. “He can refuse me personally, but the village won’t.”
If the chief stubbornly refused the “God of Wealth” who wanted to help the village prosper, he’d be nailed to the pillar of shame by his own people!
He already considers himself the God of Wealth T~T