Chapter 78
At first, only 200 units were released, but more than 50,000 people signed up.
If registration time hadn’t been limited, the number would’ve climbed even higher.
And these houses weren’t cheap!
Forget the monthly loan payments and interest—the down payment alone was beyond what normal people could afford.
The large player units—over 200 square meters each—were luxury flats, priced at 200,000 per square meter, with no discounts whatsoever. Even if players had items, they had to convert them into cash first.
The small ordinary units—around 50 square meters, two-bedroom apartments—were priced at 190,000 per square meter, also no discounts.
Down payments: max 50%, min 20%. Loan terms: anywhere from 20 years up to 100 years, with three-generation mortgage allowed.
If someone defaulted midway, they could apply to sell their unit through Golden Luxury Estate’s management office. A new buyer would take over the loan. Player units could only be sold to players, and ordinary ones only to ordinary people—no mixing. The original owner could leave with the depreciated sale price, while the management office only charged a 10% brokerage fee—which was considered pretty generous.
Some well-off ordinary folks, who didn’t live near the Star Guild, had set out months in advance just to buy Lu Chuan’s houses. Along the way, all his operations reassured them more and more.
The sales were so astonishing that #888 didn’t even need to make posts anymore. Forums and newspapers all picked up the story on their own, hyping it up further.
Even before the lottery began, people were already offering high prices to buy the lottery slots. Others publicly promised to pay double if anyone would transfer their winning house.
The houses weren’t even on sale yet, but the scalper market was already on fire.
And Lu Chuan was its biggest shareholder.
To maximize the power of the Divine Loan item, Lu Chuan kept the items he could use himself and put the rest up for auction, successfully gathering a huge pool of funds.
This way, when people paid down payments and took loans, the money would flow out from Lu Chuan’s account into theirs, and then slowly flow back again.
So, a massive cash reserve was necessary.
Naturally, this worried Shen Li.
“At least keep some items on hand,” Shen Li urged. Because of the Evil World game’s rules, he couldn’t reveal the secrets of the Master-Rank List, but he still had to try to advise.
“The challenges faced by Master-Rank players later on won’t be anything like the old dungeons. Every extra item is another chance to survive.”
“But by then, lots of low and mid-tier items won’t be useful anymore. Might as well sell them now,” Lu Chuan replied without hesitation. “You don’t need to tell me, I can guess it myself—Master-Rank players must face gods directly, right?”
Shen Li stayed silent.
“Oh, not just that,” Lu Chuan added. “There must be more reasons too. Otherwise, why would so many Master-Rank players rarely appear again after making the list? The higher they rank, the less they come back. I figure once you make it onto the list, you get another identity inside the dungeon worlds.”
“Don’t look at me like that—you’ll get flagged by the system for leaking secrets.” Lu Chuan closed his eyes. He could guess exactly what Shen Li’s face looked like right now.
In short, he still had #888’s cheat.
He remembered when he’d borrowed money from that loan guy before—he had said their company could get players legal identities inside dungeon worlds, and that many players were dying to become their agents.
But normally, players’ time in dungeons was limited, and they usually couldn’t go beyond dungeon boundaries.
So, who could stay permanently in the dungeon worlds, even going so far as to apply for a job as a loan company’s salesman?
It could only be Master-Rank players.
And every now and then, the names of Master-Rank List players disappeared from the list, leaving people to wonder: was it because they had died and dropped off, or was there some other reason?
But Lu Chuan didn’t believe they were dead.
Even though Shen Li was ranked near the bottom of the Master-Rank List, killing him outright would still be extremely difficult.
With Shen Li’s current physical condition, he could already serve as a sacrifice for divine descent.
Even that fake “God of Desire” back then hadn’t been able to completely parasitize Shen Li. If even that failed, how could other dungeon bosses possibly kill him outright?
If Shen Li was this hard to kill, then the other top-ranked Master-Rank players were even more so.
Lu Chuan’s guess wasn’t entirely correct, but it was close enough.
Shen Li sighed. “This means it’s very dangerous. From now on, inside the dungeons, the NPCs won’t even be the real problem—the real problem will be those former Master-Rank players.”
“I figure after a few more dungeons, I’ll probably make it onto the Master-Rank myself,” Lu Chuan said, rubbing his chin. “So, my time is limited.”
“Hm?” Shen Li didn’t quite understand.
“That’s why I have to hurry up and sell off my houses, and make sure all the groundwork is laid. Otherwise, once I become a Master-Rank player and can’t just leave the dungeon whenever I want, it’ll be troublesome.” Lu Chuan answered righteously, “Making money—you have to start early.”
Shen Li was momentarily speechless.
Lu Chuan threw himself back into selling houses.
A few days later—
On the eve of the lottery, Golden Luxury Estate was jam-packed with people. Countless rich buyers held up gold bars and rare items, shouting outright: “Buying at high prices!”
“Now all those players who hesitated, who wanted to buy but didn’t pull the trigger, must be coughing up blood,” Lu Chuan said while biting into an apple. He even generously pushed the fruit platter forward. “You all eat too, don’t be shy, hahahaha.”
Shen Li, Edith, and Starry Shasha exchanged looks at the sight of this Lu Chuan.
The three of them had gathered today not to ask when Lu Chuan would take them into the next dungeon, but because of the same request.
“Brother Lu, when will the next batch of houses be on sale? Can we maybe go through the back door?” Starry Shasha asked a bit awkwardly. “It’s just… some of my old schoolmates. When you started selling houses, they were still inside dungeons. They missed this round and don’t want to rush out, so they asked me to find out when the next batch will be sold, and whether they can reserve in advance.”
Back in school, Starry Shasha had been very popular and had many friends.
But after she awakened her [Lucky Demon] ability, those friends began to distance themselves.
Because those without strong enough fate would literally be killed off by her ability.
Shasha never said it out loud, but deep down, she minded it.
This time, thanks to Lu Chuan’s house sales, those old classmates reached out to her again.
And they said she didn’t need to go to much trouble—just ask Lu Chuan on their behalf.
“I once received help from some ordinary people,” Edith admitted, a little embarrassed. “My friends are wealthy businessmen—among ordinary people, they’re very skilled entrepreneurs. They have money. Even though they’re only low-level players, they’re willing to transfer to the Star Guild for the sake of a house, as long as the guild will accept them.”
“…I’ll ask on behalf of my old teammates too,” Shen Li said. Seeing that Shasha and Edith had already spoken up, he felt reassured—it wasn’t just him making this request. His mood improved quite a bit.
At the end of the day, it was because Lu Chuan’s scheme was just too huge.
Right now, all the buzz wasn’t about which player had leveled up, or which guild had expanded recruitment. Everything was about Lu Chuan’s houses.
Some newspapers even ran full front-page analyses of the future value of Golden Luxury Estate.
The land around Golden Luxury Estate skyrocketed in price as well.
Morningsun City’s population was growing every day, with many branch guild players even bringing their families over.
People might talk about “lying flat,” but when there’s a real chance to strike it rich, everyone still rushes in headfirst.
Authoritative newspapers calculated that if you got lucky in the lottery and won the right to buy a Golden Luxury Estate house, you could easily flip it and make two to three times profit. And since these houses were so expensive, winning one meant overnight wealth.
Everyone knew how to do the math.
Once the math was clear, even more people flooded in to register.
If they couldn’t get rich inside dungeons, and a real-world opportunity came up, how could anyone not grab it?
“Don’t worry, I’ve set aside one house for each of you,” Lu Chuan said with a smile. “I’m not some iron-faced, selfless man. In fact, aside from houses, I’ll also be selling other things in the community—like storefronts, business permits, and so on. Oh, I also plan to build my own hospital, which will need plenty of medical talent. And about the school—Old Shen, you’re a fine principal, but we’ll still need teachers. If you work within Golden Luxury Estate, then during house sales you’ll get two extra lottery chances!”
“As for salaries, they’ll be market-rate. I won’t be a sucker, but I won’t exploit anyone either.” Lu Chuan had it all planned out.
Selling houses was ultimately a one-time deal. Even if the interest payments came in steadily each month, that was still small money.
To build a business empire, he couldn’t put everything into real estate.
Building houses was the simplest thing, and easy to copy.
Once other guilds realized the benefits of tying players to housing, they’d follow suit, and Lu Chuan’s advantage would fade.
That’s why, besides selling houses, it was time to establish his own Golden Tower, Golden Street, maybe even an entertainment industry, creating more job opportunities for ordinary people.
These things had to be built up gradually.
As the economy and culture developed, the boundary between players and ordinary people would blur, and ordinary people would naturally gain more paths to becoming players.
“You really calculated everything,” Shen Li sighed. “At this rate, even if the vice leader and I don’t want you as guildmaster, we’d have no choice. You’ll crush Star Guild’s entire economy!”
“What’s the point of being a guildmaster in name only?” Lu Chuan didn’t argue—instead, he readily admitted it. “If I’m going to be guildmaster, I need real power. Everything must be decided by me.”
At a time when the conflict between players and ordinary people was at its peak, there could only be one voice. The more voices, the more drag.
For the guild to rise again, slow and steady wouldn’t cut it.
Looking through history, every nation reached its peak only after undergoing a major reform.
Now, the one bringing reform to Star Guild was Lu Chuan.
“…Ah, you really want to be guildmaster?” Edith had thought it was just an ambitious dream. But from the looks of it now, he was dead serious.
“Of course.” Starry Shasha glanced at Edith. “Edith, didn’t I already tell you?”
You just said it casually—how was I supposed to take it seriously?
Edith had always supported Shen Li’s “analysis post.” Her thinking was that Shen Li, as a Master-Rank player, should first climb higher and become guildmaster. Then they could confirm Lu Chuan as his successor. That way, there would be a transition period, and by then Lu Chuan would have grown stronger. Everything would fall into place naturally.
She hadn’t imagined they’d skip Shen Li altogether and hand it directly to Lu Chuan.
Edith fell into deep thought.
Star Guild really played by no rules at all.
“Lu Chuan, interesting. No wonder Shen Li went so far to bring him back.”
“This newcomer’s strength isn’t just in dungeon performance—it’s in his ability to stir hearts. If only I could make use of him.”
“With Lu Chuan by his side, no wonder that honest-looking Shen Li dared to challenge me for the guildmaster’s position.”
“No matter. You don’t need to clash with Lu Chuan head-on for now. Let him have his moment in the sun.”
“The gap between the Newcomer List and the Master-Rank List isn’t small at all.”
The Greedy Wolf Star side went quiet, making only the occasional small move. Otherwise, they did nothing.
Those old foxes who had been hoping to see Greedy Wolf Star clash with Lu Chuan were furious.
What was going on?
Hadn’t Greedy Wolf Star always been so arrogant? Now that Lu Chuan was stepping on their toes, they weren’t even reacting?
“Don’t rush. Let’s wait and see.”
“Lu Chuan has already cleared five newcomer dungeons. He’s about to drop off the Newcomer List.”
“Once he becomes an S-class player, he’ll only be able to challenge higher-level dungeons. Then he’ll suffer plenty.”
The old foxes thought it over and summoned their own men.
“Send some people to line up for the Golden Luxury Estate lottery too. If they manage to win, they can get inside and feed us information.”
