Chapter 298: Chapter 296: You actually f*cking made a profit?
Translator: 549690339
Before tonight, apart from the virtual currency trading area in the Vortex Forum, nobody knew who [Chasing Wind]was.
Before the advent of virtual reality games, nobody had seen this ID, he was a
completely new and wealthy player.
All because he hadn’t been in the gaming circle for long.
He had tried VR games before.
He bought the most expensive equipment and spent twice as much as the equipment itself to find someone to customize it privately so that it would be easier to play with.
— Such modifications were forbidden in professional competitions, and they significantly reduced the lifespan of the equipment. The energy saved only fluctuated between 10% and 15%. Only someone who doesn’t care about money would do this.
But he only persisted for less than 20 minutes before giving the equipment away.
He felt it wasn’t worth his effort just to play a game.
He tried to play games for enjoyment, not to seek an entertaining exercise machine.
Besides, given his current wealth, he had no need to sculpt a good physique… So it wasn’t until virtual reality games appeared that he officially entered the
gaming circle.
After all, although virtual reality games also require active involvement, there is no sense of fatigue!
In his circle, there were quite a few players like him.
A lot of them were even his direct competitors!
Fortunately, he outperformed others by directly forming a team of twelve employees from the company. Ignoring all company matters, they worked in shifts 24 hours a day to buy virtual coins.
Not only in the trading area of the Vortex Forum, but also on Spiritual Rhinoceros, video websites, Cloud Dream’s gaming section… they were everywhere.
Cast a wide net and gather more fish!
Finally, he overtook everyone else and got the Golden Key, becoming famous all over the world!
After getting the Golden Key, was he content with just making a post about it?
Of course not!
He wasn’t such a low-key person!
The post was just a teaser. The live broadcast was the main event!
In the live broadcast room, Chasing Wind didn’t dawdle and directly held the Golden Key in front of the camera.
It was a palm-sized key with an ancient design, shining golden in entirety and looking very extraordinary.
Even after removing the special light effects, one could still see streams of light flowing on the key.
Every audience in the live broadcast room could clearly see the string of digits on the key handle— [0001J
It’s no exaggeration to say that more than half of the money Chasing Wind spent on the Golden Key—perhaps even more—was for this serial number alone!
The audience in the live broadcast room became excited and started frantically sending comments even before Chasing Wind showcased the system introduction of the key:
“I thought the Golden Key would only appear a few years later… Poverty has limited my imagination!” “Awesome!”
“Rich friends! ”
“How much did it cost? Must have a mine at home, right?”
“Speaking of which, since the ‘0001’ number is gone, will virtual currency start falling in price?!”
“NOOOO—don’t let that happen!”
Gold-rushing players who were reminded of this fact quickly opened the trading area, eagerly trying to dispose of the remaining virtual currency in their hands.
In the live broadcast room, Chasing Wind casually watched the comments while choosing some questions to answer.
“Many people are asking how much it cost. Hmm… Not that much, less than four hundred.” “Can the Golden Key be transferred? Isn’t that obvious? Of course not!”
“What’s its use?”
Chasing Wind looked at the number of people in the live broadcast room. At this time, it had skyrocketed incredibly to more than 7 million, and it was still soaring.
With this astonishing heat and attention, the countless messages of admiration and amazement, as well as the gifts constantly being sent by the audience, the satisfaction in Chasing Wind’s heart was indescribable.
He didn’t care about the benefits brought by the heat and gifts, but he did care about the attention inself!”
Standing in the center of millions of people’s gaze, with everyone watching him intently—how delightful it was!
This kind of pure, direct, and intense attention and enthusiasm was something he could never get in reality, no matter how much money he earned.
The joy and satisfaction in his heart made him want to burst out laughing.
But he kept reminding himself in his heart: Hold it! Hold it! Don’t let it show! Just smile, a smile is enough!
Barely holding back his laughter, he nodded and said, “Alright, let’s not wait any longer and just check it out directly.”
He then straightforwardly opened the system introduction of the golden key in his hand and showed it to the camera while reading it himself.
—In order to maintain the anticipation and the sense of ceremony, he resisted the urge to look at it in advance.
[Metropolitan Golden Key]: Obtaining ownership of more than half of the saleable real estate in Metropolis, is eligible to receive it.
‘Note 1: Within three working days, a commemorative physical golden key will be sent to the players. Please remember to fill in your personal delivery address.’
‘Note 2: Holding a golden key automatically grants you the status of “Metropolis Honorary Citizen”. You can freely enter and exit all non-special buildings in Metropolis (limited to individual Metropolis worlds).’
‘Note 3: Holding a golden key entitles you to a 30% extra discount on all transactions in Metropolis (individual).’
‘Note 4: Holding a golden key significantly increases your base favorability with Metropolis residents. Some individuals, shops, and organizations will offer you special services or preferential treatment.’
‘Note 5: Holding a golden key, you can freely enter the public version of Metropolis, choose a property that hasn’t been occupied by other players, and immediately get 100 invitations for permanent residents.’
—The design of the golden key rewards by Cloud Dream Games was intended for later stages. At that time, the goal will be to invite as many single-player gamers to the public edition map, so invitations are given generously.
Lincoln’s game design philosophy doesn’t particularly favor high-spending players, but it never specifically targets them either, so there’s no reason to reduce the rewards for getting the golden key earlier.
Therefore, the invitation function seems a bit excessive at the moment.
Chasing Wind’s most interest was actually in the title of “Honorary Citizen” and the virtual real estate attached to it in the public map. The second thing he was interested in was the physical golden key, which could be a memento.
Oh, wait!
Chasing Wind thought that since all players could get this key, and considering Cloud Dream’s habit of not giving special treatment to high-spending players, it’s most likely still a copper key…
Gold plating is unlikely…
Chasing Wind then thought, “What if… I contact Cloud Dream, I’ll pay, and they make me a real gold key?”
This outrageous idea immediately shocked the players in the live broadcast room, admiring the anchor for being someone of a rich family!
Compared to Chasing Wind’s calm and only slightly interested expression and tone, the players in the live broadcast room were completely different:
“Damn!”
“Is it really that crazy?!
“What kind of tycoon treatment is this?!”
“Not really a tycoon treatment, everyone can have it after playing for a year.
The tycoon just got it in advance because he’s loaded.”
“NPCs provide special treatment? This thing is probably bound to the account right? After deleting the account and starting over, if you knock on the virtual girlfriend’s bathroom door with this key, will she open it and provide ‘special
services’
Soon, players discovered a blind spot:
“Wait! 100 invitations?!!! How much was an invitation sold for today?” “50,000!”
“Damn! So, our big guy spent less than 4 million to buy the golden key, then Cloud Dream rewarded 100 invitations, and selling them would make 5 million? So, this guy actually… made a profit??!”
“Damn! Where’s the justice in that?!”
“15 days’ time! Over a 25% return on investment! That’s just absurd!”
“For financial management, please choose — Cloud Dream Games!”
“I’m not feeling good about this! Especially when I think that I contributed a little to it!”
Countless comments rushed through, filled with all kinds of astonishment and swear words.
Especially that amateur gold hunter who had sold virtual currency to Chasing Wind more than once, couldn’t hold it in any longer and was frantically sending the same message in the live broadcast room.
With such a torrent of comments, Chasing Wind naturally noticed it quickly and looked at ‘Note 5’ as if he just realized it.
“Oh, 100 invitations. I had someone buy one for me this morning and didn’t notice the price. So that means… I made a profit?”
However, his main goal for being the first to get the golden key was never to make money—it was to make a perfect debut in the player circle.
In short — to show off!
At this point, he naturally wouldn’t ruin the plan for the sake of “such a small amount of money” and cause displeasure among the players. So he decisively chose the same approach as Camille Victoria — “We’re all gathered by fate, so let’s give everyone a chance!”