We offered you a summer job, but you went and became a mercenary?

Lin Ye hummed a little tune, carrying his laptop, and returned to his rented room, which was only 30 square meters and had a pile of instant noodle buckets piled up in the corner.

"Bang!"

He put the box on the ground, then eagerly found a small knife and started unpacking the package.

[Ding! Detected that the host is preparing to assemble a precision instrument. The Precision Instrument Assembly Proficiency skill has been automatically applied!]

The system notification sound flashed through my mind.

Lin Ye felt that his hands had suddenly become incredibly dexterous. The complex circuits, interfaces, and screws became as simple as 1+1=2 in his eyes.

In less than five minutes, a fully-equipped, water-cooled, top-of-the-line Alienware computer was perfectly assembled.

Plug in the power and press the power button.

"Buzz—"

Inside the side panel of the case, colorful RGB lights instantly illuminated, shimmering and exuding an aura of wealth.

Lin Ye watched this cool scene, rubbed his hands together, and his eyes shone with a light even brighter and more intense than when he slapped the Lord of the Abyss to death.

He sat down in the ergonomic chair he'd bought for a hundred yuan from a secondhand market, picked up the mouse, and started downloading the game.

That's the most popular fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game in China right now – "Nine Heavens Mystic Demon".

A dozen minutes later.

As the rousing background music began, the login screen slowly unfolded.

Lin Ye grinned, revealing a simple and unpretentious smile.

"What's the point of fighting and killing outside?"

"Today, I must fully experience the joy of being a shill!"

Lin Ye casually tossed the Swiss bank black card with its intricate pattern onto the table, then skillfully created a character in the game.

Occupation: Swordsman.

Pinch your face?

Too much trouble, just use the system's default handsome face.

As for the character name...

Lin Ye thought for a moment, then solemnly typed seven large characters into the input box: "[Simple and unpretentious working person]".

Click OK.

With a flash of light, a character dressed in coarse linen clothes and wielding a rusty iron sword was born in the crowded starting village.

"Finally, I can relax a bit."

Lin Ye controlled his character and headed towards the monster area outside the village.

At the village entrance, there happened to be a seemingly harmless "wild boar BOSS" leisurely rooting around in the ground.

The unassuming working-class man, full of confidence, charged forward and unleashed a sword strike at the wild boar BOSS.

"-2"

A red damage number slowly floated up above the boar boss's head.

The wild boar BOSS seemed to be enraged. It suddenly turned around, its two tusks gleaming coldly, and rammed into Lin Ye's character.

"-50!"

A huge damage number appeared above Lin Ye's head, and his health bar instantly dropped by half.

Lin Ye: "?"

Before he could react, several other wild boars surrounded him and began to root at him.

The screen instantly turned gray.

A line of large text appeared in the center of the screen: [You have died. Do you wish to resurrect in the starting village?]

Lin Ye looked at his own corpse lying on the ground, then at the wild boars, and fell into deep thought.

He, codenamed "Shura," a man who could withstand heavy machine gun fire with his bare hands and kick away a bio-engineered giant crocodile, was actually gored to death by a few wild boars from the beginner village.

"This is not scientifically sound!"

Lin Ye frowned; he had discovered a serious problem.

The character in this game doesn't have the abnormal physical abilities he has in real life.

"No, let's try again!"

Lin Ye refused to believe it, clicked the revive button, and rushed out again.

Five minutes later.

"You have died. Do you wish to resurrect in the starting village?"

Ten minutes later.

"You are dead..."

After being gored to death by wild boars seven or eight times in a row, Lin Ye finally gave up.

His face darkened as he stared at the pitiful single-digit damage on the screen, and finally understood.

"What the hell?!"

He scratched his hair in frustration and couldn't help but start complaining.

"Do you expect me to do newbie quests? No way! I'm already exhausted from my summer job in real life; I absolutely can't work in the game!"

Thinking of this, his simple, working-class mindset instantly led him to the best way to solve the problem.

His gaze landed precisely on the gleaming gold "Shop" button in the upper right corner of the game interface.

With a click of the mouse, a magnificent gold-plated recharge interface popped up.

Without saying a word, Lin Ye picked up the black card on the table.

Enter your card number and link your account.

Looking at the recharge amount column, he hesitated for a moment.

"Let's deposit 100,000 to test the waters first."

With a rigorous mindset of market research, he entered "100000" in the amount field.

Click to confirm.

[Ding! Dear player, you have successfully recharged 100000 Jade Coins. We wish you a pleasant gaming experience!]

The next second, Lin Ye's game interface was instantly flooded with various dazzling golden special effects.

[Congratulations to player "Simple and Unpretentious Working Person" for reaching 100,000 RMB in their first recharge, earning them the prestigious title of "Beginner"!]

[Congratulations! You have received the New Player Super Rich Gift Pack x1!]

Your VIP level has been upgraded to VIP5!

Lin Ye didn't even glance at the system prompts. He directly opened the shop and bought all the gift packs and outfits with the words "newbie," "god-tier gear," and "limited-time offer" in them.

"Whoosh—"

A beam of golden light descended from the sky, enveloping his character, who was still dressed in coarse linen clothes.

As the light faded, the once clumsy novice swordsman had been transformed into a formidable warrior.

He wore a dazzling "Nine Heavens Divine Dragon Armor," with a pair of cool "Seraph Wings" floating behind him. The rusty iron sword in his hand had also transformed into a "Thunderous Judgment Sword" that spewed purple lightning.

The entire character practically screams "foolish and rich" with the words "foolish and rich" written all over his head.

Lin Ye nodded in satisfaction, controlling the glowing character, and once again strode out of the beginner village with great pride.

It's still that wild boar BOSS.

Lin Ye raised the divine sword in his hand and casually swung it at one end.

A purple sword aura shot out.

"-99999!"

An outrageously long critical hit damage number exploded above the boar boss's head.

The wild boar that had just been tossing him to the point of near death transformed into a streak of white light and exploded on the spot, scattering copper coins and beginner's gear all over the ground.

Sold out instantly!

Looking at the impressive damage numbers on the screen, and then at his own barely depleted health bar, Lin Ye finally broke into a satisfied smile.

"That's more like it."

He leaned back comfortably in his chair, took a big gulp of iced cola, and muttered to himself.

"If something can be solved with money, don't waste your energy. That's the true essence of playing games."

Meanwhile, the chat channel in the newbie village had completely exploded.

[Player A]: Holy crap! Look at that guy at the village entrance! Isn't that the "Nine Heavens Divine Dragon Armor" he's wearing? Isn't that a freebie you get after recharging 100,000?!

[Player B]: And that sword! It's the "Thunderous Judgment Sword"! I watched the streamer's giveaway yesterday, and I spent 30,000 yuan on it but didn't win!

[Player C]: Holy crap! Another super-rich player has arrived?

In an instant, countless players flocked to the village entrance from all directions, surrounding Lin Ye's character in layers, like visiting a giant panda in a zoo.

Private messages poured in like snowflakes.

[Private Chat] Cute Bunny: Hey bro! Do you need a leg accessory? The kind that shouts "666"!

[Private Message] Overlord of the Blade: Bro, interested in joining our 'Dragon War'? We'll offer you the vice president position!