Chapter 39: A Conscience That Never Aches (Special thanks to Yuequan Bay's Xiao Han for the Silver Sponsorship!)

The next afternoon, around three o'clock.

After countless rounds of disassembling and reassembling computers, I finally accumulated over 50,000 in skill experience. Without hesitation, I upgraded Advanced Throwing to level 10, gaining 6 points in Strength and further boosting my throwing damage!

Beside me, Lu Xiaobei was diligently reading that horror novel again.

Suddenly, she silently tossed the book into her drawer, her face turning pale.

"What's wrong?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"Nothing..."

She seemed terrified by the plot, asking, "Ding Han, do you think ghosts really exist in this world?"

"I don't know..." I replied, feeling speechless. "I’m not sure about ghosts, but I know for a fact that many people have 'ghosts' in their hearts."

"Well, luckily I don't have any ghosts in my heart; I've lived an upright life." She patted her chest, and it actually echoed...

I glanced down at her.

Lu Xiaobei stomped her feet in frustration, then grabbed the novel from the drawer and marched out.

I frowned, locked my computer, and followed her out. We hadn't gone far before reaching the canal. I saw Lu Xiaobei looking around before quickly pulling the novel from her pocket and throwing it into the water!

Good grief, tossing a book because she was scared of ghosts? Was she afraid of a curse?

...

Back at the internet cafe.

Lu Xiaobei returned, looking calm and composed, as if she had everything under control.

Just then, someone walked in—it was Milo.

"Oh?" Lu Xiaobei stood up, smiling. "Milo, what brings you here?"

"Luo'er, what are you doing here?" I asked with a grin.

"Nothing much, just dropping by."

Lu Xiaobei stood up to act as a guide, showing Milo around the cafe—though given its small size, there wasn't much to see.

A while later, Milo pulled up a chair and sat with us behind the counter. She seemed preoccupied, and after a long silence, she finally spoke: "I have an idea. It’s not fully fleshed out yet, but I wanted to run it by you two."

"Go ahead."

"I think this cafe is doing well. I want to invest in it. I happen to have 60,000 in spare cash. If you don't mind, I’d like to put it toward expanding the cafe to make it more competitive. What do you think?"

Both Lu Xiaobei and I were stunned.

We never expected that after singing at the bar for a few months, Milo would have saved up that much money!

"Luo'er," I said, lowering my voice with a serious expression, "this money—it’s not from some rich benefactor, is it? Xiaobei and I really can't accept that..."

"Shut up!"

Milo tried to kick me with her short legs, but I dodged it easily.

As a mere Level 1 rookie, her Agility was nothing compared to a Level 20, Second-Order expert like me.

"Of course not! This is my share of the bar's profits. We agreed on it when I started singing there, so you can spend it without worry."

"Ding Han, what do you think?" Lu Xiaobei turned to me.

"It works..." I nodded. "With Xiaobei's 30,000 in savings, we’ll have nearly 100,000 in total. That’s enough to upgrade the hardware and expand Feiyang Internet Cafe to fifty machines."

"Really?" Lu Xiaobei’s face lit up with excitement.

...

At that exact moment, a system chime rang in my ears—a new quest triggered!

[You have triggered a daily quest: "The Legendary Internet Cafe of Qianjin Street" (A-Rank)! Objective: Help Lu Xiaobei optimize the business model and make Feiyang Internet Cafe the top-grossing cafe on Qianjin Street. Reward: Massive experience points, "Blood-Sucking Onslaught" (S-Rank skill manual)!]

...

An A-Rank daily quest!

My heart raced with joy—and the reward was an S-Rank skill!

During the closed beta, I had seen this skill book before. It allowed for three consecutive, powerful strikes in an instant, with 20% of the damage dealt converted into health. It was a god-tier skill—not only was the damage output terrifying, but it was also a lifesaver in critical moments!

"Ding Han, what do you think?" Milo asked.

I pondered for a moment. "It’s quite a coincidence. Old Man Wang’s bun shop next door is up for sale. His buns are so sour and hard that even dogs won't eat them, so the asking price shouldn't be high. We could take the storefront, knock down the wall between us, and add the space to our cafe. That would add at least 30 more stations. By then, we’d truly be the most competitive cafe on Qianjin Street."

"Let's do it!"

Milo immediately handed me a card. "The 60,000 is all there. The PIN is 1-6. I'll leave it to you."

"Got it."

I looked at Lu Xiaobei. "Shall we go talk about taking over the shop right now?"

"Yes!"

Next door, Old Man Wang was struggling with his business. He looked grim, lamenting that he didn't know what he was doing wrong and feeling as if the whole world was against him. I tried to console him, telling him not to be so sad—the world was too big to care about him personally; it was just that his buns tasted bad. That only made him sadder.

The transfer went smoothly, and we secured a one-year lease for only 30,000. We immediately hired workers to knock down the wall.

Milo took the day off. After we finished, she treated Lu Xiaobei and me to skewers by the roadside. Of course, I firmly refused to drink alcohol this time, sticking to my yogurt drink.

"Since we’re partners now, we need to get things on the right track," Milo said, looking at us. "Xiaobei, how do you plan to distribute the shares after the expansion?"

"Milo, how about this?" Lu Xiaobei suggested. "You put in 60,000, and the estimated value of the cafe after expansion will be around 200,000. I’ll give you 30% of the shares."

"That’s fair and reasonable."

"As for Ding Han..." Lu Xiaobei looked at me. "Your planning and strategy have been invaluable. I’ve decided to give you 10% of the shares. I’ll remain the owner with 60%. What do you two think?"

"I get shares too?" I was pleasantly surprised.

"If Xiaobei is giving them to you, take them," Milo said. "I think you’ve played a huge role here; you deserve that 10%."

"Alright then," I nodded. "Thank you, Boss!"

Lu Xiaobei smiled, eyes crinkling, and didn't say a word, just gently clinked her beer glass against my yogurt drink.

...

Late that night, Milo and I said goodbye to Lu Xiaobei and headed home.

On the way, I spotted a rental bookstore near Xicheng University called "Lucky Bookstore." It was filled with classic dark literature and manga.

A thought struck me—a mischievous impulse I couldn't resist.

I walked into the store and searched the horror section. Sure enough, I found it: *Don't Speak, There's Someone Under the Bed!*

I paid a ten-dollar deposit and rented the book.

"You’re going to read that?" Milo asked.

"No," I shook my head. "I have another use for it."

"What use?"

I briefly explained my plan.

"You truly are wicked..." Milo said, looking pained, before casually stuffing a smutty novel into her own pocket.

...

The next morning.

I arrived at the cafe early to take over the shift from Zhao Yihang, who had dark circles under his eyes.

Business was slow in the morning, so I snuck over to the sink, thoroughly soaked the horror novel I'd rented, and shoved it into the drawer.

Lu Xiaobei didn't wake up until late, probably due to the beer from the night before.

Around ten, she finally came downstairs, looking beautiful, and sat next to me to play on her phone.

I tinkered with a computer tower, waiting patiently.

Finally, Lu Xiaobei reached into the drawer. She jumped as if struck by lightning—in her hand was the dripping-wet novel!

"There's a ghost... there's a ghost..."

She stood frozen, her face drained of color.

"Lu Xiaobei, what's wrong!!!"

"There really is a ghost... I clearly put this book... how could this happen? Is what the book describes real..."

She threw the book away, then quickly grabbed my arm, looking up at me with a helpless, panicked expression.

I couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

"You..."

Lu Xiaobei finally realized what happened and punched me hard!

"Was this your doing?! Ding Han, doesn't your conscience hurt?"

It did, but doing evil things felt so good!

I spent half an hour comforting her. By noon, Yingzi arrived early. Lu Xiaobei and I headed to the electronics market, spending 60,000 to purchase a batch of wholesale towers, LCD monitors, and accessories at 2,000 per unit. This was enough to build 30 new computers. Once they were installed, the cafe's competitiveness would reach a whole new level!

Following my advice, Lu Xiaobei went to Xicheng University and struck a deal with one of the departments to hold their CS tournament at Feiyang Internet Cafe, which would surely draw in a massive crowd.

...

Seven days later.

The CS tournament concluded. Feiyang Internet Cafe now had 60 machines in operation. During peak hours, the vacancy rate stayed below 10%, and on weekends, customers even had to wait in line. Our revenue climbed steadily, and we soon hit our quest goal.

Midnight.

I had just finished a bowl of instant noodles and was about to sleep when a *ding* sounded in my ear.

[Congratulations! You have completed the daily quest: "The Legendary Internet Cafe of Qianjin Street" (A-Rank)! Reward: Character experience +300,000. Bonus reward: "Blood-Sucking Onslaught" (S-Rank skill manual)!]

Finally, it was mine!

I pulled the skill manual from my dimensional storage. As I stared at it, lines of text drifted out.

[Blood-Sucking Onslaught] (S-Rank skill manual): Second-Order. Deals three strikes of damage to the target at 100%/150%/200% power, converting 20% of the damage dealt into personal health. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Cost: 5 points of Origin Power. Requirement: Super-Warrior, Second-Order.

Looking at the skill description, I was ecstatic.

A maximum output of 450% damage with a 20% lifesteal, all on a short 30-second cooldown—it was no exaggeration to call this a god-tier skill for the early game!

*Whoosh!*

With a wave of my hand, the manual turned into a beam of light that sank into my body, manifesting as a new icon in my skill bar.

After injecting a massive amount of skill experience, I leveled it straight to 10, maxing out the damage and gaining 6 bonus points in Agility!