Chapter Sixteen: The First Comic Story

Chapter Sixteen: The First Comic Story

Meanwhile, Shi Bai was suddenly inundated with a barrage of emails. Upon opening them, he found each one contained a hundred million gold coins—again and again, all gold. After claiming everything, there were also numerous pieces of equipment.

Congratulations, you have obtained the Ink Bamboo Bracelet.

Congratulations, you have obtained the Phosphor Rock Pauldrons.

Congratulations, you have obtained the Twin Dragon Demon Shadow Sword.

Congratulations, you have obtained the Brahma Wind Coat.

...

The sound of receiving emails went on for a full five minutes.

Gao Yang, just out of a dungeon run, glanced over and nearly gaped in disbelief. “What the hell! Where did you get all this high-level gear?”

Shi Bai smiled faintly and gestured to his gold coins—720,003,189.

Gao Yang gasped, his eyes nearly popping out. “This...! This...?” He could only express his shock with wild gestures and wide eyes.

Shi Bai hurriedly covered his mouth. “Don’t say a word. It’s from a kind-hearted person.”

Only then did Gao Yang manage to calm down a little, though he still had to use every ounce of restraint to keep his mind from exploding. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Are you serious?”

Shi Bai shook his head. “No joke.”

“Holy crap! That’s seven hundred million!”

Shi Bai pressed his hand to his forehead. “And you still shouted it out.”

Now the entire internet café was staring at them in amazement.

Gao Yang realized this wasn’t good—he knew better than to flaunt his wealth—so he lowered his voice again. “Man, your luck is insane! Why can’t I ever meet someone so generous?”

Shi Bai tilted his head back at a forty-five degree angle, gazing up at the ceiling. “Maybe it’s because I’m handsome.”

Gao Yang pretended to gag. “Ugh!”

Shi Bai laughed and casually transferred three hundred million gold to Gao Yang. “Spend it as you like.”

Gao Yang couldn’t hold back; he slammed Shi Bai on the shoulder. “You’re the best, man!”

Shi Bai grinned. “Just think about how you’ll spend it.”

“How? I’ll buy a hundred jars first!” Gao Yang instantly perked up.

Shi Bai laughed heartily. “Look at you, so easily satisfied.”

Gao Yang didn’t care; he immediately bought a hundred gunner jars from the Earthen Jar merchant and opened them one after another with great excitement.

In the dungeons of the sixties era, the chances from jars were a bit higher. After opening a hundred, Gao Yang ended up with two legacy items and one purple-quality piece of equipment.

“Damn, that’s awesome!”

Very soon, their hour at the café was up. Time always flies when gaming; not wanting to waste a minute, Gao Yang dragged Shi Bai home with him.

Shi Bai wanted to check on the storylines his employees had written, so he agreed.

Back at the hotel, Shi Bai tossed aside his backpack, slipped into slippers, poured himself some red wine, and started reading through the stories his staff had submitted.

There were outlines, detailed breakdowns, main characters, supporting roles—even the personalities were meticulously described. It was clear these people were serious.

But Shi Bai frowned. “How can they be this earnest? I want casual employees!”

He continued reading:

The protagonist’s name was Zhang Xiaofeng. Orphaned since childhood, he was raised by an old farmer who taught him to chop wood. Unexpectedly, after he grew up, the old farmer suddenly insisted he venture out into the world.

Zhang Xiaofeng refused, but the old farmer revealed he was once the most formidable swordsman in the martial world. All these years of wood-chopping had actually been secret training in a unique sword technique.

Setting out, the protagonist encountered the heroine. Affection blossomed, and the two traveled together, righting wrongs along the way.

But soon, they ran into the demonic sect’s leader. After being ambushed and flung off a cliff by villains, the heroine believed Zhang Xiaofeng was dead and, heartbroken, left.

The protagonist, bones shattered, struggled to move and find water. Suddenly, a black bear appeared. He thought he was doomed, only for the bear to remove its head, revealing an astonishingly beautiful face.

Startled, Zhang Xiaofeng fainted.

When he awoke, he found himself lying in a room filled with fresh flowers. A woman in white sat smiling beside him.

“You’re awake?” she said sweetly. Zhang Xiaofeng felt he’d ascended to heaven.

The mysterious woman cared for him devotedly, feeding him snake gall and bear paw. Under her meticulous care, he not only recovered miraculously but also broke through in his martial arts, mastering a sword technique he’d never managed before.

Leaving the valley, he sought out the heroine, only to find she had fallen for someone else. Disheartened, he resolved to die and sought revenge against the demonic sect leader.

But the sect leader was too powerful, and the protagonist nearly perished. At the critical moment, someone rescued him, and in the chaos, he stumbled into the forbidden area of the demonic sect.

No one in the sect dared enter this place, for all who went in died. Inside, the protagonist faced countless traps and finally found a skeleton.

In front of the skeleton was an inscription: “Bow your head to me.”

Obediently, the protagonist kowtowed three times, fell into a pit, and discovered a secret chamber.

Within were a martial arts manual, a bottle of pills, and a divine sword.

He consumed the pills, learned the manual, took up the sword, and achieved peerless skill.

He returned, cleansed the demonic sect, swept through the martial world, found the mysterious woman, and the two retired to the mountains to live an idyllic life.

Shi Bai finished reading in one breath and actually found it quite compelling. He promptly slammed the table and cursed, “Change it! All of it! I want a flop, not a hit!”

He picked up the phone to call Zhang Dazui, but then thought better of it—discussing work after hours was something he loathed. Instead, he stuck a note on the meeting room door:

Story reviewed—too good. Furious. You have until the end of today to rewrite it into something so bad it’s unreadable.

With that settled, he dove back into Dungeon Fighter. It was true—gaming was much more enjoyable with four hundred million gold coins.

After using up his stamina, he picked up a Red Delicious apple, turned on the TV, and let the cool breeze sweep in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Shi Bai suddenly felt as if he had no goals left in life.

Because at that very moment, every other senior in high school was likely bent over a desk, surrounded by prep books for the college entrance exam. Who would have guessed that this unremarkable guy was lounging in a presidential suite in a five-star hotel, watching TV and biting into an apple?

Shi Bai felt a pang of emotion. Gazing at the distant stars outside the window, he suddenly felt as if it was all a dream. But it was a dream he absolutely could not wake from.

He spent a comfortable night. Waking up, he washed, ate breakfast, and rode to school in Old Li the butler’s Rolls-Royce.

Today was supposed to be an ordinary day, but for some reason, there were several luxury cars parked outside the school—Audis, Mercedes, even a Porsche and a Bentley.

For this old city, especially outside a third-rate school, such an extravagant lineup was astonishing.

Sitting in class still feeling puzzled, Shi Bai listened as the homeroom teacher, Liu Xiaojuan, suddenly announced:

“Class, today we have five new transfer students.”