"Excellent. Come back again tomorrow."
Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Li nodded in satisfaction and spoke to the man across from him.
"Huh? Again?" The outworlder standing opposite Chen Li, holding an Aether Spirit Coin, was completely numb.
"Of course. We've barely even started," Chen Li nodded.
[Advertisement] Entry Extraction in progress...
Progress: 300/1000 (Progress increases by watching the revival ad from the Aetherium Wars mini-game.)
[Resurrection] Entry Extraction in progress...
Progress: 120/10000 (Progress increases by watching the revival ad from the Aetherium Wars mini-game.)
One revival ad was 30 seconds long. He could watch two per minute, which meant 120 per hour. However, since conceding the match also took time, he had only managed to add 300 views in about three hours.
Chen Li planned to farm the [Advertisement] Entry from this guy. As for the [Resurrection] Entry, he'd pass.
At a rate of 100 views per hour, the [Resurrection] Entry would take 100 hours. This time, it was genuinely slower than using Kaguya Houraisan. Kaguya could revive ten thousand times faster than this.
It sounded absurd, but compared to [Resurrection], the [Advertisement] Entry was actually rarer, because Chen Li knew quite a few people who could revive. He even had a [Resurrection] Entry from the Shikon Jewel, but he felt its brightness wasn't high enough.
"Can you please stop picking me? I only came to the Xianzhou because I heard there were Foxians here, and they have tails. I came here to fluff some tails, not to fight you and then watch revival ads. Can't I just give you the tools of my trade?" the game designer responsible for ad integration pleaded tearfully.
Chen Li and the designer were using the prototype of the original mini-game, something Chen Li had specifically requested. The reason the designer was so miserable was that he was the one who had to watch the revival ad after surrendering; Chen Li was just watching him watch the ad.
"You have the fucking nerve to cry? Go on, cry! Crying counts toward the time too! Do you think I don't want to watch the ad myself? Isn't it because you bastard added an eye-tracking feature to the 30-second ad? Wasting 30 seconds of my time is one thing, but you also demand that I stare at it without blinking?"
Chen Li grew furious just talking about it.
He had originally intended to watch the ads himself, but... he thought that embedding a "shake to win" feature in an ad was scummy enough. He never expected this designer to invent a feature that weaponized one's gaze. As soon as the system detected your line of sight shifting away from the ad, it would immediately redirect you to the ad's link and auto-download the app.
Truly unscrupulous.
"Even if you have connections upstairs, you can't humiliate me and waste my time like this!" the designer said defiantly.
"Fine, you can leave. After you're gone, I'll upload your photo to the Aetherium Wars forum and expose your identity as the designer," Chen Li said with his arms crossed.
With how scummy this designer was, if he didn't get jumped in an alley after being exposed, Chen Li would be this (thumbs up). If all the Aetherium Wars players, after learning his identity, allowed him to pass three consecutive days without incident, they would be this (thumbs down).
"I'm sorry, I was wrong." The designer instantly groveled. It seemed he was well aware of his own depravity.
"Here's some money for eye drops." Chen Li casually tossed him some credits and turned to leave.
---o---
Chen Li: @Yakumo Yukari You there? You there?
Yakumo Yukari: I am. What is it, little man? Do you need something from me?
Chen Li had started a private chat with Yakumo Yukari, so his nickname appeared as "Chen Li," not "Dad."
Chen Li: In Gensokyo, there's a type of creature called a fairy, and they have the ability to revive infinitely, correct?
Yakumo Yukari: That's right. The fairies of Gensokyo are a wondrous species. They possess an ability that could be called immortality. Even if their bodies are shattered, they can recover quickly. Even if they are completely crushed, they cannot truly die and will reappear the next day, full of life. The people of Gensokyo generally believe that fairies are the personification of nature. Strictly speaking, fairies cannot die. Unless... they are not conscious of their own extraordinary power. In that case, death is possible. In exchange for their powerful life force, they may have sacrificed a tiny bit of their intelligence. Fairies are generally not very smart.
Chen Li: I need a [Resurrection] Entry, so I was hoping you could help me collect some personal items from fairies.
Yakumo Yukari: Ah, now that you mention it, I do have something of the sort. I'll send it to you in a moment.
Chen Li: That fast?
He hadn't expected Yukari to send him a red packet without even discussing a price. He opened it with some hesitation and received the item she mentioned.
"This is?" Chen Li tilted his head, looking at the half of a sword-shaped ice crystal in his hand.
That's right, half. The other half had been taken as the delivery fee.
Yakumo Yukari: It's the wing of a fairy named Cirno.
Chen Li: Ah, a wing? It doesn't really look like one, but if you say it's Cirno's wing, I suppose it's not impossible.
Yakumo Yukari: I broke it off out of curiosity a while ago, then used a piece of candy to make her forget about it. Another one grew back the next day, seemingly with no ill effects. See if you can use it.
Chen Li: I can. It's more than usable, it's perfect.jpg
[Resurrection], [Nature], [Element], [Ice]
All four of these Entries were extraordinary. As a personification of nature, it wasn't surprising for her to possess such bright Entries. Of course, it might also be because Cirno courted death every day and thus revived every day. The more she revived, the brighter the Entry became.
Now, in addition to mass-producing the [Eternal] Entry, he could also mass-produce the [Resurrection] Entry.
Let's all thank Cirno!
As for the [Idiot] Entry also on the wing, Chen Li would just pretend he didn't see it.
Chen Li: I will deposit 20 Star Jades into your account. However, I don't recommend withdrawing them now, as the transaction fee will be quite high. After I upgrade the Friends Circle in a while, you should be able to withdraw them without any loss.
20 Star Jades was a reasonable price. While the Entries were precious, Cirno's base power level was pathetically low. If Chen Li were in Gensokyo himself, he could have easily collected many wings on his own.
Actually, if Yukari were his only contact in Gensokyo, giving her a few more Star Jades wouldn't be a problem. But wasn't Eirin Yagokoro also there? If he asked Kaguya to approach Eirin, she probably wouldn't even charge him.
Yakumo Yukari: That's quite generous... Are you buying more?
Yukari clearly knew that Chen Li had come to her purely because she was quick, not because she was his only option, so she wasn't surprised by the price.
Chen Li: I am. But the price from now on will be one Star Jade for five wings. The upper limit is 100 wings.
Yakumo Yukari: That cheap?
Chen Li: The Entries on this half-wing are enough for my needs. The only reason I'm still buying is to eat them.
Although he could use his [Superimposition] skill to increase the brightness of the [Resurrection] Entry, he needed to forge the revival Curio soon and didn't have time to wait. Based on his observations, Cirno's wings floated behind her and weren't attached to her body like an angel's, so he had no qualms about eating them. Since Cirno herself didn't care about her wings, he could use them to increase his resistance to ice and elemental attributes.
Yakumo Yukari: Deal!
Yukari didn't complain about the low price. After all, she had already heard Qingque brag about Star Jades in the group chat for a long time. With no other way to obtain them at present, even a mosquito's leg was still meat. Besides, it wasn't like she was the one doing the work. Why would she complain about the price being too low?
"Ran. Go trade for some wings with Cirno. Try to use equivalent exchange," Yukari said to her shikigami from the comfort of her futon.
"Yes, my lady. How many should I get?"
"Hmm, as many as she has, I suppose? It's not like Cirno will ask for anything valuable," Yukari said after a moment's thought.
"Once that Chen Li perfects the Friends Circle and the delivery fees drop... is it possible that Kaguya Houraisan could be sent back to Gensokyo as a package?" Yukari pondered the information revealed in their recent chat.
---o---
"What? You'd rather give the money-making opportunity to Yukari than to me? It seems this servant's beauty has faded with age, my competitiveness has waned." Kaguya was playing a game but still had the energy to be a drama queen and whine to Chen Li.
"It's a matter of 40 Star Jades at most. I just didn't want to trouble Eirin Yagokoro," Chen Li said, sitting beside her.
"What's so troublesome about it? It's not like Eirin would do it herself; she'd just send Reisen. Whether you give this job to Yukari or Eirin, they're both making money while lying down," Kaguya said casually.
Chen Li didn't know Yukari, but Kaguya certainly did. That woman was so lazy she would even delegate the job of maintaining the Great Barrier to her shikigami.
"If you put it that way... Kaguya, could you ask Eirin to help me buy a carrot or a few strands of rabbit fur from Tewi Inaba?" Kaguya's reminder gave Chen Li an idea. The Bamboo Forest of the Lost had its own advantages.
"You want Tewi's [Lucky] Entry, right? I can do that. You might even end up with a [Profiteer] Entry on the side," Kaguya readily agreed.
"You're as sharp as ever!" Chen Li gave her a thumbs-up.
"Cut it out. You'd be better off giving me a shoulder rub or finding me another gaming partner." Kaguya took a moment to roll her eyes at him.
"What's wrong with Silver Wolf? Not satisfied?" Chen Li placed his hands on her shoulders and began to knead them as he asked.
"Ermm... It's not that I'm unsatisfied. It's just that I feel like Silver Wolf's reaction speed has slowed down a bit. I'm worried she won't last more than a few days," Kaguya said with a hint of concern.
"..." came the silent commentary from Chen Li.
Kaguya was perfect in every way. Her Power of Eternity was incredibly useful, and she never hesitated to help him. Her only flaw was... she went through gaming partners rather quickly.
"Damn it, have I become a Chāng Guǐ?" Chen Li was suddenly plunged into self-doubt.
---o---