After reeling in the fishing rod and reading the message, Lin Yuan's first reaction was not joy or excitement.
Instead, he instinctively opened the chat group, pressed his palms together, and put on the expression of someone making a solemn prayer.
Then, with a rather grave air, he opened the second phase of the main quest.
[Main Quest, Phase Two: Repair More Functions]
[Functions currently closest to full restoration: World Travel, Ability Enhancement, Resource Exchange]
[Each individual function requires all group members to contribute 1,000 points. Once all three functions have been fully repaired, this phase of the main quest will be completed.]
I'm screwed.
The moment Lin Yuan saw the required point total, the heart he had been holding up finally died on the spot.
One thousand points per function. Three thousand points total.
How the hell was he supposed to save that much—by next monkey year?
Still, after going numb for a while, Lin Yuan eventually accepted it.
What else could he do?
Save up, obviously.
Anyway, aside from unlocking new functions, points currently had no other use.
And while the gap of 3,000 points was enough to make his heart seize up a little, once Lin Yuan saw the changes to his [Angler] data, he calmed down somewhat.
[Cyberpunk 2077 bond level has increased. Current bond level: 2.]
At the very least, the bond level had gone up…
From that angle, this trip hadn't been a loss.
With that thought, Lin Yuan looked back toward the group chat.
[AAA Urban Female Ghost:] The check-in function's unlocked? So Lin Yuan's plan worked?
[Let Night City Burn:] Yeah. It took a bit of trouble, but I managed to say it in the end.
[Lord of the Pure White Throne:] I don't know the exact details of what happened, but in any case, well done.
[Let Night City Burn:] Thanks…
[Lord of the Pure White Throne:] Next time we need to hustle some funding, that'll be your job too.
[Let Night City Burn:] ???
[Lord of the Pure White Throne:] Just kidding. But at least our group has finally taken its first real step forward.
[Founder of the Golden Spirit:] I just checked in. I got 20 points.
[Founder of the Golden Spirit:] Are these so-called points the tool we use for resurrection?
Looking at Jonathan's message, which clearly carried a trace of urgency, Lin Yuan's expression turned a little strange.
It seemed that after learning Dio was still alive, Jonathan really had started getting anxious…
That message might as well have had Let me revive so I can beat that bastard Dio back into the ocean written all over it.
The man in the group who most urgently wanted to come back to life had officially appeared.
[Lord of the Pure White Throne:] Not sure, but they're definitely one of the necessary materials for resurrection. Still, no need to rush. At the moment, we're still very far from that point.
[Lord of the Pure White Throne:] Honestly, it'll already be pretty great if we can get these three functions unlocked.
[AAA Urban Female Ghost:] I checked in too. 17 points. A little less, huh. Still, I suppose it counts as our first pot of gold?
[Let Night City Burn:] I got 21… What's the drop rate on getting an item from this thing? None of us got one.
[AAA Urban Female Ghost:] Scroll down through the notice. It says there—the drop rate is 0.2%.
Seeing that number, Lin Yuan suddenly recalled some rather unpleasant past experiences, so he instinctively opened the notes for the check-in function.
[Check-In Function]
[At the start of each standard day, all group members may perform one group check-in. A group check-in awards between 15 and 25 points.]
[As more functions of this group are gradually unlocked, the number of points awarded by group check-in will increase.]
[…]
Skipping past a long string of commentary, Lin Yuan jumped straight to the bottom.
[Group check-in has a chance to award random items obtained from the Primordial River and originating from various worlds.]
[Drop rate: 0.2%]
That drop rate…
This gacha pool is kind of a scam.
Wait, no—what the hell, there isn't even a pity system?
The corner of Lin Yuan's mouth twitched, but he still pressed the check-in button.
Sure enough, his bad-luck streak came through. He got absolutely nothing, and only received the minimum guaranteed 15 points. Wearing an expression of deep suffering, Lin Yuan gathered up the points and began calculating in his head.
Cyberpunk 2077 was now at bond level 2, and daily check-ins now guaranteed at least 15 points…
At this point, keeping himself alive probably wasn't a problem anymore.
And at this rate, in about a month or so, they might be able to unlock all three chat group functions.
There might even be enough extra points left over for Lin Yuan to try out some other miscellaneous bonded worlds.
At a glance, it seemed like things were about to enter the stage of never before has there been such a beautiful opening.
And yet, after thinking more carefully, Lin Yuan still felt it wasn't enough.
"The margin for error is too low."
He calculated silently to himself, his brow furrowing unconsciously.
The room for error was just too small.
In his current state, he had absolutely no capital to deal with any major unexpected crisis.
Sure, thinking like that made him seem a bit paranoid…
But the problem was, Lin Yuan felt that no matter how paranoid he got, it was still reasonable.
He knew far too little about this Primordial River.
And yet, even with his ass instead of his brain, he should still be able to figure out one thing:
For a river that connected all worlds, a place of extreme danger, if all this damned place did was burn away one point of his life per hour, then it could practically be called kind and gentle.
If some kind of flood disaster suddenly came crashing down, Lin Yuan would not be surprised in the slightest.
And besides…
As he thought, Lin Yuan looked out as far as he could.
At the very edge of his vision, the Primordial River seemed to split with shocking clarity.
Lin Yuan stood on the side where the river shimmered with many colors.
And on the far other side, the river surface was a vivid, bloodlike crimson.
Looking at that scene, the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth twitched.
If a place like this didn't have some kind of disaster waiting in store, he'd drink the whole damn river dry upside down.
Who the hell would believe otherwise?
And because of that, even with the current rate of progress, Lin Yuan still felt uneasy.
It was a fear of insufficient firepower carved directly into his DNA. Nothing he could do about that.
"One month… is still too long."
Lin Yuan muttered inwardly, slowly closing his eyes as he thought.
Ideally, those three functions should be unlocked within one week…
And the faster, the better.
The faster they were unlocked, the more points he could accumulate, and the greater his margin for error would become when whatever disaster was likely to arrive finally did.
Until he reached real safety, Lin Yuan would never relax for even a moment.
If he compared it to running a company, then right now it was like he had only just barely turned his lifespan cash flow positive.
If some kind of market shock hit now, he'd be finished on the spot.
His goal was that even if something like a stock market crash really did happen, the losses would still remain within an acceptable range.
"The burden is heavy and the road is long."
After sighing like that, Lin Yuan casually opened the group chat—
—and immediately got flashed right in the face.
[The Great Yan Creator of Writing:] This check-in… seems to be a rather wondrous function. But what use are the points it gives?
[The Great Yan Creator of Writing:] Also, if check-in gives items, how exactly are those supposed to be used?**
[Lord of the Pure White Throne:] ?
Fork that damn seal out of here! Get it out! Get it out!
Lin Yuan instinctively wanted to cover his eyes, but in the next instant he suddenly froze, eyes widening as he stared at the speaker's name.
Wait, holy shit!
Rejoice, all under heaven—Jie had finally spoken!
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