"That'll be 15 yuan, handsome. Alipay or cash?" the cashier asked, handing Wu Yun an order number.
"Alipay!" Wu Yun took out his phone and scanned the Alipay QR code. At this time, although WeChat Pay existed, it hadn't become popular yet.
"Alipay payment received. Fifteen yuan!" a broadcast sounded from the counter.
His phone vibrated. "[Huaxia Industrial Bank] 9:00 AM, July 1, 2014. A debit of 15.00 yuan has been made from your account ending in 416. Remaining balance: 25,320.00 yuan."
Numbers flickered on the virtual screen before Wu Yun's eyes. EXP +15. Current Character Level: 1 (15/10,000).
Sitting down, Wu Yun pretended to be playing on his phone while looking at the numbers on the screen. Seeing how close he was to the experience needed to level up, he couldn't help but sigh. 'Is that it? Leveling up is way too easy!'
Just then, his phone vibrated—an incoming call from Gao Qiang.
"Hey, Qiangzai. What's up?"
"Ah Yun, did you forget we agreed to go to the internet cafe! Are you still half asleep?" Gao Qiang's rich baritone boomed from the receiver.
"I know, the usual spot. I've got something to take care of in a bit. You guys go ahead, and I'll come over once I'm done," Wu Yun said evasively.
Gao Qiang was a high school classmate Wu Yun had kept in touch with even before his rebirth. The two had always been as close as brothers, if not closer. Because of Wu Yun's family situation, Gao Qiang's parents often had their son invite Wu Yun over to their home or out for a meal during holidays.
Gao Qiang had studied civil engineering in college and joined a bureau of Huajian after graduation. He started out as a handsome young man, but a few years on construction sites made him look like he had just returned from Africa.
The year Wu Yun was reborn, Gao Qiang had just passed the Class 1 Constructor exam, gotten his certification, and was on track for a promotion and a raise. However, as a "civil engineering dog"—one of the many breeds of "single dogs"—Gao Qiang still hadn't found a steady girlfriend by the time of Wu Yun's rebirth.
Wu Yun shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside. 'Once I make it big in the future, I'll just bring Gao Qiang along to get rich with me. The most important thing right now is to level up as much as I can. Then I can go to college, coast, and take my time developing my plans.'
A dozen or so minutes later, Wu Yun finished his breakfast and dashed back home.
'Still need over nine thousand experience points.' Now that he was heading to college, he planned to buy himself a gaming Ben and a new phone. This was a wish he had already fulfilled after graduating high school in his past life, of course.
No sooner said than done. Wu Yun changed into his sneakers, left his residential complex, and headed toward the nearby square to hail a cab.
It wasn't that Wu Yun was being extravagant; he'd have to be crazy to ride a bike in the middle of summer. Of course, the fact that taking a cab would grant him experience points was also a factor.
EXP +6, Level 1 (21/10,000).
He got out of the taxi at Wenmiao Square, walked up to the iconic sign of a bitten Apple, and pushed the door open to enter.
"Welcome!" A salesperson in a uniform T-shirt walked over.
"What can I help you with today, student?" 'High school graduation season... another huge wave of chumps ready to be fleeced—I mean, another huge wave of esteemed customers has arrived,' the salesperson thought.
In the real world, you rarely encounter the kind of dramatic face-slapping scenarios common in novels. After all, most people aren't fools—though there are always a few morons out there.
Cases of salespeople looking down on customers based on their appearance are actually rare in the service industry. People pretending to be richer than they are to keep up appearances, however, is a different story.
"Hi! I'd like to get a new phone!" Wu Yun said, getting straight to the point. He wanted to make the purchase quickly so he could go look at computers.
"Of course, young man. We currently have the 4s, 5, and 5s models in stock. Which one are you interested in?" the salesperson asked, leading Wu Yun to a display counter and gesturing to the phones.
"Miss, I'll take the 5s. The 64GB version, the 'nouveau riche gold' one." Wu Yun had already decided on the model before coming. 'Phones get outdated so fast; there's no point in buying the max capacity version.'
Another reason was that he still needed to buy a computer. He didn't know if excess experience points would carry over to the next level, so it wasn't worth overshooting by too much.
"Alright, the 64GB gold 5s is 4,500 yuan. While you're here, little bro, want to take a look at our computers or tablets? The Apple OS is incredibly smooth. Want to give it a try?" As a salesperson, she wasn't about to let a single customer slip through her fingers.
"Uh, no thanks. I'm planning on buying a different computer. To be honest, yours are a bit inconvenient to use," Wu Yun said bluntly, putting on a shy expression. The truth was, even in his past life, he had never used an Apple laptop. His opinion was based purely on hearsay, but the key point was that the Apple OS was closed-source, making it inconvenient for anything other than office work.
"Want to try it first?" The salesperson hadn't given up and continued to persuade him.
"No thanks. How do I pay?" Wu Yun refused.
"[Huaxia Industrial Bank] 10:00 AM, July 1, 2014. A debit of 4,500.00 yuan has been made from your account ending in 416. Remaining balance: 20,814.00 yuan."
EXP +4500, Level 1 (4521/10,000)
After paying, Wu Yun had the salesperson help him cut his SIM card, activate the phone, and transfer his data. With his new phone in hand, he left the Apple store and headed for the electronics mall.
At the electronics mall, Wu Yun picked out a 7,000-yuan gaming Ben that was on sale for recent high school graduates.
"[Huaxia Industrial Bank] 10:55 AM, July 1, 2014. A debit of 7,000.00 yuan has been made from your account ending in 416. Remaining balance: 13,814.00 yuan."
EXP +7000, Level 1 (11,521/10,000). Level-up processing, please wait! Countdown: 5 minutes.
Wu Yun found a spot in the mall, connected to the WiFi, and began playing with his new phone, planning to download some essential apps.
QQ, WeChat, Alipay, Tieba, Baidu Browser, Meituan...
'Douyin?' Wu Yun suddenly recalled that at this point in time, Douyin was still gestating inside ByteDance. He made a secret mental note. 'When I have money later, maybe I can get in on that!'
Just as Wu Yun's mind was wandering, a notification announced the system's successful upgrade.
Character: Wu Yun
Sex: Male
Age: 18 (Born January 1, 1996)
Basic Stats:
............
Character Level: 2
Basic System Reward: Earn 0.05 yuan per second, idle. (Calculation begins at 00:00, July 1, 2014).
Level-Up EXP: (1521/100,000 yuan). Note: System EXP is gained through host expenditures. One Huaxia Coin is equivalent to one point of EXP.
Other Permissions: Level insufficient.
Wu Yun was surprised to find that the excess experience had actually carried over to the next level. 'This means I won't have to meticulously plan my spending to hit the level cap perfectly,' he thought.
What made Wu Yun even happier was that his per-second reward had multiplied fivefold. A quick calculation showed that this amounted to 4,320 yuan per day, or a base income of 129,600 yuan per month.
However, he then noticed the required EXP had increased tenfold. It seemed the system didn't want him to just coast to a win; it was encouraging him to earn money himself to keep up with the pace of leveling.
Wu Yun thought about the 500,000 he had in a fixed-term deposit. 'If the EXP requirement keeps multiplying by ten, that amount wouldn't even be enough for one more level.'
'The system probably never expected me to level up this fast. According to the usual tropes, aren't systems supposed to find a protagonist who's dirt-poor?'
'Still, with the requirements increasing at this rate, it's going to get harder and harder to level up just by coasting. I have to start my own business. Otherwise, what right does it have to call itself a Tycoon System?'