Chapter 4: Preparing to Buy a Home—Selling Gold
The world-building was complete; all that remained was to wait for the algae to transform the planet's entire environment and begin generating energy. After casting a final glance at the green-speckled planet, Du Xin returned to the real world.
Gazing at his cluttered, messy room—a home spanning a mere fifty square meters—Du Xin decided it was time to move out and buy a proper apartment.
"Current housing prices are hovering around 20,000 per square meter. I'd need to buy a place of at least 120 square meters; factor in renovations, and that comes to a cool three million! *Sigh*... I just don't have enough money."
Letting out a heavy sigh, Du Xin realized with helpless frustration that he couldn't afford to buy a home right now. Just as he was resigning himself to the idea of going out to rent yet another place, a sudden thought struck him; in an instant, he vanished from the room.
"System, convert two kilograms of soil into gold! No—make that twenty kilograms of soil into gold! Oh, and System—can items from this world be brought back out?"
Du Xin reappeared inside the pocket world and hurriedly fired off his questions to the System.
"Responding to Host: Yes, they can. However, transporting matter through the World Barrier requires the expenditure of an equivalent amount of energy."
"Equivalent? Phew—thank goodness for that. Generate twenty kilograms of gold immediately!"
Having given the command, Du Xin vanished from the pocket world once more, reappearing in the outside world.
"System, retrieve the twenty kilograms of gold!"
At Du Xin's urging, the twenty kilograms of gold materialized right before his eyes—while back in the pocket world, a mass equivalent to twice the weight of that gold had vanished.
Du Xin stowed the gold away in his System Inventory, then began packing his things, preparing to head out.
His phone rang. Du Xin glanced at the screen; it was a call from Li Da. "Hey, Li Da."
"Lao San, why did you leave? Didn't we agree that you'd wait for me to get back?"
"You're back? Well, I didn't want to be a bother to you. Besides, I'm all healed up now—wouldn't it just be a waste of money to keep staying there? Plus, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep living under the same roof as your wife, would it? Anyway, I left days ago; are you only just now remembering to check on me?"
"You left *yesterday*. I called you last night, but you didn't pick up. I was just asking you—did you hit your head so hard you knocked the sense out of yourself?"
Du Xin froze for a moment. By his own internal reckoning—counting the time spent entering the pocket dimension, creating the environment, and waiting for the algae to grow—he had been inside that small world for nearly ten days. Yet, Li Da was telling him he had only left *yesterday*. Du Xin abruptly snatched up his phone; it read 4:30 PM. Composing himself slightly, he began to calculate. He had woken up at 12:30 PM and entered the system space around 12:40 PM. He then spent two hours familiarizing himself with the system space's storage functions, followed by another hour researching the chemical composition of the atmosphere and soil. Subtracting those scattered intervals, he realized he had actually spent only about half an hour inside the pocket dimension—yet he had experienced roughly ten days passing within it. Furthermore, based on his observations while inside the pocket dimension, one year there was equivalent to just one hour in the outside world. Comparing the two, the overall time ratio meant that one day in the outside world was equivalent to... eleven thousand five hundred years inside the pocket dimension!
Amidst his shock, Du Xin couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! Li Da, you've just brought me some fantastic news! I'll have to treat you to a meal sometime soon."
"Holy crap, Lao San—you haven't actually gone crazy, have you?"
"Hahaha! No, I haven't. I've just got something to attend to right now, so I'm going to hang up."
As he spoke, unable to contain his excitement, Du Xin stepped back into the pocket dimension to take another look. He saw that moss now blanketed every single corner of the entire planet—even the lakebeds were completely covered in it. The air throughout the planet was filled with a fresh, crisp scent. Nearly eighty years had passed within this world, and the algae had proliferated so wildly that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere had plummeted. Although algae covered everything, the entire ecosystem now exuded a distinct sense of decay and decline.
"System: stabilize the carbon dioxide levels. Maintain them at a ratio equivalent to that of the outside world."
No sooner had he spoken than, in an instant, the algae across the entire planet visibly—and rapidly—sprang back to lush, vibrant life. Seeing that the algae had returned to normal, Du Xin stepped back into reality. Although he had spent nearly ten minutes inside the "small world," only about a second had elapsed in the outside world. Du Xin glanced at the digital watch on his wrist; with a helpless shrug, he left it at home—it was no longer of any use to him. Even his mobile phone had only recalibrated its time once he returned to reality and reconnected to the network.
After tidying himself up—primarily to calm his own surging excitement—Du Xin stepped out of his apartment. He hailed a taxi, having decided that his first order of business would be to go look at some real estate.
"Driver, take me to Century Garden."
Century Garden was one of the few upscale residential complexes in Du Xin's small city—and a neighborhood he had long aspired to live in.
Upon arriving at the sales office, and guided by a sales agent, Du Xin set his sights on a 120-square-meter apartment located on the twelfth floor, right next to a park. Its main appeal was that it came fully furnished and exquisitely renovated. The asking price for the unit was three million yuan; however, once Du Xin indicated his willingness to pay the full amount upfront, the sales office agreed to lower the price to 2.8 million yuan. After handing over a deposit of 100,000 yuan, Du Xin walked out of the sales office, clutching a provisional sales contract.
"Now all I need to do is find a place to sell some gold. 2.8 million... the market value of twenty kilograms of gold is roughly 2.8 million. However, since the provenance of my gold is questionable, twenty kilograms probably won't be enough. System: extract another ten kilograms of gold into the System Space."
"As you command, Host."
Having resolved the issue of the gold shortage, Du Xin began driving around the city. After scanning the area carefully, he eventually pulled over in front of a jewelry store located in the city center, in the western district.
"This place looks about right."
With that, Du Xin wandered around the immediate vicinity for a bit. He found a clothing store where he spent nearly ten thousand yuan on a tailored suit; next, he stopped at another shop to purchase a pair of wide-framed sunglasses and a large leather attaché case. Finally, he located a restroom, changed into his new suit, stowed the gold inside the attaché case, put on his sunglasses, and stepped back out.
Standing at the entrance of the jewelry store, Du Xin—briefcase in hand—walked inside.
"Good afternoon, sir. How may I be of service?"
The receptionist, noting Du Xin's sharp suit and polished appearance, asked respectfully. "Where is your manager? I have a business proposition I'd like to discuss with him."
"Sir, if you are looking to purchase jewelry or necklaces, I would be happy to assist you."
Reluctant to let the potential sale slip away, the receptionist asked with a hint of persistence.
"I need to see your manager. Thank you—I'd appreciate it if you could go fetch him for me."
As he spoke, Du Xin took two one-hundred-yuan bills from his leather bag and handed them to the receptionist; after all, he himself had once been one of them.
"Certainly, sir. I'll go get the manager right away."
Having received the tip, the receptionist went off to fetch the manager, looking quite pleased.
"Good day, sir. I am the manager here. May I ask what you are looking to purchase?"
"I'm not here to buy anything; I'm here to sell. Are you interested in buying gold?"
Before the manager could get annoyed, he was taken aback once again by Du Xin's words.
"Sir, if it's gold you're selling, our sales associates can handle that for you. We offer fair market rates here—we purchase gold at 270 yuan per gram. Sir, if you..."
"A large quantity of gold."
Cutting the manager off before he could finish, Du Xin lowered his voice and added.
Taking a good look at Du Xin, the manager's expression turned serious.
"Please, follow me, sir."
With that, the manager turned and headed toward the interior of the shop. Du Xin, carrying his case, followed close behind him into the inner room.