Chapter 20: It's So Easy to Earn Money from Professionals

After the two principals walked away, Song Qi still felt a bit dazed. Staring at the extra credit points in his account, the whole thing felt unreal.

Had he really just earned sixty thousand credit points?

Good heavens, just yesterday he’d been marveling at how much eighty thousand a month was.

And now, in a single day, he’d made sixty thousand.

Making money as a professional was truly easy.

No wonder everyone wanted to be one.

Wang Zihao, who had been silent until now, suddenly became excited! Watching the two principals disappear into the distance, the flames of gossip burned fiercely within him.

“Wow! Song, did you see that? There’s definitely something going on between those two.”

“Who would have thought, really, that our Principal Shen, rough as he is, could win over someone like Principal Lin—a woman of top-tier elegance and beauty? It’s like a real-life Beauty and the Beast.”

“And especially Principal Lin’s figure, wow—”

Song Qi coughed twice and nudged him.

“Ahem… Watch it, Gongsun’s still here.”

Only then did Wang Zihao realize, looking utterly embarrassed.

“Sorry, sorry, I totally forgot.”

“It’s… it’s fine.” Gongsun Wuyue waved her hand awkwardly, indicating she didn’t mind.

Only then did Song Qi notice that Gongsun Wuyue’s appearance had changed dramatically! The black-rimmed glasses were gone, and her features looked much more refined. The slightly sloppy clothes had been replaced by fresh jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. Her previously messy, split-ended hair was now smooth and glossy. Her figure, though not as exaggerated as Principal Lin’s, was still shapely and full. Coupled with her height, just around one seventy, she looked every bit the vibrant, pretty girl next door.

Since they weren’t very familiar with each other, the atmosphere among the three grew a little awkward. After a while, it was Wang Zihao who broke the silence.

“By the way, I meant to ask earlier—didn’t you used to wear glasses?”

“I always thought you were a really shy girl, but today you seem quite lively.”

Gongsun Wuyue smiled and nodded. “I did wear glasses before, but yesterday my mentor brought in a senior priest who healed my nearsightedness, so I don’t need them anymore. As for my personality… I just used to focus entirely on studying, and didn’t bother with anything else.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”

The two suddenly understood.

No wonder she’d always maintained the top written exam scores in the city.

After another awkward pause, Song Qi stood up and asked, “By the way, Gongsun, what level are you at now?”

“Me? I’m level three. I only reached level three after using up all my instance runs yesterday. How about you two?”

At this, Wang Zihao’s energy returned. “Thanks to Song, I cleared the ‘Zombie Horde’ instance three times yesterday, and now I’m level five! And I spent a hundred and fifty thousand credits learning ‘Greater Fireball’!”

“What do you think, Song? Don’t be too envious!” Wang Zihao said smugly.

Greater Fireball was an advanced version of Fireball, with more power and a greater boost to the mental attribute—but it also placed a heavier burden on the user’s mind. The skill wasn’t on the list of free-to-learn spells. It was a rare, paid skill, and more powerful than most rare spells.

Song Qi pretended to be surprised and clapped. “As expected of our Wang, his first skill is rare quality! Truly well-off.”

“Ah, it’s nothing, really. Let’s keep it low-key.” Wang Zihao was clearly very pleased with this skill.

“Impressive, impressive,” Gongsun Wuyue echoed, expressionless, clearly not taking it to heart.

She wasn’t especially shocked that Wang Zihao had reached level five. After all, after just one run with her mentor through ‘Zombie Horde,’ she’d reached level three. With his super S-rank talent and three runs, level five was normal.

“What about you, Song Qi?” she asked.

“Him? He’s level eight.”

“Level eight!?” Gongsun Wuyue stood frozen, disbelief washing over her. “Level eight in a single day? How is that possible?”

“Why not?” Wang Zihao replied, puzzled.

Gongsun Wuyue frowned. “If you calculate it, each ‘Zombie Horde’ run, counting all the lesser monsters, gives at most around thirty-eight thousand experience. With the boss, it barely reaches forty thousand. Even if you maxed out all three runs, you’d only get about a hundred and twenty thousand, but reaching level eight takes at least two hundred and eighty thousand experience! Song Qi, how did you do it?”

Song Qi scratched his head helplessly.

As expected of a top student, she was much harder to fool than Wang Zihao. She’d immediately noticed something was off.

But it didn’t matter. After all, he was the owner of a super S-rank talent whose abilities couldn’t be spied upon. Any oddities could just be blamed on his talent.

“Ahem… Actually, my talent helps with leveling up.”

“I see…” The suspicion in Gongsun Wuyue’s eyes faded noticeably.

She wasn’t surprised by this explanation—some talents really did reduce required experience or increase XP gain.

“No wonder it’s a super S-rank talent—he even levels faster,” she sighed. Though still a bit doubtful, she had no better explanation. It’s not like she could accuse him of cheating. Who could cheat inside an instance, anyway?

“You’ll get used to it. I was stunned myself yesterday,” Wang Zihao said, comfortingly, with the air of someone who’d been through it. “Spend enough time around Song and you’ll start to feel like you’re useless. And you know what? Song’s summon is incredible, too! His summon alone can clear the entire ‘Zombie Horde’ instance!”

Another bombshell.

Gongsun Wuyue was shocked. “If I remember right, a summoned creature’s level can’t surpass the summoner’s, right?”

“What, you don’t believe it?”

She pondered a moment, then shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t believe it, just… I’m curious. What kind of summon could possibly slaughter nearly a thousand zombies solo at level eight?”

Seeing someone doubt Song Qi, Wang Zihao smiled. “I didn’t believe it at first either, but after three runs with him, I was totally convinced. Song, show her.”

Without a word, Song Qi sent both of them a team invite.

Beep! Beep!

As soon as they accepted, Song Qi clicked to enter.

Whoosh!

The three of them vanished from the instance plaza.

In the corner of a street in ‘Zombie Horde,’ all three landed at the same time.

When Gongsun Wuyue realized she really was inside the instance, and only Wang Zihao and Song Qi were beside her, she started to panic. After all, people could die in these instances! Normally, to carry someone through ‘Zombie Horde,’ you’d need to be at least level fifteen with strong area-of-effect skills, and not just have the skills, but be quite proficient, or else you’d either lack damage or run out of mana before the end.

But now, there were only the three of them, and the highest-level one was a summoner.

Gongsun Wuyue could only pin all her hopes on Song Qi.

Just then—

“Lu Bu!”

Snap!

With a snap of Song Qi’s fingers, Lu Bu’s massive form appeared before them. Without needing a single command, Lu Bu shot forward the moment he landed.

Boom!

Crash! Crash! Crash!

The street’s edge instantly erupted in a rain of blood and flying flesh, the sound of zombie limbs smashing into walls echoing in their ears.

[EXP +43]

[EXP +32]

[EXP +36]

…

The crisp, pleasant chime of experience points being earned rang out continuously.

Gongsun Wuyue’s expression shifted from terror, to thoughtful, to utterly stunned.

Lu Bu’s bulldozer-like killing speed felt unreal. Even the three level-twenty mages her mentor brought yesterday couldn’t clear the instance as fast as this one summon.

“Legendary grade! And it must be the type with high early-game power but less potential later on!” After some thought, she gave the most reasonable explanation. Only a legendary summon could have such overwhelming strength early on.

She turned to ask more about the details—only to see Wang Zihao already sitting down, expertly pulling out a deck of cards. He was clearly used to farming instances this way.

“Gongsun, want to play cards?” he asked.

Gongsun Wuyue shook her head. “I’ll pass.”

Compared to playing games, she was far more interested in closely observing this humanoid summon called Lu Bu.