25
Conditions for Ascending Stars
Old John kept reading the scenario until dinnertime. Dinner was, as usual, Uncle Huang’s Vegetable Noodle.
After eating Vegetable Noodle for three consecutive days, Jiang Qi no longer reacted as dramatically as he had on the first day. He very restrainedly ate just one large bowl before dragging Old John—who wanted a second serving—to buy a phone.
As a model employee with extremely low material desires, who wouldn’t mind sleeping on the streets if he couldn’t live in a wealthy neighborhood, Old John naturally had no requirements for a phone. Seeing that the secondhand model Huang Fugui used offered good value for money and could handle multiple games smoothly, Jiang Qi went to the same store to buy the same model.
Unfortunately, without the bargaining master Huang Fugui present, the shop owner was far less willing to negotiate than the previous day. Jiang Qi and the owner went back and forth for nearly twenty minutes before finally securing the same phone at the steep price of 400 yuan.
By the time Jiang Qi escorted Old John back and taught him how to use WeChat, Huang Fugui had already finished his bath at home and started following online video tutorials to do health exercises.
“I know how to use WeChat! Boss, you should head back and rest early. I’ll teach Brother John,” Huang Fugui promised, patting his chest.
“Alright.” Jiang Qi had full confidence in Huang Fugui when it came to using phones. “Uncle Huang, make sure to sleep early tonight. You have to lead a game tomorrow afternoon.”
Huang Fugui agreed enthusiastically and asked Old John excitedly, “Brother John, do you want to play that Honor game with me? I just won a match using a Tank Hero—I can carry you!”
Recalling Huang Fugui’s disastrous, team-wiping performance from the morning, Jiang Qi thought that if these two were to roam the Canyon tonight, there would likely be many unfortunate teammates too furious to sleep.
After leaving, Jiang Qi didn’t head straight home. Instead, he went downstairs to the storage room to figure out how to use the printer. While there, he also came across several familiar old friends, such as the Bubble Tea Machine, Ice Maker, and Sausage Grilling Machine. Jiang Bing seemed to have a habit of collecting equipment from closed-down shops—instead of disposing of the machines after a shop went out of business, she piled them all in the storage room to gather dust.
Jiang Qi decided to buy some raw materials online another day and move the bubble tea machine to the shop to generate revenue. Bubble tea sold well in summer, and if it didn’t, it could always serve as an employee benefit.
After learning how to use the printer, Jiang Qi went upstairs to get his laptop and printed two thousand copies in one go. Fortunately, the ink Jiang Bing had bought earlier had a two-year shelf life and was still usable—otherwise, buying color ink alone would have cost a fair amount.
After finishing all this, Jiang Qi took the freshly printed, still-warm flyers home. With his left hand, he opened the Shared Scenario Groups of other stores on WeChat, and with his right, he opened the system panel to study how his competitors were doing.
After a day of development, the popularity had risen from 41 to 50—a very encouraging growth. Just as Jiang Qi was comparing the Song typeface on the system panel with the Heiti font on his WeChat, the satisfaction rate suddenly jumped from 8 to 9.
Jiang Qi: !
What was going on?!
Could it be that someone was reflecting on their experience, growing more satisfied the more they thought about it, and suddenly felt pleased?
Then Jiang Qi saw the WeChat message from Jiang Wanwan.
A transfer of 138 yuan, and a crying emoji.
Jiang Wanwan: My dad told me to pay you for the last game we played.
Jiang Wanwan: Brother Jiang Qi, is the shop really going to close down? Even my dad knows about it [sobbing][sobbing]
Jiang Qi: …
He finally understood—it wasn’t that Jiang Wanwan was dissatisfied, but that freeloaders like her didn’t count as customers.
Jiang Qi accepted the transfer and briefly explained a few things. After researching and analyzing for a long time, he concluded that the system’s scenarios were still the easiest way to harvest satisfaction points.
Especially God of Cookery Competition—as long as someone had normal taste buds and didn’t hate noodles, it was impossible for them not to be satisfied.
To build reputation and increase satisfaction, the key was to acquire more exclusive scenarios produced by the Card Game Studio.
Thinking this, Jiang Qi opened the game store, selected the “Highest Rated” sorting option, and started scrolling vigorously.
After nearly two hours of scrolling, Jiang Qi felt like he had browsed over a thousand scenarios but hadn’t seen a single one priced below 500 million.
Isn’t this pricing way too outrageous?!
What kind of household could afford to buy scenarios here?
Jiang Qi: I think there’s a problem with your game store. You should add a “Lowest Price” sorting option.
The customer service replied instantly.
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: Dear customer, we’ve received your suggestion. However, our store has no plans to update the system, so we cannot fulfill your request. You may select and purchase according to your needs. We recommend the “Highest Rated” option here.
Jiang Qi: ???
Trash game!
Jiang Qi could only ask how many high-priced scenarios were in the game store, fearing that even if he scrolled until his phone froze, he wouldn’t find one he could afford.
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: Dear customer, our store has a vast number of scenarios! There are 2,791 high-priced scenarios priced above 1 billion and 116,247 low-priced scenarios below 1 billion. You’re welcome to browse according to your needs.
Jiang Qi: …
Jiang Qi resigned himself to checking the Limited Time Flash Sale.
Jiang Qi: How often does the Limited Time Flash Sale open?
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: Dear customer, Xiao Ka doesn’t know that.
Jiang Qi: …
Jiang Qi had no choice but to open the Limited Time Flash Sale section. Only two hours remained before the sale ended. Given the customer service’s earlier response, Jiang Qi knew full well that if he missed this chance, he wouldn’t get another—if he didn’t buy now, he might not find it next time.
Currently, only two scenarios remained in the Limited Time Flash Sale:
[I Was Born Before You] Genre: Xianxia/Emotional (8 players) (10% off)
Original Price: 10,000,000 RMB | Current Price: 9,000,000 RMB
[Cinema of Time] Genre: ?/Emotional (6 players) (50% off)
Original Price: 4,999 RMB | Current Price: 2,499.5 RMB
It seemed like there was a choice, but in reality, there wasn’t. Jiang Qi transferred 499.5 RMB from the company account to himself and decisively purchased [Cinema of Time].
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: Respected Player Jiang Qi, the exclusive emotional script [Cinema of Time] you purchased has been shipped. It will be delivered within 24 hours. Please be ready to sign for it.
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: [Heart gesture]
Just as Jiang Qi was about to exit the chat interface, he suddenly remembered that since Xiao Ka was a customer service representative for the Card Game Studio, they were also the customer service for this card game. Their knowledge of the game should far surpass that of Old John and Huang Fugui.
Jiang Qi: One more question—how do you perform Star Ascension for Character Cards?
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: Dear customer, are you inquiring about the current Star Ascension progress of your Character Card?
Jiang Qi: !!!
It can actually be queried!
Damn game, such crucial information wasn’t even mentioned in the new player guide!
Jiang Qi quickly replied: That’s right.
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: Dear customer, Xiao Ka has retrieved the information for you.
John Survival ★
Star Ascension Progress: Reputation Value [Fondness] (2/100)
Huang Fugui ★
Star Ascension Progress: Reputation Value [Fondness] (8/100)
Jiang Qi knew his assumption was correct – to achieve Star Ascension, they needed more social interaction and to let others see their merits.
After reaching this conclusion, Jiang Qi felt both his wallet and gaming career were looking bright. He enthusiastically researched flyer distribution locations for Sunday and went to bed early.
Early to bed meant early to rise. The next morning, Jiang Qi miraculously woke up before 7 AM again, reverting to his high school sleep schedule.
There were still love-filled dumplings made by Jiang Xiaohong in the refrigerator. After a quick wash, Jiang Qi cooked two large plates of dumplings and brought them upstairs, knocking on the door while carrying them. Huang Fugui and Old John were indeed awake, playing duo queue. When Huang Fugui saw Jiang Qi bringing dumplings, he enthusiastically poured him tea.
Though no one knew where he got the tea leaves from.
“Uncle Huang, you didn’t stay up until 5 AM again yesterday, did you?” Jiang Qi carefully examined Huang Fugui, who looked quite energetic.
“Of course not.” Huang Fugui chuckled.
“He went to bed at 4:27 AM.” Old John said.
Jiang Qi: ?
“How do you know that?”
Old John fiercely pressed his second skill, but missed: “I was in duo queue with him until 4:27 AM.”
Jiang Qi: …
Jiang Qi thought for a moment, took out his phone and asked customer service whether Card characters would suffer consequences from not sleeping.
Customer Service Xiao Ka was unusually a few seconds late in responding.
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: Dear customer, theoretically they won’t. Card characters aren’t complete humans, so they theoretically can’t die from sudden death.
Card Game Studio – Customer Service Xiao Ka: But dear customer, Card characters theoretically do have lives. Please don’t overwork them and use them reasonably.
Jiang Qi: …
I didn’t, I wouldn’t.
You might not believe this, but they voluntarily chose not to sleep.
(End of Chapter)