"..." Gao Neng.
'Am I really that obsessed with money?'
'Not at all, okay?!'
'Three days to earn 100,000 Alliance Coins? How is that any different from robbing a bank? So, my next step must be to go rob a bank...'
'Right?'
Gao Neng was a man of culture. No matter how wronged he felt, he would never resort to vulgarity. Just like right now, he wasn't spouting things like "Go f*ck yourself!" or "Screw you!"
"DING. Host, please select a difficulty."
Normal Difficulty: The system will provide two pieces of information related to task completion to assist the Host. (Upon completion of Normal Difficulty, the Host will receive 10% of the 100,000 Alliance Coin reward and is 100% guaranteed to receive a Primary-Level Treasure Chest.)
Excellent Difficulty: The system will provide one piece of information related to task completion to assist the Host. (Upon completion of Excellent Difficulty, the Host will receive 50% of the 100,000 Alliance Coin reward, is 100% guaranteed to receive a Primary-Level Treasure Chest, and has a 10% chance of receiving a Middle-Level Treasure Chest.)
Nightmare Difficulty: I was born for greatness! I am the chosen one of this new world! Less talk, more action! (Upon completion of Nightmare Difficulty, the Host will receive 100% of the 100,000 Alliance Coin reward, is 100% guaranteed to receive a Middle-Level Treasure Chest, and has a 10% chance of winning a spin on the Lucky Prize Wheel.)
Note: Time is money. Please select a difficulty as soon as possible. A prudent choice will help the Host grow. A bicycle can become a motorcycle, but before it does, please look up and see if the halo of luck above your head is shining brightly enough!
Penalty for Failure: 50% deduction from Hidden Talent.
"'What a great system. So user-friendly. It even understands that a bicycle can become a motorcycle?' Gao Neng was too drained to even roast it properly. At least the penalty was crystal clear this time.
But the most critical problem was that this damn system actually wanted to take a cut of the mission reward?
This was intolerable!
Absolutely beyond the pale!
But Gao Neng tolerated it.
His mind was quick, and he immediately understood the logic behind it.
According to the mission difficulties, if he chose Nightmare and managed to earn the 100,000 Alliance Coins without the system's hints, he wouldn't have to give up a cut. He'd get 100% of the money.
But if he relied on the hints, he'd have to pay a commission.
Essentially...
...it was actually quite reasonable.
Otherwise, as soon as the mission appeared, Gao Neng could just follow the hints, get the 100,000 Alliance Coins, and it would be pure profit, even if he ignored the other rewards.
"'Alright, a real man should rise to the challenge! A 50% penalty to my Hidden Talent is nothing! It's just earning 100,000 Alliance Coins in three days, right? I choose Normal Difficulty!' Gao Neng didn't hesitate for a second.
'Nightmare Difficulty? What a load of bullshit!'
After his last experience, he saw things very clearly. This damn system was completely unreliable, and its hints were, to put it mildly, extremely vague.
It sounded great on paper.
Nightmare Difficulty: get all 100,000 Alliance Coins, a Middle-Level Treasure Chest, plus a 10% chance at the Lucky Prize Wheel. How tempting was that?
But to wager 50% of his Hidden Talent... that high-stakes gamble was absolutely not worth it.
Gao Neng immediately shot down the Nightmare Difficulty. As for Excellent Difficulty, he considered it, but he quickly spotted a problem.
This time, Excellent Difficulty actually offered a 10% chance of getting a Middle-Level Treasure Chest.
He remembered clearly that last time, the Middle-Level Treasure Chest only appeared in Nightmare Difficulty. What did that imply?
'A trap!'
'A classic trap!'
It was clearly trying to lure him into making a mistake.
Gao Neng was poor, but not so poor that he'd risk it all for an extra 40,000 Alliance Coins and a 10% chance at a Middle-Level Treasure Chest. So, he decided to play it safe this time and not get cocky. Once he was more familiar with this damn system, he could begin his journey of reckless abandon.
"The Host has very cautiously chosen Normal Difficulty."
"DING. The system will now provide two hints. Upon task completion, the Host will receive 10% of the 100,000 Alliance Coins and is 100% guaranteed to receive a Primary-Level Treasure Chest."
Mission Hints:
1. The metal storage device the Host picked up contains your answer!
"..." Gao Neng froze for a moment.
He really was a man of culture, but this time, he couldn't hold it in.
'This counts as one hint, right?'
'Son of a bitch! I found that metal storage device with my own damn skills! How does that count as *your* hint? Do you have any f*cking self-awareness?!'
Mission Hints:
2. Two o'clock in the morning is when the defenses are at their weakest. It is also the only opportunity. The Host is advised to prepare a hammer, a wrench, and a shovel in advance. Otherwise, you will accomplish nothing.
"???" Gao Neng.
'Are we really robbing a bank?'
Gao Neng hadn't yet seen the contents of the metal storage device, so he didn't quite understand the second hint. However, for some reason, he had a gut feeling that the second hint was the real key.
The logic was simple. "Without a hammer, a wrench, and a shovel, you will accomplish nothing"? Who in their right mind would carry those things around for no reason?
'How thrilling!'
'If I had chosen Excellent Difficulty, I probably wouldn't have gotten this second hint, right? Does that mean I would have failed the mission on my first try, come back empty-handed, and then had to... try again?'
Gao Neng thought about the possibility of sacrificing Shen Ning'Er again, and a strange sense of having dodged a bullet washed over him.
'Sure enough, when you need to play it safe, you have to play it *extremely* safe.'
He didn't dwell on it any further.
After quickly finishing his meal, Gao Neng returned to his room and locked the door.
At this point, he had two choices: either check the contents of the metal storage device or take out the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill and have it for dessert.
He chose to check the contents of the metal storage device first.
After all, the consequences of consuming the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill were still unknown.
Gao Neng's family couldn't afford for Xu Zilan to buy him a brand-new computer. However, he had managed to scavenge some broken parts, repair them, and cobble together a machine that could at least view files.
The world of the poor was something many wealthy people could never comprehend.
In order to assemble that computer, Gao Neng had spent a full two years—from scavenging parts, to learning how to repair circuit boards, to finally getting the machine to power on. The process had been incredibly long, but the important thing was that he had succeeded in the end.
"BEEP!"
He turned on the computer.
Then, he carefully inserted the metal storage device.
On the battered screen, a storage device icon slowly appeared.
Gao Neng clicked it open with his mouse. There wasn't much stored inside—just a single file, and it was encrypted.
"..." Gao Neng was a little speechless. 'So this is the hint from that damn system? Good thing I'm a top student, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to open this encrypted file.'
He tinkered with it for a while.
He began writing a program to decrypt it.
Ten minutes later, he successfully broke the first layer of encryption. Then, he discovered there was another layer underneath. 'What the hell? It's dual-encrypted? What on earth is in here?'
He continued programming the decryption.
This time, it took him a full twenty minutes to break the second layer of encryption.
"'Please don't let there be a third layer!' Gao Neng prayed, putting his hands together. Then, he clicked on the file with his mouse, and the computer screen flickered.
The folder finally opened.
A large number of image files slowly loaded inside.
One, two, three...
Gao Neng dragged the scrollbar. It showed a total of 53 image files.
He casually clicked one open.
He saw what looked like a cross-sectional diagram. He clicked another one—another cross-sectional diagram. He kept clicking... After opening seven in a row, he finally noticed something.
These cross-sectional diagrams seemed to be of the internal structure of some place.
'What kind of internal structure blueprints would need to be dual-encrypted?'
'Could it really be a bank vault?'
Gao Neng looked closer and realized that wasn't it. The diagrams looked more like a factory, filled with all sorts of machinery.
"Wait, there seems to be a label on it... Huh? Those two words are... Magnetic Pile!!!" The moment Gao Neng's eyes landed on the two words marked on the diagram, he shot up from his seat.
It wasn't that he lacked composure, but in the post-cataclysm world, the term "Magnetic Pile" carried an extraordinary significance.
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