Alternate Dimension Game: Happiness is all that matters!
Chapter 194 - 177: A Surge in Popularity?

Chapter 194: Chapter 177: A Surge in Popularity?

The three-day mini-vacation flew by, and Wang Hao actually had a blast.

Little sister Han Xiaoyue still hadn’t learned to swim; she was like a duck out of water, panicking and flailing madly as soon as her nostrils were submerged.

One has to admit, not everyone’s physique is the same.

What Wang Hao could easily master as a life skill, Han Xiaoyue could only learn after an entire day of extreme anger and frustration...

But if she couldn’t learn something, she simply couldn’t learn it...

Occasionally, he’d worry about the continuation of the "Sheep Intestine Tunnel" script, wondering how it was coming along.

Was that damn bug fixed yet?!

So, the moment he returned to the shop, he hurried upstairs and charged the helmet.

Watching the game helmet light up with blue light, his mood grew even more expectant.

While it was charging, he went downstairs to check the state of the net cafe. First, he glanced at the business—just a couple of big cats and kittens, mostly minors?

That guy called "Ling Pingzhi," the homebody, was still tinkering with the drink vending machine.

Scared by the glance from boss Wang, "Ling Pingzhi" rushed back to his private room to hide.

Old Wang complained to himself, "There really are all sorts of people in the world. But a customer is God! As long as you’re not committing a crime, no matter how odd you are, I treat everyone equally!"

The drinks were almost sold out, so he went next door to the supermarket and stocked several boxes of Coke, Nutrient Express, and so on, refilling the vending machine.

Meanwhile, Han Xiaoyue was mopping the floor, although the net cafe was pretty clean... It was probably thanks to that Ling Pingzhi helping mop the floors.

He checked the recent transactions from the computer backend.

There were no thieves, and the customers willingly paid since the machines simply wouldn’t start otherwise.

But... business was getting worse and worse.

"I thought a daily turnover of two to three thousand yuan was rock bottom, but there’s still the Eighteen Layers of Hell to hit, as it’s been slashed in half again."

Since the beautiful girl at the front desk had gone on a trip, those rich and handsome guys who came for Han Xiaoyue also vanished, and business plummeted.

On the contrary, some snotty kids under eighteen, using their parents’ IDs to swipe their cards, played for a long time on the computers and contributed quite a bit to the turnover.

After checking the surveillance, he found that Ling Pingzhi was actually conning these snotty kids on how to use the internet and play games... He even helped pay for them, acting like someone who had more money than sense.

"Is this guy a natural fan of mine? Helping me drum up business? Inviting kids to play games? And he even helps mop the floor and clean?" Wang Hao was dumbfounded, "Does he think this is his home?"

It’s just too bad the guy was male, and not exactly good-looking, so he wasn’t great at pulling in customers.

If it had been a girl, she could have attracted a few customers at least.

"Or how about you go attract some business?" Wang Hao got a devious idea, his eyes lighting up, "Put on some cosplay outfits, stand at the door, and a wave of rich guys will rush into the shop to spend! Bunny girl senior, how about it?"

Han Xiaoyue was shocked by his rotten scheme, leaping up in anger: "If somebody left a bottle of Red Bull in their car, should I follow them too?"

Wang Hao shamelessly persisted, "No choice, big cousin is facing business failure, looks like we’ll end up in deficit, relying only on you to support us. If you don’t go out and cheat some money, your big cousin will starve to death."

"Surely you wouldn’t mind being Voldemo... no, Big Bro Mo?"

Han Xiaoyue gave a smile that was not quite a smile, followed by a swift kick to Wang Hao’s shin that made him howl in pain.

"Big Bro Mo... you should really go on a blind date early, find a wretched woman to discipline you, instead of exploiting your cousin day in and day out!"

After being kicked, Wang Hao secretly relished the thought, "I swear, the idea of blind dating is as terrible as the apple pie made by the lady next door."

He suddenly noticed several sneaky kids loitering outside the door and quickly called his cousin up to the second floor.

"Quick, come up! Business is knocking on our door! Let Ling Pingzhi meet them!"

"If there’s no attendant in the shop, they will spend money!"

"If you’re working as a receptionist in the shop, on the other hand, they won’t spend... because they’re not yet 18."

This damn wench, she’s actually setting her sights on the wallets of minors, Han Xiaoyue made a strange expression, "Truly... scummy!"

[Welcome to the Cross-dimensional Game.]

It wasn’t fully charged yet, but he could play while charging.

A happy day began once more!

Wang Hao took a deep breath and looked forward to it.

After three days without playing, the number of visitors had once again increased significantly; he could see some people scattered around the central square!

The population density wasn’t too high, but it was an improvement from the previous desolation.

Those bubble-like pop-ups displayed their expressions of surprise and admiration.

[This place is awesome!]

[I love the taste here!]

[There’s even free air conditioning here.]

Such "elementary-school style" compliments gave Wang Hao goosebumps.

He opened the AFK (Away From Keyboard) log, which popped up with various notifications.

[Due to the activities of the visitors, you have gained 3 Holy Water Runes (worth 90 points), 1 Secret Silver Cross (130 points), 2 vials of Corpse Dissolving Water (60 points), 1.2 square meters of Unknown Creature Leather (40 points), 2.3 units of Unknown Creature Fur (30 points), 321 Source...]

[You’ve gained 12 Miracle Formulas...]

The resources provided by the guests were still plentiful.

Although they were all sorts of miscellaneous items, they were certainly better than having none at all.

"It’s also possible that the difficulty of the game will increase significantly in the future, and more Strange Objects will be needed to complete the tasks."

[Congratulations!]

[For unknown reasons, the favor of the Black-clothed Guard toward you has increased, and is now at the level of adoration.]

[The favor of the Mysterious Bureau toward you has increased, and is now at the level of respect.]

[The favor of the Church Court toward you has increased, and is now at the level of respect.]

[The favor of the Kapsingar Research Bureau toward you has increased, and is now at the level of respect.]

[...]

"What happened, why did the favor go up so much all at once?"

His eyelids twitched a few times, and the sudden increase in favor made him somewhat uncomfortable.

He had gotten used to it, used to it. For Wang Hao, who often found money on the ground, receiving favor directly from the game wasn’t a big deal.

He took a few more looks and the ability values of these powers seemed to have risen a bit? He couldn’t quite remember.

"Maybe it’s because the features of the Game Training Camp are being utilized, allowing these local powers to be enhanced..."

And besides, the wealth provided by these guests is really quite something!

Wang Hao suddenly realized that the game didn’t require much effort at all.

As long as he built the training camp well and then let it run on autopilot, wealth would continue to come in.

If he left it running for a year or half a year, the items provided by the guests might even exceed what he got from the game tasks!

Of course, there were some differences.

"Game points are the first-tier currency, which can almost exchange for any goods, akin to pay-to-win items. Only by breaking down Strange Objects and game scripts can one acquire game points."

"But the Strange Objects provided by the guests are actually quite rare... even if you break them down, there isn’t much to gain."

"The source is the second-tier commodity, needed when crafting Strange Objects."

"As for these odd and quirky materials, they would be considered third-tier items..."

In any case, points are the most valuable.

"Maybe, I should boost the strength of the special Character Avatars? Use elixirs or something... Right! These materials should be usable elsewhere."

"I should be able to utilize the Spirit Demon’s ability to fiddle with something special, to enhance plants for Spiritual Power?"

If you can mooch for free, why spend points?

The Game Training Camp had developed to this point, with a great many hidden features for players to discover. Just the combination and matching of Strange Objects was a bottomless pit.

In the past, Old Wang always felt that "man can conquer nature," and he could clear the game without relying on Strange Objects.

But now, he slowly changed his mind.

Studying the in-depth content of the game was quite interesting.

After carefully selecting among various materials for a long time, he chose an Immortal Bean and some ordinary plants that grew in the Weird Forest, like ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, peaches, plums, etc. These plants could be picked for free, no money spent.

[You chose to dilute a drop of water from the ’Spirit Realm Well’ by one billion times.]

[You have chosen "soaking"... Please note, 99% of the plant specimens have died.]

"What? Why did so many die?" Wang Hao touched the hair at the back of his head, somewhat surprised: "Is it possible that ordinary life can’t withstand the power of the well water?"

It’s nothing; a few species still survived.

The Immortal Bean was also still alive, although it was slightly shriveled.

[You have opened up this plantation area near the ’Weird Forest’.]

[You have watered the plants you planted with well water.]

[The plants are slowly growing...]

"Next up, just wait for the plants to grow, and then eat them to mooch off their Spiritual Strength!"

Just spent a drop of well water and an Immortal Bean.

These are all sustainably acquired items.

Not a penny spent!

I’m so clever!

Wang Hao chatted to himself excitedly, "The game surely won’t be like in real life, where ginseng takes ten years to mature, right? They’ll mature in a week, right?"

...

...

Ling Pingzhi, who was in an internet cafe’s private room, suddenly shivered.

He felt that his "power" had been used somewhere special.

Of course, once the power is cast, it can’t be taken back; he couldn’t really control these forces, but he faintly felt them nevertheless.

A voice in his mind urged him.

"What... farming? How would I know how to farm?"

He sighed lightly, lied back down on the bed, and closed his eyes.

Before long, the figure of "Ling Pingzhi" appeared in the Game Training Camp...