Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened-Chapter 65

Chapter 65: The System Gives Away Over a Million Gold Coins Every Day?!

“Level 10? What’s that?” Su Xintong tilted her little head in confusion, radiating a pure and innocent beauty.

Ye Qiu was stunned. “Big sis, don’t tell me you haven’t even entered the game yet?”

This time, Su Xintong understood and replied, “The countdown just ended, and I entered the game world in my mind. But... I don’t really like playing games. Plus, this game feels way too real. I... I can’t really handle it...”

Ye Qiu said helplessly, “Don’t you find it strange that everyone suddenly has a hyper-realistic game appear in their minds?”

Su Xintong nodded matter-of-factly. “Of course I do. But... what can we do about it?”

“Huh?” Ye Qiu was surprised.

Su Xintong continued, “At the end of the day, we still live in the real world. We still need to eat, drink, and take care of daily life. Plus, the college entrance exam is coming up. I have to use the little time left to study hard and get a good score. After the exam, when I have more free time, I’ll play the game a little.”

Ye Qiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

College entrance exam? After the exam?

By then, you’d probably be buried under two meters of grass!

But he couldn’t refute her words.

Because, in his previous life, he thought the same way.

In fact, most people did.

It wasn’t that they didn’t take the game seriously, but reality always seemed more important.

Life, survival, they mattered more.

Besides, most people found it hard to adapt to the game environment. They were too ordinary and mediocre inside the game.

No matter how seriously they took it, it didn’t change anything.

In the end, they just lowered their expectations.

Su Xintong was still talking. “It’s just like when I first entered high school. Everyone had a cellphone, but I didn’t. I really envied them and wished I had one just to listen to music.

“But our family wasn’t rich, and I didn’t want to ask my dad for something like that. He was still using an old Nokia that could crack walnuts back then.

“Still, I’m glad I didn’t get a phone during my first two years of high school. It helped me build a solid academic foundation.”

Listening to Su Xintong talk, Ye Qiu felt an odd sense of comfort.

It reminded him of lying next to his mom as a child, listening to her stories about her own childhood.

A strong drowsiness crept over him.

[Current game entry progress: 19.06%...]

Whoosh!

The next second, Ye Qiu appeared inside the Trial City, the game world.

He couldn’t afford to fall asleep in the real world!

As soon as he logged in:

[Ding! Your friend “Thousand Faces Gentleman” has sent you a voice message. Accept?]

[Ding! Your friend “Smoky Clouds Fade” has sent you a voice message. Accept?]

“Accept!” Ye Qiu said, checking the in-game time.

It had already been 15 days since the game launched!

Most players had leveled up significantly by now.

Early levels were easy to climb, gaining experience was simple.

But once your level got higher, it flipped. Experience requirements became insane.

For example, reaching Level 11 after hitting Level 10 would require as much experience as going from Level 1 to Level 10 combined!

At that moment, the voice messages played:

Thousand Faces Gentleman (voice): “Big bro, I’m Level 10 now. Can I do anything to help you?”

Thousand Faces Gentleman (voice): “Big bro, I’m planning to move into a big city.”

Thousand Faces Gentleman (voice): “Big bro, I’m scared that once I move, I’ll never return to the Novice Village and never see you again. I’ve decided! I won’t go yet. I’ll wait for you in the Novice Village!”

These were all from Ning Qianjun.

Then came messages from Zhao Hanyan (Smoky Clouds Fade):

Smoky Clouds Fade (voice): “Brother Cloak~ I’ve reached Level 10! Is there anything I can do for you?”

Smoky Clouds Fade (voice): “Brother Cloak~ my family wants me to transfer to a big city... I’ll miss you so much... I can’t even say goodbye properly... sobs...”

Ye Qiu shuddered all over.

Zhao Hanyan...

He didn’t have much impression of her from his previous life.

She wasn’t anywhere near as famous as Ning Qianjun.

Curious, Ye Qiu checked some other information and found something interesting.

He clicked on the “Deputy Village Chief” title tab:

[Ding! You received 1.69 million gold coins in taxes.]

[Ding! You didn’t use your tax income today. It has been automatically turned over to the National Treasury.]

[Ding! You received 1.88 million gold coins in taxes.]

[Ding! You didn’t use your tax income today. It has been automatically turned over to the National Treasury.]

[Ding! You received 1.74 million gold coins in taxes.]

In total, he had accumulated over two and a half days’ worth of tax money.

Since time in reality moved ten times slower than in the game, Ye Qiu had spent about five hours in the real world, which translated to two days and two nights in-game.

“So this is the tax Elder Xu mentioned?” Ye Qiu finally understood.

This tax income refreshed daily.

But if you didn’t use it in time, the system would automatically collect it and send it to the Heavenly Summer Empire (the in-game nation belonging to Hanxia players).

“Today’s tax is 1.74 million... I’m rich!!!”

Ye Qiu immediately tried to transfer the gold to his inventory.

However…

[Ding! Taxes cannot be withdrawn, cannot be used for shopping, and cannot be traded. They can only be used for investment. Moreover, investment amounts must be reasonable and comply with regulations.]

[Ding! Any profits gained from investments will belong entirely to the investor.]

Hearing the system prompt, Ye Qiu deflated.

So much for dreaming about free money!

Still, he wasn’t too disappointed. He had expected something like this.

Even though he had been reborn and blessed with extraordinary luck, there was no way the system would just hand him over a million gold coins a day for nothing.

At least he could invest!

And if he played it smart... the profits would still be his!

Thinking about this, Ye Qiu grinned foolishly.

After calming down, he quickly sent a voice message to Ning Qianjun: “If you haven’t gone to the city yet, wait for me at the foot of Tiger Mountain.”

Only a few seconds later, he received a reply: Thousand Faces Gentleman (voice): “Big bro! You finally replied! I’ll be at Tiger Mountain within three minutes!”

On a small path, two players were rushing toward Tiger Mountain.

They were Ning Qianjun and his sister, Ning Qingyue.

Ning Qianjun was excited. “See? I told you the mysterious NPC would reply eventually!”

Ning Qingyue smiled, “Hard work pays off. We didn’t wait in vain!”

Ning Qianjun now wore half a set of rare purple-grade gear, wielding the rare purple staff that Ye Qiu had once given him.

As for Ning Qingyue, she had finally reached Level 10 and could now equip her Pink Spirit-grade hairpin.

Her figure looked nimble yet sturdy.

A “Tank Healer” build, entirely focused on maximizing HP to complement the hairpin’s passive skills.

“Brother,” Ning Qingyue said a little sadly, “This might be the last time we see the mysterious NPC. I heard from players who’ve transferred to the cities that to come back here, you’d need to be at least Level 100 and pay one million spirit stones. I’ve never even heard of spirit stones before. They must be a higher-grade currency than gold!”

Ning Qianjun knew this too and could only sigh regretfully, “We already got a ton of benefits from the mysterious NPC — backpacks full of rare gear, a purple rare item, and even a pink spirit weapon... Stuff that most players can only dream about. I’m already satisfied.”

Their real reason for staying behind was simple: to say goodbye.

Of course, if they could squeeze a few more rewards out of Ye Qiu... that would be even better!

As they talked, the two finally reached the foot of Tiger Mountain, and there they saw him.

The figure wearing a hooded cloak!