“Sigh!”
Jiang Yuan heard the system notification and immediately felt a pang of regret. He had just seen Meow Meow, whom he hadn’t encountered in ages, and before he could play with it a bit more, it was time to log off.
“Meow Meow! I’ll come find you when I log back in!”
Reluctantly, Jiang Yuan patted Meow Meow on the head, then set it down and directly chose to log off in the lord’s mansion’s rear garden!
The scene gradually returned to reality. Jiang Yuan rose from the fifth-hand gaming chair he’d snagged for two hundred yuan at a flea market, momentarily at a loss, unsure what to do.
As a senior about to graduate, his course load this semester had already lightened compared to his sophomore and junior years. Now, Jiang Yuan only needed to complete a few required courses each week to earn his final semester’s credits, then finish his graduation thesis before the semester’s end.
Jiang Yuan picked up his phone charging on the bedside table, woke the screen, and immediately saw a transfer notification from Wen Ding Cang Sheng. He tapped it open—exactly two hundred thousand, no more, no less.
“I guess I’m pretty well-off now. Might as well get a better computer and a more comfortable chair.”
Glancing at his three-year-old computer and the gaming chair with its worn-out surface, Jiang Yuan figured he’d take advantage of the maintenance downtime to head to Songjiang IT City and upgrade to a higher-spec machine.
No time like the present. Jiang Yuan shut down the computer, pulled out the small cart he used to transport his rig during winter and summer breaks from under the bed, strapped the tower and monitor onto it, and wheeled it out of the dorm.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, he finally exited the school gate, hailed a “maglev taxi,” loaded the cart into the trunk, settled into the back seat, and told the driver, “To IT City.”
In the rapidly advancing year 2050, taxis had been upgraded to maglev models, eliminating worries about traffic jams since vehicles could now automatically adjust their altitude.
Soon, Jiang Yuan arrived at his destination. Paying thirty Dragon Kingdom dollars in fare, he pushed his cart into the second floor of IT City, where an entire level was filled with computer assembly shops.
After a full lap, Jiang Yuan settled on a store called “Dragon Leap Gaming.” The owner was a young guy who looked about his age, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses that gave him a scholarly air, unlikely to be the type to rip off customers.
“Hey, handsome, need anything?”
The young man was polite, immediately taking Jiang Yuan’s cart while draping his other arm over Jiang Yuan’s shoulder, guiding him into the shop.
“Boss, I want to build a computer. Money’s no object, but the specs have to be top-notch!”
Jiang Yuan, now flush with cash, spoke with newfound confidence.
Seeing a student-looking Jiang Yuan exude such “rich energy,” the young boss gave him a once-over, a flicker of surprise crossing his face before he quickly masked it.
“Handsome, let me recommend this one!”
The young boss pointed to a flashy-looking tower on the shelf and introduced it: “This is Thor Company’s latest Alienware 16th-gen tower, equipped with the current top-tier K19-9700F, a 32-core processor with a main frequency of 128 GHz, 10TB of RAM, 8TB of dedicated graphics, and a built-in 100TB solid-state drive. What’s even cooler is that this tower uses Thor’s newly developed ‘holographic projection’ technology—no monitor needed; it can project images in full holography.”
Jiang Yuan figured the gold-plated metal chassis would be heavy, but when he picked it up, it felt as light as a quilt. Surprised, he asked, “Why is it so light?”
The young boss, seeing Jiang Yuan’s clueless expression, chuckled. “Handsome, you don’t know this. The case is made of titanium-nickel alloy—super tough, even bulletproof, and only a tenth the weight of regular metal!”
“Great! I’ll take it! How much?”
Jiang Yuan nodded, thoroughly pleased with the sleek tower, and asked about the price.
“Since it’s the latest model, we’re running a promotion right now. I can give you a 10-20% discount, bringing it to 160,000 Dragon Kingdom dollars!”
The young boss flashed a professional smile and quoted a price that made Jiang Yuan jump!
“What? One hundred sixty thousand?”
Jiang Yuan’s reaction was like a startled cat, his voice shooting up several octaves, nearly a shriek.
Seeing Jiang Yuan’s dramatic response, the young boss was a bit taken aback, thinking: Who was it that just said money was no object?
“What’s wrong? Any issues?”
The smile vanished from the young boss’s face, replaced by an expression that screamed, “Can’t afford it? Then why ask?”
Stuck in old habits, Jiang Yuan reacted with the typical shock of a college student upon hearing a computer cost 160,000. Then it hit him—he wasn’t short on that kind of cash!
“Oh, no, no problem.”
Jiang Yuan gave an awkward smile and quickly pulled out his phone to ask about payment.
“Please scan over here.”
Seeing that Jiang Yuan was actually going to pay, the boss’s face instantly lit up with a warm smile. He took Jiang Yuan’s arm, guided him to the counter, and pointed at the QR code with a cheerful grin.
“Ding! Payment received: 160,000 Dragon Kingdom dollars!”
As Jiang Yuan scanned the code with his phone, the counter’s smart robot immediately announced the transaction.
“Thanks, handsome!”
After the payment, the young boss kept bowing and scraping to Jiang Yuan, amazed that this seemingly broke college kid had bought a 170,000-dollar computer without batting an eye.
“Boss, there’s a game on my old computer. Could you transfer it to the new one?”
Jiang Yuan pointed at the cart holding the computer he’d used since freshman year.
“Sure! Just a moment—let me set up the new machine first!”
The boss nodded deferentially and began configuring the new computer’s system.
He pressed the power button, and two beams of light shot out from the tower, forming a roughly 32-inch blue light screen in midair.
“Whoa!”
Jiang Yuan had never seen a fully virtual screen before and was awestruck by the cool display.
“Handsome, this is the ‘holographic projection’ tech I mentioned. Pretty awesome, right?”
The boss tapped on the light screen while turning to Jiang Yuan.
“Incredible! Hurry up and get it ready—I can’t wait to try it out!”
Jiang Yuan stared at the virtual screen in the air, utterly amazed, then urged the boss excitedly.
Facing such a dazzling light screen, Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but think, “That 160,000 was totally worth it!”