Chapter 111

Chapter 112: I’m Just a Farmer

In truth, not everyone believed IKD would return in one piece. Dungeons were full of Monsters, and if they ran into a single Flying Magibeast, the helicopter could crash and everyone could die.

Sheng Qing Hong was scared of that too. He wasn’t an Awakener, so entering a Dungeon was basically betting his life.

Qian Qi’s marketing plans alone weren’t enough to make him gamble. What really pushed him to try was this: Qian Qi put up her own money and invested in IKD. The amount was just right to turn IKD’s weak stock into an upward trend, guiding the public to think IKD had come back to life and should be scooped up.

You could say her Plan C looked sloppy and a bit wild, but every step linked to the next. It could easily draw in the excited masses and lead them through her spending funnel. Most important of all, she had one more key move, the move that would make IKD’s stock soar: as long as he brought Awakeners back safely, IKD would catch the attention of the authorities.

Sheng’s heartbeat sped up. He checked the surroundings with care, then piloted the helicopter over several layers of cloud and looked down at the overlapping, jagged, pitch black canyons.

He breathed out and said, “So this is the inside of a Dungeon.”

He had only seen Dungeon documentaries on TV before. This was his first time on site. The view was thrilling and wide in a way totally different from the peaceful outside world, and it was stunning.

No wonder Dungeons still drew people in to explore and develop. Humans were endlessly curious, and capitalists never stopped wanting money. Even if someone found a way to erase Dungeons one day, human curiosity and profit would probably make Dungeons exist forever.

Drawing a steady breath, Sheng worked the controls and landed the helicopter safely. The ground under the Dungeon’s entrance was flat and open. Someone, maybe the Dungeon Association, had cut away some rock to leave a big enough landing zone. There, Qian Qi had been waiting a long time.

She waved happily and called like she was beckoning a grandkid to play: “Xiao Sheng, over here!”

Hearing “Xiao Sheng” inside a dangerous Dungeon didn’t make Sheng feel awkward. It made him feel safe. He opened the cabin door, got out, and walked quickly toward her.

She asked with a smile: “First time in a Dungeon. How do you feel?”

He compared what he’d seen on TV with the real thing and said, “It’s not as scary as I thought, and we didn’t run into any Flying Magibeasts.”

She laughed and said, “I told you, this Dungeon has no Flying Magibeasts. Otherwise how could it be so stable? If it did, Magibeasts would be slipping through the rift into the real world.”

She patted his shoulder, then grew serious and said, “Let’s get the first batch of customers out fast. After that, we’ll work the stock market.”

Back in college, Qian Qi had a roommate who fell into the stock market pit and would lecture the dorm without even noticing. So she knew a bit.

Raising IKD’s market value wasn’t her main goal. Getting the authorities involved was. A Dungeon with a nonmobile Magiplant boss was extremely valuable, because the place where a new boss refreshed would be where the last boss died. If you camped the spot and waited, you could skip searching and grab the attribute buffs and rewards right away.

For a Dungeon like that, the Dungeon Association would make rules to keep Awakeners from killing each other. To keep the Dungeon flowing, they would also give Awakeners some support. For example, they might offer ultra cheap return flights. That meant someone had to buy helicopters.

So her target for IKD was to link up with the authorities, gain official support, then make a flashy transformation and hold a firm place in the flight business. Anywhere you go, if you want big money, you build a good relationship with the officials and earn their support.

That was also why she had to earn diplomas in both Magiplant and Magibeast studies and get jobs in the two big official research institutes. It’s easier to rest under a big tree.

She rubbed her chin and said with meaning: “Xiao Sheng, sometimes I honestly think I’m a born business mind. I shouldn’t just be a farmer.”

[Sheng Qing Hong: ???]

The simple Sheng was shocked. Qian Qi was a farmer? How could she come up with so many clever moves? He had never seen anyone who never studied marketing but could market better than marketers.

Admiring her talent, he offered an olive branch and said, “Do you want to intern at our group? I can pay you 100,000 a month. It won’t get in the way of school or your diplomas.”

She wavered, then sighed as something came to mind and said, “Better not. I still have a bunch of pigs to feed at home. It’s not convenient.”

By “pigs,” she meant the Flame Hounds in the Magibeast storage room. After school started, she had to feed them and scoop their poop every day. She really didn’t have time to work. She added, “I can’t abandon my workers either. They can’t farm without me.”

She looked at him with regret and said, “You’re great, but I can’t agree.”

Sheng fell silent: [Somehow I feel like she just one-upped me.]

After the First Cloud Mountain Dungeon got cleared, Awakeners started hunting Magibeasts. A new Dungeon usually meant new Magibeasts, and new Magibeasts sold for high prices. The Magibeast Research Institute would pay a premium for the first batch of new corpses. That was why Awakeners always tried so hard to be first into a Dungeon. Even if the return ticket cost 30,000 per seat, they still rushed to buy it, because the profit from a new Dungeon was huge.

Soon, a few lucky Awakeners dragged Magibeasts toward the helicopter.

Seeing them, Qian Qi hurried up with a fawning, eager smile and said, “Wow, what good fortune, bosses. What a rich haul! You’re the first to board. We’ll take you out of the Dungeon next.”

She rubbed her hands and reminded them sweetly: “Once we’re outside, lots of Reporters will want to interview you. Please be ready.”

One Awakener got excited and said, “I’ve never been interviewed in my life. I need to think what to say. What if I get famous?”

He opened his Light-Brain and tapped into a streaming app, grumbling, “Too bad you can’t stream inside this Dungeon. Once I get out, I’m going live. Time to blow up.”

Qian Qi’s ears twitched, and she got an idea. She said, “What a coincidence. We happen to have a promotion. If you’re a registered Streamer and you help us at IKD promote our products, we can cut the return fare in half for the next two days.”

He perked up and said, “For real? That good? Great! Tell me how to promote it.”

She snapped her fingers, leaned close, and chuckled by his ear: “Once we’re out, you just do this, then this, and after that, this…”