Chapter 13: 300,000 Reward for Hiring a Power Leveler!

In the otherworld, if practitioners want to return to reality, they must do so from within a safe zone.

On his way back to Doomsday Town, Zhang Yue checked his latest haul.

He had obtained a warrior skill book, Berserk. It sacrificed 10 points of defense to boost attack power by 5 points for 10 seconds.

At Level 30, beast tamers unlock a second pet slot for battle. Zhang Yue planned to use this for a front-line damage-dealing pet.

Perfect timing. He could save this Berserk skill for his second pet when the time came.

As for the three pieces of equipment he found, they were all 2-star quality, Level 10.

There was the Berserker Blade for warriors, a Berserk Coat for spellcasters, and a Berserk Ring for knights.

"Let's put the Berserker Blade on the trading market," Zhang Yue thought. "Even if it's only white-tier, a 2-star, Level 10 weapon should easily fetch a few thousand coins. And if I refine it to gold-tier, the value will skyrocket."

As for the Berserk Coat and Berserk Ring, he decided to keep them for himself and his Silver Armored Scorpion.

However, any equipment Level 10 and above, dropped by monsters, requires identification before it can be used.

Upon returning to Doomsday Town, Zhang Yue headed straight for the identification shop and spent 2 silver coins to have both the Berserk Coat and Berserk Ring appraised.

Then, he used nearly 50,000 Ether to refine both items into gold-tier quality.

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Magic Berserk Coat

Quality: 2-star

Attribute: Gold

Usable by: Spellcasters

HP +320

Constitution +5, Stamina +5

Special: Magic Ward (When remaining health is insufficient to absorb damage, mana will be used to offset it. 2 points of mana will absorb 1 point of damage.)

Description: A berserk coat forged through magic, combining wildness with elegance...

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Now that Zhang Yue was Level 10, he immediately donned the Berserk Coat, boosting his HP to an impressive 920!

For ordinary and elite practitioners of the same level, having three to four hundred HP was considered good.

With Zhang Yue's sky-high health stat, he was practically unstoppable.

Next, he checked the ring.

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Bloodthirsty Berserk Ring

Quality: 2-star

Attribute: Gold

Usable by: Knights

Physical Attack +70

Strength +5, Agility +5

Special: Bloodthirst (Each time the wearer hits an enemy, they recover 55 health points.)

Description: A ring soaked in blood, only excited by the taste of fresh blood...

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While knights couldn't match the raw damage output of mages, this 2-star, Level 10 Berserk Ring added significantly less attack power than Zhang Yue's 8-star staff, which showed just how big the gap was.

But for Zhang Yue's Silver Armored Scorpion, which didn't rely on high attack power, the Bloodthirst effect was perfect. It would greatly enhance the scorpion's survivability.

Unfortunately, the scorpion was still only Level 8 and couldn't equip the ring yet.

So, Zhang Yue stored the ring in his inventory and pressed his left hand to the mark on the back of his right hand.

Three seconds later, a 3-meter-tall dimensional gate shimmered into existence. Zhang Yue stepped through, disappearing from Doomsday Town.

———

When the scene shifted, Zhang Yue found himself back in his cramped rental apartment in Linhai City.

He patted his pockets—completely broke.

After rummaging around, he only found a single cup of instant noodles with pickled sauerkraut flavor.

Holding the cup noodles, Zhang Yue couldn't help but complain, "How poor do you have to be to live like this?"

Oh, right.

Before Zhang Yue was reborn, the original host of this body was famous for one thing: being dirt poor.

So poor he couldn't even afford the 600 yuan rent for this tiny apartment.

So poor that his girlfriend, Lin Yue'er, dumped him for awakening the beast tamer class.

So poor that he couldn't pay the medical bills for his younger brother, who was in the ICU.

It was this crushing pressure that had driven the original host to overdose on sleeping pills and end his life, paving the way for Zhang Yue's rebirth in his body.

With his stomach growling, Zhang Yue had no choice but to eat the instant noodles.

Just as he started eating, his second-hand phone, an S13 model that looked more like a grenade, rang loudly on the table, nearly making him spill his noodles.

He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear.

"Mr. Zhang Yue, this is your final warning. If the 390,000 yuan owed for your brother Zhang Zhao's medical treatment isn't paid soon, the hospital will stop all care."

"Give me your hospital's payment account number," Zhang Yue said casually while slurping his noodles. "I'll transfer it to you in ten minutes."

The person on the other end paused, clearly not expecting Zhang Yue, who had been hounded for payment over a dozen times, to suddenly promise to pay the bill.

Still, they sent over the account number.

Hanging up, Zhang Yue double-tapped the mark on his hand, summoning the status panel from the alternate world.

He began sorting through the equipment in his inventory that he didn't need, preparing to list it on the trading market.

After all, as the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Since the original host of this body had given Zhang Yue a new life, he felt it was only right to repay him by saving his brother. Zhang Zhao had ended up in the ICU after a car accident while delivering food to help fund Zhang Yue's alternate world training.

As Zhang Yue was about to list his Flame Pioneer Staff for 6,000 coins in the alternate world trading market, he made a surprising discovery—the item was bound and couldn't be traded or dropped.

"Is this the negative effect of the Tenfold Amplification Buff?"

It was only now that Zhang Yue realized everything he had enhanced, refined, or upgraded with Ether had become automatically bound to him.

No one but him or his pets could use these items, nor could he sell them to others.

"This alternate world's system is really airtight."

Zhang Yue frowned.

His original plan had been to sell gold-tier gear for cash. A single low-level gold-tier item could sell for five or six thousand. If he sold hundreds of them, making a few million would've been easy.

But now that trading was off the table, how was he going to make money?

Looking at the 90-plus silver coins in his inventory, Zhang Yue thought, "Even if I sell all my silver coins, I'd barely make over 10,000 yuan. That's nowhere near enough."

"I need to think of another way to make some quick cash."

With that in mind, Zhang Yue continued slurping his noodles while searching online for any fast-money opportunities.

In the alternate world, quick cash wasn't hard to come by. Every year after the Awakening Day, there was always a high demand for power leveling services.

So, Zhang Yue logged into the alternate world's Dragon Country official website.

The forums were filled with various offers.

....

"Selling one coin from the Eighth World for 2,000 yuan. First come, first served!"

"Newbie in the First World looking for a power leveler. Paying 200 yuan per hour, plus 100 for every level gained. Any skilled practitioners willing to help a girl out?"

"Offering a high price for a high-quality dagger for levels 55-60, with top-tier attributes. If the item is good, price is negotiable. Don't bother with unfinished green or blue-tier items. Serious buyers only. DM me."

Since practitioners from different districts spawn in separate areas, their safe zones differ too.

Zhang Yue knew that if he wanted to make money by power leveling, he'd have to find someone from Linhai City and within the First World.

So, he searched for posts related to "Linhai City, First World."

Immediately, hundreds of related posts appeared.

Zhang Yue's eyes were drawn to a top post titled:

"New First World Practitioner from Linhai City offering 300,000 yuan to hire a power leveler."

The title alone grabbed Zhang Yue's attention—he urgently needed money.

When he clicked on the post, he saw that it had been up for over four hours, with more than 30 million views, yet no one had accepted the offer.

If someone had taken the job, the post would have been removed from the forum.

Following the contact number provided in the post, Zhang Yue dialed.

"Hello?" A voice answered on the other end. It was a mature, sultry voice, like that of a professional voice actor.

"Hi," Zhang Yue replied directly. "I saw your 300,000 yuan offer for power leveling on the forum. What are the specific requirements?"

"Yes," the clear voice responded. "Requirement one: You must be a new practitioner from this year's Awakening. Requirement two: You must help the designated person clear the First World."

Zhang Yue waited for her to list more requirements—maybe three, four, five, or six. After all, a 300,000 yuan reward couldn't possibly come without

But after a long pause, she said nothing more.

"That's it?"

"That's it. Just those two requirements."

Zhang Yue was momentarily stunned. Could this be a scam?

But a scam wouldn't have passed the alternate world forum's official verification process for bounty posts.

Still, if it were this simple, why had no one taken up the offer for 300,000 yuan?

Whatever... Zhang Yue didn't overthink it. "I'll take it. But can I make a condition of my own?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want 390,000."

"I can help you clear the Second World, even the Third World if needed."

To Zhang Yue's surprise, the woman didn't hesitate for a second. "Alright, no problem. I'll round it up to 400,000. But you'll get the payment after the task is completed."

"Fair enough. That's standard practice." Zhang Yue finished slurping his noodles and asked, "When do we start?"

"Are you available now?" the mature voice asked. "If so, let's start right away. You're in Linhai City, right?"

"I am."

"Good. In ten minutes, have her meet you at the Resurrection Spring in Doomsday Town. All you need to do is help her clear the First World."

"Got it. No problem."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yue finished his noodles.

He then tapped the mark on his hand, summoning the dimensional gate in three seconds, and stepped into the alternate world.

———

Meanwhile, back on the alternate world forum, the top post offering the 300,000 yuan reward for power leveling was taken down after being live for more than four hours.

Many forum-goers, who had been casually browsing, shook their heads in sympathy, commenting:

"Wonder which poor sucker decided to bite the bullet this time..."

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