God of Wisdom

"Let's add each other as friends. That'll make it easier to stay in touch in the game." Xiao Qi gave a sweet smile, taking the initiative to add Long Ming. "Sure." Long Ming raised his wristband and opened the friends tab. "My ID is Early July Clear Skies," Xiao Qi told him. Long Ming tapped the magnifying glass icon and added her as a friend. Noticing that Long Ming's name was still a string of code, Xiao Qi smiled and said, "Mr. Long Ming, why are you still using the default name? Aren't you going to change it? It'd make you easier to recognize." "Yeah." After thinking for a moment, Long Ming reached out and tapped the plus sign in the upper right corner. To his surprise, another blank box popped up on the friend interface. The plus sign wasn't for renaming at all—it was for creating a new friend list. Caught slightly off guard, Long Ming asked Xiao Qi, "How do I change the name?" Xiao Qi couldn't help but smile faintly. "Just tap on the name and edit it directly." "Oh." Long Ming tapped on his name and changed the name of the first friend list to Long Ming. "All done. I'm heading offline first." With that, Long Ming logged out of the game. *** Second floor of Star Wish Club. Long Ming opened his eyes, reached up to remove the helmet, let out a soft breath, and climbed down from the reclining gaming chair. Exhausted, he picked up his phone to check the time. It was already past nine in the evening. By now, Xiao Qi and the others had also logged off. They walked over to Long Ming and warmly extended an invitation. "Long Ming, want to go grab dinner together?" "Yeah, we've been starving all day!" "No, thank you. I need to head home." Long Ming shook his head, politely declining their invitation. "It's already past nine. Why not just stay here tonight? The club has free rest rooms," Xiao Qi suggested. "I really can't. There's a direct subway line back to my place, so it's very convenient." Long Ming coughed a few times, weariness plain across his face. "All right then." Seeing that Long Ming was set on heading back, Xiao Qi and the others didn't press the matter. "I'll be taking off now." Long Ming wrapped his scarf around his neck, turned, and left. Several hours later. Dragging his exhausted body, Long Ming arrived at the door of his rental house. *Creak—* He opened the door and stepped into the pitch-black room, reaching out to flick the wall switch. Looking at the desolate living room, Long Ming sighed softly, closed the door behind him, and walked toward the inner room without eating a bite. Collapsing onto the bed, he fell asleep. As the night deepened, Long Ming's brow furrowed tightly in his slumber, a look of sorrow surfacing on his face. Deep within his dreams. A youthful Long Ming stood beside a mahogany bed, looking at his dying father lying there. His father's hair was stark white, his eyes sunken, his frame emaciated, and his skin covered in dark spots—a candle burned down to its last drop of oil. Tears rolled down Long Ming's cheeks one after another. "Ming'er, don't... don't give up on... on life easily..." Long Yuan struggled to reach out and clasp Long Ming's hand, his voice halting and faint. "I won't, Father," Long Ming promised with reddened eyes. "As long as you're alive, there's... there's always hope. I believe you will create a miracle and break the curse... And... inside Shanchengshan, there's a... a God... God of Wisdom..." With those final words, Long Yuan drew his last breath. Inside the cold room, Long Ming bolted upright, drenched in cold sweat. He panted heavily, taking in the familiar room as his breathing gradually steadied. "God of Wisdom... God of Wisdom... What on earth is that?" Long Ming muttered under his breath. His father had been gone for so many years, yet throughout all these years, he still had this dream from time to time. He didn't understand what this God of Wisdom his father spoke of truly was, nor what his father had wanted to tell him. And what connection did this God of Wisdom have to his illness? Long Ming pondered for a long time before finally letting out a sigh. Reaching for the phone beside him, he checked the screen. It was already 6:20 the next morning. He got up, went to the bathroom to wash up, and then headed out to grab a bite to eat. Right after, he began working out in his room. An hour and a half later, Long Ming finished his workout, took a shower, returned to the bed, picked up the helmet, and logged into the game. *** Inside Fanxing City. Long Ming began sorting through his earnings from this run. First, he took out the most valuable items: the alloy ring, the microscope, and the gold pocket watch. His wristband immediately popped up with the item details: Alloy Ring Grade: Red Exquisite Microscope Grade: Purple Gold Pocket Watch Grade: Purple Long Ming opened the mall and checked the recycling buyback prices. The alloy ring had a buyback price of 2,000,000, the microscope was 100,000, and the gold pocket watch was 200,000. After sorting through all his spoils, Long Ming kept five rolls of medical bandages and five painkiller injections. As for everything else, he put them all up on the mall at low prices or sold them directly through recycling. Half an hour later, every item had been sold or recycled. His total earnings came to 3,500,000 Yiwei coins. Long Ming tapped his wristband to check. His account balance now stood at 6,180,600 Yiwei coins; his wallet had puffed up nicely once again. He then found a spot to sit on the ground, reading through the military close-combat manual while periodically refreshing the mall. Now that he had completed the guild group mission, he was free to act on his own for the rest of his time. Even if he ran an instance with the main group, the spoils would be entirely his own. However, Long Ming had grown increasingly uninterested in trial tickets; his sole focus was sniping an invitation letter. Several hours later, a look of helplessness settled over Long Ming's face. After refreshing for so long, he still hadn't managed to snag an invitation letter. It felt as though even more players were camping the market now. Just then, Long Ming suddenly noticed a large crowd of players running excitedly in one direction. Curious, he put away the manual and walked toward the gathering crowd. Following the flow of people, Long Ming soon arrived at a plaza. Two chairs stood right in the center of the gathering area. Seated on the left chair was a handsome young man with slicked-back hair, an expensive tailor-made shirt, and a red-grade wristwatch, sitting with his legs crossed in an arrogant posture. Seated on the right chair was a petite girl dressed in a loose sweater, featuring fluffy pink curls, clear eyes, delicate features, and soft pink lips. Behind them stood a row of bodyguards in matching black suits. In front of them was a burly, imposing man in combat fatigues with sharp eyes, conducting interviews for a long line of players. Standing on the outskirts of the watching crowd, Long Ming tried to squeeze in for a closer look, but he couldn't push his way through at all. "Shoo, quit shoving! A bare-bones rookie like you wanting in on the action?" a man in combat gear with a single-shot rifle slung over his back snapped at Long Ming irritably. "Brother, could you tell me what's going on in there?" "What's going on? Young Master Qin Ye is recruiting experts for an escort run." "Oh, so he's hiring fighters. Why are there so many applicants? Is the pay that good?" "Ten to sixty million Yiwei coins, he doesn't take any of the loot, and he even covers the invitation letter. You tell me!" "That high?" Long Ming was stunned upon hearing the figures. "What else did you think we were doing here? All right, stop crowding, people are getting squished to death here!" The player rolled his eyes at Long Ming. Long Ming quietly stepped away, turning the thought over in his mind. Such high pay, keeping all the loot, and getting an invitation letter provided—any way he looked at it, the deal was an absolute steal. Without hesitation, he found an empty, secluded corner, retrieved his full set of equipment from the warehouse, and put it on. In an instant, his entire demeanor underwent an earth-shattering transformation.