74: Membership Upgrade

“Heh heh, heh heh heh…”

Cheng Zhen gnawed on a crab leg, constantly letting out strange laughs as he looked at his wristband.

The dedicated waiter brought the exquisite meal into the private room, then smiled and retreated. His professional attitude meant he didn't show any signs of discomfort, but a hint of sympathy still welled up in his eyes as he left.

It's pitiful, even after being cured, he still drools…

Cheng Zhen didn't care about what others thought; he was completely immersed in the joy of becoming rich, unable to extricate himself, as he watched his account income climb.

Although most of the strategists on the forum were not novices, many were still willing to pay for peace of mind to avoid an unexpected mishap when using the [Newbie Card].

Also, the idlers were very afraid of encountering a 'Newbie Graveyard'; even with a low probability, it could happen, so spending 1000 yuan for insurance was perfectly fine.

Only an hour after leaving the Strategist Headquarters, Cheng Zhen had already earned two million, and the numbers in the backend showed no signs of stopping, still surging.

Now Cheng Zhen had taken off so much that even his food budget had inflated; yesterday it was hamburgers and pizza, today he was gnawing on king crab, his standard of living skyrocketing.

He also took the opportunity to lash out at the silent internet trolls, releasing the frustration of the past two days and making him feel at ease.

However, there was still something lacking, just as Jacket Uncle had said, Cheng Zhen only saw a continuous stream of Chinese currency in the backend, and no one was buying strategies with points.

But it wasn't a big problem, because Cheng Zhen had now accumulated enough membership points to upgrade the [Tomato APP] and could do so immediately.

But before going back to upgrade, he should open the box first.

Cheng Zhen wiped his hands and eagerly took out the clearance treasure chest from the second instance.

One-star and two-star clearance treasure chests mostly yield dilapidated (gray) or common (white) items, with a small chance of getting good (green) items.

Three-star and four-star clearance treasure chests mostly yield good (green) or rare (blue) items, with a small chance of obtaining epic (purple) items.

The treasure chest Cheng Zhen opened before was ★★★★☆, which had a higher chance of epic items. This time it was a four-star treasure chest, so he wondered if he could get something good again.

“Rare!”

Blue sky and white clouds flashed by, accompanied by a certain uncle's voice, and a pair of shoes appeared in Cheng Zhen's hand—

[Equipment: Elvin's Unsold Sandals]

[Quality: Rare]

[Wearing this equipment immediately increases physical defense by 10% and movement speed by 20%, and grants the passive effect: Evasion.]

[Evasion: When attacked by 'non-human' creatures or non-biological units, there is a 5% chance for a MISS effect (this effect can be enhanced by consuming wind-attribute items, up to 35%).]

[Note: Don't look down on it just because it's on sale now; it used to be a hot item that sold out instantly upon listing!]

Cheng Zhen: “…” What the hell is 'Unsold Sandals'?

I ate sand and beef noodles for so many days, and you give me this?!

Cheng Zhen even suspected that he had been with those Desert natives for too long and had become a true 'unlucky person,' otherwise, how could he have opened such a thing?

You have the nerve to write 5% probability!

If the king crab hadn't been so delicious, Cheng Zhen would have almost lost his appetite from anger.

However, seeing that its probability could still be upgraded, it wasn't entirely useless. He would search the forum to see what wind-attribute items could upgrade it.

Cheng Zhen was now truly wealthy and influential, truly embodying the saying: Any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem!

He packed up a few more Australian lobsters and strolled home.

Sigh, he never felt it before, but why did this house feel a bit small today?

The balance on his bank card gave him immense courage, and Cheng Zhen was already contemplating moving to a new house.

Cheng Zhen planned to rest for a few days, check his strategy income, and then pick a comfortable new house to live in.

And what he needed to do now was to upgrade his membership!

The benefits brought by a Level 1 [Tomato Member] already allowed Cheng Zhen to clear instances easily; he was very much looking forward to what benefits an upgrade would bring.

Cheng Zhen meticulously washed his face and hands, then clicked to upgrade his membership.

500 points vanished instantly, much like 10 walking 50W being reported by Chaoyang residents and evaporating.

[Beep, upgrade successful!]

[You have become a Tomato Level 2 Member (Silver)!]

[Points required for next level: 1000]

[Esteemed Silver Member, new member benefits have been unlocked for you!]

[The novel reading interface has added a brand new background and eye-care lighting!]

[Audio reading has added more voice packs, such as 'Granny Rong's voice,' 'Covered Rice Cao Cao's voice,' 'My Family, Who Understands voice,' and other personalized voices!]

[What are you waiting for, come and try it!]

Cheng Zhen: (⚆ᗝ⚆)???

Am I here for this???

He nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, wishing he could hold a high-voltage wire and electrocute the APP in his mind.

What kind of things are these you've added?!

Fortunately, after Cheng Zhen clicked on the 'Ads Come True' function, the new feature descriptions that appeared helped lower his blood pressure.

[Esteemed Silver Member, new functions after upgrade are as follows—]

[After entering each new instance, you will immediately receive two 'ad slots'.]

[When using abilities, it will greatly reduce strength and mental demands, and reduce the consumption of stamina and mental energy. Items brought out from ads can also be placed back into their original ads to save you space!]

[More types of Silver Member ads have been added.]

[When you use points to upgrade to a Level 3 Member (Gold), you will gain the ability to 'control ads,' meaning you can interfere with the choices and development within the ads. We wish you an early upgrade!]

Cheng Zhen read through it and felt that these 500 points were well spent.

Firstly, the addition of two ad slots goes without saying. Once Cheng Zhen enters the third instance, he will be able to use items from four ads, allowing him to supplement his abilities in more ways.

As for the update that reduces strength and mental energy requirements, Cheng Zhen had just tried it out.

He was actually able to lift the chubby immortal in the round ball, which he couldn't budge in [overbearing fierce immortal] before, scaring the chubby immortal inside quite a bit. Although it was still a struggle, there was a noticeable change.

Perhaps once Cheng Zhen gets some more enhancement potions or something, this chubby guy inside will be able to come out and look for his wooden fish.

The optimization for reduced consumption was also very good. Previously, Cheng Zhen had been lounging around in the Desert instance, being carried on a sedan chair, not entirely because he was lazy, but also largely because he had been constantly using his abilities, which consumed a lot of stamina.

Moreover, using abilities too much would cause headaches, which is why Cheng Zhen would quickly rest to recover his mental energy.

As for that 'increased Silver Member ads'…

Is that something a person would say?!

Cheng Zhen couldn't help but recall that when he bought a certain video membership to skip ads, he never expected that there would still be embedded ads within the video that only members could see, the kind you couldn't even see if you weren't a member.

Fortunately, after he clicked in and looked carefully, he found that there were indeed some useful new things, which improved his mood considerably.

And the Level 3 Member benefits truly made Cheng Zhen's eyes light up.

Interfering with the development within ads…

If he had that ability before, he wouldn't have had to eat braised beef noodles for ten days; he could have had the chef make whatever he wanted!

Thinking about the Level 3 Member's abilities, Cheng Zhen felt a surge of motivation.

“Ring…”

His wristband rang, and Cheng Zhen looked down to see that his Homeroom Teacher had called him.

“Hello, Cheng Zhen!”

The Homeroom Teacher's voice held an unconcealed joy: “Several admissions offices have called me. Because of your excellent performance, they want to offer you early special admission!”