111: Chapter 111: A Money-Making Scheme? Sent Back for Rewriting

Yellow sand swirled with withered leaves, pitter-pattering against the Dark Iron Armor of the escort team. The fine sounds mingled with the whistling wind, spreading across the official road. Lin Zhe sat atop a white horse, his plain cloth clothes flapping loudly in the gale. His expression remained indifferent; the fervent awe cast by the surrounding players seemed to have become irrelevant phantoms. Both sides of the official road were already packed so tightly by solo players who had heard the news that even the weeds on the roadside were trampled flat. Yet, not one person dared to step forward rashly; each held their own gifts, gazing with burning eyes at the white-clothed figure.

Some carried half a basket of tightly wrapped high-grade moonlight grass—treasures that herbalists had stayed up half the night to gather. A novice warrior clutched a blue-grade accessory he had just farmed, his knuckles turning white from the grip. There was also a lifestyle player holding an oil-paper package, the aroma of the Magic Wolf Jerky inside drifting with the wind. All of them had come specifically to give Lin Zhe thank-you gifts, only daring to stop at a distance for fear of offending the big shot who had changed their circumstances.

“Mr... Mr. Lin Zhe! This is thousand-year moonlight grass I gathered early yesterday morning. Thank you for the benefits you gave us by unsealing Red Leaf City!” A small herbalist wearing coarse short clothes mustered all his courage to squeeze to the front of the line. He held out a cloth bundle with both hands, his cheeks flushed like ripe persimmons, his voice trembling.

Lin Zhe lifted his eyes and gave a faint nod. Beside him, Qing Yu stepped forward and naturally took the herbs. His fingertips paused slightly as an extremely faint ripple of the Power of Rules quietly spread out, silently enveloping all the players on both sides of the official road.

[Ding! You have received Mr. Lin Zhe's exclusive gift—1-hour Luck Buff, Total Drop Rate +20%!]

A bright red system notification suddenly appeared before the eyes of every player present. The crowd first fell into a brief, dead silence. The next second, deafening cheers broke through the clouds, seemingly slowing down even the swirling yellow sand.

“Holy crap? A 20% drop rate buff? This isn't an illusion, is it!”

“Thank you, Boss Lin Zhe! From now on, you are my god!”

Not far away, a warrior who had just finished farming monsters held up a lustrous blue-grade breastplate, jumping in place with excitement: “I farmed for a whole week and couldn't get this breastplate! It dropped right after the buff was added! Boss Lin Zhe is the GOAT!”

The scene was quickly uploaded to the world channel by players, and the entire server instantly boiled over. Countless people clutched Targeted Teleportation Charms, rushing toward the Holy Light City official road like crazy just to get a taste of the buff. The white light from the teleportation arrays formed a continuous sheet, lighting up nearly half of the Novice Area.

At the same time, on a dirt mound in Luofeng Village, Lin Chen snuggled in Ling Xi's arms, munching on half a piece of honey cake. His short legs swung back and forth, and his soft little paws were gently poking at the Thousand-Year Fire Dragon Egg by his feet, the shell making muffled thumping sounds. Zhou Ming ran over drenched in sweat, holding a thick stack of project plans. He bowed so low his waist was almost touching the ground, a fawning smile plastered on his face: “Lord Archon! Please take a look; this is the [Holy Light Welcome] event plan rushed out by our Operations Department! Right now, the heat from Mr. Lin Zhe heading to Holy Light City has topped the server's trending list. We want to use this momentum to boost revenue. Everything is at your command!”

The abacus in Zhou Ming's heart was clicking loudly: In this first draft, he had set a paid Welcome Gift Pack for 99 maple coins. Only by buying it could one unlock a 10% experience buff and a limited avatar frame. Given the current popularity, they could sell at least a million copies. After deducting costs, the net profit would be tens of millions—the headquarters' big prize would be in the bag!

Lin Chen pulled the project plan over with his little paws and flipped through a couple of pages. His small brows suddenly furrowed into a bunch. He slapped the plan onto the stone table, his milky voice full of dissatisfaction: “What kind of trashy plan is this? The whole thing is just paid items? So if players want some benefits, they have to give you money first? You're harvesting leeks right under my nose?”

Zhou Ming was so scared he shuddered. Cold sweat instantly soaked his collar. He waved his hands frantically in defense: “No, no! My Lord, this is just a first draft! If you're not satisfied, we'll change it immediately, change it immediately!”

How would he dare to offer the slightest rebuttal? In the previous few events, hadn't the revenue multiplied several times over after Lin Chen modified the rules? If he annoyed this little ancestor and the event was called off, the headquarters would definitely fire him!

Lin Chen swung his little feet and grabbed a pen to quickly cross things out on the plan, his tone carrying an unquestionable certainty: “Change it according to what I say. First, cancel all paid gift packs. As long as any player on the server logs in, they can receive a 7-day 10% drop rate buff. Registered players of Luofeng Village get an additional 5%. Second, the limited avatar frame doesn't cost money; it can be claimed for free after completing three simple daily tasks—no threshold at all. Third, 70% of all proceeds from this event will be deposited into the Luofeng Village public account to distribute free potions and upgrade public facilities for all Novice Areas. Change it to this. If you don't do it right, don't even bother holding the event.”

“Yes, yes, yes! Everything will be done according to your wishes, My Lord!” Zhou Ming agreed without a second thought. Although giving 70% of the proceeds to Luofeng Village sounded like a loss, with such generous benefits, player participation would surely explode. The revenue could at least double. The remaining 30% would be even more than his previous expectations—a guaranteed win! He hurriedly pulled out a Rule Contract, added all the clauses as Lin Chen requested, bit his fingertip to press a blood seal on it. The contract instantly lit up with pale gold patterns, binding to the underlying system. The official side had no room to go back on their word.

In just half an hour, the event modification was complete. A striking golden announcement suddenly covered the screens of all online players. After flashing for more than ten seconds, it slowly faded:

[Server-wide Announcement: The new server-wide event [Holy Light Welcome] has officially begun! The event lasts for 7 days, and the exclusive benefits are as follows:]

[1. During the event, all players on the server can receive a 7-day 10% drop rate buff upon logging in. Valid for the entire duration!]

[2. Registered players of Luofeng Village enjoy an additional 5% drop rate bonus, totaling 15%!]

[3. Limited [Welcome Exclusive Avatar Frame] can be claimed for free after completing three simple daily tasks, with no payment threshold!]

[4. 70% of all proceeds from this event will be allocated to the Luofeng Village public account, specifically for the distribution of benefits and facility upgrades for players in all Novice Areas!]

[The rules for this event have been personally reviewed and approved by Lin Chen, Archon of Luofeng Village. The final right of interpretation belongs to Lin Chen!]

The world channel was quiet for a moment, and then it was completely blown up by a massive amount of ecstatic messages. The server even lagged slightly due to message overload, with thousands of messages scrolling across the screen every second.

“Am I seeing this right? Completely free benefits? And a 7-day 10% drop rate? Has the official team changed their nature? Oh, Lord Lin Chen changed it. That makes sense then!”

“Lord Lin Chen pampers the players too much! In previous official events, you couldn't get core benefits without spending hundreds of maple coins. Now they're just giving them away for free. I'm logging in to farm monsters right now!”

“I just killed a Level 15 elite monster and it dropped two blue pieces of gear! This drop rate is really maxed out. This is awesome!”

Every Novice Area across the server instantly fell into a frenzy. Monster farming areas were packed with players shouting and rushing for gear. Herb gathering spots were even more crowded, with no place to even step. Laughter and joy were everywhere. Players who were complaining about the official team's stinginess earlier were now spamming “Lord Lin Chen is the best” on the world channel. For ten full minutes, no other content could be seen in the channel.

Tens of thousands of miles away at the miracle Operations Headquarters, Zhou Ming stared at the backend revenue data, his eyes wide—only one hour after the event went live, the revenue had surpassed sixty million copper coins, more than three times his expectation, and it was still rising crazily! The employees of the Operations Department were all grinning from ear to ear. Even after giving 70% of the proceeds to Luofeng Village, the remaining 30% was still higher than the total revenue of all previous events!

On the official road, Lin Zhe's fingertips moved slightly, and a cold system prompt sounded in his mind: [Ding! The awe value of all players on the server has risen significantly. Host's Power of Rules +0.5%, current progress 94.5%!]

He looked toward the end of the official road. Yellow sand suddenly kicked up there, and the sound of dense hoofbeats carried with the wind. The ground vibrated slightly; clearly, a large group of people was rushing over at full speed.

A sharp, cold arc curled at the corner of Lin Zhe's lips. His fingertips lightly tapped the armrest of the saddle.

The people from Holy Light City have finally arrived.