17: Chapter 17: The Entire Server Shocked! An Annual Salary of 100 Million? Is That Hell Money?

Qin Ji casually flicked the armor on the ground with his toe, which was emitting a brilliant golden light; it was one of the many pieces of Gold equipment dropped by Li Qingshan.

If it were an ordinary player, they would likely have pounced on it and licked the screen in a frenzy, wishing they could stuff every single plate of the armor into their backpack. But Qin Ji only curled his lips in disdain and kicked the Level 30 Gold chestplate—the only one of its kind in the entire server at this stage—over ten meters away like a soda can, causing it to hit a broken wall with a crisp "clang."

"Except for this token and the class change book, everything else is trash."

He looked away, his purple-gold pupils showing no emotion. To him, who possessed Greedy Grasp, external items like equipment were merely the icing on the cake; only the attribute points etched into his bones were the eternal truth.

At this moment, the System's server-wide announcements were still tirelessly flooding the screen.

[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player "Qin Ji" for completing the First Kill of "Novice Village No. 9527 Chief, Li Qingshan"! As the first player to kill a regional BOSS in the entire server, the rewards are +500 Free Attribute Points, +10,000 Reputation, and +1,000 Gold Coins!]

[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player "Qin Ji"...]

This bold red font was like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake. The chat channels of the entire world of God's Domain froze for a brief moment before erupting like a geyser.

"Holy crap?! Am I seeing this right? Killing the Village Chief? You can kill the Newbie Village Chief?"

"Dammit, I just tried attacking the chief in the neighboring village, and that old man knocked off 90% of my health with one strike of his cane. This Qin Ji must be cheating!"

"Novice Village No. 9527... Isn't that the village where the ruthless guy who blew up the respawn point was?"

The scrolling speed of the World Channel was faster than the naked eye could catch. In the real world, countless players who had just logged off to rest or were watching live streams jumped out of bed, shocked by this news.

The streamer with the ID "Bystander 007" was currently uploading the video he had just recorded to the official God's Domain forum with trembling hands.

The title was simple and crude: "Kicking the Village Chief Like a Ball! Big Boss Qin Ji's Desperate Aerial Combo!"

Within just five minutes of the video being posted, the view count surpassed ten million, instantly hitting the top of the trending list.

Ordinary players watched for the spectacle, thinking the figure kicking the BOSS like a ball in mid-air was incredibly cool, and the fluid combos looked like a special effects blockbuster. But for the top professional guilds, this video was nothing short of a nuclear explosion.

...

Dragon Country Server Region, Dream Chasing Club Headquarters.

The atmosphere in the massive holographic meeting room was heavy to the extreme. General Manager Li Haitao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, not daring to look directly at the powerful woman in the main seat.

Dream Chaser in the Mist, the boss behind the Dream Chasing Guild and the famous ice goddess of the Dragon Country Server Region. At this moment, she was staring intently at the final strike by Qin Ji on the big screen—using a rusty brick to shatter the BOSS's ultimate lightning.

"Is this what you meant by 'good luck'?"

Dream Chaser in the Mist's voice was as cold as a Siberian wind. She pointed at the frozen frame on the screen. "That BOSS was unleashing the lock-on skill Extinction Lightning, which theoretically cannot be avoided through positioning. But this person didn't hide; he faced it head-on!"

"Boss... this isn't scientific," Li Haitao stammered. "That brick didn't have any light effects; it looks like just a piece of junk. How could it possibly break the BOSS's ultimate move?"

"What do you know?!"

Dream Chaser in the Mist shouted angrily, making Li Haitao shrink back. "Rewind the video and look at his opening sword strike."

The footage rewound and froze at the moment Qin Ji launched Li Qingshan into the air.

A chief data analyst beside her pushed his Glasses, his voice trembling slightly: "Boss, look closely. 0.1 seconds before he struck, he made an extremely subtle crouching motion to counteract the recoil from the BOSS's shield shattering. Moreover, every one of his strikes hit during the BOSS's recovery frames. This level of precision... even our ace player 'Liu Yun' couldn't do it."

"And here." The analyst pointed at the afterimages of Qin Ji's aerial slashes. "He performed three double-jumps in mid-air, using the reaction force of his attacks to stay airborne. This 'infinite airtime' operation exists in theory, but it requires an extremely high neural reaction speed. If I were to evaluate it, achieving this kind of muscle memory would require at least five years of closed training."

"Five years?" Dream Chaser in the Mist paused, and then a brilliant light erupted in her eyes. "Less than two days after the game launched, he has shown the dominance of a five-year veteran. What does that tell you?"

"It shows he's a Genius, a one-in-a-million combat Genius!"

Dream Chaser in the Mist stood up abruptly, her long legs striding toward the gaming pod with decisive speed.

"Pass down my orders: contact Qin Ji at all costs. Tell the finance department to prepare a contract."

"Boss, how much should we offer?" Li Haitao asked instinctively.

Dream Chaser in the Mist turned back and held up one finger.

"Ten million?" Li Haitao ventured.

"One hundred million!" Dream Chaser in the Mist said coldly. "As long as he's willing to come, the annual salary starts at one hundred million. I'll pay the liquidated damages, and the position of Guild Vice Leader will be reserved for him!"

After speaking, she lay down directly into the gaming pod and connected her neurons.

...

The ruins of Novice Village No. 9527.

Qin Ji had just pulled the black class change book from his robe—God Slayer.

The cover felt like the leather of some ancient creature, with dark red patterns flowing over it, and faint, shrill wails could be heard coming from within.

[Do you wish to use the Unique Hidden Class Change Book: God Slayer?]

[Warning: This class belongs to the Chaotic Evil alignment. After changing classes, you will be viewed as a heretic by the orthodox gods and may encounter divine punishment.]

"Orthodox gods?" Qin Ji sneered and clicked confirm without hesitation. "It's exactly gods that I'm going to kill."

Boom!

The black book in his hand instantly turned into a mass of pitch-black flames, drilling into his body through his arm.

An indescribable sensation of burning heat swept through his entire body. Qin Ji felt as if his blood had been ignited. His heart pounded violently, each beat sounding like a war drum. Deep within his originally purple-gold pupils, a heart-palpitating blood-red color gradually emerged.

[Congratulations on your successful class change! Class changed to: God Slayer (Unique)!]

[Obtained Class Passive: Divine Plunder.]

[Divine Plunder: Your Greedy Grasp has evolved. Now, you can not only plunder attributes, but when killing targets with divinity or high status, there is a chance to plunder their core Authority (Rule).]

[Obtained Class Skill: God-Slaying Slash (LV.1). Deals True Damage to divine targets and inflicts a healing-reduction effect.]

Qin Ji clenched his fist, feeling the violent power within him. This feeling was a hundred times more satisfying than simply stacking attribute points.

Just then, the originally dead-silent sky was suddenly torn apart by streaks of blinding golden light.

Those were the highest-level server-wide loudspeakers; each one cost one hundred thousand in real-world currency.

[Server-wide Loudspeaker (Dream Chaser in the Mist): Dream Chasing Club sincerely invites the great expert "Qin Ji" to join us! Annual salary of 100 million, equipped with a top-tier villa and private car, and guild resources are at your disposal! Please reply if you see this, great expert!]

[Server-wide Loudspeaker (Dream Chaser in the Mist): Dream Chasing Club sincerely invites the great expert "Qin Ji" to join us...]

Before this loudspeaker message even finished scrolling, another red loudspeaker message forcibly crowded the screen.

[Server-wide Loudspeaker (Shura Blood Hand): Asura Guild sincerely invites brother "Qin Ji" to join us! Annual salary of 110 million! Join us and you'll be made Vice Leader immediately, with beautiful female players to choose from! Our place is where real men should be!]

[Server-wide Loudspeaker (Berserk Under Heaven): Berserk Guild offers 120 million! Plus a riverside apartment in Shanghai! Brother Qin Ji, don't listen to those women; come to us, and we'll lead you to dominate the entire server!]

One loudspeaker announcement after another exploded in Qin Ji's ears like vendors shouting in a market.

All the players in God's Domain were going crazy.

"Holy crap! Starting at 100 million? Is that even money? Isn't that hell money?!"

"I'm kneeling, I'm kneeling. I wouldn't earn a fraction of his annual salary even if I moved bricks for a lifetime."

"Is this the world of the powerful? All the top guilds are rushing to give him money like simps..."

Qin Ji, who was at the center of the storm, merely picked his ear impatiently.

"A bunch of flies."

He casually opened the System panel and blocked all private messages from non-friends and all loudspeaker notification sounds.

One hundred million?

To the current him, even if the entire wealth of the Dragon Country were offered in exchange for the Village Creation Token in his hand, he would feel it was an insult to this Divine-Grade item.

In this digitized world, power was the only hard currency. With power, things like money were nothing more than a string of meaningless numbers.

"Time to go."

Qin Ji didn't spare another glance at the ruins he had personally destroyed. Carrying his dragon slaying sword, he stepped over the rubble and debris, walking toward the only intact building at the end of the village—the teleportation array.

As he approached, the runes on the teleportation array began to light up one by one, their faint blue glow appearing exceptionally quiet in the night.

[System Prompt: Detected possession of "Village Creation Token (Divine-Grade)", do you wish to travel to the main city, "City of Origin"?]

"Yes."

The light intensified.

Qin Ji's figure gradually blurred within the pillar of light.

Behind him, the once bustling Novice Village No. 9527 now remained as nothing but scorched earth and broken walls. The wind picked up the ashes on the ground, swirling them in the air as if singing a final elegy for this village destroyed by a single man.

...

City of Origin, Teleportation Plaza.

This was the most prosperous core area of the entire God's Domain, with countless high-level players wearing shimmering equipment moving through it. Massive floating airships slowly passed overhead, casting large shadows. Surrounding them were towering crystal buildings, filled with a strange beauty where future technology and magical civilization intertwined.

"Voom—"

An inconspicuous newbie teleportation array in a corner of the plaza suddenly lit up.

Several merchants nearby, who were setting up stalls to buy low-level Materials, instinctively looked up.

"Another newcomer?"

"Tsk, someone coming at this time must be one of those noobs who level up slowly. Don't bother looking; there's no profit to be made."

The light faded.

A figure wearing tattered black clothes and holding a rusty longsword was revealed.

Qin Ji slowly opened his eyes, his pupils, a blend of purple-gold and blood-red, coldly surveying this magnificent giant city. The air here was filled with dense energy particles, far more enticing than the barren Newbie Village.

In his field of vision, the passing players and NPCs were no longer just simple names, but strings of walking, succulent attribute data.

[LV.35 Paladin (Strength: 450)]

[LV.40 Elementalist (Intelligence: 680)]

[LV.50 City Guard Commander (All Attributes: ???)]

The corners of Qin Ji's mouth curled into a ferocious arc uncontrollably. He took a deep breath of the air filled with the scent of "food," and the dragon slaying sword in his hand let out a soft, yearning hum.

The afterglow of the setting sun refracted through the massive floating crystals, spilling onto Qin Ji's slightly pale face. He raised his hand, reaching out toward the distant City Lord's Mansion tower, which symbolized the highest power. His long fingers slowly closed, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force, as if he wanted to crush this arrogant giant city, along with the gods in the sky, in the palm of his hand.