The Wealthy Tycoon's Game of Life

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Time: June 30, 2024

Location: Caiyun University Dormitory Building 1, Room 404

...

Zhou Wang, with a scruffy beard and messy hair, was saying goodbye to his last leaving roommate.

"Brother Dog, you really can't come to my place for a couple of days?"

"Nah, I've got an interview tomorrow."

"Alright then, I'm off. We'll chat on WeChat!"

As he watched his roommate pulling a suitcase disappear around the corridor's corner, Zhou Wang looked at the empty dorm room, sighed, and picked up a broom to start the final cleaning.

So, it's really graduation...

The day after tomorrow was the deadline for leaving the school. The last roommate who just left was a local from the provincial capital, so he left last.

Those whose homes were far away or had already found jobs left early in the past couple of days.

Zhou Wang, having completed the cleaning, sat in a chair, with a hint of regret mixed with confusion on his face.

What about himself?

He picked up his Xiaomi 12, with a cracked screen corner, and reopened the app, looking for the train schedule.

His home was in Jing City, also in the same province, not far from the provincial capital. The intercity train took an hour and a half directly, and there were many train options for tomorrow; he could even leave today.

Most of his luggage had already been mailed back home. Only some daily necessities were left at school, so there wasn't much to pack.

But... Zhou Wang still hesitated to make the final decision.

His parents called a couple of days ago, with a unanimous opinion that Zhou Wang should come back to find a job.

After all, they were an ordinary family, and buying a house in the provincial capital was already a struggle. The family had encountered some problems earlier, adding to the difficulties, making it impossible to support Zhou Wang much.

Life in a small city wasn't stressful, plus his parents had some connections, so he could find a decent job, marry an okay girl, and that's pretty much it for life...

Pah, I'm not a rapper!

Suddenly, a phone notification broke Zhou Wang's thoughts.

He glanced down to see a "@" message pop up in the class group chat, but it wasn't directed specifically at him. A girl with the group nickname "It's Ding Yi" tagged everyone.

"Classmates, my birthday party is happening on the 3rd of next month. If you're still in the provincial capital, you're welcome to come and play. Just message me—sorry if I disturbed you, wishing everyone a bright future and smooth sailing!"

"Little Cat Waving.gif"

Staring at her profile picture, a complex expression flashed across Zhou Wang's eyes.

Ding Yi was the most gorgeous girl in their class and a perennial contender in the university's forum beauty pageant. Her porcelain skin, unlike the locals, adorned with a hint of mixed-race features, combined with a tall figure and killer legs, captivated countless male hearts.

Back in the day, Zhou Wang even had a little ambiguous period with her.

After all, Zhou Wang himself wasn't bad-looking, a fairly ordinary class heartthrob. During the somewhat naive freshman year, he was quite the catch.

Unfortunately, his family went through changes, his startup venture for a future failed, and combined with a certain incident, Zhou Wang was disheartened for quite some time, naturally growing distant from Ding Yi.

Nowadays, the two were probably even more distant than ordinary classmates.

In front of him, still open, was his laptop filled with the game's interface that Zhou Wang had played for three years: "Teamfight Tactics," commonly known as "Chess."

"You have been eliminated: Ranked eighth."

Staring at the gray game interface, Zhou Wang chuckled wryly.

If life was also a game of chess, the past four years of university were probably a mess, right?

Ding!

Suitable host detected, Life's Chess System successfully loaded!

[The game of life has just begun, and a perfect opening always keeps you a step ahead]

[The host triggers the newbie reward and gains the privilege "Prismatic Opening"]

[Please choose the first Hextech enhancement rune]

[Note: The next Hextech will be unlocked after five "action turns"]

[Current action turns: 0]

(Little tip: Not playing the game does not affect the reading experience of this book)

Zhou Wang hadn't yet reacted when a series of prompts echoed in his mind.

Next, a phantom light screen appeared in front of him, presenting three different options:

"Path Forward," "Hedge Fund," "Demon Contract."

Everything happened too suddenly. Zhou Wang, still in a daze, followed his gaming instincts, clicking on "Hedge Fund" almost without hesitation, not even looking closely.

Ding!

[The host has chosen "Hedge Fund"]

[Hextech is in effect, and the first gain will be credited at midnight the next day. For details, please enter the system interface]

What the hell?

Only now did Zhou Wang suddenly come to his senses, standing up with a start.

Did he have a system too?

Probably due to years of immersion in Qidian novels, Zhou Wang, though excited, found it surprisingly easy to accept this fact.

He eagerly checked the system interface.

[Active Hextech: Hedge Fund]

[Hedge Fund (Prismatic Rank): All disposable cash in the host's personal account will earn 10% daily interest, with a maximum interest cap of 100k yuan]

10%?

Daily interest?

Zhou Wang, confirming he hadn't misread, found it hard to believe.

A good yield for typical money market funds is about 4%, some might reach 6%, but the common range is 2% to 3%...

Note, the time unit for these returns is "annual."

What concept is a daily interest of 10%?

Even a loan shark wouldn't be this exaggerated!

Despite the 100k cap, if he could manage a million, he'd earn three hundred thousand just in interest in a month!

Perhaps robbing money could be faster than this, but who could consistently rob a hundred thousand every day?

What job was needed, what work was sought?

Zhou Wang, extremely excited, paced around the dorm, only calming down after a while, realizing a new problem:

He didn't have a million.

Not only did he not have it, but his family couldn't come up with it either, possibly even finding ten thousand challenging.

The old house back home might be worth several hundred thousand, but it wouldn't make sense to have his parents sell it for no reason, right?

Besides that, he noted the system's wording... disposable cash.

According to Zhou Wang's understanding, this meant the money had to be at his complete disposal, not temporarily placed in his account, where he couldn't actually use it.

This made the restriction even bigger!

Zhou Wang consolidated all the money from his several cards, ultimately pondering over the 973 yuan in his WeChat balance.

Really broke...

This even included the internship allowance just received a couple of days ago; otherwise, Zhou Wang's card balance might barely surpass five hundred yuan.

Where to get money?

He glanced at Alipay, spotting a 2000 credit limit, a 4731 loan limit... because he still owed over 5000.

The failed venture and handling most university expenses himself made Zhou Wang, at such a young age, become a "Debtor."

Not just the loan, but also several thousand from "Gold Bar" and over ten thousand from "Mou Le."

Initially intending to slowly pay them off after starting a job, now he might attempt borrowing chickens to hatch eggs.

After some maneuvering, Zhou Wang's WeChat balance rose to 8273 yuan.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a formal job, couldn't get a credit card, and this wasn't the chaotic era of loans anymore, otherwise, he might have easily obtained tens of thousands.

"But if it's just using, borrowing money from friends should count, right?"

Zhou Wang thought about it and decided that it would be best if he didn't have to return it quickly; otherwise, borrowing today and repaying tomorrow might make the system deem it "not disposable."

Opening his phone contacts, Zhou Wang pondered and finally sent a voice message to just two people.

Having experienced low points, especially during the family crisis, Zhou Wang had a deep understanding of the sensitivity of borrowing money.

First, if you're unsure if someone would lend you money, the best choice is not to ask.

Second, in the adult world, silence often equals implicit refusal; sometimes you might get the money, but lose a friendship.

Third, if you must ask someone for help, try the ones who've helped you before, as someone who's helped you once might help you a second time.

Ding-dong!

Minutes later, WeChat lit up, showing a contact named "Number One Godson" sending a 3000 yuan transfer, along with a voice message.

Zhou Wang opened the voice message, hearing a teasing voice: "Your father will always support a son in need!"

"Scram!"

Zhou Wang replied while accepting the transfer.

Unfortunately, only three thousand... However, Yang Hao, despite his well-off family, loved to spend, and had a costly girlfriend, barely saving anything from the eight thousand monthly allowance from home.

Zhou Wang reckoned this three thousand was likely his last bits of savings, so he couldn't demand more.

The other childhood friend hadn't replied yet, but Zhou Wang wasn't in a hurry, checking the time—it was only a bit past five—so he lay on the bed to study the system further.

According to the system, there would be a second, third Hextech high-tech later...

But how was one supposed to trigger these "action turns"?

The system didn't specify, leaving Zhou Wang somewhat clueless.

Not to mention it was too rushed earlier, and he hadn't had time to check the other two options, nor what "Path Forward" and "Demon Contract" were like?

Demon Contract... wouldn't be exchanging life for money, would it?

Oh, maybe many people already inherently have that buff.

Additionally, since the newbie protection gave him a "Prismatic Rank" Hextech, according to game categorization, later there could be "Silver Rank" and "Golden Rank," while "Prismatic Rank" was undoubtedly the best.

After repeatedly confirming the system's existence wasn't a hallucination, Zhou Wang was mulling over more ways to quickly accumulate capital when his phone dinged again.

He picked up the phone, realizing it was already past seven, with the message from the other contact, noted with the regular name "Liu Zixi."

"Three months to repay?"

A simple question.

"Yes."

Zhou Wang replied immediately; he'd roughly calculated earlier, even with just ten thousand in capital, after a month, it would roll into over twenty-thousand.

So, he was both urgent and not.

Borrowing money was merely to accelerate the initial progress and save some time.

Seconds later, Liu Zixi sent a transfer.

Ding-dong!

"Please accept payment: 50,000 yuan"

Zhou Wang: "?"

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