Ever since a year ago, when that action game where you swung a katana across the entire map was ruthlessly abandoned by Chang Hansui because the new installment had terrible optimization and frame rates that stuttered like a slideshow.
By coincidence, he happened to catch the <sky record> launch, and he dove headfirst into this new MMO world.
Chang Hansui used a different ID in sky record, “Halley on Ice,” where he played the archer class—the only healer class in the entire game.
But but… none of that mattered right now.
His plan was—to borrow money!
/*****/
Outskirts of Pear Blossom City, private golf club.
“Crack—”
The crisp sound of a titanium alloy club striking the ball echoed across the open, emerald-green fairway. The white golf ball landed with precision on the distant green.
“…Good work.”
Liang Hai retracted her club and handed it to the caddie beside her.
She slipped off her pure white fingerless gloves, walked over to the rattan chair beneath the sun umbrella, crossed her legs elegantly as she sat down, tilted her fair neck up slightly, and let out a long, relaxed sigh.
“Ahh—”
A gentle breeze swept by, tousling her jet-black hair that flowed like raven feathers.
In stark contrast to that deep, pure black was her snow-white skin that practically glowed under the sunlight.
Her tall, 171-centimeter figure was showcased flawlessly in her form-fitting athletic wear.
Her chest, waist, and hips traced what could only be described as a perfect set of measurements.
Yet she wasn’t overly skinny. Sunlight filtered through the edge of the sun umbrella, illuminating a figure that was full-figured without losing any of its delicate grace.
Especially the taut fabric between her athletic shorts and those slightly sheer black tights, which perfectly hugged the soft, supple curve of her upper thighs.
A nearby staff member respectfully handed her a towel.
“Ma’am, would you like some water prepared for you?”
Liang Hai took the towel, lightly dabbed the fine sweat from her brow, and offered a faint smile.
“Lemon water, please.”
With that, she stood up, planning to head back to the club’s private suite to wash off the sweat and change into something fresh.
Half an hour later.
Carrying the faint scent of body wash, Liang Hai walked out of the bathroom, casually towel-drying her half-wet hair.
She walked straight to the desk in the corner of the room, where a Gun God Laptop sat with its screen glowing.
At the very top of the list, that familiar name was still grayed out.
[Halley on Ice – Offline]
“…Not online.”
Liang Hai felt a slight pang of disappointment, but just at that moment, a series of notification sounds rang out from the laptop.
[Halley on Ice]: Big shot, you alive? You there? You there? Save me meow meow, I know this is…
[Halley on Ice]: I know it’s sudden, but can you lend me some money? I think I’m about to die… I urgently need a large sum of money to save my life, meow meow.
The next second, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth with the back of her hand, her entire upper body bending forward slightly from suppressing her laughter.
This was definitely not because she was taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune. It was just that a moment ago she’d been feeling a little down because he wasn’t online, and the next moment he came crawling through the internet connection, clinging to her leg and begging for money like crazy.
[Kitahara Mahiro]: Hahaha, ahahahahaha, I’m dying of laughter here.
[Kitahara Mahiro]: You think I run a bank or something? You can just withdraw money whenever you want? Even if I really were a bank, you’ve never made a deposit here, so how would you withdraw anything?
Chang Hansui on the other end of the screen had clearly gone desperate.
[Halley on Ice]: Please, big shot!
[Halley on Ice]: If you don’t lend me the money, I’ll smash my head into a block of frozen tofu, then write your name on the frozen tofu gravestone. I’ll make you stuck to me like gum on your shoe for the rest of your life.
[Kitahara Mahiro]: Oh? Now you’re threatening me?
The other party had Liang Hai thoroughly amused. She could tell just how desperate he was from his words.
[Halley on Ice]: I’m genuinely at the end of my rope here, I swear. Memory and hard drive prices have multiplied several times over, and the cloud provider jacked up their prices and straight up pulled the plug! Save me, child.
Liang Hai propped her chin on one hand.
Although she knew the other party seemed to run some kind of online business for a living, she didn’t ask too many questions. There were countless internet companies in this world—if she cared about every one of them, it would never end.
Maintaining this kind of unspoken distance was actually what made things comfortable.
“Pfft.“
Liang Hai stifled her laughter and her fingers flew across the keys again.
[Kitahara Mahiro]: Hahaha, doesn’t matter to me. Even if it goes up tenfold, I’d still buy it. I’m planning to order an 8TB PCIe 5.0 SSD tonight and stuff it into my ATX motherboard like a hamster hoarding food.
[Halley on Ice]: Keep bragging! You little south boy! Always going meow meow meow in that shooter game pretending to be a catgirl to fool people, but… still, please lend me the money! Please, the most beautiful, kindest catgirl in the world! I’ve already stooped to meowing along with you, isn’t that enough?!
[Kitahara Mahiro]: Speaking of which, if I lend you this money, do you even have the ability to pay it back?
[Halley on Ice]: The moment I make back my losses, I’ll pay you right away! If it comes to that… if it comes to that, I’ll just take more ad deals, meow meow!
[Kitahara Mahiro]: Heh, if your server straight up crashes and everyone runs off, where are you going to find sponsors to throw ads at you?
[Halley on Ice]: Really, really! I swear! Even if I have to sell a kidney or my balls, I will absolutely pay it all back!!
[Kitahara Mahiro]: Mm-hmm. Then think carefully—how many times is this you’ve borrowed money from me? Get lost.
Harsh as her words were, Liang Hai had already opened the blue emulator and was planning the transfer.
Actually, Halley on Ice had borrowed money before.
Because she’d lent him money in the past, she was already familiar with the other party’s receiving account.
Like when the construction company wasn’t paying wages and people had to pay to work, she’d offered to lend Halley on Ice money interest-free—wasn’t that better than those loan apps?
Or when he occasionally needed cash urgently for rent, couldn’t afford pork trotters rice, or when <sky record> released new pretty clothes in the gacha.
That’s right, even though <sky record> couldn’t sell you combat power—pure grinding only—all those flashy, gorgeous outfits in the game required real hard cash.
Every time, Liang Hai would send him a bit of money from time to time, and Halley on Ice would always find a way to pay it back.
He really did keep his word.
[Kitahara Mahiro]: Cut the crap. Tell me, how much do you need to borrow?
[Halley on Ice]: 3 million.
[Kitahara Mahiro]: ??
This isn’t at the level of borrowing money for food.
[Halley on Ice]: I’m serious, big shot! Network lines, CDN nodes—those things, just to keep users across the country browsing smoothly, the bandwidth costs alone are several hundred thousand. And now hardware prices are going up across the board. That shady manufacturer from before turned their back on me, so this time I have to go with those more expensive, more stable decade-old giants… blah blah blah…
Watching the long string of incomprehensible technical jargon he’d typed out, Liang Hai tilted her head slightly.
She couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was chattering about.
To her, 3 million was nothing but pocket change. It was just the annual fee she paid at that golf club. But… when it came to larger sums, even for a friend from the internet…