Chapter 87: Chapter 74: Have You Seen a Dragon?

"The lights need to be bright enough, the decorations plentiful enough, and the skeletons big enough. As long as everything looks spectacular and can go viral in the papers and on social media, it’ll be enough to drive up the property values here." He grew more excited as he spoke. "And the real money isn’t even in that. Besides the huge profit we can make from procuring these decorations, they’re also ’consumables.’ That means after we use them this year, I can just declare them scrapped, and next year, we might even be able to drag them out and sell them all over again."

Growing more and more agitated, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and paced around the room several times before speaking again:

"Mr. Stanford is definitely going to want a kickback from this," he said. "I need to go find out what the usual percentage is for this line of work, or else he’s going to rip me off."

With that, he rushed out the door, the cigarette still dangling from his lips. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Don’t forget to order from the Celestial Dynasty’s websites," Li Wei reminded him after swallowing a mouthful of his protein shake. "The stuff on Amazon and Temu is expensive and doesn’t work well."

"I know," Don Quixote said. "Once I actually land this deal, I’ll have to ask you to help me haggle."

"Remember to give me a commission—"

Before Li Wei could finish, Don Quixote was out the door, acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

"Old geezer," Li Wei muttered. ’I’ll take the subway to school today... see if I can get a quest to pop up.’

When he first arrived, Li Wei had taken the subway quite a few times for his part-time job on the Upper East Side. The old, damp, and grimy environment of the New York subway had given him a rather negative impression of it.

But he had no choice now. To trigger a quest, his only option was to head toward the 95th Street Station in Bei Ling Ridge.

...

’Next time, I should pick a different place to explore,’ Li Wei thought.

The car of the New York subway’s R line was filled with the stench of stale urine and the musty smell of the air conditioning. Li Wei leaned against the graffiti-covered door, searching for anyone who might trigger a quest.

He had already been on for five stops, and he’d have to get off in two more.

As the subway pulled into 36th Street, the crowd by the once-congested doors parted swiftly to either side, as if by some unspoken agreement. An old white man in a tattered, army-green overcoat stepped inside.

His hair was graying and greasy. He wasn’t holding a begging cup; instead, he was clutching a Bible as thick as a brick.

"The end! The end is near!"

The moment the old man steadied himself, he began to roar in a booming voice that was completely at odds with his withered frame. His eyes were wide and round, his pupils contracted to pinpricks as he scanned every person in the subway car.

"The Great Flood! The Great Flood is coming! The gates of the abyss have cracked open!"

"You sleep in greed! You rot in lust! And you don’t even know that an eye is watching you!"

Most of the surrounding passengers rolled their eyes. Some put on their headphones, while others simply turned away.

You could often run into these kinds of lunatics preaching about the end of the world on the New York subway. They were only slightly less common than the Black dudes who breakdance, and they were much harder to reason with.

Li Wei was about to turn away like everyone else when the quest panel popped up:

[You have encountered: A Heretic]

[Corrupted by demons, they tirelessly spread their version of the world to others. In their own eyes, however, they have received a revelation from God and have been sent to save humanity.]

[Quest: Drive away/Purify the Heretic]

[Reward: Free Attribute Points +0.1]

’Finally!’

After seeing the quest, Li Wei instinctively made eye contact with the crazy old man.

It’s like when the whole class is looking down, and you’re the only one who makes eye contact with the teacher. You just know you’re about to be called on.

The crazy old man walked toward Li Wei. Seeing this, the other passengers frowned, took a unanimous step back, and left Li Wei standing in front of them.

He came to a stop in front of Li Wei, his withered finger almost poking him in the nose.

"Young man!" he shouted. "I see the confusion in your eyes! The demons are right beside you, can you feel them? They are whispering, tempting..."

"Actually," Li Wei thought for a moment, then pounded a fist into his palm. "You’ve got a point!"

"Huh?" The crazy old man was stunned. This was the first time anyone had ever engaged with him directly. "Right? You think so too?"

"That’s right," Li Wei nodded gravely. "Just yesterday, they asked me if I wanted to sign up for a credit card with a 30% APR. Pure evil."

The old man froze, his prepared spiel dying on his lips. "Wh-what?"

"Also," Li Wei shrugged, "don’t you think your material is a little one-note? All this talk about the Great Flood and Hell and stuff?"

"You..." The old man’s pale face flushed crimson. "What do you know? Have you seen Hell? Have you seen a dragon? You—"

"Of course I have," Li Wei cut him off. "I just got back from Hell. How else would I know?"

"...Psycho."

The old man stared blankly at Li Wei for a moment, then turned and walked away without a backward glance, shaking his head as he went.

[Quest: Drive away/Purify the Heretic completed]

[Reward Gained: Free Attribute Points +0.1]

The subway arrived at the station. Li Wei shrugged and stepped out of the car.

The moment he stepped out of the car and his phone regained its signal, several missed call notifications popped up on his screen.

Li Wei took a look. There were calls from Coach Miller, from Wen Si Scout, and from the principal of Franklin High School.

’What’s going on now?’

Li Wei took out his phone and started calling them back one by one.

"Hello, Mr. Wen Si?" he said. "This is Li Wei. What’s up?"

"Mr. Li Wei?" Wen Si said. "You’re not at school yet, are you?"

Li Wei paused, looking at the main building of Franklin High School not far in the distance. "Not yet. What’s wrong? Coach Miller and the principal both called me."

"Here’s the thing," Wen Si Scout said. "Even though you’re not famous with the general public yet, some professional agencies have already taken notice of you. They want to sign you to some early endorsement and licensing deals."

"Isn’t that a good thing for me?" Li Wei asked as he walked toward the school. "Are you saying they’re going to lowball me?"

"Yes. Although the offers you’re getting now are higher than what a typical high schooler gets, they’re worthless compared to your future," Wen Si’s voice was exceptionally serious. "In a few months, you’ll be making your debut at the All-American Bowl. Your value is going to skyrocket then, and these garbage agents just want to lock down your future name and likeness rights with an advance of a few tens of thousands of USD."

"Tom Brady’s NIL value is over 5 million USD," he said. "I trust you can resist this period of temptation. Alright, I have to go deal with my peers who are sniffing around for your athletic data. See you."

Li Wei hung up. As he walked through the side gate, he felt that the atmosphere was a little off.

Several unfamiliar, off-campus vehicles were parked in front of the main building, and they were all luxury cars like Mercedes and BMWs.

Before he could even enter the academic building, the principal’s secretary, Laura, the one who always wore her skirts extremely tight, was already waiting for him at the junction of the path.

"Mr. Li Wei! Thank God you’re finally here." Laura’s face was all smiles. "Principal Herman is already waiting for you in his office. There are some other people here for you as well."

"Uh... Lady Laura," Li Wei said, "if I remember correctly, shouldn’t I have a class soon?"

"All of your calculus homework has been A-pluses. I’m sure missing one class won’t affect your grades," Laura said, leading Li Wei toward the top floor without taking no for an answer. "Just like your talent for football, your academic talent is just as astonishing, isn’t it?"

Just then, Travis and Craig also entered the building.

Upon seeing Li Wei, Travis was about to greet him, but Li Wei stopped him.

Li Wei pointed at Laura, then pointed outside, signaling that someone was here to see him, that he had to go with Laura, and that he’d see them at the stadium later.

Travis’s face lit up with understanding. He gave Li Wei an "OK" sign and thumped his chest.

Once Li Wei and Laura’s backs had disappeared up the stairwell, Craig asked Travis curiously, "What were you guys just talking about?"

"This is bad!" Travis said. "Li Wei’s in trouble!"