Chapter 116: Chapter 115: A Little Promotional Shock

"Still haven’t saved enough?"

"I’m 5 Gold Coins short."

Lori was mindlessly rerolling his pieces, one after another. He only played high-risk, all-in lineups in auto chess now. He’d push for level five, then roll for a three-star main carry. If he got it, he’d keep playing. If not, he’d surrender.

It wasn’t about his rank; he was purely killing time.

Rumor had it that there would be a major update for auto chess midway through the season with a lot of changes, but no one knew exactly when.

His part-time job had been exhausting him lately, and he still had classes during the day. Finals were approaching, and Repin Spellcasting Academy was famous for its brutal finals week—the exams were packed together and incredibly difficult.

But he had no desire to study at all. He just wanted to zone out with the Red Middle game.

’His mind was a mess.’

"How much is that Magic Wand you want to buy, anyway?" his roommate asked.

"19 Gold Coins and 88 Silver Coins."

"She asked you for such an expensive gift?" his roommate exclaimed.

Even though they were students at Repin Spellcaster Academy, nearly 20 Gold Coins was no small sum.

"She didn’t ask me for it. She just mentioned that she wanted it while talking to her best friend."

Lori said, his voice lacking confidence.

He had spent his childhood learning Magic in a Mage Tower, which left him with almost no social life. He never went out except for work, and his only hobbies were games, comics, and building models.

He had no idea how to get closer to the opposite sex, but he still hoped for a fateful encounter.

And when an older female student showed him a bit of kindness, he fell for her—completely one-sidedly.

Giving an expensive gift out of the blue could easily make things awkward for both of them, but he still wanted to just go for it.

’Where can I earn some more money?’

Having been a good student his whole life, he’d never once considered doing anything illegal.

Just then, the dorm room door was pushed open, and a student who looked like he was from another School walked in.

"Check out the Deer Spirit Social Circle! Weibo, Tieba, forums, online friends, a variety of social experiences—it’s all in the Deer Spirit Social Circle!"

People like this often came to the dorms to sell all sorts of things, so Lori wasn’t surprised.

Cheap materials, obscure Scrolls, strange, low-quality Magical Devices—you name it, someone would be selling it in the dorms.

He had no idea what this one was about. Weibo, Tieba—he’d never heard those words before.

"Not interested, thanks," Lori replied politely.

"Just hear me out! If you register an account, you can get a reward of up to a Hundred Gold Coins!"

"What?!" Lori latched onto the keyword.

"You actually believe that? If you could really earn a Hundred Gold Coins, why wouldn’t he just do it himself?" his roommate said from the side.

He firmly believed that no one would just give away a money-making method for free. It was most likely a scam to make a quick buck.

"It’s worth a try. Even if I don’t earn anything, I won’t lose anything. If he asks me for money, I just won’t give him any," Lori said, unwilling to let any opportunity slip by.

"Great, great!" The salesman looked thrilled. "Trust me, the earlier you sign up, the more you’ll earn. Register now and your account number will be lower. It might be worth a lot on its own someday."

"How do I register for this Deer Spirit Social Circle?"

"Sigh..."

His roommate sighed helplessly. ’Love really does make people lose their minds.’

Unlike him. He was a man destined to become a Legendary Mage and had already decided to devote his entire being to the great art of Magic.

’With no woman on the mind, my Casting is one of a kind.’

"Just activate this Rune," the young salesman said, taking out the Deer Spirit Rune.

"Huh? Who made this Rune?" Lori asked curiously.

Activating a Rune from an unknown source was very dangerous. It was fine if you understood the principles behind it, but if you didn’t, there was no telling what it might actually do.

"Don’t worry, this is a Zog Group Rune, too. You can even link the account to your Red Middle Rune account," the young man explained.

Lori relaxed. The Zog Group wouldn’t bother targeting an Ordinary student at Repin Academy.

They did, however, want all the students from every School to transfer to the Illusion School and come work for them after graduation.

To be honest, he was really jealous when he saw the salaries of the Illusion School graduates.

Back when they enrolled, those students had all been transferred into that School because their scores didn’t qualify for their first choice. Now, their average starting salary was double that of his Transformation School.

If his year wasn’t already barred from switching Schools, Lori would have wanted to transfer too.

Up until the last academic year, in the entire hundred-year history of Repin Academy, not a single person had ever transferred to the Illusion School.

But last year, nearly two hundred people transferred over.

Lori activated the Rune and initiated Illusion Mimicry. An unfamiliar interface opened up in front of him.

"Link your Red Middle account?"

An option popped up on the interface, and Lori immediately selected yes.

"Congratulations, new user #21354. You have received one lottery draw."

’A lottery?’ He liked lotteries.

"Wait a second," the young salesman said, leaning in. "Enter my invitation code first."

"What’s that?"

"It’s right here. Let me do it," the salesman said, quickly opening a window. "There we go. I hope you have a pleasant social experience."

After the young man left, Lori started to explore this social circle.

First, he used his lottery draw.

He found the lottery page, and a wheel spun for a moment before finally stopping on the Gold Coins icon.

"Congratulations! You have received 2 Gold Coins, 11 Silver Coins, and 6 Copper Coins."

"There’s real money!" Lori cried out in surprise.

His roommate’s eyes lifted from his Spellbook, and he shot a furtive glance in Lori’s direction.

"But... how do I withdraw the money?"

"Ha! See? I told you it was a scam!"

"Oh, found it. The withdrawal is here. ’Withdrawals can be made at the Elf Bank with an Inscription voucher.’"

Lori excitedly clicked to generate the Inscription voucher, but no Inscription appeared.

A prompt popped up on the interface: "Sorry, your balance does not meet the minimum withdrawal amount. At least Ten Gold Coins are required to generate an Inscription voucher."

"You can increase your reward amount through the following methods:

"1. Receive a reward of 10 Copper Coins for every new user you invite. Upon reaching 100 invitations, you will receive an additional bonus of 10 Silver Coins.

"2. The top 10 users who invite the most new users each week will receive a reward of 1 to 5 Gold Coins.

"3. You can post content in any section of Weibo, Tieba, or the forums. Getting a post featured will earn you a 1 Silver Coin reward, making it to the top search results will earn a 10 Silver Coin reward, and receiving a ’post of the month’ evaluation will reward you with 1 Gold Coin.

"4. Watch advertisements..."

So, to earn enough to withdraw, he either had to pull in new users or post content.

After reading through the prompts, Lori was full of motivation.

He opened the section called "forums," and a flood of content instantly appeared, overwhelming him.

"The ’Foot Shape Research’ board welcomes all enthusiasts interested in the foot shapes of various races. Also, the ’Hoof Shape Research’ board is heretical!"

"A study on the jumping height of fleas from goblins versus fleas from Gnolls."

"If you could get a Million Gold Coins right now, but for the rest of your life you’d be hunted by an immortal, indestructible snail, would you do it?"

"Free Magic share, Transformation School: Make duck meat taste like mutton."

"’Holy Mountain Journey’ game infographic guide."

"Auto chess ranking-up lineup, one-image guide."

"Getting into Repin Academy versus an annual salary of a Hundred Gold Coins. Which would you choose?"

’A hundred Gold Coins, obviously,’ Lori said to himself.

He had actually managed to get into Repin Academy, but who was going to give him an annual salary of a Hundred Gold Coins?

He’d been browsing for two hours without even realizing it. ’What kind of content should I create to get a featured post?’

Just as Lori was deep in thought, a message notification popped up.

"Dreaming of Repin Girl: Hi, sorry to bother you. I saw that you’re a student at Repin Academy, that’s so amazing! Can I add you as a friend? I have some questions about Repin I’d like to ask. Thank you."