Chapter 154: Broke

Chi Yang successfully advanced, and with Jing Xin handling the situation between Shi Ji and Blade, there was no need to worry. 

After leaving the Star Alliance, the four of them followed the planned division of areas previously set by the Alliance. To be ready for any potential outbreaks of creatures, they couldn’t afford to stick together all the time. Splitting up would allow them to search for threats and deal with them right away efficiently. If they couldn’t handle something, at least they could quickly contact the others for help.

Most of the time, abnormal creatures appear alone and tend to be lower-level. The Star Alliance and the Anomaly Detection Center had surveillance systems set up across the city. 

However, although these systems were usually reliable, glitches could occur during special periods. These glitches could cause delays in notifying nearby heroes about smaller incidents.

In times of crisis like this, the Star Alliance and the Detection Center focused primarily on tracking creatures of the demon level and above. For the more common, lower-ranked creatures, like those at the human level, it was often up to the heroes themselves to find clues and deal with them.

After they briefly discussed their plan, the four split up and agreed to stay in touch regularly.

Shi Ji’s assigned area was the city center. Although he had a task at hand, he seemed to be taking it casually, strolling aimlessly as if he was just killing time.

Ever since they split up, Shi Ji had been weighed down by one pressing thought. He was broke.

Living outside the academy wasn’t the same. Food, housing, and other essentials all cost money—and living in the city was expensive. 

A regular person might barely scrape by, but someone as broke as Shi Ji? Forget about it.

Shi Ji hadn’t initially realized how dire his financial situation was until Xing Yu mentioned the cost of housing earlier. That was when he started to panic.

Feeling the few hundred yuan left in his pocket, he couldn’t help but think, ‘Surviving in a big city like this is going to be tough for someone as broke as me.’

Covering his face, Shi Ji was deeply troubled. 

Why was he so poor?

While he was worrying about his financial woes, he unknowingly wandered through a pedestrian street and arrived at a bustling plaza.

The plaza was packed with people, vibrant and full of life. There were many street vendors pushing carts, and selling all sorts of delicious snacks. Beyond this plaza was a food street, which explained why there were so many people.

It was a lively, beautiful place, but…

“Ugh, what’s with this place? Everything costs money.”

As he passed through the crowd, he glanced over a few times to see what was happening. The gathering was so dense that he couldn’t figure out what was going on.

After walking a few more steps, a voice pulled him back.

“Hey! Don’t miss out! Ring toss game! Fifty yuan for ten rings! Minimum prize is five yuan, max prize is five thousand yuan! Come check it out!”

Suddenly, Shi Ji smiled—a devious smile.

“Heh-heh, looks like the heavens are finally on my side.”

***

On the other side of the city, Lin Xinyan had just finished dealing with a few human-level monsters.

Once the battle was over, she contacted Shi Ji.

The communicator buzzed with noise, and the first thing she noticed was how chaotic it sounded.

Hearing all the background noise, Lin Xinyan asked, “Shi Ji, what’s going on over there? Why is it so loud?”

There was a brief pause before Shi Ji answered.

“Oh… Oh, Xinyan, I’m in the middle of an intense battle right now. Can’t you hear it? Everyone’s cheering for me! I’m just about to win! Heh heh!”

???

Lin Xinyan was filled with confusion. Something felt off. The sounds were clearly from people, and there were a lot of them. When she listened more closely, it really did sound like cheering, but not the kind of tense cheering you’d expect during a battle. It was more like an excited, celebratory cheer. She became increasingly curious about what kind of monster Shi Ji was actually facing.

Just as she was pondering this, a sudden shout came through her communicator.

“Haha! I won! Hey, boss, pay up! Five thousand! Hurry up! Heh heh!”

***

At this moment, Shi Ji was locked in an intense battle—with a ring toss game.

This type of game was extremely popular many years ago, but as times changed, it became less and less common, almost fading away entirely. The only surviving version of this game involved tossing rings to land on money laid out on the ground.

In today’s society, it was hard to survive without money. 

Unless you were rich and didn’t worry about cash, most people passing by couldn’t resist at least glancing over or trying their luck, especially with the promise of easy cash.

After squeezing through the crowd, Shi Ji handed over fifty yuan for ten rings. As soon as he got the rings in his hand, he immediately felt like the game owner was being cheap and shady. The rings had a diameter of only about seven or eight centimeters, which seemed way too small. Then there were those five-hundred-yuan notes set out in the distance—at least ten meters away. Not only that, but the gaps between the five-hundred-yuan notes were large, making it even harder to win.

Shi Ji, like everyone else around him, couldn’t help but feel this was a bit of a scam. But, on second thought, it made sense. After all, five hundred yuan wasn’t a small amount. If it were too easy, the owner wouldn’t make any money at all.

Putting aside his doubts, Shi Ji focused with rare intensity. Money had always been something he took very seriously. Failure wasn’t an option.

In these kinds of games, most people tend to aim for the easy wins. 

The farther targets seemed impossible, so why not try for something closer and more achievable? But there were always a few exceptions, and Shi Ji was one of them.

Fixing his gaze on the ten five-hundred-yuan notes in the distance, he didn’t hesitate. One by one, he tossed the rings.

The crowd around him was stunned. To them, it looked like Shi Ji was just throwing rings without any real thought. Aiming for the farthest five-hundred-yuan notes made him seem foolish.

People around started murmuring, clearly doubting Shi Ji’s chances. But as ring after ring landed perfectly on the notes, a sudden silence fell over the crowd.

A few seconds later, an excited shout broke the silence.

“Whoa! He hit five cards in a row! This guy’s a genius!” 

“He’s blowing my mind! This kid’s amazing!”

The crowd erupted in cheers and gasps of amazement.

The game owner, who had been standing on the sidelines, was completely dumbfounded. He thought he’d make an easy fifty yuan, but now he was staring at a huge loss of several thousand yuan. His heart was practically in pieces.

Seeing that Shi Ji still had five rings left, the owner had half a mind to stop him. 

However, the onlookers weren’t having any of that. They quickly stepped in, scolding the owner and rallying behind Shi Ji, cheering him on.

Because of Lin Xinyan’s call, Shi Ji hesitated for a moment. After briefly greeting her over the comms, he went right back to his “battle.”

With the crowd behind him, urging him on, Shi Ji didn’t disappoint. The remaining five rings sailed through the air, perfectly landing on the last five five-hundred-yuan notes.

“Haha! I won! Hey, boss, fork over the money. Five thousand! Hurry up! Haha!”

The owner was practically in tears. It was so hard to make money, but losing it? That seemed all too easy. Four thousand nine hundred and fifty yuan, gone in a flash.

With so many people watching, there was no way he could back out. That would cause serious trouble.

Resigned, the owner called over his assistant, who retrieved a small safe from the cart.

Taking the safe, the owner prepared to open it and hand the money over to Shi Ji.

But then, a voice rang out from the crowd.

“Hey! What’s that sound? Is it an earthquake?”

BOOM!!!

Suddenly, the center of the plaza exploded violently, sending dust and debris flying everywhere. Chaos erupted.

“Run! Run for your lives! It’s a monster!”