Chapter 2 - I Can Save? (1/2)

Afternoon.

It was August. The air was still hot and disturbing.

That’s not right. This description of the environment had already been written.

It was August. The air was still… disturbingly hot. Right, that hasn’t been used yet.

This world’s Beijing Radio Station had merged with the Beijing Television Station a few years ago. Although they had merged, their offices were separate. Under the radio broadcasting building, Zhang Ye adjusted his western suit. He looked like a dog… a respectful person, before walking in. All the official employees had already started work early in the day. Now, a large portion of the people who entered were interview candidates, like Zhang Ye.

There was still some time; let’s examine the ring.

Zhang Ye lowered his head as he fiddled with the mysterious game ring on his left hand. The eye-catching screen could only be seen by him. The people surrounding him did not notice the screen. Zhang Ye felt a chill run down his back. It was too sinister. Could something have gone wrong with his brain? So as to result in such serious illusions? There was a second when he had thought that he would have to eat the brain supplement, Brain White Gold, for life.

The virtual screen had a few options.

[Reputation]: 199,983.

[Items]: None.

[Merchant Shop]: Not unlocked.

[Lottery]: Obtain a treasure chest prize.

(Note: The increment of Reputation is related to the player's fame, exposure, achievement, trust, reputation and other related factors. The items in the Merchant Shop and Lottery can be bought using Reputation points. Reputation is total Reputation gained since the player's birth until today.)

190,000+ Reputation points?

Zhang Ye wondered for a while. He had obtained a few awards when he was in elementary school for writing composition. He also did alright in his studies during middle and high school. He was frequently praised by his teachers. Right, he even had the experience of going on TV. He and his dormitory mates in college were interviewed by a CCTV reporter on the streets in Xidan. Before the reporter could hand over a microphone to him, Zhang Ye had answered immediately, “I’m very happy.” Back then, the CCTV reporter was rendered speechless and said, “We aren’t asking that, we are asking if you feel…” And before he finished speaking, Zhang Ye, who seemed to be deep in thought, suddenly said loudly, “Socialism is good.” Well, it was unknown if it had been broadcast, in the end.

Were all these Reputation points obtained from that? To earn 190,000+ Reputation over 23 years? It seemed pretty good? However, Zhang Ye quickly did not think so anymore. When he opened the virtual screen’s options to see what he could buy with his Reputation points, he was rendered speechless for a long time.

The Merchant Shop had not been unlocked, so he could only click on the Lottery choice.

[Lottery]: Requires 100,000 Reputation points. Upon purchasing, the game will randomly choose a treasure chest.

Heavens. After all that he had done in his life, he had gathered enough Reputation points just to draw once in the Lottery? Just short of drawing twice? With the mindset of trying his luck with the Lottery, he touched the screen with his hand. It had a solid feeling. After confirming his selection on the prompted display, 100,000 points were spent and his Reputation immediately became 99,983. The Lottery interface flashed and a virtual wheel appeared. There was a needle and a b.u.t.ton. On the wheel were the words, “Consumption Category”, “Stats Category”, “Skills Category” and “Special Category”. Each category had a respective color and its own region. The four regions were different in size. The Consumption Category took up a large portion of the wheel – nearly half of it. Next up were the Stats and Skills Categories. Together, they took up nearly the other half of the wheel. The smallest region was the Special Category. It only took up a tiny region and was nearly invisible.

A game screen introduction appeared!

Category Explanation:

[Consumption Category]: One-time use disposable consumable item.

[Stats Category]: Permanently increasing a stat.

[Skills Category]: Skill's experience item.

[Special Category]: Adds the purchasing privilege of buying a certain Merchant item.

Note: The treasure chest from the item category where the pointer stably stops will be the item that will be obtained.

Zhang Ye was confused. He could only try by pressing the b.u.t.ton to begin the lottery. Ba Da! The Lottery began. The needle on the wheel kept moving as the wheel rotated clockwise extremely fast. After a few seconds, the needle slowed down and finally landed on the biggest area on the wheel, the Consumption Category.

The Lottery was completed!

A tiny golden treasure chest appeared. The prize was automatically stored in his inventory. And within his inventory appeared an icon of a “small golden treasure chest”! How do you use it? Zhang Ye tried stretching his hand into the inventory. His hand actually entered as if there was a s.p.a.ce within it. As he touched the floating Treasure Chest (Small), he grabbed it and opened the treasure chest that no one else could see, while still on the street. With a flash of golden light, the treasure chest opened!

It was a tiny crystal!

Displayed Item: [Save].

Item Description: One-time use disposable consumable item. Saves a record. This save file can only be stored for half an hour.

Save? This was extremely familiar to Zhang Ye. Anyone who had played games knew that saves were used just before closing the game, or to redo a certain event later on. It could only be stored for 30 minutes? Did that mean that it could not be used 30 minutes after it had been used? The save would be invalidated? As for the Lottery and the treasure chests, they were not foreign to him. Many games had a Lottery. Treasure chests of different grades resulted in different grades of items. The probability was also different. Zhang Ye took the Save crystal out. The golden treasure chest immediately disappeared into points of light. Zhang Ye tinkered around with it. Pa! Accidentally, he had crushed the crystal.

Saving...

Saving completed!

At that moment, time seemed to stop for a second. Everything stood still!

When everything was restored, the ring’s interface had one more option. “Load Save” was displayed.

The record was saved just like this? Zhang Ye touched his nose, still confused. Newbie incentive? Background change? Treasure chest Lottery? Items? Save? Was he really playing a game?

“The interview is at 10 A.M. Let’s hurry.”

“Brother Sun, what’s the hurry? You will definitely be accepted.”

“That’s not necessarily true. They will only be hiring two people for the radio host position. I heard that there were more than 20 people that applied for the written interview. The compet.i.tion is fierce.”

“Indeed. The position for hosts are the most popular. Old Zhou and I have comparatively less pressure. I applied to be an editor, while Old Zhou applied to be an operator. There is less compet.i.tion, since fewer people applied for it.”

Some people said this as they walked in.