Online Game: My Decay Drives the Entire Server Crazy

Badao gritted his teeth, unable to say a word. He took his group of defeated stragglers and slunk away.

Fatty Wang poked his head out of the supermarket and his eyes lit up when he saw the equipment covering the ground: ”Brother! They dropped so much gear!”

Lin Ye smiled: ”Pick it up. Pick it all up. We’ll list it for sale tomorrow.”

Fatty Wang rushed out excitedly and started picking up the equipment. Su Qinghan stood at the entrance, watching the scene, and couldn’t help but laugh: ”You really are... you don’t even let the people who come to smash your shop off the hook.”

Lin Ye shrugged: ”If they deliver gear to my doorstep, it would be a waste not to take it.”

Qin Wentian stood to the side, watching Lin Ye’s actions, and secretly felt relieved—it was fortunate he had picked the right side. If he were still opposing him, he would be the one lying on the ground.

”Do you know who hired them?” Qin Wentian asked.

Lin Ye thought about it: ”To be able to afford a top fifty solo player, they certainly aren’t an average person. Do you know Badao?”

Qin Wentian nodded: ”I do. We’ve worked together before. He’s a pure mercenary; he does jobs for whoever pays. To hire him, you’d need to spend at least a few million gold coins.”

”A few million?” Lin Ye smiled, ”It seems the person who wants to mess with me is quite wealthy.”

”How do you plan to investigate?”

Lin Ye thought for a moment, a wicked smile curling his lips: ”No need to investigate. I’ll let them come to me.”

”How will you make them come?”

”Spread the word that the Commoner Supermarket is holding an anniversary sale, with all materials at half price. Those who are jealous won’t be able to sit still. The more anxious they are, the easier it will be for them to slip up.”

Qin Wentian looked at him, unable to help but exclaim: ”You really... you’ve calculated everything.”

Lin Ye shrugged: ”It’s professional, after all.”

That afternoon, the Commoner Supermarket posted an event announcement— ”Anniversary Sale: All materials half price, for three days only.”

The news spread, and the entire server went wild again. Independent players surged toward the Commoner Supermarket like crazy, and there were even more people in line than on the opening day. Fatty Wang was so busy his feet barely touched the ground, Su Qinghan came down to help with the register, and even Qin Wentian was roped in to act as a porter.

As for Lin Ye, he sat by the third-floor window, snacking on virtual melon seeds, staring at the street outside. He was waiting.

Sure enough, the next afternoon, another group arrived to smash the shop. This time it wasn’t fifty people, but a hundred. The leader’s ID was ”Xueren,” a level 32 assassin ranked in the top thirty of the entire server, even fiercer than Badao.

”You’re Ye?” Xueren stood at the supermarket entrance, holding two daggers that glinted with a bloody light, his eyes cold and gloomy.

Lin Ye smiled: ”Another one here to smash the shop? Who hired you this time?”

Xueren sneered: ”That’s none of your business. Be smart and close the shop yourself. Otherwise—”

”Otherwise what?”

Xueren didn’t speak; he waved his hand, and over a hundred people rushed into the supermarket simultaneously. The result was the same as last time—the moment they stepped through the door, they were hit with the Decay Debuff, their health bars plummeted, and their skills were completely disabled.

”Ding! Player [Xueren] has died. Level dropped: 32 → 27.”

Over a hundred people, wiped out in ten seconds. Equipment covered the floor, and corpses piled up like a mountain.

Xueren stood up at the respawn point, his face ashen. He looked at his level, which had dropped by 5, then looked at the sea of corpses, trembling all over.

”You... you just wait!” He threw out this threat and ran off.

Lin Ye watched his retreating figure, a wicked smile curling his lips: ”Another one here to deliver equipment.”

Fatty Wang rushed out excitedly to pick up the equipment, and Su Qinghan helped count it on the side. Qin Wentian stood beside Lin Ye and whispered: ”Xueren is from the black market. The person who could hire him isn’t just an ordinary materials merchant.”

”The black market?” Lin Ye raised an eyebrow.

”Yes. There is an underground trading market in the main city, specializing in shady business. Contract killing, account reselling, power-leveling with cheats—they do it all. Xueren is their gold-medal enforcer; his appearance fee is at least five million gold coins.”