Summoning Players into My Game Chapter 3 - 2: A Godlike Beginning (Part 2)

"Quit the flattery. I’m not shaving off a single penny for you." Luo Qi shot Lin Qi a glare, lifted her mechanical prosthetic arm, and jabbed it toward the beat-up old car parked outside the Martial Arts Hall. "I’ve hauled all the gear over there, tossed in ten Alloy Shovels as a bonus, along with three Composite Longbows and nine Black Steel Arrows. These are premium weapons forged from A5-grade alloy—the sort that even young masters of aspiring Martial Artists wield now and then. Total’s 15,000 Bits. You going with installments or paying it off in full?"

"Just 15,000 Bits? That’s a steal! Didn’t rents in the city spike recently?" Lin Qi gazed at Luo Qi in shock. "Your sister’s starting high school right now, peak time for those grueling courses, isn’t she? Cutting me this deal means you’re pocketing way less this month. Landed some massive order lately?"

Crafting weapons demands serious time; as a weapons shop worker, Luo Qi churns out around five or six monthly, scraping by on mere crafting fees. A5-grade alloy runs exorbitantly high, making three such weapons at 15,000 Bits barely break even at cost.

In this high-martial world, scraping together money is brutally tough, barely covering basics. Prime gigs demand martial artist apprentice status, while regular folks with legit jobs pull in roughly 2000 Bits monthly.

Luo Qi, a Mechanician, scrapes by a touch better, though limits bind her tight, and netting an extra five or six hundred Bits counts as a win. Suburbs living devours half her earnings in rent alone, with three weapons’ production costs wiping out another half-month’s pay.

High school in this realm ain’t cheap either. Semester tuition hits 6,000 Bits solo, plus hefty nutrition fees for Qi and Blood training—way beyond what average folks can swing, especially solo.

"Rents around here have crept up lately, and it’s hitting every race the same. The Half-Scale Race suddenly birthed several Genius Martial Artists, boosting their standing in Chasing Light City big time. Cheaper rents for them means hikes for everyone else." Luo Qi’s eyes gleamed with envy as she mentioned Martial Artists.

Turning Martial Artist proves no simple feat, let alone before 25. Their Human Race hasn’t seen a Genius Martial Artist in nearly two decades.

After a wistful pause, Luo Qi eyed Lin Qi and continued, "Don’t sweat my finances. Being a Mechanician, I’m not hurting for your cash. How many installments? I’d go with ten years—interest bites harder, but monthly bites stay manageable."

"Nah, full payment now." Lin Qi fished inside his shirt and yanked out eighteen crisp thousand-Bit bills.

"You actually went through with it." Luo Qi clutched the bills, staring at Lin Qi with mixed emotions. "Which gang? How much you borrow?"

"Gorilla Gang by the suburban warehouse." Lin Qi held nothing back from Luo Qi. "Borrowed thirty thousand, owe sixty thousand in two months."

Day one in this world, Lin Qi obsessed over becoming a Martial Artist. En route to Chasing Light City’s core, two Martial Arts Class high schoolers sparred under a bridge, collapsing it and maiming passersby—including him.

Luo Qi crossed that bridge too. Before tumbling, he shoved her to safety. Grateful, she dragged his mangled body to the hospital.

Unregistered drifter like him? Chasing Light City ignored him, no payout. Penniless, Luo Qi covered his 2,000-Bit treatment and another thousand to keep him fed. Hospital patched him up, but slapped a 10,000-Bit bill—four interest-free installments of 2,500 Bits monthly.

For a Chasing Light City vagabond sans papers, coughing up 2,500 Bits monthly borders on impossible. Off-books gigs barely net five Bits daily for chow. Hitting 2,500? A sliver would be luck.

Dreaming of Martial Artist status? City library’s basic Training Technique runs thousands of Bits. Solo practice flops sans expert coaching, whose fees dwarf the manual’s price—utterly unreachable for unregistered trash like him.

"Borrowing that much... you ain’t eyeing that line of work, right?"

"Yeah."

"You’re insane! That’s wagering your life!"

"Money always demands a gamble. I’ve got solid odds farming."

Days in this high-martial realm taught Lin Qi survival’s grind for unregistered vagabonds. Quick riches in Chasing Light City boil down to two routes.

Play lab rat for big corps, or farm.

Wilderness perils daunt even real Martial Artists. Cities cram tight with hordes, food stays scarce—especially Blood Qi boosters.

Aspiring Martial Artists burn massive Qi and Blood in drills; mundane grub falls short. Good thing high-martial tech yields special crops like Blood Essence Rice.