I was so scared that I put all my points into health.

As the last rays of the setting sun bathed every corner of the Adventurers' Guild, the once bustling and vibrant day was drawing to a close. Alpha and Allen, two members known for their liveliness within the guild, were unusually composed at this moment, finally realizing how inappropriate their playful antics in the hot spring had been.

They approached President Winnie, and Alpha spoke first, his tone full of sincerity: "President, what happened today was all our fault. We shouldn't have been so noisy in the hot spring and disturbed you." Allen nodded repeatedly and added, "Yes, President, we really know we were wrong."

President Winnie couldn't help but find their expressions somewhat amusing. Actually, she hadn't been truly angry to begin with; she simply felt she needed some time alone after everything that had happened, to calm down and sort out her thoughts. She knew Alpha and Allen were unintentional; they were just naturally lively and sometimes found it difficult to control their enthusiasm.

However, just as Alpha and Allen breathed a sigh of relief, Guild Master Winnie's demeanor suddenly changed. She looked up, her gaze sweeping over the three of them before finally settling on Alpha and Allen, a meaningful smile playing on her lips: "You're both level 30, right? You've leveled up quite quickly. But, have you both gone to change jobs?"

Alpha and Allen paused for a moment, then shook their heads. Wang Xiaoyi also looked at President Winnie with some surprise, pondering to himself.

President Winnie continued, "Tomorrow you'll have half a day. Those who need to change jobs should do so, and those who need to learn skills should learn them. Meet at the duel arena in the afternoon for special training."

Alpha, Allen, and even Wang Xiaoyi were all taken aback. Alpha stared wide-eyed at President Winnie in disbelief: "President, this... this is a challenge to a duel?"

President Winnie smiled, a hint of amusement in her eyes, and said, "Guess?" This question really annoyed Alpha.

President Winnie stated directly, "You all severely lack practical combat experience. Although you've learned many skills, they're meaningless if you can't apply them flexibly in real combat. I don't expect you to participate in the upcoming battles; just don't die."

Thinking about tomorrow's special training, Wang Xiaoyi felt a pang of anxiety. He shook his head with a wry smile, muttering to himself, "Tomorrow's training doesn't look good. The memories of President Winnie's brute-force clears are still fresh in my mind. I'm going to get beaten to death." He recalled the "thunderous" scene of President Winnie clearing a B-level mission, and felt a wave of fear wash over him. Alpha and Allen were also trembling with fear. They had personally witnessed President Winnie's "formidable" training methods; it was no joke. They worried they might be killed by President Winnie before even venturing out.

Back in his room, Wang Xiaoyi lay lazily on the bed like a lump of mud, his body sinking deep into the soft mattress, feeling utterly comfortable. He closed his eyes slightly, enjoying this moment of tranquility, but it wasn't long before his ever-curious nature began to stir.

He habitually reached out and opened the gratitude points lottery interface, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. He wondered if there would be some surprising system notification, like another lucky day or a sudden trigger of a super prize. However, the moment the interface opened, a glittering golden advertisement popped up like an asteroid that had suddenly intruded. When did the system start having ads?

Wang Xiaoyi was taken aback at first, then a system notification suddenly sounded, the crisp "ding" sound particularly clear in the quiet room: Congratulations on successfully leveling up to level 30 and unlocking the shop function.

A shopping mall? Wang Xiaoyi's curiosity was immediately piqued, and he clicked on the shopping mall page. As soon as he entered the page, he was stunned by what he saw. The layout of the mall was ingenious, with various functional areas clearly divided, like a mysterious treasure island, with every corner seemingly exuding an alluring aura.

The shop was overflowing with goods, a dazzling array that overwhelmed the eye. The categories were diverse, and the first thing he saw was the skin section. His eyes lit up immediately, and he thought, "Great! All sorts of styles! I was just complaining about how ugly the common clothes were, and now this is fashion!" However, when he looked closely at the prices, he froze, his mind filled with shock: "What kind of currency is this?" He checked his inventory—his current quantity of this currency was 0. He'd never heard of it before. This must be some kind of premium currency. The shop's goods were outrageously expensive; those exquisite skins seemed to mock his poverty. It was pure malice—seeing but not being able to touch them was infuriating for someone with OCD. Oh well, too bad I, Wang Xiaoyi, am not OCD. If I can't afford it, I'll just close it. Out of sight, out of mind. Trying to trick me into spending money? Dream on! But as soon as he clicked close, another ad popped up: "Want to take another look? Limited-time 30% off!" Off my ass! Even a 99% off wouldn't help; he didn't have a single coin. How could he buy anything? Wang Xiaoyi guessed that this feature wasn't created by his kind and beautiful goddess, but rather by that malicious system maintainer. He clicked the dialog box again and finally closed it.

Unexpectedly, when he opened the system interface again, another ad popped up. Did he have to click on an ad every time he entered the system? Was he not allowed to use the system properly? He angrily clicked to close the ad again, but this time another ad popped up for a limited-time membership upgrade, saying: "Permanent Ad-Free Access." It even asked for some kind of upgrade, and the strange name of the currency left him completely confused.

Wang Xiaoyi quickly pulled himself out of the dazzling array of money-grabbing schemes; they were like a tangled mess, only adding to his troubles. He decided to focus on his plans for tomorrow morning.

He has two main professions: priest and elf messenger. Both have their own development paths, but he is currently completely confused about the elf messenger's job advancement.

Let's start with the priest profession. He clearly remembered that he needed to return to the village and go to his adventurer guild to accept the relevant quest.

The Elf Messenger class was far more complicated. His mind was a complete mess; he had no idea where to begin with the job change. Suddenly, he thought of the Elf King Dragon; perhaps it could offer some helpful clues.

So, he silently began to communicate with the Elf King Dragon in his mind. At that moment, the Elf King Dragon was busy setting up network signal equipment at home. After hearing Wang Xiaoyi's call from the depths of his mind, the Elf King Dragon stopped and gently put down the small tools that looked like precision instruments in its hands.

Its voice entered Wang Xiaoyi's mind: "What is it?"

Wang Xiaoyi quickly told it about his troubles: "I'm thinking about changing my class to Elf Messenger. Teacher, do you know where to accept the quest?"

After a moment's thought, the Elf King Dragon replied, "Call me when you need to complete the Elf Messenger job change quest. I will take you back to the Elf Forest then, where you will find all the clues and power needed for the job change."

With this answer in hand, Wang Xiaoyi felt reassured and made the appointment with the Elf King Dragon. After everything was arranged, he prepared to go to sleep and rest, as he had many things to do the next day.

But the moment Wang Xiaoyi closed his eyes, he felt like a frightened rabbit. Just thinking about the chilling training session that afternoon sent shivers down his spine. He knew that President Winnie's training style was notoriously strict; the image of that whip lashing across the arena lingered in his mind, as if he could still feel the stinging pain. He wondered, "Will tomorrow be another nightmare?"

Wang Xiaoyi crawled into bed, intending to drift off to sleep and give his tired body a moment's rest. However, his curiosity, like a mischievous little sprite, kept leaping through his mind. He couldn't resist opening the system again, wanting to find out more.

Upon entering the system interface, the dazzling array of advertisements gave him another headache. He reluctantly closed the ads and entered the in-game store. Looking at the vast array of goods, he couldn't help but sigh, "Is this the world of pay-to-win?"

Wang Xiaoyi's curiosity grew stronger, and he couldn't help but ask the system in his mind, "What is that currency? Colored diamonds? God coins? Magic coins? How do I get it?" He knew that this "pay-to-win" currency was somewhat similar to the virtual currency given by real money in the real world. What was this? It was simply called "pay-to-win" currency, blatantly trying to trick people into spending money. It was shameless.

A mechanical voice echoed in his mind: "Krypton coins are a type of virtual currency that can be obtained through top-ups. There are various ways to top up, including using real-world currency, completing specific tasks or activities, etc."

After listening, Wang Xiaoyi pondered carefully. Wait, real-world currency? Could this be connected to the real world? Even if it is, he doesn't have much savings in his bank; it's mostly gone to insurance premiums. Besides real-world top-ups, can he also complete specific tasks or events? This is probably a common trick in mobile games—offering you a small amount of bound diamonds through sign-ins and daily tasks to retain free-to-play players as spectators, allowing whales to show off their wealth.

However, reality is always cruel. When Wang Xiaoyi returned to reality, he found himself still lying in bed, and several hours had already passed. He shook his head with a wry smile, deciding to go to sleep early and get enough rest for tomorrow's special training.

In a certain space within the Divine Realm, a disheveled man with glasses sat on the ground, staring at countless screens above him. Recently, his divine realm's performance indicators had been less than ideal; key metrics such as player activity and conversion rates were declining. Like a struggling businessman, this system administrator had spent several nights in a row worrying over the flickering data, racking his brains but unable to come up with a good way to improve the situation.

Having exhausted all other options, he unconsciously began to shift his attention to games in the real world. He spent a few days in the real world, casually playing a few mobile games, and discovered elements like prepaid cards, advertisements, in-game stores, and VIP systems. He remarked on how clever humans were to come up with such ideas. At this point, his mind, distorted by performance pressure, began to wander, as if he had found a shortcut. Without a second thought, he "borrowed" these elements, considered normal profit models in mobile games, into his system, completely disregarding the problems that such exploitative "borrowing" would cause. This is like a student who doesn't learn proper problem-solving methods but blindly imitates others who achieve some success through shortcuts; ultimately, it only leads to a more chaotic and unmanageable situation for the entire system—a truly putting the cart before the horse and prioritizing the trivial over the essential.

Now even the gaming world has its own set of tricks, truly making life full of surprises. Take the items in the store, for example—they're either ridiculously expensive or just flashy, useless gadgets, blatantly displayed, seemingly waiting for players to jump in. Just like many online games in the real world, every time a new product is released, the forums and chat groups are filled with complaints, but what's the result? Most people still plunge in again and again, like moths to a flame.

Wang Xiaoyi, who used to be impulsive and easily swayed by those shills, is different now. He's a complete free-to-play player with an incredibly good attitude. He only makes token purchases if he feels he'd be letting the game developers down. He thinks these things are purely for players who are constantly anxious and consider themselves obsessive-compulsive. Those people, seeing those cool items in the shop, are like they've lost their souls, their minds filled with thoughts of "how powerful I'd be if I had this," unable to control themselves and constantly falling into the trap. As for Wang Xiaoyi, he's not interested in any of that. He's the kind of player who has no desires; even if the game presented him with mountains of gold and silver, he wouldn't be tempted. His thinking was detached, like an old monk who had seen through everything. No matter how many tricks the game used, he would stick to his own little corner of the world. He didn't care about being bald, since he didn't intend to invest much money in the game. So he wouldn't be attracted by these traps, such as system errors or a large number of player complaints and reports. He would just sit and wait for the system to compensate him.