It’s easy to imagine things, but actually doing them is a whole different level of trouble.

John Carter still felt the effects of last night’s alcohol; his mind was a mess thinking about all this. Forget it, better get some sleep first.

He exited the game and took off his helmet. As soon as he removed the helmet, the Slayer standing in the room vanished into thin air.

Huh?

Where did that guy go? Don’t tell me he’s just gone like that. God, don’t mess with me.

John Carter put the helmet back on. Though he never believed in gods, he couldn’t help but mutter a few “Amitabha”s. After logging into the game, his consciousness switched again, and John Carter became Slayer once more.

Seeing his real self sitting properly on the stool, John Carter let out a long sigh of relief. Damn, that scared the hell out of me.

He exited the game, and Slayer disappeared again.

John Carter experimented several times and finally confirmed that as long as he put on the helmet, Slayer would appear, and when he took it off, Slayer would hide away.

From now on, he’d call this puppet “Famous Sword.” With that thought, John Carter climbed into bed and went to sleep.

That night, John Carter slept soundly and sweetly.

When he woke up, it was already ten in the morning. Normally, he would never sleep this late, because in the morning the server has the fewest people, making leveling up or doing quests much faster.

But today was the weekend. Mule had gone out with his girlfriend, Olivia had gone home, and the dorm was left with only John Carter. He was used to putting on the helmet and entering the game as soon as he woke up, but now, suddenly having nothing to do, John Carter felt empty inside. He decided to think about how to make money with Slayer.

John Carter wanted to search online to see how those ancient martial arts family experts usually made money. Just then, his phone rang—it was an unfamiliar number.

He answered, and an exceptionally sweet voice sounded, “Hello, is this Mr. John Carter?”

“Yes, that’s me. And you are?”

“Mr. John Carter, I’m a customer service representative from ‘Gods and Demons.’ We received your email. In your message, you said the system data for your game character ‘Shadow Blade’ was lost, is that correct?”

John Carter was stunned. A staff member from “Gods and Demons”? That’s impossible. With his priority level, how could his email be seen by customer service so quickly? Besides, it was the weekend—there should be even fewer customer service reps on duty.

Still, doubts aside, getting a call from customer service made John Carter overjoyed. “Yes, have you recovered my account?”

Chapter 003: Compensation from the Game Company

The customer service lady said, “Since the system data was lost, we can only retrieve a system backup from two days ago to restore your game character. That means your character’s status will be as it was two days ago.”

John Carter let out a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness. Two days ago, he had already completed the hidden class transfer. As for experience, he’d only gained about half a level since then, which he could quickly regain.

The customer service lady continued, “Regarding the losses you mentioned in your email from not being able to enter the new instance, after discussion, our customer service department has decided to compensate you with a rogue skill book ‘Deadly Strike’ and a top-tier rogue ring. Are you satisfied with this arrangement?”

John Carter was a bit surprised. There’s such a thing? This customer service is way too nice. Suddenly, he realized something and asked, “What’s my current priority level?”

“You are now a high-level VIP, with a priority level of three.”

Hearing this, John Carter felt a mix of emotions. High-level VIP status required a cumulative recharge of over 20,000 RMB. He hadn’t spent a single cent before this, which meant that just yesterday, his account had an extra 20,000 RMB.

No need to ask—it was Mule who recharged it. Mule had money, but it’s not like it fell from the sky. 20,000 was no small sum for him either, yet he lent it without hesitation, just to help out, not even knowing if John Carter could make enough to pay him back.

Mule... John Carter slowly clenched his fist. He would remember this brotherly favor.

Seeing John Carter silent, the customer service lady politely asked again, “Sir, are you satisfied?”

John Carter was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t want the skill book or the equipment. I want ten assignable attribute points.” Now that he was a high-level VIP, he had much more confidence.

“Um…” The customer service lady hesitated. “I’m sorry, sir, the company doesn’t have that authority. We can only grant players equipment up to epic level and skill books up to level 30. As for high-level skill books, artifacts, sub-artifacts, attribute points, and skill points, only the super AI ‘Myth’ in space has the authority to decide. No one else, not even the governments of major countries, can participate in that decision.”

Super AI “Myth”? This was the first time John Carter had heard of it. He couldn’t help but ask, “What company actually developed ‘Gods and Demons’?”

The customer service lady replied, “I’m sorry, it’s not that I want to keep it secret—I really don’t know. I only know that ‘Gods and Demons’ is jointly operated by several major countries in the world, and our Tianjiao Game Company is only responsible for Pangu City.”

John Carter was starting to feel that the background of this game wasn’t so simple. The technology it used was so advanced, it made people wonder if it was even a product of this era.