Jewelry crafting skill: Able to make all kinds of jewelry, accessories, rings, and ornaments.

Ore selection skill: A sub-skill of jewelry crafting, able to sift various raw gemstones from ores. Shares proficiency with the main skill.

For professional power-levelers, this ore selection skill is incredibly important for rocket-leveling.

In "Gods and Demons," there are many life and production skills, such as mining, herbalism, alchemy, forging, tailoring, enhancement, and this jewelry skill. These skills are broad and profound; specializing in them not only costs a lot of money, but also a huge amount of time. That leaves players with no time to level up. In "Gods and Demons," those with low levels are ultimately the weak—what dignity or fun is there in that? So, studying life skills also grants decent experience, and you can still level up at a reasonable pace.

Why do studios use ore selection as a rocket-leveling method? It's simple: low-grade ores are abundantly supplied in the NPC market towns, specifically to stabilize in-game prices and prevent player factions from monopolizing the market. As long as players have money, they can keep buying ores to train skills and gain experience. And where does the money come from? Naturally, by borrowing from rich ladies at the ball.

Now that the rich lady hasn't made a move, who am I supposed to borrow money from to rocket-level my skills? Jack Carter couldn't help but give a wry smile.

But Oswald said, "Don't worry about the money for skill training. I'll lend you 1,000 gold coins, but you just need to pay me back 10,000 gold coins in a year. How about it?"

"What?! Lend me money? Borrow a thousand, pay back ten thousand?" Jack Carter was stunned. Is this Oswald a loan shark? This NPC actually has this function? The guide didn't mention this! This really opened the eyes of this professional power-leveler, and it's seriously shady—he actually dares to ask for ten times the return.

Oswald said leisurely, "When I was young, I borrowed one silver coin from my neighbor to buy a basket of eggs. A year later, I had a chicken farm with a thousand chickens, earning ten gold coins a day. I paid him back a hundred gold coins..."

Jack Carter exclaimed, "So the boss didn't use to sell jewelry?"

"That's right. Later, I sold the chicken farm and started learning jewelry!" Oswald said proudly, "Because jewelry brings in a hundred gold coins a day!"

A hundred a day? Who are you kidding! I'm a transmigrator! But, this is 1,000 gold coins! That's twice as generous as the rich lady! But the interest is a hundred times shadier!

Oswald tried to persuade, "So? I really appreciate your talent, that's why I'm willing to lend you proactively. With your ability, earning ten thousand gold coins in a year shouldn't be hard, right?"

Jack Carter was torn. A thousand to ten thousand in a year? Is it possible? Is it possible? Ten thousand gold coins is 100,000 in real money—that's no small sum. Can I really make that much in a year? What if I can't pay it back? My real estate in real life would be forcibly seized by the game company as collateral. Even my smallest property is worth more than 100,000, right? If there's any extra, I'd even get some cash back, haha.

Finally, gritting my teeth, I thought: I'm a transmigrator now, transmigrators are awesome, no explanation needed!

Jack Carter said resolutely, "Fine, I'll borrow it!"

Oswald laughed heartily, "That's the spirit! I knew I wasn't wrong about you! With a thousand gold invested, how can you shrink back? Here's the contract. This contract is legally binding in your world. Read it carefully before you sign..."

Investment? More like usury! What's your real motive? In-game contracts really do have legal effect in real life, so Jack Carter had to review it carefully several times, making sure there were no problems before signing.

Oswald took the contract with satisfaction and smiled, "If you have any questions about jewelry in the future, feel free to ask me. I have all the materials and tools you need for skill training—buy whatever you want. Alright, if there's nothing else, young man, go for it!"

Could this old guy actually be a GM in disguise? Yesterday, Jack Carter was still anxious about Audrey Collins, but today he doesn't mention her at all? Truly a real man—never mixing business with personal affairs!

Now, Jack Carter was conflicted.

The boss unexpectedly lent him money, so there's no need to look for the rich lady anymore, right? But the problem is, the rich lady isn't just for borrowing money—her family's influence can also make things much easier for players. The power-leveling guide even has different routes for squeezing extra value from various rich ladies. Not seeking out the rich lady means those strategies can't be used later, and Jack Carter is a by-the-book kind of guy—without a guide, he has no backbone and feels insecure.

Whatever, I'll just take it one step at a time. The key is, now I have money in hand, so the second wave of rocket-leveling can start right away.

But another problem arises: the guide's leveling plan is based on 500 gold coins, but now I have an extra 500—what should I do?

Honestly, there's a reason why Jack Carter was such a loser in his previous life.

After agonizing for a while, Jack Carter decided to play it safe and strictly follow the guide's process, keeping the extra 500 as a backup.

Honestly, Jack Carter is the kind of person who makes others feel exasperated—no wonder he always got picked on at work.

Chapter 6 Rocket Launch Failure