"System, will there be more of these mandatory spending missions in the future? If so, what are the trigger conditions?"
Su Ning asked calmly.
Hearing this, the System was somewhat surprised by how quickly she had recovered. Earlier, it had watched coldly as she took steady steps, her plans proceeding smoothly.
Right when she should have been at her proudest and happiest, she was dealt a massive blow.
Yet, instead of breaking down, losing her composure, or wasting time, she acutely grasped the main point. Setting everything else aside, this reaction and her excellent mental fortitude were enough to earn the System's admiration.
"There will be more missions of this type. According to past records, the next trigger milestone is ten million. The penalty for failure remains the same: obliteration."
Su Ning furrowed her brows fiercely.
She thought to herself that it was just as she expected. She didn't dwell on it further and quickly sorted out her thoughts:
There would be more missions like this in the future. That meant, to lower the difficulty, she absolutely could not save money. It was best to spend as much as she had. The more she spent, the easier it would be for her once the mission was triggered.
Take this time, for example. The trigger amount was one million.
She had only spent a little over one hundred and twenty thousand, which meant she had to spend the remaining eight hundred thousand or so within ten days!
A one-million-level trigger mission was already hard enough.
She couldn't even begin to imagine what she would do when it came to ten million, one hundred million, or even a billion or ten billion later on.
If a situation like today's happened again.
And she failed to balance the speed of acquiring mission rewards with the speed of spending money, she would practically be dead meat!
Upon figuring this out, Su Ning felt absolutely terrible.
If the difficulty of the Wicked Wealthy System was a fifty before, adding this ticking time bomb of a time-limited spending spree bumped the difficulty straight up to an eighty.
Su Ning spoke faintly:
"System, tell me the truth. Did any of the hosts before me manage to survive?"
"Uh, of course there are."
The mechanical voice carried an obvious hint of guilt.
Su Ning relentlessly pressed on:
"Is that so? What is the success rate?"
One success out of a hundred was still a success, but how could she guarantee that she would be one of those exceedingly rare survivors?
Sure enough, the Wicked Wealthy System hemmed and hawed, finally answering reluctantly:
"According to my calculations, it hovers around seven percent... But don't worry too much, Host. I have high hopes for your success." At this point, it added meaningfully:
"Among the failures, sixty percent failed before they even triggered the mandatory mission. By making it this far, you've actually surpassed a huge number of people."
One by one, they had been arrogant and conceited.
They thought having a System made them the Chosen One. They figured it was just bullying people and spending money, too easy.
But money stirs up desires and corrupts the mind. Without enough caution and wisdom to control it, there was only one outcome: being swallowed whole by wealth!
There was a human saying that the System liked very much: All of fate's gifts are secretly priced.
Su Ning's eyes flickered slightly, but she remained silent.
......
Eight hundred and seventy-one thousand, six hundred and twenty-eight.
Looking at this specific, massive number, even though she was prepared, Su Ning still felt a wave of suffocation.
She never dreamed that one day she would experience the agony of having too much money and not knowing how to spend it!
Thoughts were just thoughts; the work still had to be done.
She only had ten days, oh, wait, no, nine days and twenty-three hours. She had to race against the clock to spend all this money, and not a single minute could be wasted.
Su Ning first called the tailor shop, directly stating that she needed her order expedited and rushed. Ideally, she wanted to see everything within a week. This frightened the person on the other end, who hurriedly said:
"What, a week? ... That's absolutely impossible."
If it weren't for the fact that Su Ning was a major client, the tailor shop owner's attitude wouldn't have been nearly this polite.
Did she not understand what meticulous craftsmanship meant?
Setting aside the fact that many of the fabrics, furs, and embellishments hadn't even been fully purchased yet, even if they had been, it would take all of them working overtime for at least a month to deliver the goods!
They had dealt with clueless customers before, but no one had ever made a demand as outrageous as Su Ning's.
The shop owner grumbled inwardly. Earlier, he had been thrilled by Miss Su's generosity, completely forgetting that the most generous clients were often the most difficult to deal with.
Alas, never mind. Earning a living is a tough and dirty job.
With this thought in mind, he patiently prepared to list out all sorts of reasons to persuade Su Ning. Regardless, one week was absolutely out of the...
"I'm willing to pay the full amount right now."
Su Ning interrupted him unceremoniously. Hearing this, the owner's mind went a bit blank, and he replied instinctively, "If you can pay in full, that's exactly what we'd hope for, but one week is still too short. You don't know..."
"I don't want to hear it."
He was interrupted once again.
The woman's voice was cold, carrying a hint of weariness. "I just received news that my father's ashes have arrived. The funeral will be held very soon, and I cannot show up looking shabby."
"So, I don't care what methods you have to use. I need to see the goods within a week."
A bitter taste filled the owner's mouth; he knew there was no room for negotiation now. Everyone knew that this Miss Su, who had grown up abroad, had braved a journey of thousands of miles and broken through countless obstacles to return to the country just so her father's fallen leaves could return to their roots.
The deep bond between father and daughter was evident.
But delivering within a week was genuinely impossible for them. Was this deal going to fall through?
Right at that moment, Su Ning upped the ante:
"I know it puts you in a difficult position. How about this: if you can deliver within a week, I'll add an extra fifty percent to the price."
The tailor shop owner's heart raced wildly with temptation.
Where did this Goddess of Wealth come from? This business deal was already going to make him a fortune, and with an extra fifty percent on top... His breathing suddenly grew heavy, and his rationality began to slip.
Su Ning had ulterior motives. She wasn't afraid of him taking her money; she was only afraid he wouldn't take enough. She added:
"Furthermore, for every day you finish early, I'll add another ten percent."
After she finished speaking, she was satisfied to hear heavy panting coming from the other end of the receiver. The bait had been taken.
"My money is sitting right here. It just depends on whether you have the skills to take it."
Su Ning chuckled lightly.
Truth be told, her voice wasn't the soft and sweet type. It matched her face perfectly, cold and low.
Without deliberately changing her tone, her laughter inexplicably carried a hint of sarcasm.
In her past life, because of this, many of her friends had quietly told her that their first impression of her was that of a cold, ruthless person, the type who brooked no arguments in the way she spoke or handled things.
It was only after interacting with her for a long time that they overturned this impression.
Su Ning: I was born this way, is it my fault?
At this very moment, her laughter, tinged with the crackling static of the poor-quality telephone line, reached the shop owner's ears. Yet, to him, it sounded like heavenly music.
His heart pounded like a drum, completely out of his control.
