In a small apartment of about twenty square meters in Jiang City.
Hang Yu was scrolling through news on his phone, trying to understand the latest social changes.
People generally began experiencing a second Spirit Realm voyage, and a few have already found nearby camps; strategies for finding and conquering camps even appeared online.
Not bad, not bad.
Human adaptability is indeed strong.
A small group of people has already started exploring the game's mechanics.
Of course, a small group is still just a small group. The vast majority, mere mortals like you and me, are still in a state of confusion, and some didn't even go during the second Spirit Realm opening.
Understandable.
Being chased by monsters, running naked through the forest.
It's not exactly an experience worth reliving.
But, they will eventually realize that without gritting their teeth and striving to grow stronger, they won't be able to adapt to an increasingly harsh world.
Any form of growth in this world is inevitably accompanied by pain.
To evade pain is to avoid growth.
Is escape useful?
No, it's not!
Life is like the evening news; you can't just change the channel to escape it. Avoiding problems usually only solves you!
"Shocking! Kangshuaifu instant noodle prices have soared four to five times!"
"Nationwide logistics is nearly paralyzed, causing soaring prices; large supermarkets have been cleared of grain, oil, and food supplies."
"Over twenty incidents of assault, looting, and arson have erupted in Jiang City recently; the authorities urge citizens to reduce night travel."
"Everyone, please avoid the botanical garden; there seems to be a highly aggressive Otherworld creature. My girlfriend and I were attacked and barely made it out alive!"
"..."
Although the Spirit Realm has only opened twice, price hikes, minor disturbances, and declining public safety have already surfaced as social issues. Hang Yu knew this might be just the beginning.
The infiltration of the Spirit Realm will continue to expand.
More and more Spirit Realm creatures will appear in the real world in the future.
Humans will also gain increasingly powerful Strength in this game.
The fall of the old order and the establishment of a new one often happen simultaneously.
Just like making an omelet, you can't avoid breaking a few eggs first; after breaking, you rebuild. Without breaking, there's no new establishment. The growing pain of change is unavoidable.
Even the vibe on recruitment websites has drastically changed now.
"Alibaba Group is recruiting talent, no restrictions on specialty, age, education, or numbers. Once accepted, a monthly salary of 50K to 500K!"
"Tencent is fully transforming. Inviting you to co-create a new era enterprise, with unlimited salaries!"
"Huawei is seeking talent broadly, with no conditions. Preferential recruitment, direct promotion to executives..."
The actions of relevant departments in various countries are even faster; in fact, before capital could react, they had already started moving, selecting talent from their huge military, administrative, and institutional units.
There are rumors online.
The state has begun building a strategic organization targeting the new era.
Current recruitment has one common feature: there are no requirements regarding education, gender, age, specialty, or experience. The only thing valued is talent skills.
If chaos indeed comes, what's most important? Strength!
The talents of people like Zhang Xiaoqiang are naturally in high demand; they can easily get into big companies with an annual salary starting at several million!
The cooking skills like those of Pang Dahai, though there are still takers, the treatment will be much worse. Some seemingly useless talents are even ignored.
The world has completely changed.
No matter if you were a loser, an under-achiever, or a nobody in the past,
even if you were a beggar, as long as you luckily acquired a powerful skill, you could easily achieve a social class leap.
Hang Yu is indifferent to this.
Is it necessary to snatch people urgently just at the start of the game?
People currently have not figured out the definition of talent.
Is it really the case that someone is only considered talented if they can spray fire and control water like Calabash Brothers?
Indeed, talent skills will significantly influence future development, yet there is strictly no absolute good or bad. A person's growth is not solely determined by an initial skill.
The Dominator will give anyone enough opportunities.
That means there are so many uncertainties in the future.
As for so-called talent, ultimately, it's about personal quality on one hand and personal luck on the other!
A person who is both courageous and wise, even if starting from scratch, will probably thrive spectacularly.
Instead, for timid and cowardly under-achievers, even with impressive talent skills, it's useless. Despite having a slightly advantageous start, if one doesn't seize it well, the future is likely still bleak.
The Spirit Realm has unlimited potential; any inconspicuous little character in reality might suddenly counterattack and unleash unlimited potential, eventually becoming a mighty overlord among millions.
The latent lines of grass snakes stretch for a thousand miles.
The world has changed, people's hearts are hard to control, and there are too many unknown factors!
Hang Yu has vast memories and experiences, yet he doesn't dare claim that he can grasp the future's rhythm, so he tries to be cautious, avoids going for broke, and doesn't establish himself as a leader but rather chooses to partner with Pang Dahai to run a catering business.
Is it because Hang Yu lacks ambition?
No, but Hang Yu is very sober!
He knows he is currently just an ordinary person!
In the face of a national-level violent machine or truly significant forces, he is utterly fragile like paper.
The new era's tolerance for mistakes is actually very low, and engaging in production has the lowest risk and is the easiest way to get returns.
Fatty sent a WeChat message: "Hangzi Boss, are you there?"
Hang Yu immediately replied, "What's up?"
This Fatty, with Hang Yu's guidance, performed well during his second Spirit Realm journey, now accumulating 26 points of Spiritual Qi, just halfway from leveling up to two.
Fatty already hired eight people and sent the info to Hang Yu for review, "They are classmates or friends. Per your request, I tried recruiting people with reliable character whom we're familiar with. Do you see any issue with it?"
Hang Yu glanced over: "No problem."
"I plan to set up the studio first, then prepare to open a formal restaurant. Start with self-operation and then develop a chain; what do you think? I'll send the business plan to you."
"No need. There's no point asking me about this. Since I've delegated it to you, I trust you."
"Wow, bro, your words really move me."
"Come on, we've known each other for four years. Someone who could make enough for tuition and living expenses selling seeds and DVDs online; I doubt your business acumen is lacking."
"Damn, why are you bringing that up again."
Pang Dahai, despite being a sleazy, dirty Fatty.
At least has a reliable character; Hang Yu trusts his judgment.
Of course, Hang Yu isn't stupid; even with four years of solid friendship, he won't entrust everything to others without reservation.
Hang Yu plans to control the Potion supply. Production work heavily depends on Spirit Recovery Potions; by tightly controlling the Potion supply, he can maintain control from the source even if not participating in management.
The biggest problem Fatty is facing now is the shackles of Spiritual Power.
Because both activating the Collection Skill and cooking require Spiritual expenditure, the more materials collected and the higher the quality of ingredients, the greater the Spiritual Power consumption.
Even with eight hires, production capacity is very limited.
Although Hang Yu provided some Goblin Berries to Fatty, the cost of Goblin Berries is relatively high, making them not very profitable to use.
Why does Hang Yu want to take Jiang Nan and the others to fight Goblin Corpse Thieves?
Aside from wanting to try obtaining the "Stealth" Skill Stone, another primary objective is to collect Potion recipes.
The recipe is available now.
However, there are neither enough materials nor the skill for Medicine Refining.
This is one of the things Hang Yu needs to solve next.
Fatty sent another message: "By the way, here's something you might not believe. Goddess Su just contacted Fatty myself earlier. (Sleazy smile emoji)"
Goddess Su? Su Yunbing?
Isn't she the goddess teacher at Jiang University?
Why would she contact Fatty at this time?
Fatty explained, "Goddess Su wants to order Spiritual Food. She seemed quite urgent and the offer was quite generous; it might become our first business deal."
Hang Yu frowned at this.
Already got a business deal? That's too fast!
Su Yunbing had no connection with Hang Yu or Pang Dahai.
How did she know what Hang Yu and Pang Dahai are doing?
Could it be that Hang Yu's extensive collection of materials and Fatty's campus recruitment caught Su Yunbing's attention?
Su Yunbing ordering food at this time indicates she has realized the importance of Spiritual Food.
She probably has already leveled up to two!
Then this woman is very unusual and quite terrifying!
Hang Yu instructed Fatty: "Negotiate with her first, quote a high price."
Fatty sent a sleazy smile: "Rest assured, right now, in Fatty Brother's eyes, nothing is more important than making money, not even Goddesses are exempt."
Hang Yu appreciates this about Fatty.
In fact, making money isn't important, being happy is; but making money makes me happy!
After hanging up the phone, Hang Yu also got busy, no longer interested in gathering ingredients himself.
Previously, videos of him slaughtering mountain chickens were posted online, gaining some attention, and he prefers not to be in the spotlight as an internet celebrity, so better to stay low-key.
On the other hand, Hang Yu has many plans and things to take care of. There are still over 5 million lying in his bank account, and he needs to spend this money quickly!