Chapter 82: Chapter 77: I Suspect You’re a Scammer

Beta Morgan’s message was basically a direct poach of Lorraine’s business.

The profit-driven life-skill players in the guild changed their minds again, preparing to sell their medicinal herbs to Madam Whitlock.

[Autumn]Madam Whitlock, are you serious? Lorraine is trying to push for Level 8, why are you butting in?

Beta Morgan rolled his eyes and typed out a blunt, rapid-fire response.

[Madam Whitlock]What are you talking about? It’s not like she’s the only one leveling up. I’m trying to get to Level 4, so what am I supposed to use if not Level 3 herbs? What? Just because she’s leveling up, no one else is allowed to buy herbs? What kind of logic is that?

[Autumn]She’s doing it to give out free potions to new players.

[Madam Whitlock](eye roll) I’ve been giving them out this whole time. Mr. Barron above said it best. Since we’re all buying herbs, of course the highest bidder wins!

[Autumn]Long-term buyer for herbs. Level 3 herbs, 15 gold per stack. Offer stands.

[Madam Whitlock]I’ll add 1 gold to her price. That offer stands forever.

[Autumn]Fine! 100 gold per stack for Level 3 herbs, long-term offer!

Beta Morgan looked at the little girl bickering with him in the channel, shook his head in amusement, and directly posted a screenshot of the gold in his inventory into the guild channel.

[Madam Whitlock]A free-for-all auction isn’t about shouting random numbers. First, you have to show you have the capital to back it up. This is the gold in my bag—1,000,000 gold in total. How much do you have? Post it!

After Beta Morgan sent the message, the entire guild channel fell silent.

In the game, 1 yuan from the real world was equal to 10 gold. This meant 1,000,000 gold was equivalent to 100,000 yuan. To the other players in the guild, Madam Whitlock was the jumbo jet of whales, the king of all pay-to-win players.

[Warren The Big Bear]I… I… I’m not seeing things, am I?! Boss… Boss Whitlock, let me ride your coattails!

[Barron]Mr. Whitlock, I misjudged you before! You’re basically my sponsor daddy! Daddy, I’m going to gather herbs right now, wait for me!

[Savory Porridge]Boss, boss, where are you? I… I still have some in my warehouse (warehouse screenshot).

The life-skill players in the guild channel erupted, all scrambling to post screenshots of their warehouses to show off their stock.

With that one move, Beta Morgan was instantly promoted to the number one sponsor daddy of the Apex Dominion Guild.

That day, Beta Morgan spent 300,000 gold to buy a huge pile of herbs, from low-level to high-level—he got everything he could want. It was enough to raise his Pharmacist level by three consecutive levels.

After cleaning out the entire guild’s inventory, Beta Morgan logged off, humming a satisfied tune.

As for Lady Lorraine, she had long been forgotten in a corner by everyone.

***

The college entrance exams were finally here.

Leigh Miles, a middle schooler, got three days off from school and brought Titus Miles along to join the Sinclair family’s exam support team.

Everyone, from Master Sinclair to Butler Sinclair, checked the three exam-takers’ belongings over and over again.

Compared to the Quincy siblings, who always performed consistently, Aurora Sinclair was the one everyone worried about most.

She wrote slowly, and everyone was afraid she wouldn’t finish the test or would leave questions blank again.

Master Sinclair reminded her many times, but in the end, he still wasn’t reassured and insisted on going with everyone to wait for them at the school gate.

“Aurora, you have to do your best on the exam. Finish everything you know how to do, and don’t leave anything blank!”

Aurora nodded obediently.

As the three of them walked toward the exam hall, Zeke Quincy glanced at her and asked with a smile, “From what Grandpa said, does that mean you’ve been hiding your true strength all this time?”

Aurora gave a frank nod.

Zeke Quincy: “…”

’Why do I have a feeling I’m going to end up in second place this time?’

Aurora arrived at her assigned exam room, admission ticket in hand.

When she saw Beta Morgan at the door, their eyes met for more than ten seconds before she calmly showed him her admission ticket.

Beta Morgan took it with a serious expression, glanced at it, and then flashed a wide, toothy grin. “Student, I’m not the proctor. You can go right in!”

He could clearly see the surprise in her eyes, which put him in a great mood.

’Teasing Aurora Sinclair is so much fun!’

’No wonder I sometimes like to mess with her.’

’That dazed look suddenly changing has a strange comedic effect.’

***

The first exam was Language Arts.

Master Sinclair was most afraid that Aurora Sinclair wouldn’t be able to finish her essay, so his nerves were stretched taut the entire time.

Finally, the bell signaling the end of the exam rang at the school.

He urged, “Tanner, go quickly! Ask Aurora if she finished.”

Tanner Sinclair waved a hand and walked toward the school gate with an amused smile.

After waiting a short while, he saw the three kids walking slowly out of the academic building.

It was mainly because Aurora Sinclair walked slowly, so the Quincy siblings matched her pace.

Each of them had a lollipop in their mouth, which Beta Morgan had secretly given to Aurora Sinclair after the exam while he was maintaining order in the hallway.

Before Tanner Sinclair could even open his mouth to ask, Jean Quincy beat him to it, announcing, “Aurora filled in her name and admission number.”

Zeke Quincy added, “And she wrote a full 800-word essay.”

Aurora, with the lollipop in her mouth, nodded solemnly.

Tanner Sinclair raised an eyebrow and gave each of the three kids an amused flick on the forehead.

“Are you all mind readers? Let’s go. Master Sinclair is treating you all to roast chicken for lunch.”

***

The rest of the exams went the same way. The trio went in and out together, all perfectly calm.

The last exam was Comprehensive Science. Beta Morgan peeked through the front door and saw that with half an hour still left, Aurora Sinclair had already put down her pen and was sitting up straight.

His heart jumped into his throat, terrified that she had left a bunch of questions blank again.

Finally, the last bell to hand in the exams rang.

Cheers of freedom instantly erupted from the students in the academic building.

The students who had turned in their tests were like little animals bursting out of a cage, rushing out of the classrooms. Even from a distance, you could feel their joy of liberation and freedom.

Beta Morgan stood at the door, watching Aurora Sinclair slowly pack her things.

Her expression remained as cool as ever, a stark contrast to the students around her.

He sighed internally.

’I really don’t know what it would take to make this girl hurry up for once.’

Just then, Zeke Quincy came over from the classroom next door. The three of them always gathered before leaving together.

“Aurora, did you finish your whole science test?”

Aurora Sinclair nodded, and Zeke Quincy breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

’As long as she finished it all. It’ll keep Grandpa from constantly worrying that she won’t finish her tests.’

The two of them stood to the side of the hallway waiting for Jean Quincy, surrounded by the sounds of students comparing answers.

Zeke Quincy had arrived so quickly this time that Beta Morgan didn’t even have a chance to give Aurora Sinclair her lollipop.

It wasn’t until the number of students in the hallway started to thin that Jean Quincy came running over from another floor.

“Ah, I’m starving! The Comprehensive Science exam really drains your brain cells. Aurora, did you bring any candy?”

Hearing this, Aurora Sinclair turned to look at Beta Morgan, who was standing not far away, and tilted her head. “Do you have any more candy?”

Beta Morgan instantly felt the gazes from across the hall, filled with pressure and curiosity.

He quickly pulled half a bag of lollipops from his pocket and walked briskly over to hand it to Aurora Sinclair.

“Hey, aren’t you one of Professor Archer’s students?” Jean Quincy’s eyes widened the moment she saw Beta Morgan’s face, and she pointed at him in surprise.

“Jean, you know him?” Zeke Quincy’s brow gradually furrowed as he discreetly sized Beta Morgan up.

“Last time, when I went with Aurora to her art school exam, he was the one who led us into the arts building…”

Beta Morgan gave a polite but awkward smile. “I have something to do, so I’ll be going now. Be careful on your way.”

’I can’t believe someone recognized my generic face at a single glance.’

’It’s like the Sinclair kids’ memories are on cheat mode or something.’

Zeke Quincy’s brow remained furrowed. The man’s attire was clearly the black uniform of the Martial Affairs Bureau, and his rank didn’t seem low.

“Brother, what’s wrong?” Jean Quincy unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into her mouth. When she looked up, she saw her brother’s serious expression.

Zeke Quincy averted his gaze. “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about the answer to a question. Let’s go!”

After returning home, he made a point to go ask Butler Sinclair, but he only received a vague answer.

“Young Master Zeke, that person is completely reliable. There’s no need to worry.”

***

That night.

Finally free, the trio started their post-exam party in the apartment. Master Sinclair had even given them special permission to stay up all night.

Zeke Quincy immediately dragged Tanner Sinclair and Aurora Sinclair online to play the game. This made Jean Quincy quite unhappy, but in the end, she could only run off to play with Leigh Miles and Titus Miles.

When he logged back into the game, he was stunned by the content in the world channel.

[GM]Player Autumn’s report has failed. Player Madam Whitlock is protected by the system. All players, please use the report function with caution!

Flashback to 10 minutes earlier—

Beta Morgan never would have imagined that after just two days of being on patrol and not logging in, he would return to find that Madam Whitlock had been kicked from the guild. And the one who did it was the vice-president, Sandstorm.

Immediately after, he received a private message from his fanboy, Barron, sent a day ago.

[Barron]Mr. Whitlock, where’d you go? Someone in the guild suspects you’re a scammer, that you took their herbs without paying the gold.

[Barron]I don’t believe it, but those few veteran players who are close with Lorraine have been spreading rumors about you in the guild. Especially Autumn. She even threatened Sandstorm that if he didn’t kick you, they would all leave the guild together.

[Barron]The vice-president said that when you get online, you should clarify things in the world channel so he can invite you back.

Only then did Beta Morgan remember that before he logged off, there were indeed a few life-skill players he hadn’t paid the final balance to. But they hadn’t delivered the full set of herbs that day, so he had only paid the deposit.

So, he posted a message directly to the world channel:

[Madam Whitlock]Any life-skill players from the Apex Dominion Guild who haven’t received their final payment, come to the warehouse manager in Brylin City now. Payment upon delivery.

To make sure they saw it, he spammed the message three times in a row and even spent 10 gold on a world loudspeaker item.

Soon, someone from the Apex Dominion Guild replied to his message:

[Autumn]The scammer dares to come online? You’ve got some serious nerve!

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