Star Abyss Walker

Chapter 11 Lu Xiaobei (Thanks to Alliance Leader "Do a Common Person 0723"!)
Network management area.

A tall, beautiful woman poured me a glass of warm water from the water dispenser using a disposable plastic cup. She looked at me with bright, piercing eyes and asked, "I'm the owner of this internet cafe, my name is Lu Xiaobei. What's your name?"

"Ding Han".

"Row!"

Lu Xiaobei said, "Our internet cafe's network administrators work in three shifts: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the day shift, 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. is the night shift, and 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. is the all-night shift. There are three network administrators in total, rotating every month. The salary is 1,800 yuan, and there are no days off all year round. Can you accept this treatment?"

"???"

I stared at her, thinking, "How can someone as beautiful as you be so heartless? Are there any capitalists in the world more heartless than you?"

"boss."

I coughed and said, "I was being a bit modest earlier. Actually, I can fix almost all the problems with the machines in the internet cafe, I can maintain the hardware, and I can even reinstall the internet cafe's system. My kind of technical job is different from that of a regular internet cafe manager. Do you want to reconsider and raise the salary a bit?"

"This one……"

Lu Xiaobei was very tempted, but he wanted talent but didn't want to spend too much money; the word "stingy" was practically written all over his face.

"As you can see, our internet cafe's business is just so-so. There are hardly any people here in the morning, and even around 8 pm, the computer usage rate is only about 30% at most. Under these circumstances, I really can't offer higher wages."

She frowned: "How about I secretly raise your salary to two thousand, but you can't tell the other two network administrators?"

"can."

I nodded: "However, I'm new here, so I hope you can provide room and board."

"Food and lodging included?"

Lu Xiaobei bit her lip: "Eating is no problem. You can take three packs of instant noodles from the counter every day. As for accommodation... how about I arrange for you to work the night shift? Anyway, there are fewer people during the night shift. You can just push chairs together to make a bed. What do you think?"

I sighed. She was indeed quite honest, and I had no other choice at that moment.

"Okay, I'm going to eat a cup of instant noodles now."

"Row!"

Lu Xiaobei was overjoyed.

"Boss, do you pay for social insurance and housing fund here?" I asked again.

"What are the five social insurances and one housing fund?"

Lu Xiaobei looked over with a surprised expression.

Without thinking too much, I quickly opened a cup of instant noodles, poured boiling water over it, and after a few minutes, not caring that it was too hot, I wolfed it down, even drinking the broth as well.

good to eat!

Master Kong Braised Beef Noodles, it truly lives up to its reputation!
"Ding Han, you just arrived in Xicheng?" Lu Xiaobei asked.

"Ah."

I nodded: "I am a wanderer from the wilderness, and I have just entered the city."

"Oh……"

Lu Xiaobei pursed his lips and said, "Three computers in the internet cafe have broken down recently. Can you fix them?"

"Row!"

Before the words were even finished, the task arrived.

[You have triggered the daily quest "Troubleshooting Maintenance" (Rank C)! Quest objective: Repair the computers at Feiyang Internet Cafe, restoring at least three computers to normal operation. Quest reward: A large amount of experience, and the "Stepping Slash" (Rank B) skill manual!]

'Step-Slash?'

I was overjoyed.

Step Slash is a first-tier universal skill for super warriors. It can greatly increase movement speed, mobility, and survivability for a short period of time, making it one of the must-learn skills for super warriors!

A mere C-level mission yielded a Step-Slash skill – what a steal!
So, things started to get busy.

I found a screwdriver, disassembled one of the computers, and checked where the problem was.

Lu Xiaobei stood beside me, her hands resting on her knees, shining a flashlight for me. Her long, flowing hair cascaded down her back, exuding a faint fragrance.

"The graphics card is broken."

I frowned: "Does the internet cafe have any accessories?"

"I collected some old computer parts before, and they're all piled up in the storage room, but I don't know what a graphics card looks like. Can you look for it yourself?"

"it is good."

Led by Lu Xiaobei, I pushed open the door to the storage room. A damp, musty smell immediately wafted out. After turning on the light, I found that the storage room was actually quite spacious. There were many old and broken computers piled up inside, which Lu Xiaobei must have bought cheaply. In fact, many of the computers in her internet cafe were assembled in this way.

A suitable graphics card was easily found in one of the hosts. After the replacement was made, the first broken machine was restarted and started working normally.

"That's amazing..."

Lu Xiaobei was a little excited and gently patted my back: "Ding Han, what did you do before? How do you know such complicated things?"

"I used to go to Jingxi Technical School and learned how to repair computers. If you want to learn a technical skill, go to Jingxi. They're number one in computer repair, haven't you heard?" I glanced back at her and rambled on.

"No..."

Lu Xiaobei lowered his head, feeling ashamed of his ignorance, but only for a few seconds.

I started repairing the second computer, which was simpler. It was running out of disk space and had a virus, so I downloaded Kaspersky to scan for and remove the virus, and then it was able to run normally.

To be honest, this internet cafe's system does have serious problems; the entire management system should be rebuilt to prevent this from happening again. "Ding Han..."

Lu Xiaobei looked at the second computer that had returned to normal operation, her pretty face full of joy. When she looked at me, her eyes shone with the light of "good quality at a low price".

I started repairing the third computer. This time, the power supply issue was causing the game to crash and the screen to tear. So I found a replacement power supply in the storage room, replaced it, and then the third computer was online and working normally!
Just then, a bell rang in my ears: Mission accomplished!
[Congratulations on completing the daily task "Maintenance" (Rank C). You have received the following rewards: 3 Character Experience and an additional reward: "Step Slash" (Rank B) Skill Manual!]

Get it!

I took a deep breath and, while Lu Xiaobei was happily testing the computer, I leveled up to level 10. Then I turned around and took out the skill manual from my interdimensional storage space. It was a treasure book that glowed with a pale green light.

【Step Slash】(Rank B): Instantly dashes 5 yards forward and gains a protective aura that lasts for 2 seconds. Cooldown is 3 seconds. Consumes 3 Yuan Power each time. Class: Super Warrior.

With a flick of his hand, he learned it directly, and a new icon immediately appeared in his skill bar.

Step Slash is a dash skill that instantly teleports you 5 yards away with an extremely short cooldown. It can be used to approach opponents, avoid fire, and also grants you a layer of protective aura, reducing health consumption. It is extremely crucial in combat.

The downside is that it consumes too much energy. Each use consumes 3 energy points, while a player only has 100 energy points at full capacity. This energy must be used to power attack and defense skills. Once it's used up, you can only wait for the energy furnace to slowly replenish it. Ordinary players simply cannot afford to use such a high-energy-consuming skill.

As for me, with an SS-grade furnace boasting a 99% conversion rate, I have virtually no worries in this regard.

I checked my skill experience and I still have over 9, which is enough for leveling up.

So he leveled up Step Slash to level 10 in one go, gaining an extra 6 points of strength!
"You're on the night shift today, try to take a nap this afternoon."

Lu Xiaobei gave him a disgusted look and said, "Smell yourself, you're almost stinking. Why don't you go take a shower?"

"I can take a shower, but I have no money."

I said helplessly, "Mr. Lu, how about you give me an advance on my first month's salary? I'd like to go to the public bathhouse for a soak."

"what?"

Lu Xiaobei frowned: "Fine, I'll make a sacrifice. I'll stay in the attic of the internet cafe. There's solar-powered hot water there, so you can go up and take a shower, but only once!"

"Fine……"

At four o'clock in the afternoon, a chubby girl with braids walked into the internet cafe. Her name was Yingzi, and she was another internet cafe manager.

After taking over the host computer, Lu Xiaobei led me upstairs.

The entire Feiyang Internet Cafe is located in a single-story building. The attic above it occupies about a quarter of the second floor area. It is built with plywood that doesn't look very sturdy, and is reinforced with steel plates on the outside. It is estimated that it could be blown away by a slightly strong wind.

But the attic was fully equipped with everything: a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and shower room. You could see Lu Xiaobei's boudoir at a glance. The walls were covered with cute wallpapers, and the lights hanging from the ceiling were also very unique, making it look very cozy.

"The bathroom is over there, go take a shower quickly and make it quick."

"Okay, thank you, boss."

I took a shower as quickly as possible, still wearing the same clothes.

"boss."

I glanced at Lu Xiaobei and boldly said, "Actually, the space in your attic isn't small. If it really doesn't work, just partition off a room for me in the living room. I only need four square meters of space."

"no!"

A look of wariness finally appeared on Lu Xiaobei's pretty face: "Ding Han, what do you want to do?"

"Don't think too much."

I said helplessly, "I just want to get a good night's sleep..."

"Anyway, this place definitely won't work."

Lu Xiaobei felt a little guilty, but his attitude remained unyielding: "I'll give you an advance on your salary once business gets a bit better. You can find a place to stay yourself."

"Ok."

I nodded, said nothing more, went downstairs, dragged a few chairs, and lay down to sleep in the cramped space next to Fatty Yingzi. She looked at me with disgust, as if I were a pile of dog poop.

……

Perhaps I was too tired, because I slept soundly until almost 10 p.m.

After getting up, he grabbed a cup of instant noodles and ate it with gusto, without complaining at all. Meanwhile, Yingzi, who was standing next to him, gave him a smile and said, "Ding Han, the boss went upstairs to sleep. My boyfriend said he's coming to pick me up for hot pot."

"Oh?"

I glanced at her: "He's inviting me to have hot pot?"

"Don't get me wrong, I meant could you hand over your shift two hours early?" She gave me a creepy, pleading look: "Thank you so much, may you have a long and peaceful life~~"

"Alright, this won't happen again."

For the sake of our colleague relationship, I did not refuse.

Sakura left happily, while I went to work early and started doing simple tasks such as logging into the computers and settling accounts. Soon after, a group of young people with dark circles under their eyes but full of energy walked in: "Network manager, all night!"

Normally, internet access costs one yuan per hour, but an eight-hour overnight session costs only five yuan, so business is pretty good.

……

After a brief period of busy activity, I pulled down the roller shutter and began refusing to open for business.

The internet cafe was filled with the clatter of keyboards, and a group of teenagers were dancing energetically. Meanwhile, I sat in my chair, summoned the Star Chart, and called out, "Newbie online, calling for nearby friends!"

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(End of this chapter)