"Johnnie!" Crysic, who was blocked at the door, quickly waved her hand to greet him.
She was no longer in her work attire, but instead dressed in casual clothes, her hair tied up, radiating energy and vitality.
This was the first time Johnnie had seen her dressed like this, and he couldn't help but be a little taken aback.
In his previous life, he had really been blind. With such a beautiful woman by his side, he had still been bewitched by that malicious woman.
"Doe, this is one of us. She'll be living with me from now on. You can register her car plate number," Johnnie greeted the security guard, casually pulling out two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and tossing them to him.
"Oh, it's Madam. Sorry for the trouble." Doe smiled widely, accepting the cigarettes and quickly opening the gate, registering the car plate number.
When Crysic heard the title "Madam," her face flushed slightly.
"Let's go." Johnnie, unfazed, opened the car door and sat down in the passenger seat.
Only then did Crysic sit in the driver's seat, starting the car but looking a little flustered.
He couldn't help but comment, "You're usually so composed. Why are you all fidgety now?"
Seeing Crysic's adorable appearance, he couldn't help but find it a bit amusing.
"Moving in with Johnnie... it's a little exciting." She couldn't hide her happiness, trying to calm herself down as she quickly drove the car to the villa.
Mith was quick to come out and greet them.
"Mith, is the side room cleaned up?" Johnnie asked.
"Johnnie, everything is ready. This must be Miss Crysic, right? Let me help." Mith quickly replied as she saw Crysic unloading a large suitcase from the trunk, rushing over to help.
"Thank you." Crysic was a bit nervous; she wasn't used to having someone take care of her. Even at work, when she gave tasks to employees, she always maintained an equal stance.
The few suitcases weren't heavy; they mostly contained her clothes and daily necessities.
She quickly finished tidying up the room.
"Mith, let me help you." Seeing Mith preparing dinner, Crysic rushed over to lend a hand.
"That's not necessary, Miss. You're the lady of the house now. Let me handle it," Mith quickly refused. She was hired by Johnnie to be the housekeeper, and these tasks were part of her job. She couldn't let the guest do it.
"It's fine, Mith. I'm just sitting around anyway." Crysic insisted.
Mith, helpless, glanced toward Johnnie for support. Seeing him nod, she didn't say anything more.
The two women were soon busy in the kitchen. Before long, dinner was ready. It wasn't lavish but was beautifully presented: four dishes and a soup.
"Crysic, let me do it." Mith served the food and filled their bowls before sitting down herself.
"Don't be so formal, just treat it like home," Johnnie said, looking at Crysic, who seemed a bit uneasy.
"Yeah, Crysic, Johnnie is very kind. And I'm the outsider here. Seeing you act like this makes me feel a bit embarrassed," Mith added, smiling warmly.
Crysic nodded and seriously scooped rice into her bowl.
After dinner, she proactively helped with the cleaning.
Johnnie watched her busy at work and sighed helplessly. The girl came from a poor background, and this kind of life was something she wasn't used to.
"Mith," he called out after she had finished her work. "There's nothing going on at the company right now. I've got some free time. You only need to come once a week to help me clean the rooms. I'll keep paying you as usual."
"Huh? Did something happen to your company?" Mith asked, a bit worried. This was her main source of income, and her husband was disabled and unable to work. Her son had just entered university, and the expenses were high. She couldn't afford to lose her job.
Even though Johnnie kept paying her, it only amounted to four days of work a month, which made her feel uneasy about taking the money.
Johnnie wasn't hiding anything and explained, "The company has been doing poorly recently, and I'm planning to shift to other projects."
"I see." Mith sighed and said, "Johnnie, it's not easy for you either. How about paying me on a daily basis? I can still find another job with just four days a week. That way, I won't be taking advantage of you."
She didn't want to feel like she was unfairly benefiting.
"We can each meet halfway. I'll cut the pay in half." Johnnie quickly interrupted when he saw her about to refuse, "Mith, you've been taking care of me for so long. You're worth this amount, and who knows, if things get busier later, I might need your help again."
"Well... alright then," Mith said gratefully, not saying anything more. She added, "Crysic is virtuous. I feel at ease knowing she's taking care of you. I'll prepare ingredients for the week tomorrow, so I'll come by next week to help clean."
"Sounds good." Johnnie nodded. With just over 20 million left in his hands, saving some costs would be a good thing.
After Mith left, Crysic said apologetically, "Johnnie, did I take someone else's job?"
"What do you think? You don't even know how to enjoy life, no wonder you'll spend your whole life working for someone else!" Johnnie retorted gruffly.
Crysic protested, "That's not true! I'm not stupid. I'm not serving those evil capitalists; I'm sticking with Johnnie."
"I'm currently broke. If I can't pay your salary later, don't come complaining." Johnnie joked.
"It's fine, I've got a little savings," Crysic said proudly. She'd been with Johnnie for more than ten years and still had a few million saved up. If she kept being frugal, she wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for the rest of her life.
Johnnie chuckled and then shifted to a more serious topic. "Have you logged into the game yet? How do you feel about it?"
Crysic nodded, returning to her usual efficient self. "I've played for a while. The game is very realistic, definitely a big opportunity. The only problem is the starting capital is too high. A Login Crystal costs a million, and if we want to form a guild, we might not have enough funds."
She had done some research on guilds. In Horizon, even a small guild of just a dozen people required tens of millions to get started. And that was for the lowest-tier gold farming team—there was no way to make a profit in the early stages.
Johnnie spoke up, "What you're talking about is the information from traditional MMORPG guilds. Horizon's guilds are different. For now, focus on playing the game and getting familiar with the environment. We'll talk about creating a guild later."
He knew Crysic's personality—she was a workaholic. If he didn't remind her, she wouldn't take the game seriously and would start planning the guild instead.
"By the way, you must have entered the game before me, right? Which Beginner Village are you in?" He remembered that each Beginner Village had hidden quests, and once you left, you couldn't return. Players from the last life regretted not completing the hidden quests when they had the chance.
Crysic answered, "Yeah, I entered pretty early, Village #88."
"88?" Johnnie's eyes lit up. That Beginner Village had a hidden quest with a very generous reward.
He asked, "Does your Beginner Village not have a village chief?"
"Yeah." Crysic nodded. This wasn't a secret. Many players had been discussing it online.
Johnnie couldn't help but admire her luck.
Village #88 had a unique hidden quest: rescuing the old village chief.
The village didn't lack a village chief. Rather, he had been captured by the goblin leader and was being held in a mine. If you rescued him, you'd earn a rare hidden class—Blazing Mage.
And Crysic just so happened to be a mage class, which made this hidden class a perfect fit for her.
Johnnie reminded her, "You need to level up quickly, at least to level 5 of tier 1. I'll then give you a full set of tier 1 white mage gear, and we can complete a hidden quest together."
"A white set of gear? Johnnie, are you serious?" Crysic exclaimed. She hadn't been playing the game for long, but she knew how rare white gear was. A small guild had sold a single piece of white equipment for several million.
This was one of the reasons Horizon had exploded in popularity again. Many players, hoping for a stroke of luck, had entered the game, thinking that if they could just get one piece of white gear, they'd make a profit.
What they didn't know was that the drop rate was extremely low. Many players would spend an entire night hunting hundreds of goblins and not see a single copper coin, let alone any equipment drops.
"You'll see for yourself. For now, take a walk around the room and get familiar with the place. I'm going to rest," Johnnie said, not offering further explanation. He waved and headed upstairs to his bedroom.
"Okay," Crysic replied, watching him go. A sense of loss crept into her heart.
Had she been too hopeful?
Johnnie quickly washed up and returned to his room. Instead of going to sleep, he logged into the game again.
For players, logging in was like a light nap—just enough to keep from feeling too fatigued, though staying online too long could take a toll on one's mental state.
With a spinning sensation, he appeared in the same spot he had logged off from.
Roar!
A furious shout, and three goblins with long clubs rushed at him.
"Looking for death!" Johnnie sneered. He didn't even bother dodging, simply taking the goblins' attacks head-on as he swung his wooden sword and effortlessly cut them down.
[Killed Level 1 Goblin, Experience +1]
...
The notification flashed, and his experience increased by 3 points. He also got two copper coins and a gray wooden bow.
It was an archer's weapon, which he couldn't use, so he stored it in his inventory. He then cut off the ears of the three goblins and continued hunting.