7 The Mannerless Scepter

Translator: Lav

Editor: Levs

He dashed into the closest self-service bank, no one would be here at this time.

Shi Lei inserted the black card into the ATM, rapidly typed in the password and as expected, the vortex-like hole appeared on the screen once again.

At the centre of the hole, a gold dot gradually expanded as it swirled, eventually appearing as the scepter which Shi Lei was somewhat familiar with.

"Hahaha, nice image!"

 As soon as the Scepter appeared, it laughed recklessly at the 'egghead', as if it was in a rather good mood.

 Shi Lei interrogated furiously: "I already spent 10,000 yuan, why is my hair gone?!"

The Scepter's voice suddenly became stern: "Slave, what is with that attitude? If it wasn't for your new image which made me happy, you would be penalised for being rude to me!"

"Stop the bullshit, I didn't violate any rules, why is my hair gone!" Shi Lei could not care less, he was still furious.

 After a short period of silence, the Scepter seemed Shi Lei was not worth it to make a fuss about, mainly because the 'spiced egg' was too comedic as it was so bright that it can be used as a mirror.

"Think carefully, did you really spend that 10,000 yuan?"

 Shi Lei was dumbfounded; he pondered for a long time, then he said confidently and reassuringly: "The clothes I'm wearing cost 1,580 yuan, the shoes were 1,680, and the phone was 5980, totaling 9240. Then I was robbed by 800 yuan. If I count it like this, I even lost 40! Don't tell me the 100 yuan I got from selling my phone also counts."

The Scepter laughed sharply, and said: "The money you got from selling your phone can be overlooked, but the 800 yuan which was robbed, 760 from it belonged to the weekly sum. According to the ratio of 10,000 yuan, 7.6 percent of your body should've been taken away. If it wasn't that this was your first time completing the mission, it would not have been as simple as taking your hair away. Do you think your hair was equivalent to 7.6 percent of your body?"

Shi Lei was astonished...

 "Are you saying that the 800 yuan that's been robbed cannot be counted within the consumption sum?"

 The Scepter humphed and did not reply.

 If it was really like this, losing only his hair can be considered very lucky. If 7.6 percent of his body was really taken away, at least one foot will be gone. In that case, he would not be able to wear the 29th generation Air Jordan shoes anymore.

Shi Lei felt chills shooting up his spine and his body becoming numb. Endless fear swarmed from his feet and upwards, swallowing his entire body.

At this very moment, Shi Lei was entirely sure that he did not encounter a prank. Everything before his eyes were entirely real, and definitely a type of supernatural mystical power.

Alien? Or something else, Shi Lei didn't dare to think anymore. In short, it was an incomprehensible mystical power.

 If it was only transferring money to him, it was nothing. But the ability to make his hair disappear, and the encounter with the man that night, Shi Lei felt horrified from everything that happened. The fate of violating the Slave Rules told its own tale.

Shi Lei wanted himself to be calmer. But with the threats of death in front of him, how in the world could he calm down?

His legs began to shake. Shi Lei needed to hold onto the ATM to remain standing.

"This is a warning because it is your first time touching on something like this. You should thank me for being so generous, otherwise the level of penalty would not be just this. Alright, my slave, I will say this once again. You must spend all of the weekly balance, you cannot even leave one cent behind. Next time, you won't be this lucky. Even though it is one yuan, you wouldn't want anything taken from your body."  

Shi Lei shuddered in fear, and said in a hurry: "I just received the balance for this week, why is it 20,000 yuan? Isn't the initial balance 10,000? Did you press the wrong key?"

The Scepter snorted again: "That's only the initial balance, it might be even higher in the future. This week is 20,000 yuan. You should be considering how you will spend the money within a week without a cent left, and not fussing over the amount of money."

Shi Lei saw the reality behind this. He knew that this entire event was a giant, bottomless pit. It looked wonderful, it gave money to him every week, but once he failed to complete the mission, he will be against penalties which he definitely won't want to deal with.  

Although he was immersed in horror, Shi Lei attempted to compose himself after recognising the truth: "Then how do I know which expenses can be included in the sum or not?" 

 "You won't need to know this as your level is too low. It should be easy to spend merely 20,000 yuan." The Scepter's voice became cold and grim.

 Shi Lei knew he might have made the Scepter unhappy, he immediately changed to a flattering tone: "My respectful master, your humble slave would like to ask, is there a limit to the amount of weekly sum being bestowed?"

 "This also is not something you should know. I will tell you once your level is high enough." Perhaps because the Scepter was satisfied by Shi Lei's modest attitude, it replied quite straightforwardly.

 Shi Lei thought a while, realising that asking questions about its weekly balance or its purpose in doing so, the Scepter definitely will not answer him. There was only one reason; his level was insufficient.

 Alright, then he will come back and ask once his level is enough.

 "Respectful master, if I treat my friends to meals, is it counted as normal expenses?"

 "Yes, but I will judge whether the people you invited are your friends or not. Plus, when you treat them, you have to participate throughout the whole process."

 Shi Lei nodded. Although the Scepter having the right to judge who his friends are was rather annoying, but he believed that his close friends which shared the same dorm as him, and childhood friends should also not be a problem.

He opened his mouth once again: "Respectful master..."

 "Are you done or not?" This time, the Scepter cut off his sentence mercilessly, sounding annoyed: "Why do you have so many questions? You better think of how you are going to spend this week's quota!"

As the Scepter was about to disappear, Shi Lei called out urgently: "Wait! Last question, last one!"

The Scepter's still angry, but tolerated with impatience: "Say it." Shi Lei hastily asked: "Uh... My hair, can it still grow back?"

 The Scepter ignored his question and the swirl pool on the ATM screen disappeared, returning to its normal appearance. The black card was also ejected from the ATM.

 "Hey, you left without answering my question. We agreed on that last question, how rude is that?"

Shi Lei had no choice but to pull out the card, and complained gloomily.

Shi Lei's heart was like a stormy ocean and he could not digest all of this in a short time. 20,000 yuan, fortunately the quota was not too much. If he were to risk it all, he could invite different friends to fancy restaurants and the money would be spent within three or four days.

Plus, Shi Lei only bought a set of clothes, buying another set of high-end luxurious clothes should also easily finish these 20,000 yuan.

But, he had to remember that he cannot mess with it and take it easy, otherwise next time will not be as simple as taking away his hair.

Shi Lei left the self-service bank rather feeling down while touching his bald and smooth egg like head, the excitement he felt previously was replaced by deep worry. He was still young and has yet to enjoy his life, he didn't want to die without a reason