Chapter Forty-Seven: Analysis of the Earthen Jar

The racetrack was vast, yet there were few staff. When Claypot led Xie Jing into a room, he immediately saw several burly men working out.

Bronzed skin, robust chests, bulging glutes—all reliable partners for Billy.

“These are...”

“These are the riders you hired, sir. Their horsemanship is excellent!” Claypot replied. “And their price was quite steep.”

“Send them all away!” Xie Jing waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t even have horses, what use are riders?”

“Yes!” Claypot responded without hesitation.

“And these?” Xie Jing pointed to a group of rather eccentric men and women standing nearby.

“Oh, these are the attendants hired to serve the riders. Rest assured, sir, they’re all local villagers; they don’t require wages, just meals.”

“Hm...” Xie Jing walked over to the group, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Compared to the muscular men, these people seemed much more ordinary—about a dozen of them, all on the thin side. There were dark-skinned elves with pointed ears and blond humans clad in simple garments.

At the end, Xie Jing noticed a pair of twins, an older and younger brother, their blank stares hinting at less-than-average intelligence.

“Alright, from today on, your name is Edward!” Xie Jing pointed to a burly man with a thick beard, wearing a jacket and exposing his large, dark arms.

“Huh, what does that mean~” The man twisted his body and blinked his large eyes.

Seeing his brutish bashfulness, Xie Jing nearly coughed up blood.

After regaining his composure, Xie Jing moved to the next person.

“You’ll be Roland!”

“You’ll be Sean!”

“You’ll be Gillette!”

...

Following the names of competitors from his memory of the event, Xie Jing assigned them one by one, leaving only the twins at the end.

“You two...” Having run out of event names, Xie Jing couldn’t think of suitable ones for a moment.

“You’ll be Number Eight!” He gestured the Arabic numeral eight.

“The top circle is you, the bottom circle is you—put together, you’re Eight!”

“Oh! That’s...” The older brother’s eyes brightened.

The younger brother finished the sentence: “A great name!”

“Thank you...”

“Boss!”

“Can’t you finish a sentence by yourself?” Xie Jing found their speech awkward.

“Boss, we...”

“We’re brothers!”

“Fine, suit yourselves!” Xie Jing gave up.

He turned to Claypot. “Have you prepared the gear for the race?”

“Sir, everything is ready—except the horses!”

“Alright,” Xie Jing nodded helplessly, wondering what his predecessor was thinking.

“Dress them up, and let me borrow your horse.”

“Sir, I’d rather not lend my horse.”

“Ten gold coins.”

“Of course, I’ll make arrangements!” Claypot led the group away, while Xie Jing silently extended a single civilized finger behind him.

“Money-grubber!”

...

Xie Jing wasn’t a planner. In the eyes of the players, he was merely an NPC.

Being an NPC had its advantages: none of the activities required witnessing the actual process, only the outcome mattered.

Players always assumed that NPCs were mere lines of code, incapable of human thought. The events, all organized by Penguin, might be exploitative, but they still maintained certain odds.

They never imagined that, in this world, Xie Jing would appear—a completely uncontrollable NPC.

Originally, Xie Jing planned to dress these people in armor, mount them on horses, take some photos, and then head to Hetonmar to entice players seeking profit.

As for whether there would actually be a race...

Sorry, there were currently no horses at the racetrack.

But there were plenty of pigs, dogs, cows, sheep...

And giraffes, rhinos...

Wait!

Xie Jing’s eyes lit up; he had just come up with a brilliant idea.

Giraffes, rhinos, lions—such protected animals were seen in zoos, but how many people had witnessed them being ridden in a race?

Glancing at his third task, Xie Jing’s lips curled into a smile.

Pulling Claypot aside, Xie Jing said, “Immediately announce across the continent that we’ll be hosting an animal race here. Come ride an animal to compete! Twenty events daily, and the winner of each will receive a hundred thousand gold coins, with a chance to vie for a ten million gold coin grand prize!”

“An animal race?” Claypot’s voice remained calm. “Sir, forgive me for saying so, but you currently don’t have enough gold coins to distribute as rewards.”

“I’ll have them soon enough!” Xie Jing took a promotional flyer from Claypot, smiled, and said, “I’ll set a small goal first—let’s earn a hundred million!”

“You’re relying on this?” Claypot pointed at the flyer in Xie Jing’s hand.

Xie Jing put the flyer in his inventory, patted Claypot’s shoulder.

“You should know how easy it is to fool those naive interworlders!”

“Oh, you plan to interact with interworlders?” Claypot seemed surprised. “I recall you once hated them greatly, saying they brought disaster to Arad!”

That left Xie Jing momentarily speechless; he could only laugh awkwardly.

“Making money comes first, making money comes first!”

“Right, let’s discuss how to properly organize this race, set the rules, and expand it as much as possible. That way, we can fully utilize our venue and charge higher admission fees.”

Claypot replied calmly, “Rest assured, I’ll help you perfect the plan.”

Xie Jing nodded. “Tomorrow I’ll head to Hetonmar’s main street. You can start with small-scale trial operations in nearby villages and relay any updates to me as soon as possible—I’ll need them.”

“You want to set up reward-based betting for interworlders?” Claypot hit the mark immediately.

“I know those interworlders well enough—they believe in something called ‘O-luck’ within themselves. Even if I put random junk in a jar, they’re confident they’ll pull out a divine artifact.”

Xie Jing: “...”

As a former player, why did that sound so grating?

Claypot continued, “Their favorite pastime is gambling small for big returns, hoping to turn minimal investment into enormous profit. Your idea is excellent, but remember, sometimes you must let them win a few times—only then will they keep coming back!”

Schemes! Nothing but schemes!

Xie Jing gave Claypot a thumbs up, thinking that such talent was wasted at his side instead of in planning.

As a professional merchant, Claypot’s business acumen was impeccable, and Xie Jing was confident handing the event over to him.

That evening, the two discussed the race’s regulations and finalized them.

The race welcomed competitors of all races, but only allowed small creatures as mounts—preventing dragons and similar beasts from cheating.

During the race, anything was permitted, as long as no one was killed.

Twenty events daily, with prizes awarded on the spot. Those wishing to advance could register again.

As for when the advanced races would be held, that would depend on whether Xie Jing could amass enough prize money from the interworlders!

PS. Today is my birthday—are there any recommendation votes?