Jimmy flew out from his computer looking frustrated and fell to the ground.
He shook his head and stood up. Anyone would be frustrated in his situation—he was so close, just a little bit away from fusing with that Tyrannosaurus.
With a gloomy expression, Jimmy pulled out his phone from the ring and checked:
[Congratulations, Host, for completing the main mission of "Jurassic Park 1" and earning 1000 points.
Congratulations, Host, for completing Main Quest 2: Protecting Dr. Gellan, Dr. Settler, Dr. Malcolm, Tim Kelly, and Kex Kelly to safely leave Nublar Island. Mission success grants 1000 points.
Congratulations, Host, for completing side quest: Hunting three raptors, earning 500 points.
Congratulations, Host, for completing side quest: Hunting one Tyrannosaurus, earning 2000 points.
Current total points: 4500. Honor: Level 3 Soldier Badge (1).]
"Oh! I got so many points at once!" Jimmy squinted in delight.
He shook his head, took off his already dirty clothes, and excitedly ran into the bathroom to wash up. After a while, just as he was about to put on clothes, he heard a "rip." Reacting quickly, he took off his clothes to find two holes right at the chest.
Jimmy helplessly touched the horns on his forehead and sighed. He threw the torn clothes aside and, wearing only his pants, went to the storage room for a saw. After past midnight, he finally sawed off the two horns on his head.
Looking at the horns in his hands, he was a bit stunned—after being removed, they had crumbled to dust. He had wanted to test them to see if they were valuable… but now it was all nonsense.
He dumped the dust into the trash, then took a mirror and looked at his forehead, now marked with two circles. If he guessed right, those horns would grow back again.
"Well, actually, it's kind of cool!" Jimmy could only comfort himself that way. He then ran back to his room and washed the shirt with the Jurassic Park logo, thinking he could wear it again once it dried tomorrow.
"Looks like I gotta buy some new clothes!" Jimmy smiled bitterly. He originally only had three sets: one he threw away after the Anaconda disaster, one permanently left behind on Jurassic Park, and the third… now with two holes.
Before going to bed, Jimmy called Fatty and told him his eye was healed. After setting up a meeting for the next day, he hung up but tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He resigned to counting his loot stored in the ring.
He still had eight shotguns but only 22 bullets left, a polished Triceratops horn, and some food he had brought back.
After counting, he logged into the exchange system on his computer. He found 4500 points still couldn't buy much useful stuff—only items were open for exchange, no bloodlines, skills, or weapons. So he planned to save points for better stuff.
The next morning, feeling refreshed, Jimmy wrapped a cloth around his forehead and stepped out. First, he went to a modest eyeglass shop, spent 100 yuan and 20 minutes making a pair of black contact lenses. In the shop restroom, he put them on and looked at his now-black left eye, feeling it looked good enough that no one would notice unless they stared.
Leaving the shop, he headed to meet Fatty while eyeing shops on the street. Spotting a store selling headscarves, he quickly bought a purple one that looked very masculine.
He tore off the white cloth on his forehead and replaced it with the purple scarf. Instantly, he felt taller and more stylish, no longer looking so sleazy.
Fatty waited downstairs at a breakfast shop open from 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., where they had agreed to meet. Only three people were inside: a middle-aged owner couple and a waitress.
"Here!" Fatty called out from a corner when he saw Jimmy.
"Yeah!" Jimmy nodded and walked over. "Oh! Your eyes healed? Why the thing on your head?" Fatty asked.
"Heh, eyes are good now! I just think this looks cool!" Jimmy smiled and, as the waitress came over with tea, he winked at her. "Right, Lingling?"
Lingling, the waitress, was the boss's daughter, sixteen, fairly pretty, and Jimmy's junior from W City No. 1 High School. She was close to both Jimmy and Fatty.
Lingling laughed: "Yeah! I suddenly realized, Senior, you look much cooler today!"
"Heh, of course!" Jimmy grinned proudly. Fatty sulked and said, "Senior? I've known you forever and you never call me senior!"
"Heh, Fatty!" Jimmy smiled wryly. "You know only handsome guys get called senior. You? You're just a senior grade—or a graduate!"
Lingling giggled and ran off, and Fatty complained, "I was really handsome once! Had eight-pack abs!"
"I know, I know! You gave up after trying for the ninth!" Jimmy teased.
"I'm serious!" Fatty said quickly.
"Uh-huh." Jimmy nodded with a smile. Lingling brought a bowl of rice noodle soup, and Jimmy hurried, "Your soup's here, eat up!"
He knew if he kept joking about abs, Fatty wouldn't stop.
"Hmph!" Fatty grumbled, slurping away. Jimmy just smiled helplessly.
After a while, Jimmy's own noodle soup arrived. After breakfast, they said goodbye—Fatty headed back to sleep, while Jimmy planned to buy some weighted gear for training.
"Sigh, not much savings left!" Jimmy looked at his bankbook with only 5000 yuan left and sighed. "Looks like I gotta earn some money in the next movie world or I won't afford meals!"
He wondered what the next movie world would be as he sat waiting in a rural credit cooperative.
"A2021!" The speaker called his number, and Jimmy stood to approach the counter. But three meters away, a middle-aged woman holding a bankbook cut in line, leaning over the counter, saying, "I want to withdraw money!"
Jimmy was annoyed—he had waited patiently for six people, nearly an hour! Growing impatient, he said, "Auntie, I was ahead!"
"Wait a moment! I'll be quick!" the woman answered, continuing to talk to the clerk.
"I've waited long enough! I just want to withdraw and go!" Jimmy shouted.
"You've waited so long already, just wait a little longer! I'll be fast!" the woman retorted, turning to Jimmy.
"Sigh! But my number's called! Look at my ticket!" Jimmy pointed to his small paper.