A God-tier Counter-damage Priest, I am the Master!

1: Win big prizes with scratch cardsJiangzhou University of Engineering, inside a student dormitory.

”Damn!”

”I spent all my money for my winter break ticket home on 200 [Nine Heavens] scratchers, and I didn’t win a single one.”

”Is this genius really going to miss out on the first batch of open beta slots for [Nine Heavens]? This is so unfair!”

Watching his roommate Liao Fan wailing and thumping his chest, Bai Tian shook his head with a wry smile, though he understood his obsession.

[Nine Heavens]!

An epoch-making, world-building online game co-developed by the Blue Star United Nations. It had already sparked a global sensation when the first advertisements were released a year ago.

A few months ago, on the nationwide holiday of October 1st, [Nine Heavens] officially released 100 million closed beta slots globally with data wipes. Everyone could log onto the official website to fight for a spot.

That day, players from all over the world went crazy. Bai Tian and Liao Fan’s phones practically started smoking from the effort, yet they still couldn’t snag a single account. One could only imagine how popular [Nine Heavens] was.

At that time, the first batch of closed beta accounts was so sought after that wealthy individuals offered a sky-high price of 500,000 to buy them, which was equivalent to an apartment in a city below the third tier.

This left countless ordinary people lamenting that they simply couldn’t understand the world of the rich!

Now that the closed beta of [Nine Heavens] has ended, the open beta is set to officially launch on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Great Xia. The first batch will offer 200 million login slots worldwide.

Two hundred million slots might seem like a lot, but for a global population of over 5 billion, it was just a drop in the bucket.

Online, super-wealthy individuals, gaming guilds, and corporate conglomerates were already offering high prices to buy [Nine Heavens] open beta accounts.

As for the 100 million lucky accounts that participated in the closed beta, although their characters were wiped, they could still participate once the open beta officially launched.

However, because accounts are bound once used and cannot be sold, only new open beta accounts can be traded. Consequently, the price of an open beta account has been hyped up to hundreds of thousands, yet there are still buyers but no sellers.

Unsurprisingly, Bai Tian and Liao Fan—two ordinary sophomores—failed to snag even one of the globally sought-after [Nine Heavens] open beta accounts.

”Bai Tian, my good buddy, big boss...”

His roommate Liao Fan suddenly approached Bai Tian with a sly, flattering look, his eyes fixed intently on the last four [Nine Heavens] scratchers in Bai Tian’s hand.

Bai Tian tightened his grip on the scratchers. ”Your look is so suspicious. What are you up to?”

After the 200 million open beta accounts for [Nine Heavens] were snatched up, the developers released an additional 30 million slots due to protests from countless players worldwide who missed out.

However, this time the distribution method was a collaboration with a public welfare scratch-off lottery; buying a scratcher gave you a chance to win an open beta account.

Almost the instant the news was released, scratchers sold like crazy across the globe.

They used to be 2 yuan each, but now they were as high as 20 yuan, and you still had to be quick to get one.

”Brother Tian!”

”Give me two Nine Heavens scratchers, and I’m willing to call you ’godfather’.”

This loser Liao Fan hadn’t given up after scratching 200 cards and was now eyeing the only 4 scratchers left in Bai Tian’s hand.

Bai Tian said speechlessly, ”Get lost, I’m not taking in any godsons.”

”But if you want two, fine. Who’s going to wash my clothes and socks next semester...”

Liao Fan, standing at 1.86 meters tall, stood up straight and patted his chest loudly.

”I’ll do it.”

Bai Tian’s lips curled. ”A gentleman’s word?”

Liao Fan looked solemn. ”Is his bond!”

After the two high-fived, Bai Tian gave Liao Fan two scratchers.

As soon as he got them, the guy rushed to the balcony with the scratchers, bowing repeatedly to the night sky and praying for the Bodhisattva’s blessing.

Bai Tian looked at the last two scratchers in his hand, not holding much hope in his heart either.

If he really didn’t win, he would just have to wait a month for the second batch of [Nine Heavens] slots. There would be 500 million slots then; he refused to believe he still wouldn’t get one.

With that thought, Bai Tian scratched the first one: ”Congratulations! You’ve won a 2-yuan grand prize!”

Bai Tian’s lip twitched slightly, feeling an urge to hit someone.

”Damn it!”

”2 yuan is considered a grand prize?”

”I bought this scratcher for 20 yuan!”

After tossing it onto the table with a sigh, Bai Tian scratched the last one.

”Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!”

”Thank you, Bodhisattva! Thank you, Buddha! Thank you, Jade Emperor! Thank you, all the gods...”

”Bai Tian, you really are my lucky star!”

”I won! I actually won!”

Liao Fan’s crazed, excited screams echoed from the balcony.

But Bai Tian ignored Liao Fan’s yelling. His whole body stiffened, his eyes behind his glasses shining as he stared intently at the last scratcher.

”Congratulations! You have obtained a [Nine Heavens] open beta account.”

A moment later, two sets of wild, howling laughter erupted from the dormitory, only quieting down after alarming the dorm supervisor.

The next day, at a certain Shenfeng Express station.

Bai Tian and Liao Fan were waiting there early.

It had to be said, Shenfeng Logistics was truly efficient.

The [Nine Heavens] login devices were delivered overnight.

Under the envious gazes of all the Shenfeng Logistics couriers, the two of them took the login devices and ”took bus number 11” (walked) back to the dorm.

After returning to the dorm, Liao Fan suddenly looked at Bai Tian mysteriously.

”Bai Tian, an open beta account is being hyped up to 500,000 online right now.”

”500,000!”

Bai Tian rolled his eyes at Liao Fan. ”You want to sell it?”

Liao Fan shook his head vigorously and then looked at Bai Tian solemnly. ”No, I’m saying I owe you 500,000.”

”Without that scratcher of yours...”

Bai Tian interrupted him. ”Cut the crap. Let me ask you, if you had won two accounts, would you have given me one?”

Liao Fan didn’t even think about it. ”Of course!”

”There you go. We’re brothers, so don’t talk like an outsider.”

Hearing this, Liao Fan smiled knowingly and lightly punched Bai Tian’s chest. ”Right, brothers for life.”

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and the day after is the first day of the Lunar New Year, which is when the [Nine Heavens] open beta officially begins.

Bai Tian and Liao Fan both decided not to go home for the New Year and instead stay in the dorm to experience the long-awaited [Nine Heavens].

Liao Fan had already gone to call his family, making up an excuse for not coming home this year.

Bai Tian’s mood suddenly darkened; he was actually homeless in a sense.

His parents had divorced in high school and now had their own new families. He barely spoke to them a few times a year.

Bai Tian put away his phone and left the dorm, using his Huabei credit to buy a box of Baixiang instant noodles.

No choice!

To buy the scratchers, both he and Liao Fan had spent all their living expenses. They would have to make do with instant noodles this New Year.

If it weren’t for the few hundred yuan left in his Huabei credit, they wouldn’t even be able to afford instant noodles.

[Nine Heavens] had already signed gold-to-cash exchange agreements with major banks worldwide. He hoped to make some money in the game to improve their New Year’s meals.

On New Year’s Eve.

After eating their cup noodles, the well-prepared Bai Tian and Liao Fan smiled at each other. ”Good luck!”

With 30 minutes left until the open beta started, players could already enter the game to pre-create their characters.

The two of them put on their login devices and connected to the game.

—”(Ding-dong!)”

—”(Welcome to [Nine Heavens]!)”

—”(First-time login requires completion of various data verifications...)”

As soon as Bai Tian entered the game, he felt as if he had stepped into another living, magical world.

Every flower, blade of grass, and tree here, including the birds, fish, and insects, was lifelike, not appearing fictional at all.

It truly lived up to its reputation as an epoch-making game with 100% realism.