SA Chapter 3: Summoning the Terminator
At home, the first thing Sifan did was not to produce Terminators but to rush to take a thorough shower. He cleaned himself up completely, ensuring that all the dust and debris from the renovation work was removed from every nook and cranny. This meticulous cleaning was a necessity in the construction industry.
The lethal combination of cement and dust was akin to a nuclear weapon on a construction site, leaving him utterly polluted after a day's work.
Once everything was sorted out, Sifan finally had the time to carefully study his system.
What an incredible system it was. Capable of producing Terminators, though not for conquering the world, it was quite useful for the construction and renovation industries.
He opened the system and accepted two tasks right away!
Accept Task: The First Order.
Task Description: The first order is the first step on the road to success! Complete it, young man!
Task Requirement: Complete the order
Task Reward: Random design style template library.
Accept Task: The First Terminator.
Task Description: Having your first Terminator is the first step to your success. If you don't even have the startup capital, sorry... the system will abandon you.
Task Requirement: Own the first Terminator.
Task Reward: Unlock the technology team leader type smart chip.
"SkyNet Construction System requires gold coins which must be earned by completing orders with the Terminator."
"Host’s bank account funds can be converted into gold coins! This feature is applicable only this time! Would you like to convert?"
The system’s notification sound made Sifan pause. That was the money he had saved for his sister! He would never have considered using it before.
But now, this was a one-time opportunity. If he missed it, he would lose everything. At the very least, he wouldn’t be able to afford a Terminator, and the system would disappear.
He couldn’t tolerate this happening.
Clenching his teeth, he roared in a low voice, full of a desperate resolve, “System! Convert it all. Hurry up!”
He didn’t know that in the future, he would desperately wish for such an opportunity to easily convert money into gold coins!
What an exaggerated situation.
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
Thus, Sifan fell into a blissful dilemma.
"Ding! Host has converted 87,625 gold coins. Please complete the task as soon as possible." The voice of the SkyNet system remained as emotionless as ever.
Sifan didn’t care; he calmly clicked twice on the Terminator manufacturing option.
It’s not that he didn’t want to click more. He simply couldn’t afford it!
Because the third universal model T300 cost 2.7 million—high-tech that was too expensive to play with.
“Ding! Terminator T300 (universal model) begins teleportation! Teleportation location is within 100 meters of the host's vicinity, at the optimal open space!”
Suddenly, there was a rustle of wind behind the room, followed by flashes of lightning and thunder, just like in the Terminator movies when the governor travels through time, except that the teleportation effect was too spectacular to look directly at. This simplified version of teleportation that didn’t involve time travel just involved two spherical flashes of lightning suddenly bursting open, revealing a Terminator in a dramatic pose, kneeling on one knee.
When the T300 Terminator appeared, Sifan was completely disappointed. This Terminator was entirely metallic in structure, looking completely like a robot, not even slightly human-like; such a worker could not be taken out onto the streets. Fortunately, it was autumn now and the weather was crisp and clear in the Northeast, allowing for some extra benefits!
Indeed, Sifan planned to wrap these two Terminators up like zongzi (rice dumplings), and then take them to the construction site to work. Later on, he'd buy a couple of hoodies and some sunglasses to complete the disguise. But this getup was quite bizarre.
“Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the task: The First Terminator. All T300 (All-Purpose Model) will automatically be equipped with a Team Leader Type Smart Chip!”
“Ding! Reminder: Please replenish and reorganize your renovation Terminator team promptly to improve work efficiency.”
The notification sound arrived on time, and Sifan was thrilled! The task was completed just like that. The two Terminators were equipped with the Team Leader type chips, though he felt an indescribable sense of awe.
The two T300s stood there like decorations, not even a blinker light flickered, fully indicating that the Terminators were in a severely disappointing standby mode.
“You two, go to the corner of the room and enter standby mode. I’ll take an order soon and pair you up with other types of Terminators,” Sifan instructed proudly, then called in two takeouts… not that he didn’t want to order online, but his bank account was empty.
After finishing his meal, Sifan started calling up company material suppliers to ask if there were any renovation projects available! With two Terminators at hand, Sifan was quite confident.
Unfortunately, the answers were disheartening. Once they heard that Sifan had left Tianyi Renovation Company, they immediately hung up the phone without giving him the time of day.
Even a bit more conversation was too much to ask for. In the end, it was a rather straightforward older man who informed Sifan that Zhang Mingyu had already called them. It wasn’t that they were instructed not to help Sifan find business, but rather not to help him join other teams as a freelancer.
Thus, it seemed he was nearly unwelcome in half of the places in Jiangcheng.
“Damn it! I knew that guy was up to no good. Totally screwed me over!” Sifan muttered, looking at all the online business opportunities, each one stingier than the last, barely enough to make back the cost of labor.
It was as if he was being used as free labor, and after a long search, there was still no opportunity for him to shine.
“Ah! Who knows when I'll find a project to work on!” Sifan was speechless, not even in the mood to play a couple of rounds of League of Legends, just sitting in front of the computer, daydreaming about a breakthrough.
It seemed he would have to find customers who needed his services himself.
"Chrysanthemums, ancient sword, and wine! Drowned in the bustling courtyard by coffee..." Suddenly, the ringing of the phone startled Sifan out of his thoughts; he was ready to go out and stick advertisements in various neighborhoods if all else failed.
However, the call was a wake-up call. Looking at the phone number, Sifan realized he had been in a rut.
His good friend Fan Qiang was in urgent need of renovations. He seemed quite anxious. The renovation had to be completed within a month, and this was an opportunity! While other people took a long time for renovations, not Sifan! His efficiency was high, he had Terminator workers.
More importantly, this friend worked at the Urban Construction Bureau, and his house was purchased through a collective scheme by his unit; he was among the first to receive a house, and currently, no one was inside, allowing for 24-hour continuous work!
With this thought, Sifan answered the phone with excitement.
"Hello! Fan, are you still working at that renovation company? Why don't you let me introduce you to a few construction companies to work as a white-collar worker instead of stubbornly looking for jobs on your own! As for my house's renovation, I've already found someone. They quoted 200,000 yuan, from a pretty famous renovation company, seemingly called Tianyi or something. But that guy from the construction team, Zhang Mingyu, is such a rip-off; he even wants an extra 50,000 yuan for overtime work at night." Fan Qiang spoke with a hint of helplessness.
This was accepting his fate as a big sucker. No choice, since he got his girlfriend pregnant. If it was delayed by a few months, then they'd have to wait for the child to be born before they could get married.