Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

Whrmmm!

The sleek limo flashed past the towering gates of the Dragon Luxury Estate. Here, dozens of prominent, high-end villas dotted the pristine landscape.

Caelus sat comfortably in the back seat, casually sipping on a carton of LocoCola juice. He was still only seventeen years old this month. He would officially turn eighteen on the second of February.

Soon, the luxury car glided to a smooth stop in front of a massive estate.

The villa was a breathtaking L-shaped, two-story modern masterpiece. It was covered in sleek white and black panels, accented by clean, massive, see-through glass walls. The bright upper floor was entirely wrapped in glass, aggressively cantilevered over the shaded, dark ground floor. To the side sat a long, pristine swimming pool. It could not be fully seen from the driveway since it was tucked to the side rather than the front. Right in the front, however, was a perfectly manicured lawn decorated with lush palm trees and exotic plants.

The driveway gate slowly opened as the limo pulled into the mansion’s premises. An Association staff member stood there, waiting with absolute professionalism.

Old Man Welt and Caelus stepped out, followed closely by Mr. Brown.

Mr. Brown occasionally stole cautious glances at Caelus. He had severely underestimated this kid before. This boy was far stronger than anyone in that academy!

"Here is the master access card to the mansion, Mr. Caelus. I have already finished all the necessary paperwork for you," the staff member standing in front of the grand oak door said, respectfully handing over a sleek black keycard.

Caelus looked at the mansion card with a look of pure bafflement.

Maybe life was all rainbows and sunshine after all. How did a broke guy from the suburbs like him manage to land a multi-million credit mansion like this in a single afternoon?

"Just to be perfectly clear. I actually own this now. Right?" Caelus asked hesitantly.

Chairman Welt burst out laughing upon hearing this.

"If you do not own it, who else will?" The old man laughed heartily, patting Caelus warmly on the shoulder. "I have way too many mansions here in Fortis City. But since you are legally still a minor, you cannot officially own a registered property yet. For now, my name will remain on the legal deed. Once you turn eighteen, I will arrange for my lawyers to transfer the estate completely over to you."

"Thank you," Caelus nodded, deeply appreciative.

"For now, go take a good rest. You must have had a very long day today. As for Fortis-01 High, I will handle the rest of the fallout. Come by the Association Headquarters tomorrow morning. You still have not gotten your official Player’s License, right?"

"Yes," Caelus nodded.

With a few more parting words, Old Man Welt finally left. But before departing, he firmly proposed scheduling daily Aura practice sessions. If Caelus was up for it, Welt did not mind acting as a sparring partner. The old man was eager to increase his newly awakened Aura capacity.

Only Caelus was left standing in the grand driveway.

He looked around the sprawling property and took a deep, refreshing breath. This was his mansion. This was where he would live starting right now!

And the absolute best part was that he no longer had to pay his miserable 3,000 Origin Credits monthly rent!

After stepping inside, he took a quick tour. The entire mansion possessed twelve rooms in total, six of them being massive bedrooms.

There were six master suites, each boasting its own walk-in closet and a spa-sized bathroom. The flex rooms included a private home cinema, a glass-walled gym packed with high-end equipment meant for mana training but perfectly suitable for Aura conditioning as well, a dedicated gaming and simulation room, and a high-tech office that looked an awful lot like a military command center. There were also two empty rooms tucked away in the back with no designated purpose yet.

The entire mansion was fully furnished with top-tier, designer furniture and exquisite decor. This level of luxury was something he could never afford with a mere 3,000 Origin Credits. Sure, he could rent a basic villa somewhere, but what about the furnishing? That was where the real money drained away.

Sighing in absolute comfort, he claimed the grandest master suite as his permanent bedroom. He entered the spa-sized bathroom, which featured a steaming hot, sunken stone pool right inside the room. Fresh, steaming spring water piped in directly from the mountain above cascaded into the tub. It was an incredibly calming and soothing experience.

With this, most of his immediate real-world problems had been settled.

But there was still the looming threat of Lena and her older brother, Marco. They would definitely come looking to make trouble for him very soon. And against a top-tier powerhouse like the Black Lightning Guild, his only option was to become vastly stronger than he was right now.

His current power was simply not enough. He had to reach the absolute top.

There were also pressing matters related to the Origin Domain. The Domain servers would open again in a few hours. He had been gone from the Lower Domain for a bit too long in real-world time. From what he knew, more than forty regional servers had already fully merged with his existing region.

But before he logged back in, he was going to grind his Blacksmithing profession straight to Iron II and craft himself a proper weapon. It was finally time to fully utilize his Rainbow Light Forge.

[Origin Credits: 9,631]

Resting comfortably on his massive king-sized bed, Caelus scrolled away on his phone, browsing through the Global Trading Hub for Blacksmith equipment sets.

There was a highly rated kit available for 3,000 credits. It was perfectly graded for the Iron rank and featured a specialized heating device built directly into the anvil to perfectly temper raw ores.

To finalize the purchase, he bought an Origin Credit loader chip, connected it to the Origin Network, and securely transferred the necessary funds. He loaded exactly 5,000 Origin Credits onto the chip. He wanted to buy the anvil, several common-grade mana crystals, and advanced weapon blueprints.

For now, he could only afford common-grade mana crystals. But he firmly believed in his Rainbow Light Forge’s passive ability to forcefully mutate them into Mythical-tier gear!

With his shopping spree complete, his digital wallet updated. He was left with exactly 4,631 Origin Credits.

Ding Dong!

Just then, someone rang the front gate doorbell of his villa.

"They are already here?" Caelus muttered, jumping up from his bed and jogging downstairs to the main door. The logistics delivery speed in this futuristic world was incredibly fast. But it was not supposed to be this fast, as far as Caelus knew.

He pulled open the heavy front door.

"Hey," a familiar, flawlessly beautiful girl stood before him.

"Did you miss me? Your wife is back," Sylvia smiled brightly, standing casually on his front porch. "We both had a very long day, did we not?"

"How the hell did you find this place?" Caelus stared at her, completely baffled.