Chapter 22

"Never thought I would be a rich man now."

After Lin Han signed a three-year rookie contract with the Utah Jazz, he immediately chose to receive the salary for the next year in advance. NBA players can choose their own method of receiving their salaries, such as receiving the entire amount at the beginning of the season, receiving it monthly, or even waiting until the end of the season to receive it. Each player can choose according to their own preferences.

However, for Lin Han, if he couldn't replenish the energy for his basketball system by July 15th, it would be a real problem. Therefore, Lin Han couldn't afford to receive his salary monthly. Although his actual annual salary is $1.1 million, this salary is pre-tax income, and the NBA deducts about 39% in personal income tax and other insurance fees. So, even though Lin Han's salary is $1.1 million, he won't receive the full amount.

In addition to the 38% of his income that Lin Han needs to pay to the NBA, Utah also has a 5% state tax. In the United States, in addition to federal income tax, most places also have state taxes, and even county and city taxes. However, compared to federal taxes, state and local taxes are generally not very high, usually ranging from 1% to 11%. Utah's tax rate is around 5%, which is neither particularly high nor low in the U.S. Including other taxes, Lin Han needs to pay about 45% of his income in taxes. Therefore, out of the $1.1 million, Lin Han will actually receive only about $605,000.

Although he has to pay nearly $500,000 in taxes, the remaining $600,000 is still enough to satisfy Lin Han. After all, a high-end villa in Salt Lake City now costs around $300,000.

Now, with over $600,000 in his account, this is a very pleasing number. However, Lin Han also knows that this money may not necessarily ensure his future peace of mind, as he still needs to support a basketball system that is always in a state of consumption.

Moreover, according to Alice, the basketball system does not have the function of accepting cash. This primitive chip, unlike commercial chips, has undergone many mutations when crossing through time, such as the physicalization of the chip space and the physicalization of some virtual items within the chip space. According to Alice, although the Basketball Legend System can help fans enhance their physical abilities 100 years in the future, they need to follow the system's tutorials and use some official potions sold by the system to truly improve their physical condition. In other words, although the Basketball Legend System 100 years in the future is still a semi-intelligent item implanted in the human body, it does not have a virtual space or the ability to enter the space in person.

The commercial Basketball Legend System is more like a personal basketball coach for fans, capable of projecting many virtual basketball legends to teach fans how to play basketball. Therefore, although the Basketball Legend System is still very powerful 100 years in the future, it is not as powerful as one might imagine.

The initial chip that Lin Han is using, while also called the Basketball Legend System, has mostly different functions. At the very least, Lin Han's system has a shopping space, but this space only accepts gold, not dollars, and gold is exchanged for points.

So, the first thing Lin Han did after receiving his salary from the Jazz was to go to a gold shop to buy gold. The current international gold price is not very high, although the price of gold has fluctuated significantly this year, it is around $400 per ounce in July. This is much lower than the $4,000 per ounce that Alice mentioned for 100 years in the future. Therefore, to some extent, Lin Han is getting a great deal, with a difference of at least 10 times.

Lin Han did not use all his money to buy gold but bought 1,000 ounces, which is about $400,000. Although 1,000 ounces is not a lot, it is still over 30 kilograms. When Lin Han carried this large box of gold out of the gold shop, it shocked the people inside. In their memory, no one had ever bought so much gold in bars. Although many people in the U.S. trade gold futures, they certainly don't carry physical gold around.

Regardless of how others looked at him, Lin Han quickly returned home with this large batch of gold. At this time, his second sister and younger sister had already gone out to play, as they were on summer break. As for his older sister, she was still working at McDonald's.

"Alice, I'm so tired."

After moving the gold back to his bedroom, Lin Han carried each bar into the special space of the Basketball Legend System. According to Alice, the only item that can freely enter and exit this special space, besides the host with normal clothing, is gold. Other items cannot enter or exit freely.

"Wow, how much did you spend on these gold bars? How could you buy so much?"

At this point, Lin Han was already exhausted from entering the space, while Alice happily circled around the pile of gold, not noticing the bright white that peeked out from her shirt when she bent over.

"Cough, I spent $400,000 on them. How could it be less?" Lin Han, who had been looking at the white peeking out from Alice's shirt, proudly said.

"Wow, $400,000 can buy so much gold? Is the U.S. dollar so strong now? Is gold so cheap?"

After hearing Lin Han's explanation, Alice turned back to look at the slightly blushing Lin Han, incredulous. In her world, due to the dissatisfaction of Earth's second power with the rule of the first power, a world war broke out, causing the gold price to skyrocket to a terrifying $40 million per ounce. According to Lin Han, $400,000 could buy so much gold, meaning that the current gold price is less than one-tenth of what it will be 100 years in the future.

"It's really unbelievable, but maybe this is a very good thing. This way, you can more easily earn more points."

After saying this, the excited Alice used her small hands to grab several gold bars and walked to the cylindrical trash can on the left side of Lin Han's 3D holographic image, directly throwing the gold into the trash can.

"Hey, Alice, are you crazy? Why are you throwing gold into the trash can?"

Seeing Alice's crazy actions, Lin Han immediately stood up and shouted.

"Why are you so anxious? This trash can is specifically designed to exchange points. Come and help me quickly."

After giving Lin Han a glare, Alice said irritably and resumed her work. After hearing Alice's explanation, Lin Han was speechless again.

Finally, after Lin Han and Alice threw all the gold into the trash can, the stone platform below Lin Han's 3D holographic image, which Alice pressed, suddenly lit up. The front of the stone platform turned into a computer-like display.

"Never thought it would directly add 10,000 points. 1,000 ounces of gold directly added 10,000 points. These points are enough for the system's minimum consumption for over 30 years. I'll immediately use the points to buy a few sets of the latest casual clothes, a better bedroom, a few new figurines of Lelouch, and a smart computer. I haven't watched Korean dramas or Ryukyu anime for a long time."

At this point, Alice was extremely happy looking at the numbers on the display, while Lin Han was very anxious. The items that the shameless girl kept mentioning made Lin Han's scalp tingle. He didn't want his hard-earned points to be used up so quickly.

"Hey, Alice, didn't you say that if I could get points, you would help me improve my strength? Now that I have the points, how can I improve my strength?"

Although he felt a bit awkward interrupting a girl who was in a state of happiness, Lin Han still managed to bring Alice back to reality.

"Oh, you mean that. It's simple. Just activate the training system and the store system. There are many things inside that can help you improve your strength. Do you want to activate the store system and the training system now?"

"Of course, I want to activate them."

After Lin Han confirmed, Alice quickly tapped a few times on the display. The originally ten-square-meter independent space suddenly had two doors on the left side, one labeled "Store" and the other labeled "Training Court."

"How does this feel like a game?"

When Lin Han saw these two suddenly appearing doors, he asked somewhat unrealistically.

"That's right, it is a game. The original chip of the Basketball Legend System and the commercial chip have one of their biggest differences in that the original chip has a built-in basketball growth game. The host can play the game in a holographic environment even while sleeping. Originally, everything was virtual, but after the system crossed through time, all virtual things became physical."

At this point, Alice looked a bit melancholy, and Lin Han was once again shocked.

When Lin Han walked into the door of the store, he was even more amazed by the wide variety of items inside.