Chương 6: Free-Tier

The sensory transition hit Ethan with the wet smell of sheep fat and damp straw. He was back on the stone avenue of Hazor, his digital wallet holding a meagre 2. 48 Silver Shekels. The mid-day sun beat down on his coarse linen tunic, but his mind remained fixed on the falling numbers of the Chinatown smart-meter. He needed a stable, high-yield combat class that paid corporate rates, or Grandma's thermal loop would shut down entirely by tomorrow night.

He marched past the market district toward the Citadel Heights, where the high-tier mercenary guilds operated. Ahead, a massive throng of players crowded the steps of the Palace Levy Office. A glowing, holographic banner hovered over the stone columns, deployed by an elite Singaporean syndicate: [PIXEL REX MERCENARY CORPS — PAID GIG CONTRACTS AVAILABLE].

"Looking for front-line brawlers!" a player wearing a heavy bronze cuirass roared over the din.

"Level 3 minimum! We provide the bronze daggers and standard rations! We pay a flat five shekels per dungeon run, minus a ten-percent equipment insurance levy!" Ethan stood at the edge of the crowd, his eyes narrowing as he read the system prompt floating over the enlistment table. [System Alert: Heavy Vanguard Infantry Track Prerequisites] Required Initial Investment: 50 Silver Shekels (For Bronze Greaves & Enlistment Bond) Alternative Path: Sign a 30-Day Indentured Labor Covenant with Pixel Rex.

Fifty shekels just to join the line, Ethan calculated bitterly. Or give them thirty days of my life for pennies while they pocket all the rare monster drops. It's just another corporate debt trap wrapped in a video game. He pushed his way through the crowd, heading toward the rear of the Levy Office where the lower-tier, public NPC trainers sat. If he couldn't afford the premium corporate contracts, he would exploit the default free-tier system mechanics. Every MMO had a starter kit loop.

A massive contingent of players from the China servers blocked the side corridor, their loud, rapid Mandarin slicing through the ambient noise of the bazaar as they argued violently over structural damage penalties on their rented gear. Unlike the static, robotic quest-givers of older virtual reality titles, the NPC officer behind the long wooden trestle table didn't stare blankly into space. He was actively scowling, his dark, leathered brow furrowed in deep irritation at the shouting foreign players.

Ethan waited at the edge of the desk, his mind drifting back to the old wooden benches of the Queenstown church his grandmother used to drag him to on Sunday mornings. The air-conditioner there had always been broken, leaking water onto the linoleum while the Sunday school teacher droned on about ancient battles.

"David didn't wear the king's armor," the teacher's voice echoed in his memory, a dry, flat recollection.

"Saul offered him a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. But David refused. He couldn't walk in them because they were untested. He took his staff, chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd's bag." Ethan's eyes snapped back to the row of expensive, glittering bronze daggers on the Pixel Rex recruitment tables. Untested. High maintenance. Total financial suicide. David hadn't been acting out of pure religious bravado; he had been conducting a ruthless cost-benefit analysis.

A bronze helmet required an initial capital outlay and constant oiling. A river stone cost exactly zero dollars. Ethan stepped up to the table as the mainland players stormed off, cursing about the engine's strict durability metrics.

"I am here to claim the state-issued levy equipment for the local militia," Ethan said, keeping his voice level. He didn't use the demanding tone of the other players; he had learned from the alleyway widow that these advanced AIs reacted to social cues. The officer looked up. His grey, bloodshot eyes raked over Ethan's thin wrists and dirt-stained tunic. The NPC let out a heavy, fluid sigh that smelled faintly of sour garlic.

"Another landless traveler looking for free bronze," the officer muttered, his voice carrying a raspy, exhausted vibration. He dipped a reed pen into an inkwell, his fingers stained dark from years of administrative labor.

"You uncircumcised strangers come to Hazor, you refuse to till the king's fields, and then you expect the palace to hand over metal weapons so you can go die in the hills. Name?"

"Etan," Ethan replied, watching the man's micro-expressions closely. The advanced AI was completely apparent here. The officer wasn't cycling through a pre-set dialogue script; he was displaying genuine bureaucratic burnout. He was calculating Ethan's worth based on his low level and lack of local standing, actively trying to conserve the palace's limited inventory.

"Listen to me, Etan," the officer said, leaning forward, the wooden table creaking beneath his weight.

"The King's armory is not a charity house. The Habiru raiders are attacking the trade caravans in the north, and our bronze supplies are short. If I give you a copper-tipped spear, what guarantee do I have that you won't sell it to the smiths in Megiddo and run away to the coast?" [System Prompt: Linguistic Context Detected] NPC Emotion Status: Defensive / Asset Conservation. Your Status: Unassigned Novice (Low Trust). Ethan's inner math engine clicked.

The AI wasn't just blocking the quest; it was simulating a material shortage. In the late Bronze Age, copper and tin were precious state assets controlled tightly by the palace granaries.

"I don't need a copper spear to serve the city," Ethan said, dropping his voice so the surrounding players couldn't hear. He leaned closer to the desk.

"Give me the standard-issue reed skirmish sling and a leather gathering pouch. They cost the palace nothing to produce, they carry a zero-percent metal tax, and I will clear the local vineyard pests without drawing a single bit from your bronze reserve." The officer's pen paused. He tilted his head, his sharp eyes locking onto Ethan with a sudden, calculating intensity.

The defensive rigidness in his jaw relaxed slightly, replaced by the subtle, knowing look of an overworked clerk who had just been offered an easy way out of an inventory deficit.

"A sling?" the officer murmured, a slow, dry smirk breaking through his beard.

"The boy wants to fight the wilderness with river pebbles." He reached beneath the trestle table and slammed a rough, braided hemp cord and a cracked leather pouch onto the wood.

"Take them," the officer grunted, crossing Ethan's name off the tablet with a swift, aggressive stroke of his reed pen.

"They are public waste items. If you die in the ravines, the crows can have the string. Now get out of my line." [System Alert: Free-Tier Militia Equipment Acquired] You have received: [Braided Hemp Sling x1 (Durability: Infinite)] You have received: [Coarse Leather Pouch x1] Operational Overhead Cost: 0. 00 Silver Shekels. Ethan scooped up the hemp sling, his heart thumping against his ribs.

He turned away from the palace steps, a sharp, cold grin widening across his face as he walked back down toward the lower city gates. The corporate players from Pixel Rex were still waiting in line, preparing to sign away thirty days of their real-world earnings just to secure a bronze blade that required constant, expensive maintenance kits. They were trapped in the old logic of video games, assuming that the highest-tier weapon was the only path to profit. Ethan looked down at the braided hemp cord in his fist.

Hemp didn't rust. It didn't have a durability metric. And the ammunition was lying all over the valleys for absolutely zero cost. He didn't need their expensive bronze. He was going to turn the very floor of the Levant into an infinite, tax-free arsenal.