Chương 5: Monsters Storm the Town

With his bag full, Ryan had no choice but to set his grinding aside for now and head back to Sunward Town. He found a good spot in the central plaza, spent a single gold coin to set up a stall, laid his gear out on the rack for all to see, and then simply settled in to rest with his eyes shut.

Killing Slaughtercharge's crew had carried him smoothly from Level 2 to Level 3—though, thanks to the Heart of Heaven's Punishment, he'd received only 6 free attribute points, not even the 5 evenly distributed points every level normally granted. Ryan showed no displeasure, however. He could plunder attributes; kill enough monsters, and points were never in short supply. What was worth noting was that his free attribute points were no ordinary thing—they could raise his fixed attributes too.

Which meant Luck and Charm could both be boosted with free points. For him, that was tremendous news. So without a second thought, he poured all 6 into his fixed attributes: 5 into Luck, 1 into Charm. Just like that, his Luck finally hit 10, and his Charm was no longer zero. And as his Charm rose, something curious happened: players passing his stall turned to look back at a noticeably higher rate.

Few players were willing to spend a whole gold coin on a stall, so Ryan's stood out starkly in Sunward Town—and with that 1 point of Charm, it quickly drew a crowd.

"Damn! These are all Common-grade pieces—and Level 3, every one! Who is this guy? How's he this good?" One player gaped at the rack of uniformly Common-grade gear, jaw nearly hitting the floor. With Heaven's Descent's pitiful drop rates, a player counted himself blessed to own a single Inferior-grade piece that had a level requirement—yet here was this nobody, out of nowhere, laying out a heap of Common-grade gear. How could it not stun them?

In Heaven's Descent, to protect player privacy, Appraisal could only read a target's level; no other attributes could be detected—unless one side started a malicious PK, which exposed their ID.

"Hey, friend—you selling this boar-hide armor for one gold?"

"I'll pay ten gold! I'll take all of it!"

"I'll do twenty! Ten-gold paupers, crawl out of the way!" … The crowd squabbled on, more and more people gathering—most of them there just for the show.

"Slaughter the World is buying out the lot! Everyone else, clear off!" A cold voice rang out, and a pack of players were shoved roughly aside, furious but silent. Slaughter the World was one of the Nine Provinces' Hundred Great Guilds—not something lone players like them could afford to offend.

"It's you!" Slaughtercharge recognized Ryan at a glance, his expression flickering.

"Brother Charge—good to see you in one piece." Ryan smiled at the starter-geared Slaughtercharge. But Slaughtercharge kept his composure, choosing not to dredge up their earlier clash. He drew a deep breath, forced down his anger, and said, "I'm here to buy gear. You wouldn't refuse to sell to me, would you?"

"How could I? A customer's a customer—peace breeds profit. Long as the price is right, we trade." Ryan shrugged. He didn't take Slaughtercharge seriously in the least; even if the man came for him later, with gear like this, he had nothing to fear. He was part of Rosalind Lynn's studio now, and a studio didn't keep idle hands. On his first day on the job, he had to show some good faith. Besides, he genuinely needed gold to fund his next plans. Take what profit you can—Ryan turned no one away.

With one condition, of course: you had to be able to pay.

"Ten gold per piece! However many you've got, I'll buy!" Slaughtercharge's eyes hardened. Gold was already being driven to 220 Azure Coin outside; ten gold meant 2, 200 Azure Coin—a fortune for an ordinary player. And Ryan's stall held a full twenty pieces. Packaged together, that was over forty thousand Azure Coin. The onlookers sucked in cold breaths at the thought, casting envious looks at Ryan. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

But Ryan was unmoved. He shook his head slowly.

"Too low." Having lived a second life, he knew exactly what this gear meant in the early game. Common-grade it might be, but in a starter village three hours after launch, it was worth far more than ten gold a piece. If he were selling, a Common-grade piece would fetch at least twenty gold right now—because in the opening game, owning stronger gear than everyone else meant reaping more of the starter village's resources. Quest rewards, field Bosses—all of it rested on strength.

And with this much gear in Ryan's hands, he was exactly the kind of prize any faction could only dream of.

"Think it over carefully, and decide soon. Otherwise, once other factions show up, swallowing this batch won't be so easy." Ryan sat steady as a mountain, not the least bit anxious. This was only the beginning. The real show was still to come. His slaughter in the Boar Woods had already met the trigger conditions for a certain hidden event—and if he simply stayed in Sunward Town for half an hour, it would fire. That would be the spectacular part.

"Twenty gold a piece—I'll take them all!" Sure enough, after Ryan's words, Slaughtercharge gritted his teeth and named twenty gold.

"Holy—did I hear that right? Twenty gold a piece? Is he insane?"

"What do you know? It's an investment! If Slaughter the World gets this gear now, they'll lock down the number-one spot in Sunward Town for sure!"

"But—where's all that gold coming from? Everyone's spending on potions just to stay alive grinding; nobody's got money. I scraped together twenty silver and that nearly killed me!"

"You really don't get it, do you? Behind every one of these big guilds is a major financial backer. Forget their dedicated gold-farmers—just buying gold off lone players at a premium would cover it easily." In Heaven's Descent, 1 gold = 100 silver = 10, 000 copper, and with monster resources scarce in the early game, most players couldn't scrape together a single gold coin.

"Hold on! I'll pay twenty-one gold!" Just then a woman's voice carried from afar, and a cluster of graceful female players parted the crowd to reach the stall. The one at their head wore a strip of purple veil across her face and a purple robe; her beautiful eyes flicked over the starter-geared Ryan in surprise.

"Highest bidder wins—no objection to that, I assume?"

"None at all. But I'll still have to check with our friend from Slaughter the World. This lovely lady's offering twenty-one gold for my gear. And you?"

"Twenty-two!" Slaughtercharge knit his brows and shot Ryan a glare.

"Twenty-five." The woman's delicate brows drew together as she spoke, voice cool.

"Who is she? This rich?"

"You don't know? Have you never played a game before? That's Violet—one of the Nine Provinces gaming world's Top Ten Beauties! Her guild, Clear Rain Pavilion, is one of the Hundred Great Guilds, same as Slaughter the World!"

"That impressive? Two heavyweights clashing—someone's going to get hurt! This'll be good!" Ryan kept a calm face, but inside he was beaming. At this rate, he was guaranteed to make a killing.

"Twenty-five going once, twenty-five going twice, twenty-five—""Thirty gold!" Slaughtercharge's eyes were bloodshot, his heart bleeding—but to keep Clear Rain Pavilion from winning, he went all in.

"…" Violet's brows pinched. Thirty gold already exceeded her budget, so she'd resolved to give it up. She was no sucker; with that gold she could do far more a little later. For Common-grade gear, it wasn't worth it.

"ROAAAR!!!" But just then, a sky-splitting roar of fury erupted from outside Sunward Town. Everyone froze and turned to look into the distance.

"The show begins!" The corner of Ryan's mouth lifted—and a System prompt thundered across the heavens. System: [Ding! Because the player "Big Gunn" has slaughtered a great number of boars in the Boar Woods, the Jungle Boar King has been thoroughly enraged. In half an hour, the Jungle Boar King will lead its minions in an assault on Sunward Town! All players, prepare in advance!] A monster siege? The crowd was stunned—but a heartbeat later, excited grins spread across their faces.

Their levels were low; if they died, so be it. But once a siege Boss went down, the rewards were always lavish. For them, this was a can't-lose deal.

"I'll pay thirty-five gold!" Violet clenched her silver teeth and made her decision. With this gear, she'd hold an absolute edge against the Jungle Boar King—so she forced the price up to thirty-five a piece.

"Forty gold!" Slaughtercharge's gaze sank, a cruel arc curling his lips. He'd just reported to his guild leader, and now, backed with resources, his ceiling had risen to fifty gold a piece.

"Vi, the guild's got a hidden quest to run, so this is the most gold I can allocate you. I'm sorry." Hearing the message through her comm, Violet's brows knit tight. She shook her head slowly and, unwilling but powerless, withdrew from the bidding.

"Sold! Congratulations to our friends from Slaughter the World—the gear is yours at forty gold a piece! Many happy returns!" Grinning, Ryan set the price to forty, and in an instant 800 gold landed in his account. Just like that, he'd become the richest man in Sunward Town.

"Hmph. I'll make you understand that Slaughter the World's gold isn't so easy to swallow." Gear in hand, Slaughtercharge's gaze sank; he sneered inwardly at the beaming Ryan, then led his people away.

"You're Violet, leader of Clear Rain Pavilion, aren't you? I've got a deal—care to hear it?" As he packed up his stall, Ryan looked at the dejected Violet and felt a stir of inspiration.

"You put up the money, I put in the work. I'll wrench that Boss right out of Slaughter the World's hands. What do you say?"