LWGP - Chapter 76
Chapter 76: Short on Money
Fish Abyss Badge (Silver Growth Grade.)
Attributes: All attributes +10, and comes with the special skill Eye of Insight.
Skill: Eye of Insight, allows you to see the attributes of targets up to 5 levels higher. Each enhancement level increases attributes by 10. At +4, this increases to 20 attribute points.
Weight: 0.5kg (Universal for the new world and dungeons.)
This was insane.
She had just been envying that butcher's silver weapon, and in the blink of an eye, she'd gotten an even more insane growth-type silver badge.
"I used to think accessories were how the strong elevated themselves above others, but now it seems badges are even more so."
The System retorted irritably, "What do you think? The drop rate for accessories is low, but with big data, there are still quite a few out there. You just don't see them because no one is selling. But badges require you to grind for performance and achievements, which is much harder. However, why do I feel like the former is the real challenge for you, while the latter is easier?"
No need to mock my bad luck with that backhanded compliment.
Wang Jiu, who had already rationalized this silver badge as a sign of her decent luck, ignored the System's implication: You didn't get this awesome badge because you're lucky, but because your dungeon performance was awesome, with a double 11-star rating. This was a guaranteed reward and had nothing to do with your luck.
Wang Jiu was moved by her own thoughts. "So my day has finally come. Looks like having bad luck isn't so bad after all. If it leads to a huge payoff like this every now and then, I don't mind."
As a person of extremes, she wasn't going to listen to anything right now.
Seeing Wang Jiu pick up a Strengthening Stone, the System couldn't help but remind her, "A lot of people are hoarding their Strengthening Stones right now because even weapons get replaced quickly. They're not willing to spend them on current gear. Why are you like someone who just got a big pancake, eating it the moment you get it?"
"I'm enhancing growth-type equipment, so what's there to be afraid of? Besides, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I don't level up quickly, I'll end up losing my Homestead today."
Once Wang Jiu said that, the System tacitly agreed her approach was correct. "It's a pity your Azure Serpent Emblem has such a low base. You're leveling up too fast; otherwise, it would be good to enhance it a few more times."
"The Azure Serpent Emblem only gives +2 to all attributes per enhancement. To upgrade its tier, it needs to be enhanced to +10. The cost is too high, and the return isn't proportional. Is there another way?"
Speaking of which, her drop rate for Strengthening Stones wasn't great. Her main source of income was actually from killing people. She only had 10 stones at the moment, so she naturally had to maximize their benefit.
System: "There are other ways. Some special treasures, like the Scroll of Transformation, Gaes's Demon Box, the Pandora's Box, Moonlight Treasure, etc. But those are all high-level items you can only get from mid- to high-level dungeons later on. Still, getting a badge gives you one more path for improvement."
"Indeed. The difference between the strong and the common person lies in the quality of their items. The difference between the strong and the stronger lies in the quantity of their items."
With a clear mind, Wang Jiu had already started the enhancement.
Bang!
There was a sharp, cracking sound.
Wang Jiu: "???"
She was just going for +1, not +4.
System: "Looks like having bad luck isn't so bad after all, huh? Was that pig's mouth more accurate, or was yours?"
Wang Jiu was melancholic for three seconds, then decisively turned and handed a Strengthening Stone and the badge to Wang Shu. "Enhance it."
When Wang Shu saw the badge's attributes, he was shocked, his hands trembling.
"Master, Master, I'm afraid I'll break it."
"You'll waste the Strengthening Stone, not the item. What are you panicking for?"
"Really? If the Strengthening Stone is wasted…"
"You ran a dungeon with that young lady. Didn't you pick up any Strengthening Stones?"
"I did, but just one."
Wang Jiu smiled, patting his head with a gentle and delicate touch. "Then that settles it. If you break it, you just give me one back. That way, neither of us loses out, and it won't hurt our master-disciple relationship. What are you afraid of?"
Wang Shu, the System, and the nearby person and pig: "…"
She had it all figured out.
A no-cost investment, getting something for nothing, a risk-transfer employment model.
Did Wang Shu dare to refuse?
A domineering trident was pressed between his legs.
He slammed it down with a mournful look on his face.
Hum!
The sound was pleasant.
+1.
Wang Jiu's eyes lit up, and she handed over another stone.
Again? Wang Shu's eyes widened, but he could only continue.
+2.
Wang Jiu's gaze softened, then seemed like it was about to turn to steam, hot enough to cook Wang Shu.
"Alright, alright, Master."
Once again feeling like he was indeed a lucky little angel from the RNG God, Wang Shu delightedly handed the badge over.
Wang Jiu pushed it back, along with three more Strengthening Stones.
"Keep going. I have high hopes for you."
Wang Shu was getting the hang of it now and felt that this enhancement thing was actually quite easy, so he went for it.
Clang!
Failure.
Wang Shu's expression fell, and sweat beaded on his forehead. He quickly pushed the items back, even trying to add his own Strengthening Stone, but it was pushed back to him again.
"…"
Clang, clang!
Three consecutive failures!
Wang Shu's face was ashen, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.
Because Wang Jiu had gripped the trident and twisted the handle, making the prongs press against his leg with a very real, material sensation.
He was on the verge of tears.
But suddenly, Wang Jiu sat cross-legged with her back to everyone, fiddling with something. Wang Shu saw a corner of red fabric, seemingly silk with lace, and he thought he smelled a strange odor.
Wang Shu: "???"
Wang Jiu patted it three times, as if praying to something, then turned around and slammed a stone onto it.
One wasn't enough; she quickly slammed down three more.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three consecutive failures!
Getting to +3 meant six failures. This luck was just too terrible.
Wang Jiu frowned. Is my battle robe not working anymore?
Only one Strengthening Stone was left. Without a second thought, Wang Jiu slammed it on.
+3.
Oho! My battle robe! Nice!
System: "…"
It discovered that beneath this woman's extremism lay a perverse optimism. She was always able to ignore negative things and pay them no mind, yet she was exceptionally negative towards others.
In reality, getting to +3 with 10 precious Strengthening Stones… wasn't a low success rate.
But this was a silver badge, so it was acceptable.
Anyway, she was someone who placed extreme importance on results and benefits. The losses along the way meant nothing to her.
The Strengthening Stones were all gone, so she wouldn't try for +4. It could stay at +3 along with her necklace.
She looked at the badge again.
All attributes +40.
That meant each attribute was increased by 40, for a total of 120 attribute points.
That red fabric from before seemed familiar, like it was… To protect himself, Wang Shu didn't dare to comment. He brought his attention back and did the math. His three attributes combined weren't even as high as this badge's bonus. He almost fainted, feeling like he was about to ascend to the heavens, excited beyond measure.
My patron! Ha, the patron I'm clinging to is about to become a giant!
Wang Jiu, however, just smiled and casually stabbed the trident into the ground.
Clang!!
Wang Shu, who was in the middle of his ecstatic celebration, felt a tremor in his groin as he watched it plunge into the ground between his legs.
He almost pissed himself in fear.
"You owe me three stones. Remember that."
A trident was right in front of him.
Wang Shu forcefully pulled it out, held it like a simpleton, and carefully returned it to Wang Jiu. "Don't worry, Master, I'll definitely pay you back."
Anyway, she didn't say when.
But when Wang Jiu saw him eagerly returning the trident, she raised an eyebrow. "You don't want it?"
What the hell?
Wang Shu realized what was happening, a little dumbfounded. "Master, this trident has really high attributes. It's a top-grade bronze! Better than your saber! Why are you giving it to me?"
"It doesn't suit me. It would be a waste to sell it now, so you use it for the time being." The market price was still soaring, but it wouldn't sell for even one gold coin right now. The top-tier players who controlled the major wealth were likely already using or eyeing silver-grade weapons. Most of their funds above one gold coin were probably invested in silver-grade equipment, skill books, and manor materials. They wouldn't spend much on anything else.
The elites below them didn't have that kind of spending power yet, since the average person had probably only cleared one or two dungeons.
Considering all this, it was better to use it first. After some time, when it was replaced, it could be sold to the players below.
She wouldn't lose out, and might even make a profit.
Wang Jiu's tone was very casual. Qiao Xuejing heard her casualness and thought to herself that this person seemed to have an extreme and unpredictable personality, but she was very generous. (Mainly because she hadn't seen her being stingy or desperate for money.)
But she would see it soon enough. To prevent Wang Shu from getting overly emotional, crying, and showering her with flattery, Qiao Xuejing changed the subject, asking if Wang Shu had any more of the flint sticks he'd used to start the fire. She wanted to buy one.
Wang Shu didn't answer directly. Knowing his place, he immediately looked at Wang Jiu. In his mind, the item belonged to her.
"They're on the market. One is selling for 19 silver coins. Go take a look yourself."
On the market?
Qiao Xuejing immediately searched and found one. Someone had listed one. She thought about it and concluded it wasn't expensive. Why?
Because she had already realized that stamina consumption led to frequent eating, and eating almost always required fire. The pig was one source, but food items were actually scarce. At least, no supplies like pastries had dropped yet.
Most of what dropped were basic materials.
Compared to the difficult, environment-dependent, and time-consuming method of making fire by drilling wood, a flint stick was basically the same as a lighter.
"Yes, I see it. I bought it. There was only one. Thank you for the tip, or someone else might have bought it."
As Qiao Xuejing said this, she noticed Wang Shu's strange expression. Being naturally sharp, she was momentarily puzzled, but then she heard Wang Jiu say calmly, "It's fine. I was going to list mine anyway. Ah Shu, list yours too. List them for 20 silver coins each, one at a time. Don't list too many at once. Let's build up the demand."
Wang Shu, who was still feeling emotional while holding the trident, was immediately distracted. Twenty silver coins for one? He had a box of 50 in his bag. After using one, he still had 49 left.
Wouldn't he have nearly 10 gold coins after selling them all?!
"Okay, Master, I'll do it right away."
The master and disciple pair began fiddling with the flint sticks, timing it for the phase when almost everyone needed to eat.
Qiao Xuejing realized what was happening. It wasn't a dropped item, but something brought in from their inventory?
That was incredibly sharp.
There was no way they could have collected such an obscure item in the short hour before the game loaded. They must have anticipated the massive demand for it in advance.
This must have been Wang Jiu's idea.
Dao Dao tugged at her clothes with a pig's trotter and whispered with her eyes, "Master, she's so amazing."
She was very amazing.
Qiao Xuejing pondered for a moment. Although she was also in business, she had inherited part of the family enterprise and didn't have much interest in it herself. Her main profession was design. When it came to commercial operations and market control, she wasn't very skilled.
It was the same in the game.
This Wang Jiu had terrifying combat power and strong control, as well as an extraordinary ability to make money.
A person like this… seemed very suitable to be a team captain.
And she and Dao Dao happened to be lacking such a captain—after all, she herself didn't have that kind of ability.
Fiddling with the flint sticks was easy, but they sold slowly at first, one or two at a time.
Wang Shu was a bit concerned, observing from time to time. He couldn't help but say, "Master, I think it's because most people don't have much money right now. After all, even experts like you don't have much wealth. Any money they have is invested in equipment and skill books."
Wang Jiu glanced at him but didn't mention the 9 gold coins she'd made from selling equipment.
"The low- and mid-tier players don't have money, but the high-level ones can afford it. The reason they're not buying right now is that they're waiting to see if a lower price appears. They have a lot of people under them. One stick is fine, but they can't afford too many, as it would drain their funds."
After listing the flint sticks, Wang Jiu also searched for skill books.
She found that there were none.
Eh, either the sellers had realized the importance of skills and the currently mismatched market prices and had withdrawn them, or they had all been bought up. There were very few listed before the game loaded anyway, so it was understandable that they were all gone now.
After some thought, Wang Jiu used the 10 gold coins in her account to create a buy order, offering 1 gold coin for any skill book.
The reason she didn't specifically list the four masteries and Heavy Strike was to avoid driving up their prices. Anyway, if she bought other skill books, she could just resell them without taking a loss.
On the other side, Wang Shu voiced another concern. "But not everyone needs a flint stick. A group of people can just share one."
That was a very good point.
Qiao Xuejing and Wang Shu both looked at Wang Jiu, only to see her raise an eyebrow and chuckle softly.
At that very moment, on Yunhu Mountain, Pan Zhen and the others had found their boss.
Almost everyone in Luoyang City recognized this man.
Zhao Shanxiao.
He was somewhere between thirty and forty, but he was well-maintained and looked quite young. Although his features lacked the noble air of young masters like Xiao Li, he possessed a wildness that came from climbing up from the streets.
A self-made capitalist, a new tycoon in Luoyang City. Though he couldn't compare to the old money, he had seized the opportunity of the world's great change.
As one of the first to enter the tutorial instance and gain an advantage at every turn, becoming stronger and stronger, this man had been able to build his fortune from scratch. His vision and judgment were naturally outstanding. He had gathered a large number of followers early on, including people like Pan Zhen who came from a hooligan background but had followed him for many years.
Most importantly, he himself was extremely formidable.
When Pan Zhen found him, he had just finished an unknown dungeon and had also fought through a wilderness invasion dungeon. He had killed some people, and the smell of blood on him was heavy. His name was slightly red. He was expressionlessly watching his subordinates struggle to make fire by drilling wood.
"Are you done talking?"
When Zhao Shanxiao looked over, Pan Zhen became very nervous, both afraid that his boss would blame him for his incompetence and that he would point out that he had hidden the card and not used it, leading to the deaths of others.
But neither happened.
Zhao Shanxiao simply bandaged his wound and said faintly, "You encounter one Wang Jiu and you're eager to mobilize everyone to wipe her out. If a few more Wang Jius show up, does that mean we don't have to do anything else?"
Pan Zhen and the others tensed up.
"Put her aside for now. We'll deal with it after we leave the mountain and return to the resurrection point. She has to go back eventually too. For now, reorganize into teams of fifteen. After you're done, each person will contribute 1 silver coin, and I'll add another five. The team leader of each group will go to the auction house and buy a flint stick."
As Zhao Shanxiao spoke, Pan Zhen seized the opportunity to curry favor. "Boss, actually, our whole group can just share one. After all, starting a fire is…"
"The teams will be separate. Stronger teams will run dungeons, weaker teams will grind mobs to level up. They'll be spread out. Regrouping wastes time and energy. Stamina recovers quickly while grinding and in dungeons. The small expense of a few silver coins can be earned back quickly. Think long-term."
After Zhao Shanxiao said this, everyone felt it made sense.
But Pan Zhen was wondering how much his boss's attributes had increased, even though he was injured. After two dungeons where he had snatched the boss kills, and after absorbing the resources, his three attributes probably totaled over 300 by now.
After finally getting something to eat, Zhao Shanxiao let out a breath and casually ordered Pan Zhen, "Have some of the younger ones wander around the nearby villages while they're grinding mobs."
"To look for that Wang Jiu?" Pan Zhen's eyes lit up.
"No need to search for her deliberately, but let others know that a person named Wang Jiu exists. If you really run into her and can't win, feed her a few kills. I'll cover the losses. But you must make sure she keeps her red name."
Pan Zhen understood instantly and agreed at once.
A lone wolf wouldn't have enough resources and would inevitably be unable to resist a group. He was waiting for that Wang Jiu to be beaten down and broken by them. It would be best if they could collect her corpse. If she revived and returned to the city, they would lock down the resurrection point and grind her level down to 0!
"At first, they all thought that having more people was the best way to build a force, so they could clear dungeons and take down bosses together. After all, dungeons don't have a limit on the number of people who can enter. But the problem is that the existence of the rating system means that having more people can also mean more dead weight, which can drag down the elites. I don't need to explain this for you to understand."
Having experienced it firsthand, Qiao Xuejing and Dao Dao deeply agreed. "So, those big shots who gathered a lot of people early on have probably learned their lesson and are reorganizing their teams now. And after streamlining their teams, the issues of stamina and food are on the table. To avoid wasting time traveling to meet up, they can only buy a flint stick for each team. If everyone chips in, the pressure isn't that great. 20 silver coins isn't an unbearable price. And looking at the entire human population on Earth, even just Luoyang City has so many organized teams, so…"
Wang Shu suddenly shouted, "Haha, Master, they're all sold out! Someone just bought them all in one go! All 50 of mine are sold!"
Wang Jiu smiled. "Mine are sold out too. There are probably overseas orders. There are too many people, and some of the lone wolves are probably buying now too."
Qiao Xuejing asked curiously, "How many did you list?"
"197."
"…"
Compared to the global market, it sounded like a drop in the bucket, but she calculated that at 20 silver coins each, that was nearly 40 gold coins.
An astronomical sum.
She didn't know that Wang Jiu had later inhumanely raised the price. This woman had sold a total of 51 gold coins' worth, and that didn't even count Wang Shu's share. Just now, Wang Shu had quickly traded her the gold he'd made. She took 9 gold, sent the rest back, and now had a total of 70 gold in her account.
Wang Jiu was already thinking about how to spend it.
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