Chapter 5

Because of his background, Su Chen's character had a high level of respect in Shaffir City (formerly Graywood Town) from the very beginning. His reputation in the Boleum Territory and the Nohan Kingdom was also friendly, with the reputation index in the Boleum Territory slightly higher than in the kingdom.

It was precisely because of this identity that Su Chen had the foundation to intervene in disputes and gain the trust of others. If it were a regular player with a cold reputation, they wouldn't even have the chance to speak, let alone gain the trust and obedience of others.

Fortunately, after a month of preparation in the game, Su Chen had a fairly accurate understanding of his identity and abilities. However, from the various small tasks he had been doing in the small town, he found that the rewards in terms of money were not substantial, and the experience points were even more meager.

For example, take the daily task of training the militia! Completing it for six days a month without fail only earned him 4 experience points and the previously agreed salary. Helping other civilians in daily tasks mostly resulted in reputation rewards and some worthless tokens of gratitude from the beneficiaries, as well as hidden favor points. Although these tasks allowed Su Chen to solve his survival issues in the small town and even have a slight surplus, it would be a long time before he could level up his character.

"The preparations are almost complete. The next step should be to take on some adventure quests. But it will be quite difficult for me alone. It's time to find some teammates," Su Chen thought to himself as he left his ancestral home where he had lived for quite some time.

From what Su Chen understood, the quests posted by the Adventurer's Guild were generally very difficult. In fact, all combat-related quests in the Dilara Continent were very challenging, especially for the first-generation players who mostly lacked good attributes.

According to the results of various online surveys and forums, 80% of the players who initially entered the game were already waiting for the growth of second-generation characters. This was not only due to the reckless behavior of some players but also because of the high difficulty of adventure quests.

If this were a regular entertainment MMORPG, it would have been boycotted, protested, and even threatened with death threats by the enraged players, making it impossible to continue operations. After all, players play games, not the other way around. However, since the Earth United Government used it as a resource allocation tool, it was a different story.

To many people, this was actually a kind of alternative work. In a society where 95% of the population was chronically unemployed or underemployed, any opportunity to earn credit points beyond welfare was precious.

Stepping out of his home, Su Chen, now known as Barrett, began to wander around the "former Graywood Town" that had become Shaffir City. This seemingly casual stroll was actually an important channel for gathering information.

Along the way, he was greeted by familiar residents (NPCs). During this time, Barrett had been strict and law-abiding in his work, maintaining a dignified demeanor. However, he was also very approachable in private, which helped him get along well with the residents.

Before long, Barrett arrived at the market, one of the two major information hubs in the city. Typically, markets are divided into two types: one is a dedicated commercial area where players and residents can operate various shops, workshops, or handicraft studios.

However, the operating costs of such large shops were currently beyond the reach of most players. Only a few "professional merchants" who hired large numbers of "artisan workers" with credit points in the real world and acquired funds from players could seize the opportunity to rent shops at this time. According to online leaks, some of the best among them had even begun to hire more skilled resident craftsmen. However, Barrett had not yet seen such a scene in Shaffir City.

The second type of market was the best choice for most players. These markets were usually large open spaces in the center of the town square or at the town's entrance. Small vendors could pay a small fee to set up "stalls" on the open ground, similar to the frequent trading days of the residents. Of course, the management organization provided security to maintain order in the market, although theft could not be completely avoided, there would be no blatant robbery or murder.

This kind of trading created a unique prosperity, and even the residents would sell things in these open-air markets that were hard to find in most stores (though Barrett felt it was more like players expanding the original small resident markets). Typically, the resident adventurers who set up stalls here would travel across the continent, engaging in various treasure hunts, trading, and exploration. If a player had high charisma and negotiation skills, they could even form teams with residents.

Thanks to the potential of advanced AI, these resident adventurers had judgment skills that were not inferior to most players. Moreover, because of the knowledge and abilities granted by the system, they were quite good mentors for players in the early stages.

Similarly, like in the real world, the Dilara Continent also had auction venues. For example, in the important western capital of Karada in the Nohan Kingdom, there was a well-reputed "Che Guevara Auction House." In the secondary city of Poitou, there were also irregular underground auctions.

Unfortunately, in a small place like Shaffir City, there were not as many options. The main street running from the southeast to the northwest of the town was the commercial street operated by residents. Due to planning issues, shops and workshops lined both sides of the street. The entrance to the east of the town was the so-called "market" area. Including these two places and the horse team area to the south, they formed the most important commercial center of Shaffir City—the source of money flow.

Wandering around the market without a clear purpose, Barrett was not without gains. While casually browsing the goods, he found a pair of decent arm shields at a stall. For someone who used two-handed giant weapons, this seemed to be a viable option.

Stopping to bend down and look at the equipment data, the 1-point shield bonus, 1-point armor check penalty, and 5% increase in arcane spell failure were all within Barrett's expectations. The 6-pound weight exceeded that of a small round shield, falling into the category of a light steel shield. However, considering that he would wear one on each arm, it wasn't a problem.

"Hi, buddy, looks like you just had a successful adventure?" Barrett pointed to the items and greeted the seller.

"Yeah, just lucky," the guy at the stall lifted his head, his slightly immature face contrasting with his composed demeanor.

'Yeah, right,' Barrett could tell that the character's appearance and real-life age didn't match, and there was a significant difference.

However, he still said calmly, "Arm shields, crossbows, unknown minerals, and a damaged scimitar. You must have been part of a decent team, and the ambush went very smoothly."

As he spoke, Barrett pointed to the items, and the seller's expression changed slightly. While the goods weren't top-notch, they weren't something just anyone could obtain. Some of them were clearly new and unused, indicating they were fresh merchandise. The presence of these items here spoke volumes about the backstory.

The seller's expression changed several times, and his eyes flashed with a dangerous light. However, Barrett's next words reassured him, "Don't worry, I won't say anything. Everything here requires evidence, and there are no wanted posters outside the guild. Your previous target probably wasn't a good person either. Besides, I'm here to do business with you."

Saying this, Barrett pointed to the items he was interested in, "How much for these arm shields?"

"25 gold coins," the seller replied, his expression finally relaxing.

"Too expensive!" Barrett shook his head.

"How can it be too expensive? Didn't you notice the most important data?" The vendor stood up, grabbed the arm shields, and roared, "Wearing these arm shields doesn't affect the use of two-handed weapons! They are the favorite of two-handed warriors."

Typically, shields cannot be used with two-handed weapons. Even small round shields would affect weapon performance, resulting in a -1 penalty to attacks. Two-handed melee fighters, who are usually the main damage dealers in a team, would find this a poor trade-off.

"You're asking too much. It's hard for anyone to come up with such a large sum of gold coins right now. If it were credit points, it would be different, but you're selling them here instead of on an online platform, which means you need gold coins, and you need them urgently." Barrett blinked, preparing to further pressure the seller, "Besides, there aren't many people who can use these arm shields well right now. They require special techniques."

The seller, knowing Barrett was right, gritted his teeth and asked, "What will you offer?"

"18 gold coins! That's my assessment of their value. Any higher, and I won't buy them," Barrett directly stated his bottom line, as the equipment was just a nice addition for him.

"No!" The seller hesitated for a moment, then asked softly, "I can sell them to you at this price. By the way, are you one of the original testers of this game?"

Barrett asked with interest, "Why do you think so?"

The page flip AD begins

The page flip AD ends