Inside and Outside the Circle

He packed everything up and put it in the trading window.

Mop God of War was a little dumbfounded.

"Wait, bro, where are you? How did you get level 30 equipment?"

"I'm in Forest City." Su Jiang had no intention of hiding it and answered directly.

"???"

"Huh? Wait, doesn't that town require level 30 to enter? How did you get there? Master, share a guide."

Su Jiang was speechless. "Even if you could come here, could you deal with the monsters?"

Players with ordinary Life Levels currently had at most around 1,000 to 2,000 health. Combined with their lack of long-duration crowd control, there was no way they could survive more than two rounds against level 30 magical beasts.

Thinking about how she and her brother were still suffering in a level 10 dungeon, Mop God of War said awkwardly, "You're right."

Prices had fluctuated heavily lately, but Mop God of War ultimately bought all the level 30 equipment. White equipment went for one hundred yuan apiece, blue equipment for two hundred, and purple equipment for one thousand.

As player levels rose, equipment drop rates had also increased considerably. White equipment was easiest to obtain in the wild, blue equipment could be earned through quests, and purple equipment could only be acquired by killing bosses or completing rare quests.

That was why the price of purple equipment had not yet collapsed.

The price of Silver Coins had also fallen quickly.

China lacked everything except people.

In just one week, the studios had driven down the price of Silver Coins.

The current market exchange rate for Silver Coins was 1:10, and even that price was somewhat inflated.

Given Su Jiang's status as a gaming master, Mop God of War still traded with him at market value.

After the transaction, Su Jiang made a tidy sum.

Su Jiang had made a fortune, but unfortunately, the price would probably keep dropping. In a month, it might fall to 1:1.

The wealthy were not idiots either. Seeing that they could not stop Silver Coin prices from falling, they would certainly stop buying for now and wait until the price could not drop any further before purchasing in bulk to complete their initial accumulation.

After the transaction was complete, Mop God of War placed the equipment in the guild warehouse.

When the guild players saw the high-level equipment, they looked at Mop God of War and Cleaver God of War with faces full of admiration.

While they were still miserably grinding monsters just a few levels above them, their guild leader and vice leader had already obtained level 30 equipment.

Mop God of War did not explain the misunderstanding and let the players continue talking.

Before long, a forum post appeared saying that the God of War Guild possessed level 30 equipment. Everyone was shocked and wondered where it had come from.

After playing all afternoon, Su Jiang felt somewhat tired.

Once the transaction was done, he logged off on the spot.

He went out for a meal with Su Yu, then sat with her in the living room and watched an animated movie.

Children needed to sleep early.

Only after coaxing Su Yu to sleep did Su Jiang return to the game.

Su Jiang opened the map and confirmed his current location.

In the Endless Forest, other than the open view available when following the river, every other place was covered by a forest so dense it blocked out the sky. Countless dangers lay hidden within it: not only hunters that concealed themselves, but also all sorts of plants that emitted poisonous gases.

The Green Root Mountain Range lay in the intermediate region of the Endless Forest. To the north was the central region of the Endless Forest, and farther north were the Witch Cult and Northern Alliance, the territory of the beastfolk. To the west lay the border towns of the Dawn Elf Empire, while to the south were the towns of nations such as the Carron Empire and the Southern City Alliance.

The Endless Forest was located in the difficult-to-develop center of the continent and was filled with danger.

Its magical creature ecosystem was also extremely complex. There were buffalo that blended into the forest, as well as all kinds of magical creatures that corroded the woods. The lowest level was 30, while the upper limit was likely the dragons on the Green Root Mountain Range, perhaps between levels 70 and 100.

Su Jiang followed the river for half a day. Most of the magical creatures were in the water, so he encountered little danger. Even so, it would still take another two days to reach the Green Root Mountain Range.

Even Su Jiang could not say what magical creatures he would encounter along the way.

He traveled through the boundless forest for an entire night, and it was nearly midnight before Su Jiang finally felt tired.

After taking care of several more waves of magical beasts, he successfully reached level 18.

Then he logged off, transferred the money from his virtual account back into his bank card, and only then lay down on his bed to browse the forum.

He was moving too quickly for ordinary players to keep up, so things felt a little lonely.

Only on the forums could he feel the lively atmosphere of the game.

"The God of War Guild revealed that their level 30 equipment was sold to them by a lone player! Guild leader Cleaver God of War stated that the player had already earned more than a hundred thousand from him!"

"The fall in Silver Coin exchange rates is inevitable. Players, start grinding now!"

"One Silver Coin can sell for ten yuan! Click in to see current grinding locations! Learn firsthand how to earn over ten thousand a day!"

For a time, the forums were flooded with grinding posts, and the players replying below went wild. They could casually play games and earn over ten thousand a day—were the rich throwing money around like it grew on trees?

At first, the players who joined the game had merely wanted to experience a new game. Now that grinding in-game could make them rich, another huge wave of newcomers flooded in.

Naturally, Meta World became increasingly lively within gaming circles.

Yet in the real world, few people mentioned it. The overwhelming advertisements had been removed, and everyone had returned to their old routines.

Still, there were some self-media news reports about the game.

"Detailed Analysis: A next-generation game, but it is just another reskinned scam designed to lure people in!"—Bilibili uploader

"Meta World has an awful gameplay experience, and its human-computer interaction is painfully stiff. This is the game I regret getting into the most!"—Dudu Media

"Virtual currency transactions are not protected by law. If you hear certain players claiming they made so much money through games, do not believe them. No one would reveal the path that made them rich!"—Anti-Fraud Little Uploader

The scenes inside and outside the circle were completely different.

Inside the circle, wealthy players spent lavishly on items and equipment to build their guilds.

Outside the circle, the media regarded Meta World as a scourge and remained constantly wary of it.

"Ugh..."

Looking at the country's firm policy of resistance, Su Jiang understood its strategy, but he still sighed softly.

To avoid giving Meta World attention, all major news outlets and media could no longer comment on the game. Only some small media channels followed the official line and released videos to ride the wave of attention.

As for videos that spoke well of Meta World, they probably could not get approved.

The early-game benefits were so generous. If the country had changed its strategy earlier, the impact on the future would have been enormous.

Su Jiang truly wanted to remind the country not to miss this tremendous opportunity.

The emergence of Meta World was not something that could be avoided through mere resistance. This was a game from which no one could remain detached. Only by actively participating could one become a winner at the next turning point in history.