Xiao Jie stared at the dark, fat man in surprise. He had seen this guy that morning when he came to inspect the equipment, silently hammering away inside the house. Xiao Jie had thought he was an NPC; he looked nothing like a player.
The key was that this guy had chosen such an ordinary name, blending perfectly into the local atmosphere.
He looked at the name above the other man's head, then at the one above his own.
Wang Kai (Blacksmith Apprentice) Level: 1 Hidden Moon Follows Wind (Woodcutter) Level: 1
"You're really a player?"
"Yeah. What, did I scare you? Hahahahaha." The dark, fat man burst into laughter.
"I was indeed a little startled. But since we're both players, could you do me a favor? I just started playing and don't have much money. Look..."
"Don't. This is a small business, and repairing equipment costs money too. If you're short on cash, how about this? I can sell you some game currency. I'm a professional gold seller."
Xiao Jie was a little surprised. Had he run into someone in the same line of work?
But wait, people sold gold in a Death Game too? That really caught him off guard.
Although he had initially planned to grind for money in this game, ever since learning the truth about it, the only thought in his mind had been "gain power." He had never expected someone to sell gold in a game like this.
Xiao Jie cautiously asked, "What's the exchange rate?"
Wang Kai said, "One to ten. How about that? Pretty cheap, right?"
One to ten? That really wasn't expensive. Xiao Jie thought. A thousand Copper Coins would only be a hundred yuan. That would be highway robbery in other games, but in a game like Old Earth, it was practically dirt cheap.
"Then let me get a thousand Copper Coins first, just to test the waters. At one to ten, that's a hundred yuan, right?"
Wang Kai looked at Xiao Jie speechlessly. "What kind of sweet dream are you having? Copper Coins are one, RMB is ten. If you want a thousand Copper Coins, that's ten thousand yuan."
Even Xiao Jie, seasoned as he was, was startled.
Wen was the lowest-tier currency in this game, equivalent to copper coins in World of Warcraft.
One thousand wen equaled one tael of silver, while ten taels of silver equaled one tael of gold.
By that calculation, one tael of silver cost ten thousand yuan, and one tael of gold cost one hundred thousand yuan. That was even more expensive than real gold. In reality, a tael of gold only cost a little over thirty thousand yuan.
Liu Qiang had said that game currency in this game was valuable and that grinding would definitely have a future. It now seemed he had been absolutely right.
"Well? Are you buying or not? Give me a straight answer. I'm busy."
"Forget it. That price is a bit ridiculous. Here are fifty Copper Coins. Help me repair the knife."
Xiao Jie still had tens of thousands of yuan in his bank card. If he went all out, he could exchange it for a few thousand Copper Coins. But he had no intention of betting everything on one throw. Considering that he would be devoting himself completely to Old Earth for some time to come and would have no source of income, those tens of thousands were his living expenses for the next two years. He could not squander them carelessly.
Of course, the main reason was that this clearly was not the kind of game where one mindlessly farmed monsters. It was not a game where investing a little money in equipment early on would let someone dominate everything.
Since he did not plan to leave the village, there was little point in spending money on equipment. Besides, game designers usually built a self-consistent economic ecosystem into their games, often involving all kinds of hidden details that could not be discovered without actually playing and exploring.
Players would only do certain things when they needed certain things, and that would lead them to the game's true mechanics. Firewood Chopping might very well be one such mechanic.
Based on his years of gaming experience, Xiao Jie vaguely felt that this Firewood Chopping job definitely had further developments waiting down the line. It could not possibly be as simple as it looked on the surface.
If he bought gold and solved everything with money, he might miss out on gains he should have obtained. That would be more loss than gain.
Besides, Wang Kai was not going anywhere. If Xiao Jie truly needed to spend money on gold someday, he could just come find him then.
As Wang Kai swung his hammer and began repairing the knife, Xiao Jie used the waiting time to chat with him and gather some useful information.
"How long have you been playing this game?"
Clang—clang—clang!
"Three years."
"Three years?"
Xiao Jie found that hard to believe. If it had been three years, didn't that mean Wang Kai had been playing since the game launched? He was an old player, then. How could he possibly still be only Level 1? This game did not allow alternate characters.
"But you're only Level 1?"
"Yeah. That's because I've never left this village, and I've never fought monsters. Naturally, I had no way to level up."
Clang—clang—clang!
"My gaming principle is this: as long as I don't leave the village, I won't die. As long as I don't fight monsters, I won't encounter danger. So ever since entering this game, I've never taken a single step outside the village."
Clang—clang—clang!
Xiao Jie watched Wang Kai swing the blacksmith's hammer, unsure what to say for a moment.
"You haven't left the village in three years? Then what have you even been playing for those three years?"
"Farming, chopping wood, fishing, mining—anything that makes money, I do it. But blacksmithing makes the most money. After all, it's processing work, so there's a markup on the finished goods. I mined for two years before saving enough to apprentice under a blacksmith, but that money was absolutely worth spending.
"Now, aside from mining, I forge every day. I sell the finished weapons to the village shop. An Iron Sword sells for a hundred Copper Coins, and a spear sells for ninety. After costs, I make at least ten thousand Copper Coins a month. The current exchange rate between game currency and RMB is one to ten, so I make well over a hundred thousand yuan a month. That's much faster than grinding in real life. It's a solid high-paying job."
Wang Kai sounded quite pleased with himself.
Xiao Jie was dumbfounded after hearing that. Holy shit, people like this actually exist? In a game where you can gain supreme power, he doesn't fight monsters or level up for power—he's grinding for money here?
"You know this game's secret, right?" he asked tentatively.
"You mean that the skills in the game can be brought into reality? Heh, of course I know."
"Then why..."
"Because I'm afraid of dying. Because I know my own limits. Do you know how many players have appeared in this village over the years? From what I've observed, at least one or two hundred players have come and gone through this village over the past three years. But now, including you and me, there are at most three to five players in the entire village. Eight or nine out of ten of the rest probably died somewhere outside. Many never came back after leaving the village for the first time. Sigh, but those were their own choices. They have no one else to blame."
Xiao Jie naturally knew. According to Officer Li, the one-year death rate was 78%. In other words, eight out of every ten players did not survive their first year.
When he imagined the wilderness outside the village, littered with the corpses and bones left behind by dead players, Xiao Jie could not help shuddering.
But Wang Kai continued, "Of course, not everyone died. Some have done well. I know a few of them. What I've achieved can't compare to those experts who made a name for themselves outside, but it's still better than those players who died out there. I can make money with absolutely no risk.
"Kid, take my advice. Don't keep dreaming about power, spells, cultivating immortality, becoming a god, and all that. The prerequisite is that you have to live long enough to enjoy it. Rather than fighting for your life, why not forge and grind in the village? Making over a hundred thousand yuan a month is better than risking your life outside."
Xiao Jie could not help admiring him. Knowing one's own limits was easy to say, but how many people could truly do it?
To spend three years without leaving the village, this dark, fat man's self-control was absolutely top-tier. Being able to resist the temptation of power and keep his heart steady was no easy feat either.
Still, Xiao Jie could not help saying, "But with that much money, you could buy a full set of top-tier beginner equipment. Start by fighting the weakest monsters, gradually grow stronger, and slowly challenge stronger monsters. Wouldn't that be safe too? You could gain power as well, just more slowly."
Wang Kai immediately laughed. "Heh, everyone who died outside probably thought the same thing. This game isn't like ordinary games. Nothing is absolutely safe. You think weak monsters aren't dangerous? There are no monsters in this game that aren't dangerous. Even a few Wild Dogs can threaten an expert.
"One mistake, and you're done for.
"And even among low-level monsters, special elite units often appear. Even experts can mess up sometimes.
"If you really want safety, the only guaranteed method is not leaving the village. As long as I don't take risks, I won't die.
"Say, why don't you work with me? I happen to be short on a mining supplier. You can mine exclusively for me, and I'll buy at a premium. I guarantee you'll make over thirty thousand yuan a month, and over a hundred thousand a month after three years."
Xiao Jie shook his head. If Han Luo had not died, perhaps he really could have chosen that path. But now, he had to become stronger. Only by becoming stronger would he have a chance to take revenge.
Besides, deep in his heart, his thirst for extraordinary power made it impossible for him to be content hiding in the village and grinding for money.
"No. I have my own plans."
"Heh, then I won't force you. Here, this is your Firewood Knife. It's repaired."
Before you continue