Hunting Plan

However, once Ian saw through Gou the Planner's conspiracy, that information instantly became the strongest card in his hand.

Ian's next step became very clear—he needed to change his starting traits, then wait at the place most likely to be used as a rendezvous point for allies and hunt down other players.

He was currently at Harrenhal, so the nearest possible meeting point other players might choose was obviously Crossroads Inn, located at the intersection of the north-south Kingsroad and the east-west Riverlands Road and Vale Road.

As the crossroads of The North, The Riverlands, Vale, and The Crownlands, Ian believed plenty of players would appear there, whether they had arranged to form alliances there or were merely passing through.

The next question was how to disguise himself. And after successfully concealing himself and discovering other players, how was he supposed to defeat them?

Neither question was easy to solve.

First came changing his starting traits. It was a beautiful idea, but not easy to put into practice.

None of the equipment on Ian's body, all of it obvious identifying features, was expendable.

Whether it was his weapons, armor, or horse, all of it was core equipment for Ian. In fact, he had chosen to start as a Sellsword Knight precisely for this set of gear.

With only 200 Silver Stags on him, he could not afford better armor. In other words, if he wanted to alter his appearance, he could only switch to worse equipment, which would undoubtedly cripple his combat strength.

When the time came, even if he found other players, he might still be unable to beat them, whether through deception or an ambush.

Unlike his previous-life self, who had held an office job and relied entirely on his stats panel for combat ability, quite a few of the other players drawn here by the enormous prize money had been martial arts champions or masters of cold-weapon combat in their previous lives.

With their extensive combat experience and techniques, they could undoubtedly display strength far beyond what their stats panels suggested.

Unless their average attributes were no higher than five?

"Traveling Merchant!" Ian suddenly thought of that class.

If it was a Traveling Merchant, then even if The Mountain or Faith of the Seven's soul were placed inside his body, it would be useless, right? After all, he would not even be able to lift their weapons.

It was like Arya before her Faceless Men training trying to kill The Hound with her Needle. Even if The Hound stood still and let her stab him, she would not be able to pierce him.

So... could he hunt a Traveling Merchant?

The moment that thought surfaced in Ian's mind, one clue after another began linking together frantically.

First, Traveling Merchant was undoubtedly a highly popular starting class. There had to be plenty of players who chose it.

Second, driven by the "First Blood" mission, Traveling Merchants who could not even truss a chicken would certainly not dare meet their arranged allies. They had neither the means to kill other players nor the courage to trust those allies.

Unless they recruited mercenaries. Yet mercenaries happened to be a popular starting class with the least obvious starting traits. Recruiting them was an extremely risky matter for merchants, who might even need to avoid the places mercenaries frequented.

Therefore, Traveling Merchants in the early game were indeed excellent hunting targets for Ian. They had neither allies nor mercenaries.

But the merchants' reluctance to meet their allies also created a problem: Ian had no clues for finding them.

"No," Ian immediately shook his head. "There are still clues."

Unable to gain points by killing other players, a Traveling Merchant's only hope of earning points rested on the main quest.

So what would a Traveling Merchant's main quest be?

Ian might not be able to guess how the main quests of other classes had been designed, but for Traveling Merchants, no matter how they were designed, they would ultimately involve trading goods and making money.

Moreover, Traveling Merchants had a huge natural advantage at the start. Unlike Sellsword Knights and others who were practically penniless, they began with a full 100 Gold Dragons!

A task such as "Earn 1,000 Gold Dragons" was practically a fantasy to Ian, but for Traveling Merchants, if they handled things properly, it was not completely impossible.

Therefore, those who started as merchants would most likely choose to run trade routes.

And for trade routes, The Riverlands, where Ian currently was, was an excellent place.

The Riverlands connected in every direction. The War of the Five Kings had not yet turned it into a chaotic mess. On the contrary, under House Tully's rule, public security here was considered exemplary throughout Westeros, with pitifully few bandits or highwaymen.

Running trade nearby was obviously a good idea.

The question was, what goods would be best to trade?

Furs from The North? That was not bad. Buy furs cheaply in northern villages, then sell them in southern cities.

It was a nearly perfect trade route, because northern furs could sell for two or three times their original price in the great southern cities. If one smuggled them and avoided tariffs, the profits could be even higher.

But there was a problem with the timing. Westeros was too vast. Even starting in The North, hauling goods south took at least two months. Starting in the south would take even longer.

For players who would face an assassin lottery two months later, the fur trade was probably not very appealing.

If furs would not work, then what about iron ore from The Westerlands?

That had high profits too, and the trade route was shorter. The distance from The Westerlands to ideal markets in The Riverlands or The Reach was less than one-third of the northern fur route.

Unfortunately, with a system inventory of only one cubic decimeter, transporting ore required mules and wagons. If the shipment was too small, the profits did not seem likely to amount to much.

And iron ore might even be state-controlled merchandise. No, under Westeros's feudal system, it was almost impossible for any goods to be state-controlled. Wait... state-controlled?!

"Salt!" Ian immediately grew excited.

In the ancient Great Celestial Empire, goods like salt and iron had always been state-controlled. But because of Westeros's feudal system, administrative authority over territories large and small was scattered among hundreds and thousands of lords. The royal family had no way to monopolize the salt and iron trade, leaving the lords and merchants free to trade as they pleased.

Dealing in illicit salt had been a crime punishable by beheading in the ancient Great Celestial Empire, yet people still flocked to it. The profits were easy to imagine.

Tell him, what merchant player starting in or near The Riverlands could resist the temptation of salt?

"If they were going to trade salt..." Ian mentally reviewed the map of Westeros, which he had long since memorized by heart.