The More You Buy, The More You Earn

Chapter 20 - 20 - The More You Buy, The More You Earn

When the S-rank rating for "Rune Quality" lit up, Weld Gun no longer had much doubt about the mediocre spell name "Arcane Wind Blade."

However, the second test, "Stability," made his breath catch.

[Calculating Stability...]

This was a probability index for a magic spell to collapse, distort, fail, or go awry due to its own issues. It was often linked to "operation method" and "casting environment."

For example, improper operation, outputting magic pressure exceeding the rated limit, or being in a hostile environment, such as an area with elemental pollution.

Therefore, compared to "Rune Quality," the score weight for "Stability" was much higher. After all, no one wanted their magic to suddenly collapse mid-cast.

A moment later, a prominent letter popped up on the screen—

"A!"

"A..." Weld Gun mumbled, his gaze involuntarily drifting to Ivette.

Although not S-rank, it was still a top 10% score for "Stability," far ahead of the rest!

Could she really be a top-tier Rune Compiler? Weld Gun couldn't help but glance at Ivette. Seeing the young mage still maintaining a poker face, calm and composed, he slowly shifted his gaze back down to continue reading.

The third metric was "Mana Consumption Ratio," another crucial performance indicator. It was the art of leveraging internal mana to move external mana, representing how much effect each point of input mana could achieve.

And on this metric, the test result once again reached "S" rank!

At this point, Weld Gun couldn't hold back and took a deep breath. This was the first time he had seen an S-rank mana consumption ratio, and it was on a medium-sized spell with nearly 50,000 runes. If this wasn't the work of a master, who else could be called a master?

Even the thugs at the door, who knew nothing about runes, sensed something unusual and started whispering among themselves.

"Why does boss look like he's seen a ghost?"

"You don't know anything! This is definitely a masterpiece!"

The only one who remained completely calm was Rosaline. She had the most confidence in the "Arcane Wind Blade" spell, even more confidence than Ivette herself. Seeing the results, she felt it was all within expectations and nothing to be surprised about.

—This was her teacher's spell; how could it not be amazing!

And I am my teacher's only student... she added proudly in her mind.

After surpassing the "Mana Consumption Ratio," the most critical, skill-intensive, and attention-grabbing metric, almost everyone believed that a spell with an overall performance of "S" rank was about to be unveiled before their eyes.

But...

In the final "Safety Protection" category, the test result directly dropped to "J" rank, causing everyone present to freeze with expressions of utter absurdity and amusement.

"Miss Mage, this is..." Weld Gun was stunned. He couldn't believe that a master compiler who could achieve S-rank in mana consumption ratio would be at the bottom in safety protection—this was practically a level he himself would achieve!

"What the hell, is the machine broken?"

Ivette remained silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Apologies, I forgot to include firewall or anti-hijacking designs."

"..."

Weld Gun was speechless for a moment. It was like forgetting to write your own name on a college entrance exam for such a top-tier cyber mage to forget something so crucial...

"I can add it, but it will take some time," Ivette said after thinking.

"No... this is even better," Weld Gun suddenly said.

The comprehensive score had already been calculated. Due to the zero score in "Safety Protection," the spell, which was likely to be "S" rank, was now rated "A-." But even so, it was still the most top-tier—a true "Newbie Village Overlord"—that had ever appeared in the junkyard black market.

"Most of my clients are local gang leaders," Weld Gun explained, a hint of mockery in his tone. "Although they are also mages and have learned some runes, their skill level is barely enough to read spells. They'll never reach the level of 'spell hijacking,' so safety designs are completely unnecessary."

He then added with a wry smile, "To be honest, A- is too luxurious for them... If you could 'downgrade' it to B-, they'd be even happier."

"..." Ivette opened her mouth. After researching rune set optimization for so many years, this was the first time she had heard a request for reverse optimization.

However, in the dream, there was no need to haggle over such matters, so she said directly, "It's fine, I'll allow you to sell it at B-grade price."

"...Really?" Weld Gun's eyes lit up instantly—S-rank performance, A-rank rating, B-grade price?

Why not buy a few copies for himself first? Even without anti-hacking capabilities, it wouldn't matter!

This was clearly a case of 'the more you buy, the more you earn'!

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and his heart burned with excitement. His long-dormant ambition surged once more.

Receiving an "A-" overall rating was not the entirety of the test. There were also some specialized tests, such as the penetration power, coverage area, firing rate, and range of the Arcane Wind Blade, and the results were generally summarized as "stat monster."

However, during the final "encrypted packaging" phase, it became a bit tricky. This was a very large-scale technology in the field of rune compilation, not something an individual could develop. Ivette had never encountered it before.

"Let's use Black Tower Pharmaceuticals' remote encrypted packaging service," Weld Gun sighed, bringing up the holographic interface. "It's 5,000 credit points per transaction, payable with digital currency, and it can generate spell packages with activation codes."

"Five thousand? That's so expensive?" Ivette hesitated. She only had two thousand eight hundred on her.

Weld Gun smiled and explained, "Their encrypted packaging automatically binds to the user's 'spirit body' after activation, making it almost impossible to crack. Of course, more importantly..." He lowered his voice here. "This is Black Tower's encryption. Who dares to crack it? They are the emperors of Ish Island!"

"Then... five copies for now," Ivette said, looking at him. "But I don't have the money, so could you front it for me? Thank you."

And so, because the young mage was short on cash, Weld Gun was forced to pay the fees upfront. However, he still purchased two wrapped copies of the Arcane Wind Blade on the spot—the price for a single one was 50,000, totaling 100,000. His liquid funds weren't much, otherwise, he would have bought them all.

After deducting the 25,000 packaging fee and transferring 75,000, along with the 2,800 on her account, Ivette's balance now showed a total of 77,800 credit points.

It seemed like quite a bit more, but still a long way from the "Elemental Decay Completion Technology" that sold for 500,000.

As they left, Welder personally escorted them through the long, dark air-raid shelter.

Bullet marks remained on the rock walls, faintly visible in the dim, yellowish light. Seeing Rosaline looking around curiously, Welder smiled slightly and explained to the young girl, "These were dug out by hand by the residents of Pixel Street during the 'Silent War' twenty years ago."

"At that time, the Corporate Alliance and Global International were at war, and Ish Island became a primary target for the New Eden Commonwealth." He kicked a loose stone by his foot, gesturing with a reminiscent expression. "I was only this tall then, and I spent all my days huddled in here eating compressed biscuits..."

Ivette wasn't familiar with the historical event known as the "Silent War." After the apocalypse, she didn't prioritize collecting such information. She only knew vaguely that the eight super-corporations had joined forces to engage in a protracted hot war with the global government of Origin Star.

Eventually, both sides declared a ceasefire and reached a settlement, leaving things unresolved.

She figured "Corporate Alliance" and "Global International" were the names of the warring factions.

As for the "New Eden Commonwealth," that was directly the nation Ish Island belonged to. However, the island was largely controlled by Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, so the New Eden government didn't have much of a presence.

"I know about Black Tower Pharmaceuticals. Who else was in the Corporate Alliance?" Rosaline couldn't help but ask after listening for a while.

"There was also Spirit Vine Company, Sky Dome Technology, Scale Shedding Organism, Gravity Group, Ember Trace Chemical Industry, Void Tear Group, and Black Tide Company. Including Black Tower, that makes the eight super-corporations," Welder listed them off on his fingers as if reciting something familiar, then let out a cold laugh. "Of course, after that war, they've likely become the eight new kings on this planet."

"How did the Silent War end?" Ivette asked.

Although he wondered why the mage lady's historical knowledge was so lacking, Welder didn't think too much of it. "Nobody knows. Neither side released any information, but they suddenly announced a ceasefire. There were no victors, and strangely enough, before the truce, 'Global International' had a clear advantage... After peace was restored, there were at least tens of thousands of conspiracy theories: superweapon theories, mind control theories, population-depletion theories, even alien invasion theories... Rumors were flying everywhere."

Ivette furrowed her brow slightly. "Superweapons? What kind of weapons?"

Welder thought for a moment and said, "Well, I remember them saying it was a super-bomb, capable of destroying the world if sent to the planet's core, used to threaten the government forces into a ceasefire. There were also mentions of other doomsday weapons. Anyway, in terms of logic, I think the mutually assured destruction aspect at least makes sense."

I thought it was a mutation virus... Ivette shook her head internally, but she still committed the event to memory.

Hmm, while I'm still in this dream state, I might consider looking for information on the Silent War...