Keys

Kirk looked at his room. From the outside, the entire first floor of the hotel was only 200 square meters. Now, looking at it, his room alone was a spacious residence with 3 bedrooms and 2 living rooms, about 300 square meters. Besides bedrooms, a kitchen, and bathrooms, there was also a separate study, a trophy room, and a training hall. He could arrange any function he liked within the same area. It seemed the Sword Bay Hotel possessed spatial magic, with its usable area far exceeding its apparent size.

If even the worst rooms are like this, imagine the higher-class hotels. They must be able to create paradises on earth, enough for cultivation and immortality, Kirk thought.

He lay comfortably on the luxurious sofa, feeling his bones melt. Thinking about what the fat guy had said, he would return to reality in 24 hours and see his dear parents. He wondered how worried his family must be after he'd been gone for so long. However, the fat guy had told him that the 10 days he'd spent here were equivalent to just one night in reality. His parents probably wouldn't even notice.

He picked up the Newbie Guide that the white fatty had thrown at him and flipped through it casually, discovering many interesting things. For example, what he was reading now was about opening keys.

"···After killing plot characters or plot monsters, keys may drop. Keys are divided into white keys, light blue keys, dark blue keys, silver keys, gold keys, dark gold keys, and so on, depending on the strength and level of the character or monster. Generally, keys can only open equipment of a color equal to or lower than the key's color, but there's a tiny chance of obtaining higher-level equipment.

There are usually three ways to handle keys from plot quests or monsters. First, you can choose to open it directly, which will create a reward vortex matching the key's color. The contractor reaches in to draw a prize. Depending on the kill score, there are usually 1-5 draws. Related survival points, Base Attribute Points, and skill potential points will be directly awarded to the contractor according to the calculation formula. Second, you can choose to hand in the key. The Space will evaluate the key's value and calculate a weighted reward, giving the contractor related survival points, Base Attribute Points, skill potential points, Soul Crystals, and other rewards at 90% of the weighted value. This is a risk-free and stable income. Third, you can take it to "Las Vegas" to gamble with the key.

If a contractor is killed, a key will definitely drop and automatically enter the contractor's Space Mark. Depending on the contractor's level, such as newbie, contractor, veteran, or reincarnator, the key's color will vary slightly, appearing as red, dark red, purple, and so on.

When choosing to use a contractor's key, there are generally three options:

1. Choose [Taxation], taxing the other party for 50% of their survival points, Base Attribute Points, and skill potential points.

2. Choose [Plunder], giving the contractor 5-10 seconds to enter the killed contractor's spatial room and plunder their equipment to their heart's content.

3. Choose [Draw], allowing you to randomly draw 1-3 pieces of equipment from the other party. If the other party has a high bloodlust score, the number of draws will increase.

Similarly, contractors can enter Las Vegas to "gamble with keys." The Space will evaluate the key's value and provide a fair weighted value as a reference for gambling. Contractors can generally offer any price to gamble with others or use an auction format. They can also turn them in to the Space for rewards based on its assessed value."

Interesting. Kirk remembered the keys in his Space Mark and poured them all out. Among them, the keys from Ma Ruiqi, Blondie, and Ranmaru were a deep blood-red, while the keys from the ordinary thugs of Blondie were only light red.

It seems the deeper the red, the higher the value. Kirk analyzed, deciding it was time to open them.

The fatty had said these 24 hours were crucial for him to survive the next plot world. Kirk felt that as an experienced broker, he must have a reason, so he needed to seize the time to strengthen himself.

The items in Las Vegas looked numerous but were incredibly expensive. Following the Newbie Guide, Kirk casually opened the Space's Taobao (online shopping) site, where various equipment and items could be traded publicly. He was immediately shocked!

A bottle of [High Protein Potassium Injection] that Kirk had used to fight the Walker King was listed on Space Taobao for 10,000 survival points, 3 skill potential points, and 3 Base Attribute Points, and it even required 1 merit point!

Furthermore, its function was much weaker than the ones Kirk had drunk. After drinking it, it would restore 1000 health points within 10 seconds (or fill up to the maximum if the total health was less than 1000). The cooldown was 24 hours, which prevented the bug of Kirk drinking a lot of potions during his fight with the Walker King.

More importantly, it wasn't even available on Taobao! It was always marked as "out of stock," and some contractors were already bidding 20,000 survival points, but to no avail.

It made sense. A bottle of [High Protein Potassium Injection] was a second life! An item of light blue rarity, like [Gonzalez's Feather Boots], could sell for 8,000 points on Space Taobao. Wasn't your life worth at least two or three such items?

Looking back, the Space had been completely lenient that time. Because the newbie plot had triggered a dark gold hidden main quest, and given the strength evaluation of those two, death was almost 100%. To adhere to the principle of a death rate below 95% and the principle of newcomer protection, the Space had greatly eased up, reluctantly opening the exchange temporarily and forcibly upgrading the quality of the exchange items, selling them to Kirk and the others at an outrageously low 20% discount! As for Kirk searching for [Polymorph] potions, there was no information on Taobao. The fact that they could get them for 500 survival points was only because the Space had reluctantly lowered the price to push the plot.

However, such good fortune was unlikely to be encountered again outside of newbie plots. (Space: In the future, you can think of ways to go, but not ways to die.)

The prices in the Space were outrageously expensive, comparable to housing prices in the second ring of a certain cosmic center in Kirk's world. No wonder the Space stipulated that only newbies with assets over 10,000 points could enter Las Vegas; the poor would have trouble affording even a hotel. Considering his current funds, Kirk's ecstatic newbie plot harvest wasn't making him particularly wealthy. Kirk decided to prepare more money before making any major purchases.

He picked up Ma Ruiqi's key and, after a moment's thought, directly chose [Taxation].

He would collect 50% of the survival points, Base Attribute Points, and skill potential points from the deceased Ms. Ma Ruiqi!

Kirk's choice was also the result of careful consideration. Ma Ruiqi was a team leader, and she was very greedy, with a poor reputation among her team members. It was rumored that after every mission, she would take at least 50% of the team's earnings. She had no chance to enter the Space, so she naturally had no opportunity to spend. This was unlike some "moonlight women" in the big city. (Ma Ruiqi pounded her chest and stamped her feet: I wanted to splurge too, but I wasn't given the chance.)

She must have accumulated a large amount of savings!

After a flash of light, Kirk's lips curled up. Just as he expected!

Ma Ruiqi had contributed a whopping 10,450 survival points, 10 skill potential points, and 12 Base Attribute Points to him!

It seemed this woman had amassed a fortune in just a few days as a plot team leader. Truly skilled at accumulating wealth.

It was quite tragic for Ma Ruiqi. With such substantial economic power, if she had managed to reach Las Vegas alive, her weak combat ability and decent intelligence would have allowed her to soar and become a powerful figure.

Alas, it all became Kirk's savings now. (The deceased Ma Ruiqi: The old philosopher from the Northeast was wrong. The greatest pain in life is when you're gone, and your money is unspent! And you've even funded your enemy!)

Kirk smiled and took Blondie's key.

Blondie shared a common trait with Ma Ruiqi: he was a leech. Most of his team members' earnings also fell into Blondie's hands. However, Blondie was even more tragic. Ma Ruiqi's plunder was 50%, but Blondie, due to his magical item [Tyrannosaurus Glasses] falling into Kirk's hands, had been stripped completely bare.

Blondie clearly had no survival points, Base Attribute Points, etc. He hadn't entered Las Vegas or opened a room, so Kirk had to take a chance and open his equipment.

Kirk used Blondie's key, creating a reward vortex. He reached in, and there were very few items inside. (The deceased Blondie: Damn it, Brother Blondie only had this much buried with him, and now grave robbers are here to dig? What are you looking for? I'll bite you, you zombie.)

Kirk obtained one item and decisively pulled it out: a light blue bracer.

[Giant Leather Bracer]

[Description] Rex, a 7-year-old child from Deepwater City, was often bullied by his peers because of his short stature. He ran home crying to his mother, who told him it was because he was young and gave him this bracer, saying his father from afar had given it to him to protect him from bullying. After Rex put it on, he easily beat up the strong bullies. He later learned that his father was a hill giant.

[Rarity] Light Blue

[Equipment] Bracer

[Effect] Strength +2, Stamina +2

[Tip] This is an excellent light blue equipment. Don't sell it cheap.

Next was the cunning and formidable sissy, Ranmaru. Ranmaru's situation was a bit special. Kirk didn't know his circumstances, but given that Ranmaru was also a newbie with no place to spend, he should have had a huge amount of savings. (Ranmaru cried out: I really don't have money.) On the other hand, Ranmaru had killed many powerful plot characters and newbies, like Michonne and Mori, so he might have had many good items on him.

Kirk ultimately chose the conservative approach. Michonne's and Mori's powerful plot weapons were already in his hands. Judging by their attire in the show, it was unlikely they would drop anything good.

As a result, Ranmaru did not disappoint him. (Ranmaru cried tears of joy.) He also contributed a full 9,000 survival points, 2 skill potential points, and 1 Base Attribute Point to Kirk. It seemed Ranmaru was quite smart, having already chosen to invest in base stats and consumed quite a few attribute points, which explained why he was so strong and didn't let Kirk confiscate everything. The low number of skill potential points was likely because this sissy was busy with infiltration and hadn't completed many missions.

Kirk couldn't be bothered to open the blood-red keys from the other few newbies, as they had already been stripped bare by Blondie and had no oil left. Kirk planned to take them to the casino to set up a house. As for the various white-grade keys dropped by the miscellaneous walkers, Kirk kept them all and also took them to the casino to set up a house.

Finally, Kirk possessed 56,000 survival points, 52 skill potential points, and 30 Base Attribute Points.

It might seem spectacular, but it wasn't too outlandish. Kirk's main wealth came from Ma Ruiqi, Blondie, and Ranmaru. These three guys had extorted, plundered, killed, and committed all sorts of evil deeds, taking almost the entire team's wealth for themselves. (The deceased trio spoke in unison: Who exactly was committing murder and plunder?) This was equivalent to over a dozen newbies creating this vast wealth together, which amounted to less than 10,000 survival points per person. In the extravagant Las Vegas, this wasn't much at all. The newbie plot itself had a 50% reward bonus, plus Kirk's overall strength evaluation being so far out of sync with the plot's difficulty, resulting in another 50% reward bonus, allowing this kid to make a fortune and be overjoyed.