The minimap displayed in the upper-right corner of his field of vision disappeared, but the other settings remained unchanged.
The plaza in front of the Black Iron Palace was still full of players. They seemed to be using it as a sort of marketplace. Wang Yang even stood up, but still couldn't find a single green cloak that stood out in the crowd.
Just then, Argo's next message came through: "If you could find me that easily, I wouldn't be Argo of the Rat."
Wang Yang looked at the message, a few dark lines appearing on his forehead. He opened the virtual keyboard and quickly typed back: "Argo, lurking in the shadows and spying on me—I don't think you're that bored."
"Mr. Xiang Kong, first I have to correct one thing you said. I'm not here because I'm bored!"
"..." Wang Yang replied with a few dots, speechless.
"As an information broker, collecting every bit of information that might be worth selling is a basic requirement. As for why I'm here, want to hear?"
When Wang Yang read the message, he could almost picture a cute-looking girl wearing a sly, world-weary grin. He promptly refused: "Sorry, I don't want to hear it."
Behind a wall twenty meters away, Argo pouted and tapped away at the virtual keyboard, her fingers fluttering like butterflies. She finished typing a message within seconds.
"That's a shame. Maybe my next answer could give you a useful auxiliary skill."
"A useful auxiliary skill? You mean one for spying?" Wang Yang's mouth twitched.
Behind the wall, Argo's eyelid jumped. She muttered under her breath, "That idiot's pretty perceptive..."
The Listen skill let its user hear a player's voice from up to twenty meters away. As for how she could see Wang Yang through a wall, that was thanks to a hidden skill obtainable only through a quest—Peep.
The skill let its user see what lay within twenty meters, ignoring a single obstacle. It was a handy scouting skill, though Argo used it to spy on people.
Though Argo wouldn't casually sell the conditions for obtaining one of her signature skills, she didn't mind Wang Yang knowing about it. She replied frankly: "That's right!"
"So you're using that skill right now to spy on me from the shadows?"
"500 col."
Wang Yang rubbed his temples, then typed out a few words with a wry smile: "I'm not interested in that information. Did you need something?"
Argo, who had always replied quickly, seemed to have fallen silent. A long while passed without another message.
Wang Yang stared at Argo's name in his Friend List, wondering if he should message her to ask what was going on.
Just as he was thinking that, Argo's message arrived with a chime.
"Mr. Xiang Kong, to be honest, I'm very curious about your name during the Beta Test. None of the Beta Test players have anything in common with you."
I told you I wasn't a Beta Tester, but you wouldn't believe me!
Wang Yang lightly tapped his forehead. Then his eyes lit up as he thought of how to answer, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"My next answer will cost you ten thousand col."
Behind the wall, Argo saw Wang Yang's message and wore a dangerous smile. Then, instead of answering his question, she wrote: "The players gathered in the plaza know there's a hunter named Xiang Kong. As luck would have it, I know what that hunter looks like. How much do you think that information is worth?"
The smile on Wang Yang's lips froze, then slowly faded.
In a way, information spread just like rumors, passed from mouth to mouth. In just a few days, word that he was a hunter had spread from the plaza in front of the Black Iron Palace.
Still, he didn't care... So what if he was known as a hunter? At worst, people wouldn't trust him, and nobody would want to party with him.
"I don't care." Wang Yang slowly typed out a line and sent it.
Seeing the message, Argo suddenly realized she'd made a mistake: she'd tried to pass off a threatening message as a joke.
She tugged at her curls in frustration, then quickly replied: "I can confirm you're a Beta Tester, and I can also confirm you're definitely not a hunter."
"How can you be sure?" Wang Yang asked curiously.
"During the Beta Test, there were even fewer hunter players than Red Players. They all had one thing in common: they didn't reveal themselves too early. If they did, it meant they'd already succeeded, and by then, other players would surely come after them. The thing is, there weren't any hunters in the Beta Test that stupid. None of them revealed themselves after just one day."
"That's a pretty harsh way to put it, but I'm really not a hunter," Wang Yang replied with a wry smile.
Argo said: "Any Beta Tester who knows hunters exist could figure that out from such decisive evidence. I'm curious—did you offend the Sword and Fire Squad? Is that why they're spreading this rumor to target you? What I'm even more curious about is that, given how that squad operates, they shouldn't be doing something like this."
Wang Yang thought, I admitted it myself, and it just happened to fit the label. What's there to figure out?
"More or less," Wang Yang replied evasively.
"Hmm. Just how badly did you offend them for them to use such a vicious tactic? You should know that nine thousand of the ten thousand players currently in SAO only just entered the game. They don't know hunters exist. Now that the rumor's spreading by word of mouth, everyone will take you for one. You can forget about partying with anyone from now on."
"I don't care."
"Ha, but I'm very interested in that. Once I've finished the second thing I came to do, I'll investigate. I'll also look into your name during the Beta Test. Then you can pay me some col to keep quiet."
At that moment, Wang Yang wanted to raise both hands and surrender to Argo. He sent a tactful message: "If there's nothing else..."
Behind the wall, Argo narrowed her eyes and murmured, "Never mind. I've got enough information anyway."
After speaking to herself, she typed a few lines and sent them, then headed into an alley.
"Big sis is leaving. Wait for my good news."
Wang Yang read Argo's final message, which ended the conversation, and felt rather helpless. How is that good news for me?
He'd been chatting with Argo for half an hour. Wang Yang checked the time; it was three-thirty in the afternoon, with about three hours until nightfall.
So he decided to head to a blacksmith's shop to enhance his weapon, then set out for the next village.
After walking for about half an hour, Wang Yang found a blacksmith's shop and pushed open the door. As soon as he entered, he saw several players inside.
"Why are the materials so expensive!" one player complained in front of a bare-chested NPC.
"Forget it. You'll be replacing that little sword soon, and it can only be enhanced once anyway. It's not worth enhancing," the player's friend advised. The player who'd complained about the materials could only nod and give up on enhancing his little sword.
The group walked past Wang Yang and left the shop. The spacious blacksmith's shop was left empty, making it feel rather quiet.
Although the Strategy Guide listed information about weapon enhancement, hardly anyone was choosing to enhance their weapons at this stage.
The first reason was that materials sold at blacksmith shops were expensive. The second was that players didn't yet have weapons suitable for enhancement.
Because enhancement was costly, players could only choose high-quality weapons with a high enhancement limit, so they wouldn't waste their materials.
A few days into the game, Wang Yang might not have been the only player with a good weapon, but he was definitely the first with the means to enhance one.
He walked up to the NPC and said, "I'd like to buy materials for enhancement."
"Certainly. Feel free to have a look." The burly, bare-chested man spoke in a flat, emotionless voice. A list of materials appeared in front of Wang Yang.
Low-quality steel/50 col
Good-quality steel/150 col
High-quality steel/500 col
Low-quality iron/50 col
Good-quality iron/150 col.
High-quality iron/500 col.
The list contained only two kinds of materials, each offered in three grades at different prices. Though the Strategy Guide explained weapon enhancement, it didn't list the materials required.
At a loss, Wang Yang closed the list and tried asking the NPC in front of him, "Excuse me, what materials would I need to guarantee a 100% success rate for a +1 enhancement?"
"You'll need ten low-quality steel and iron, two good-quality steel and iron, and one high-quality steel and iron," the NPC immediately replied.
Wang Yang secretly marveled at the cost. One enhancement would cost several thousand col, so it was no wonder the players who'd just left had complained about the price. But he had thirty thousand col on him, so he didn't mind spending that much.
So Wang Yang began buying materials, embarking on his first weapon enhancement in SAO.
Before you continue