Chatting and Enhance

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On the plaza in front of the Black Iron Palace, a considerable number of Players were still gathered, seemingly treating the area as a sort of trading market. Wang Yang even stood up, but he still couldn't find the conspicuous green cloak amidst the crowd.

Just then, Argo's next message arrived: "If I were easy for you to find, then I wouldn't be Argo of the Rat."

Looking at the message, a few dark lines appeared on Wang Yang's forehead. He opened the virtual keyboard and quickly replied, "Argo, peeping from the shadows, I don't think you're that bored."

"Mr. Xiang Kong, first, I must correct you on one point. I'm not here because I'm bored!"

"..." Wang Yang replied with a few speechless dots.

"As an information broker, collecting all possible information to sell is a basic requirement. As for why I'm here, do you want to hear it?"

When Wang Yang saw this message, he could almost picture a cute girl with a mature, cunning smile. He decisively refused, "Sorry, I don't want to hear it."

Behind a wall twenty meters away, Argo pouted. Her hands danced like butterflies on the virtual keyboard, and a message was completed in seconds.

"That's a shame. Perhaps you could get a convenient auxiliary skill from my next answer."

"A convenient auxiliary skill? You mean for peeping?" Wang Yang's mouth twitched.

Argo, hidden behind the wall, twitched an eyelid and muttered to herself, "This idiot is quite sharp..."

Eavesdropping allowed one to listen to player voices from twenty meters away. The reason she could see Wang Yang through a wall now was a hidden skill obtainable only through quests—Peeping.

This skill allowed one to ignore an obstacle and observe the situation within twenty meters ahead, a very practical reconnaissance skill. However, Argo used it for peeping.

As her signature skill, Argo wouldn't casually sell the conditions for obtaining it, but she didn't shy away from Wang Yang knowing about it, so she directly replied, "That's right!"

"So you're using this skill now to peep at me from the shadows?"

"500 Kael."

Wang Yang rubbed his temples, then typed a few words with a bitter smile and sent them: "I'm not interested in this information. Did you need something from me?"

Argo, who always replied quickly, seemed to fall silent. A long time passed without a message.

Wang Yang looked at Argo in his friend list with confusion, wondering if he should send a message to ask what was going on.

Just as he was thinking this, Argo's message arrived with a ding.

"Mr. Xiang Kong, to be honest, I'm very interested in your name from the Beta Test. Among all the Beta Test players, none have any similarities to you."

So I told you I wasn't a Beta Test player, but you don't believe me!

Wang Yang gently patted his forehead. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He thought of how to reply, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"The following answers will cost you ten thousand Kael."

Behind the wall, Argo saw the message from Wang Yang and a dangerous smile flickered across her face. She then replied, not to his question, but, "The players gathered in the plaza all know there's a Hunter named Xiang Kong. Coincidentally, I know what this Hunter looks like and his characteristics. How much do you think this information is worth?"

The smile on Wang Yang's lips froze for a moment, then slowly faded.

The spread of information was, in a way, like rumors. Passed by word of mouth, within just a few days, the information that he was a Hunter had spread through the plaza in front of the Black Iron Palace.

However, he didn't care... What was the point of having the identity of a Hunter? It just meant people wouldn't trust him and no one would team up with him.

"I don't care," Wang Yang slowly typed and sent.

Seeing this message, Argo suddenly realized she had made a mistake. She had intended her threat to be veiled in a joke.

Annoyed, she tugged at her curly hair and quickly replied, "I can be sure you're a Beta Test player, and I can also be sure you're definitely not a Hunter."

"How can you be sure?" Wang Yang asked curiously.

During the Beta Test, Hunters were even rarer than red-named players. They all had one thing in common: they wouldn't expose themselves too early. Because once exposed, it meant they had already succeeded. And by then, they would inevitably face a crusade from other players. But the problem is, there weren't any Hunters that stupid in the Beta Test who would expose themselves in just one day.

"That's a rather ironic reason. I am indeed not a Hunter," Wang Yang replied with a wry smile.

Argo said, "This kind of decisive evidence is something any Beta Test player who knew about Hunters could figure out. What I'm curious about is, did you offend the Sword and Fire Squad? Is that why they're spreading this news to deal with you? What I'm even more curious about is, given that squad's methods, they shouldn't be doing something like this."

Wang Yang thought to himself, I admitted it myself, and it just happens to fit this identity. What other judgment is needed?

"Something like that," Wang Yang replied perfunctorily.

"Hmm, how badly did you offend them for them to resort to such ruthless tactics against you? You know, out of ten thousand people, nine thousand players have just entered SAO and don't even know about the existence of Hunters. Now, with this spreading by word of mouth, your identity is basically confirmed. You can forget about teaming up with anyone from now on."

"I don't care."

"Ha, but I'm very interested in this. After I finish my second task, I'll investigate. I'll also look into your name during the Beta Test. You can then pay me a certain amount of Kael as hush money."

At this moment, Wang Yang really wanted to surrender to Argo. He subtly sent a message: "If there's nothing else..."

Argo, behind the wall, narrowed her eyes and murmured, "Forget it, I've got enough information anyway."

After murmuring to herself, she typed a few lines and sent them before walking into the alley.

"Sister has to go now. Wait for my good news."

Wang Yang looked at Argo's final message to end the conversation and felt quite helpless. This isn't good news for me at all.

He had chatted with Argo for half an hour. Wang Yang glanced at the time; it was 3:30 PM. There were still about three hours until nightfall.

So, he decided to go to the Blacksmith to enhance his weapon first, and then head to the next village.

After walking for about half an hour, Wang Yang found a Blacksmith and pushed the door open. As soon as he entered, he saw several other players inside.

"Why are the materials so expensive!" a player complained to an NPC with his upper body bare.

"Forget it. Short swords will be obsolete soon, and there's only one enhancement attempt. It's not worth enhancing," his friend beside him advised. The player who complained about the expensive materials could only nod and give up the idea of enhancing his Short Sword.

Several people walked past Wang Yang like this and then left the Blacksmith, leaving him alone in the vast Blacksmith, feeling quite deserted.

Although the information on enhancing weapons was noted in the Strategy Guide, almost no one chose to enhance weapons at this stage.

The first reason was that the materials sold in the Blacksmith were very expensive, and the second reason was that players currently did not have suitable weapons to enhance.

Due to the high cost of enhancement, players could only choose to enhance good weapons with high enhancement caps to avoid wasting materials.

A few days after the game started, Wang Yang might not be the only player with a good weapon, but he was definitely the first player with the capital to enhance.

He walked up to the NPC and said, "I want to buy materials for enhancement."

"Okay, feel free to look." The Strongman with his upper body bare said in a voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation, after which a list of materials appeared before Wang Yang.

Poor quality Steel / 50 Kael

Good quality Steel / 150 Kael

Excellent quality Steel / 500 Kael

Poor quality Iron / 50 Kael

Good quality Iron / 150 Kael.

Excellent quality Iron / 500 Kael.

There were only two materials on the list, but each material was divided into three tiers with different prices. Although the Strategy Guide introduced information on enhancing weapons, it did not introduce the materials needed for weapon enhancement.

With no other option, Wang Yang closed the list and tentatively asked the NPC in front of him, "What materials are needed to achieve a 100% success rate for weapon +1?"

"You need 10 pieces of poor quality steel and iron, 2 pieces of good quality steel and iron, and 1 piece of excellent quality steel and iron," the NPC replied immediately.

Wang Yang secretly clicked his tongue. Enhancing once would cost several thousand Kael. No wonder the players who walked out earlier complained about the price. However, he now had thirty thousand Kael on him, so he naturally wouldn't care about this small amount of money.

Thus, Wang Yang began to buy materials, ushering in his first weapon enhancement in SAO.