Exorbitant Sale!

Qin Ran intended to sell both [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers and keep neither.

First, he lacked the corresponding skills and could not bring out the equipment's full power. Unless he unleashed indiscriminate bombardment like he had at Saruka Camp, they were far less effective than the sniper rifle in his hands.

Second, even though Qin Ran's Strength attribute had increased by one level, the weight of the [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher meant he could not carry both a sniper rifle and a rocket launcher while moving nimbly. His Strength and Stamina were not enough for that, and after several battles, Qin Ran understood even more clearly how important Agility was at critical moments.

Third, and most importantly, a standard rocket round suitable for all types of rocket launchers cost 500 points in the [Store]!

Before seeing that price, Qin Ran had still been somewhat hesitant.

But after seeing it, his resolve instantly hardened.

He could not afford such a price!

Even if Qin Ran was unwilling to admit it.

His S-rank clearance evaluation did not seem very generous.

After all, the rockets he had fired at Saruka Camp were enough to exchange for three S-rank clearance evaluations.

"Is it because this was a Beginner Instance?"

Qin Ran checked the information, where the words "The final results of the player's Beginner Instance are as follows" were clearly recorded.

This gave Qin Ran even more to speculate about.

However, his attention was soon completely diverted when he saw the trades on the forum—

A damaged pistol with average attack power was listed by players at 90 to 110 points. The main reason for the price difference was whether it came with two matching fully loaded magazines.

A damaged assault rifle with average attack power was listed by players for around 300 points, without any matching ammunition.

A defensive grenade similar to [-II] also cost 300 points.

Most forum transactions were at this level.

While Qin Ran browsed, a pistol with the attribute [Precision Strike Lv1] occasionally appeared, listed directly at 1,000 points. Before Qin Ran could even see its exact attributes, it had already been bought.

Clearly, equipment with attributes was highly sought after.

This gave Qin Ran greater confidence in his next plan.

After all, both [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers he had brought back had attributes!

Because of the weight limit, Qin Ran had naturally selected the finest equipment from Saruka's armory to bring back.

[Name: Iron Fist-II]

[Type: Rocket Launcher]

[Quality: Brand New]

[Attack Power: Powerful]

[Ammo Capacity: 1 round]

[Attribute: Burn Lv1]

[Special Effect: None]

[Requirement: Firearms, Heavy Weapons (Basic)]

[Remarks: Different effects such as explosions and armor piercing can be triggered depending on the rocket round, provided you possess such rocket rounds]

Perhaps because they were from the same brand or the same military factory.

The two [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers had identical attributes.

Their value was equally high!

"The weapons traded by players on the forum mostly have average attack power at best and are mainly firearms. Cold weapons such as swords are extremely rare. So far, aside from ordinary daggers, longswords, and sabers, there has been nothing worth noting! As for armor, there are common combat suits and bulletproof vests, likewise nothing worth noting!"

Qin Ran's gaze swept over the many weapons and pieces of armor on the forum.

He had formed a rough idea.

At this stage, players should all be entering instances centered around firearms.

Of course, it was not impossible that a few high-level players fell outside that category.

After all,

three hundred players had survived the Underground Game's closed beta.

And that had been a year ago!

Even if those closed-beta players entered an instance only once every three months, at the minimum rate.

By now, they would have experienced four instances!

If there were some extreme players among them, that number would multiply several times over.

A player who had cleared eight or even more instances would definitely not be using such ordinary firearms.

They should have more powerful guns or weapons.

Earlier, when Qin Ran had browsed the game's [Store], there had been no powerful weapons or equipment, but all kinds of ammunition had been plentiful.

Some special types of ammunition were enough for Qin Ran to infer the existence of certain high-level weapons and equipment.

And those veteran players who used high-level weapons were exactly the people Qin Ran wanted to trade with!

Not only because such players had considerable wealth, but also because they understood the entire Underground Game well enough!

If they could tell him more about the Underground Game, Qin Ran would not mind giving them a discount.

But first, he had to draw such players out!

With that thought, Qin Ran immediately took action.

"Is this your first time entering the forum marketplace? Would you like to choose a nickname?"

The mechanical voice sounded.

"Yes!"

After thinking for a moment, Qin Ran nodded and casually gave a nickname. "2567!"

It had no meaning whatsoever. He had simply chosen it at random.

Just like when he had worked at the Gold-farming Studio before.

"Nickname 2567 confirmed! Please place the item you wish to trade on the trading platform and mark its price!"

After the mechanical voice fell silent, a holographic platform appeared before Qin Ran.

Qin Ran placed one [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher on the trading platform. Immediately, the tangible launcher became illusory. Qin Ran was not surprised in the slightest. This was a game, after all. What was there to be surprised about?

If there was anything truly surprising, it was the Underground Game's nearly lifelike virtual technology.

A form emerged from the trading platform, along with a pen.

Picking up the pen, Qin Ran quickly wrote down the price of the [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher.

10,000 points, 5 skill points!

The [Store] had offered a buyback price of 3,000 points and 1 skill point—far higher than the price offered by the game's [Store]. But if Qin Ran actually believed the price given by the game's [Store], then there was something wrong with his brain.

Every player knew that the game [Store]'s buyback price was only half the item's actual value, or even less!

Besides, only a sufficiently high price could attract those veteran players.

As for the price being too high and scaring everyone away, Qin Ran had no such concerns.

Anyone who truly wanted it would definitely send him a private message.

Once he placed the form back on the trading platform, the holographic platform, along with the illusory [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher, immediately vanished from before Qin Ran.

A new post then appeared on the player forum.

Afterward, Qin Ran chose to log out of the game.

He knew that achieving the ideal result would require time to ferment.

That time would not be too long, nor would it be too short.

He could use it to take care of some personal physiological needs.

When Qin Ran came out of the bathroom, the instant food had softened in the hot water and was ready to eat.

As for the taste?

After eating instant food three times a day for three years without change, Qin Ran's tongue had long since gone numb.

But it could fill his stomach!

For Qin Ran, that was enough.

His finances did not allow him to waste more on food.

A box of instant food costing 3 Federation credits was already his limit, even at the discounted price.

As an orphan, Qin Ran had not only been provided with free welfare housing before reaching adulthood, but also received substantial discounts on any daily necessities he bought.

Food in particular was half price.

Although Qin Ran wished it could be completely free, that was simply impossible.

In fact, such benefits and discounts came with a price.

After reaching adulthood, Qin Ran had to serve eighteen months of military service for the Federation without pay.

Qin Ran had no complaints about that.

Because without such a policy, he would have died long ago.

Qin Ran poured the last mouthful of soup from the instant food container into his stomach, leaving not a single drop behind.

Even if it tasted terrible, Qin Ran would not waste food.

After tossing the container into the trash, Qin Ran lay down on the bed again and put on the Virtual Helmet.

The scene before his eyes changed.

When Qin Ran came back to his senses, he was already in his room within the Underground Game—that shabby sheet-metal warehouse with nothing praiseworthy except its size.

Qin Ran walked to the LCD screen, opened the forum, and directly entered the transaction page for the [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher.

Beep beep beep!

A series of message alerts immediately rang in Qin Ran's ears.

Looking at the constantly flashing private-message tab, Qin Ran was not anxious. Instead, he looked at the player comments beneath the transaction listing.

1st floor: Holy shit! A rocket launcher!

2nd floor: The original poster has gone broke!

3rd floor: The guy above is an idiot!

4th floor: 2,000 points, sincere offer. Contact me, OP!

5th floor: The guy above is trying to get a bargain. I offer 2,500 points!

6th floor: I'm a steward of Steam City. Give me the [Iron Fist-II], and I'll bring you into the guild!

7th floor: Steel Chariot says the guy above is an impostor!

8th floor: Without the corresponding skills, you can't handle this kind of heavy firepower at all!

9th floor: May I ask, what are skill points?

10th floor: Total newbie above!

There were a full two hundred comments, but most of them were just as pointless.

However, quite a few were worth noticing.

Near the bottom, a player with the nickname "Lawless" stated that he was willing to pay 5,000 points and 2 skill points for the [Iron Fist-II].

That was the highest offer Qin Ran had seen so far.

"A new player? Or a veteran player?"

Qin Ran's guess leaned toward the latter.

If he were a new player, he should not have such considerable wealth. Qin Ran had received only 3,000 points for his S-rank clearance evaluation. There might be higher evaluation ranks, but the points gained could not be much higher. Five to six thousand points would be the limit. Under such circumstances, Qin Ran believed there would not be many newcomers willing to spend 5,000 points on an [Iron Fist-II].

It could even be said that there were none.

At the very least, he could not spend the entire earnings from one adventure on a weapon, especially when that weapon had no ammunition and required additional expensive purchases.

After reading all the comments, Qin Ran opened the private messages—this was where he had placed his hopes.

However, most of them were still meaningless messages, including but not limited to friend requests, demands for photos, and requests for explicit content.

Qin Ran deleted them all and turned his attention to the remaining private messages of value.

Among them, the player with the nickname "Lawless" appeared once again.

This time, the other party had raised the offer again.

6,000 points, 2 skill points!

Even Qin Ran, who had named such an exorbitant price, was surprised.