Sky-High Price!

Qin Ran intended to sell both [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers and had no plans to keep either.

First, he lacked the corresponding skills and could not bring out the equipment's full power. Unless he resorted to 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 swiftly. 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 rocket launcher models 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 clear evaluation did not seem particularly generous.

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

"Is it because this was a Beginner Instance?"

Qin Ran checked the information, where the words "Final player Beginner Instance rewards are as follows" were clearly recorded.

That gave Qin Ran even more to speculate about.

However, once Qin Ran saw the transactions on the forum, his attention was completely diverted—

A damaged pistol with average attack power was listed among players for 90 to 110 Points. The main factor affecting the price was whether it came with two matching full magazines.

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

A defensive grenade similar to the [-II] was also worth 300 Points.

Most forum transactions were at this level.

While Qin Ran was browsing, a pistol with the [Precision Strike Lv1] attribute occasionally appeared, directly listed for 1,000 Points. Before Qin Ran could even see its specific attributes clearly, someone had bought it.

Clearly, equipment with attributes was highly sought after.

This gave Qin Ran even greater confidence in his upcoming plan.

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

Because of his carrying capacity, 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]

[Magazine Capacity: 1 round]

[Attribute: Burn Lv1]

[Special Effect: None]

[Requirements: Gunpowder Weapons, Heavy Weapons (Basic)]

[Remarks: Different effects such as explosion and Armor Piercing can be activated 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 Exaltation!

"Most weapons traded by players on the forum have average attack power at best and are mainly firearms. Cold weapons like swords and blades are extremely rare. So far, aside from ordinary daggers, longswords, and sabers, there has been nothing worth noting! The armor is mostly common combat uniforms and bulletproof vests, likewise nothing worth paying attention to!"

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

A rough idea formed in his mind.

At this stage, players had likely all entered instances centered around firearms.

Of course, it was also possible that some high-level players had moved beyond 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 beta players entered an instance only once every three months, at the minimum frequency,

they would still have experienced four instances by now!

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

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

They should have stronger guns or weapons.

Earlier, when Qin Ran had browsed the game's [Store], it had not contained any powerful weapons or equipment, but it lacked no variety of ammunition.

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

Those veteran players who used such high-level weapons were the people Qin Ran wanted to trade with!

Not only because such players had substantial wealth, but also because they knew enough about the entire Underground Game!

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

But first, he had to draw such players out!

With that thought, Qin Ran immediately took action.

"Player's first time entering the forum marketplace. Would you like to choose a nickname?"

A mechanical voice sounded.

"Yes!"

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

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

Just as he had when he used to work at the Gold-farming Studio.

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

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

Qin Ran placed one [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher onto the trading platform. The physical launcher immediately 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 near-real virtual technology.

A form appeared on the trading platform along with a pen.

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

10,000 Points, 5 Skill Points!

The [Store] offered a buyback price of 3,000 Points and 1 Skill Point—far higher than the price given by the game's [Store], but if Qin Ran actually believed the price offered 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 concern.

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 and the illusory [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher vanished from before Qin Ran.

A new post then appeared on the player forum.

Qin Ran then chose to exit the game.

He knew that achieving the most ideal result required time to ferment.

This period would not be too long, nor would it be too short.

It was just enough time for him to take care of his physical needs.

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

As for the taste?

Qin Ran had eaten fast food three meals a day for three years without change. His tongue had long since gone numb.

But it filled his stomach!

For Qin Ran, that was enough.

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

A box of fast food costing 3 Federation coins was already Qin Ran's limit, even at its discounted price.

As an orphan, Qin Ran had not only been given a free welfare apartment before adulthood, but also received considerable discounts on all daily necessities.

Food in particular was half price.

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

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

After becoming an adult, 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 fast food box into his stomach, leaving not a single drop behind.

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

He tossed the fast food box into the trash can, 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—the dilapidated sheet-metal warehouse that had nothing worth praising besides its size.

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

Beep! Beep! Beep!

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

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

1st Floor: Holy crap! A rocket launcher!

2nd Floor: The OP is broke out of his mind!

3rd Floor: The guy above is an idiot!

4th Floor: Sincere offer of 2,000 Points. OP, contact me!

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 meaningless.

Still, quite a few were worth noting.

At the bottom of the comments, a player with the nickname "Lawless" stated that he was willing to offer 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 a substantial fortune. Qin Ran's S-rank clear evaluation had only earned him 3,000 Points. Perhaps there were higher evaluation ranks, but the Points earned could not be much greater. Five to six thousand was probably the limit. Under those circumstances, Qin Ran believed there were not many newcomers willing to spend 5,000 Points on an [Iron Fist-II].

He could even say there were none.

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

Qin Ran deleted all of them without hesitation and turned his attention to the remaining valuable private messages.

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

This time, the other party raised the offer once more.

6,000 Points, 2 Skill Points!

That surprised even Qin Ran, who had named such an outrageous price.