An opportunity and a sorrow

The timer reached 9 minutes and 59 seconds again. This was the moment that would decide everything, and the price had already risen to 85,000. When the final second ended, a flood of bids suddenly appeared once more, bringing the final sale price to a full 120,000.

"Fuck, I bid 110,000 for a Black Iron weapon and still lost?" Young Master Huang had thought the weapon would sell for around 100,000. Hoping to sneak a win, he had deliberately added another 10,000, only to lose anyway. His face twisted with frustration. Nothing seemed to have gone his way lately. It was as though someone always knew what he was thinking and bid just a little higher every time.

"Damn it, I'd better not find out who you are, or I'll kill you until you drop it," Young Master Huang said bitterly.

"Whew... Jun Lin, you were right. These people really don't care about money. A Black Iron piece this early in the game has already been bid up to 120,000. I can't imagine what higher-tier equipment will go for later," Lin Zi said, letting out a breath.

"All I can say is that Dustseal has excellent timing, and this piece of equipment is exactly what people need right now. Our Novice Village also happens to have several seriously wealthy players. People with that kind of money are fairly rare; not every Novice Village has them. Once we reach the Main City and more people start selling equipment, prices naturally won't be this outrageous," Jun Lin said.

"Ah, starting in the same Novice Village as him is both an opportunity and a sorrow," Hao Ran sighed.

The others all nodded. With their abilities, they would already have ruled the roost in an ordinary Novice Village. Here, however, they could only play supporting roles.

"According to the official figures, the number of players in Huaxia Country has already passed two hundred million and is still growing rapidly, so it's only natural for equipment prices to be this high. This is an opportunity for us, too. With him around, we might not get much attention in this Novice Village, but thanks to him, many players here have gotten equipment with high stats ahead of everyone else. That's why I believe our Novice Village should rank near the top in overall strength. Once we reach the Main City, that advantage will show," Jun Lin said.

"Yeah," the others agreed.

Elsewhere, Uncle Liu handed the Tusk Greatblade to Su Muxue. "Miss, this weapon will make our grinding much more efficient. Let's try to reach level 10 early and secure a favorable position in the Main City."

"Mm." Su Muxue sighed. "120,000. Dustseal must have made hundreds of thousands selling equipment between yesterday and today."

"Yes. Since he's ahead of everyone else, making money in this game is genuinely easy for him. If we want to establish ourselves in the game, we have to get ahead of most players," Uncle Liu said.

Ding! The item you listed at the Auction House has been purchased by a player for 120,000 yuan. After deducting a transaction fee of 18,000 yuan, the remaining 102,000 yuan has been transferred to your linked bank account.

Wu Shaozhen, who was grinding Silver Wolves, suddenly heard the notification. Although the price was somewhat beyond his expectations, he had actually started to feel numb to it all. A single Black Iron weapon sold for 120,000. Once I reach the Main City and auction off that Skill Book, I should have enough money for a gaming pod.

Come on, keep grinding Silver Wolves. He checked his EXP: 2340/8000. At level 8, each Silver Wolf gave him 72 EXP. Including the time needed to lure them, each kill took roughly three minutes on average. It would take almost four hours to level up.

"This is a little slow," Wu Shaozhen sighed inwardly. In truth, he did not kill monsters much faster than other players. They fought in groups, standing their ground and attacking once a second, which naturally let them kill faster than him. His advantage was that he could fight monsters several levels above his own. Players who stood their ground could not do that; they simply could not withstand the damage. They had to fight monsters around their own level and retreat occasionally to recover HP, unless they had plenty of potions. Groups also split the EXP equally, so their leveling speed could not compare with Wu Shaozhen's. He was already leveling extremely fast.

I need to change my strategy, Wu Shaozhen thought. He now recovered 6 HP per second, or 300 HP in fifty seconds. That was enough to withstand one attack each from three Wild Wolves. Wouldn't grinding them in groups be much better?

He put the idea into practice immediately. This time, Wu Shaozhen lured three monsters at once and slashed one of them. Just as he was about to strike the second, all three Silver Wolves attacked him at the same time. Dumbfounded, he hurriedly ran away.

"Holy shit, I miscalculated! Run! How did I forget they could attack together? If I slash each Silver Wolf once, I'll have to take nine attacks. I'd be dead on the spot!" Wu Shaozhen smacked his forehead.

Forget it. I'd better stick to the old method, unless I can separate them, Wu Shaozhen thought.

Just then, one Silver Wolf suddenly activated [Extreme Speed], instantly pulling away from the other two as it chased Wu Shaozhen.

Wu Shaozhen's eyes lit up. There, they're separated! Grinding three at once is doable after all.

After grinding for two hours, he logged out, ordered breakfast, ate, and logged back in to continue. After a total of three and a half hours of grinding, he finally reached level 9. His HP reached 660, his MP reached 140, and his EXP was 28/10000. Everything else remained unchanged, and he continued saving his stat points.

In those three and a half hours, he killed 79 Silver Wolves and got two pieces of Silver Wolf equipment.

[Silver Wolf Helmet] Plain: HP +60, Defense +10

[Silver Wolf Ring] Plain: Attack +12, Armor penetration +1%

He put on the [Silver Wolf Helmet], replacing his [Toad Helmet]. The extra 20 HP brought his total to 680.

He listed the [Silver Wolf Ring] and the [Toad Helmet] he had taken off at the Auction House. Unsure of their prices, he put both up for bidding.

In the end, the [Silver Wolf Ring] sold for 15,000. Apparently, other players could already obtain the [Toad Helmet], as it sold for only 5,000 yuan. Sure enough, prices simply could not compare once he lost his monopoly. As players gradually gained levels and equipment, Plain equipment was starting to depreciate rapidly. Wild Boar equipment had previously sold for as much as 30,000, yet now even Silver Wolf equipment only fetched 15,000.

Still, that was pretty good. Wu Shaozhen did not dwell on it. After all, these were secondhand items he had outgrown. Getting any money for them was good enough; otherwise, he could only sell them to a shop for a few dozen Copper Coins.

One more level, and I can go to the village chief and head to the Main City. Given how games work, there should be a reward for being the first to get a class, right?

At level 9, each Silver Wolf gave only 66 EXP. To earn 10,000 EXP, he needed to kill 152 of them. At an average of two minutes per kill, it would take five hours to level up. Just thinking about it was horrifying.

Ah, there's nothing I can do. I'll just keep grinding. Determined to rise above the rest, Wu Shaozhen carried his Wooden Sword off to lure more monsters. Just then, a tremendous wolf howl rang out from deep within the valley. At that howl, he noticed that the Silver Wolves throughout the valley stopped lounging about and became disciplined, poised for battle.

Could that be the boss? Wu Shaozhen wondered. I'll go take a look.

Wu Shaozhen then raced deeper into the valley, avoiding Silver Wolves along the way. Even when he could not avoid them, it did not matter. They could not catch him anyway. His movement speed of 50 was no joke.