Chapter 109: The Internet Café Money Has Run Out

The three brothers, Lin Jia and his siblings, lined up side by side near the corner in the safe zone where the miscellaneous vendor sold random teleportation scrolls. This corner was at the very edge of the square safe area; stepping just one step further would take you outside the safe zone. Yet standing right on this boundary meant other players could not attack you. Moreover, this vendor’s little stall happened to be at the exact center of Earth City, visible to everyone coming and going.

Suddenly, three players, each above level 22 and dressed in professional gear, appeared boldly in the safe zone, arrogantly lining up side by side along the edge. This quickly drew the attention of countless players. Especially Lin Jia, who brandished his Sea Spirit and ignited a massive blaze beneath his feet. One by one, conspicuous “Fire Wall” spells were cast at the feet of the three brothers, creating a 2x2 area of burning fire. The brothers seemed to be stepping on blooming red lotuses amid the flames, looking outrageously confident and striking.

There were level 24 mages around, but very few had learned the “Fire Wall” skill. For many players, this large-area, long-burning spell was likely their first time seeing it, causing an uproar among those in Earth City. Players quickly pressed Ctrl + right-click to open Lin Jia and his brothers’ equipment windows and examined their gear. Upon seeing it, many gasped:

“Damn! Such outrageous equipment!”—said by veteran players who understood the value of such top-tier gear.

“Big brother, can you give me some equipment?”—pleading from new players pretending to be pitiful.

“Wow~! Big brother, cast some red flowers for me too!”—from female players, whether real or male-to-female impersonators, swooning.

Amid the commotion, the three brothers used yellow text messages to broadcast every few seconds, copying and pasting a list of their top-quality professional gear:

“For sale: Level 22 professional gear—heavy armor, magical robes, soul battle attire! Top-tier gear for all three classes, skill books, advanced equipment! Only for veteran players before the server transfer; beggars, don’t bother! High prices, symbols of status! Selling briefly, hurry up! [P.S. Will trade for top-tier equipment too!]”

Immediately, countless players sent messages inquiring.

There were many inquiries, but very few who could afford the prices. One mage player asked Lin Jia how much a pair of ebony bracelets with magic +0-2 cost. Lin Jia replied, “800,000 gold each, 1.6 million for the pair, non-negotiable!”

That mage, not yet wearing a magic robe and holding a crescent blade, was momentarily speechless. After a while, he asked again, “How much for the magic robe?”

Lin Jia answered, “600,000 gold, big clearance sale, no bargaining!”

The mage turned and left, dropping a message in public chat: “I’m deleting my character to play a Taoist! Damn mages are poor and weak… I’m done!”

Lin Jia nearly called him back, saying, “If you’re deleting your character, why not just give me your gear? You’re no use anyway…” Actually, Lin Jia’s prices weren’t high. Before the server transfer, a pair of +0-2 ebony bracelets would already cost 1.6 million gold, serving as a benchmark for gear value. After the transfer and the launch of a new server, with increased gold drop rates, a rare +0-2 ebony bracelet still fetched nearly a million gold.

As for the magic robe the mage wanted, it cost about 200,000 gold before the transfer. But now, with an explosive increase in player numbers and old veterans mostly reaching level 20, demand for level 22 professional gear surged wildly. Yet the drop rates for such gear remained scarce. Even selling a mage’s robe for 600,000 gold had no takers. Otherwise, there would be more players clad in dazzling professional sets in the safe zone. Lin Jia’s 600,000 gold price was already a generous clearance, meant to sell off stock rather than make a profit.

In the current player-driven barter market, where most players could only trade goods for goods, the poorest players felt anguish watching those coveted items slip into others’ hands. If it weren’t for the fact that looting was forbidden in the game, they might have stormed the safe zone to seize gear by force.

Although the poor were many, there were still wealthy players. Soon, the inventory in Lin Jia’s hands converted to nearly 15 million gold, boosting their total assets to 35 million—making them the most likely individual richest players in the entire game.

That day, they had arranged to meet at an internet café. Lin Jia arrived early and flirted with Mei Mei, the internet manager who had recently shown some ambiguous interest in him, teasing and bantering for a while. The big brother and others arrived late. As soon as he stepped in, the big brother laughed and scolded, “You deadbeat! First thing you do is hit on girls!”

Lin Jia grinned mischievously, winking at blushing Mei Mei, “What flirting? Mei Mei’s already mine!”

Mei Mei blushed deeply and spat, “Yours?! You shameless jerk!” Her words sent the big brother and the fourth brother into fits of laughter. Lin Jia sheepishly rubbed his nose, winked again at Mei Mei, then followed the big brother upstairs.

From behind, Mei Mei called out, “Hey, little lunatic! Your card’s almost out of money! Remember to top it up!”

Lin Jia’s muffled voice came from the stairs, “Got it~ Maybe in a few days!”

Recently, they had been playing online a lot. Although they had a VIP card package with 15 overnight passes, and had been playing through the night without spending much on internet fees, most of their meals and other expenses had been charged to the VIP card. Snacks, instant noodles, drinks from the café, occasional takeout ordered by Mei Mei—fried noodles, beer—all were deducted from the card. All in all, the card was running low on funds.

Sitting at their respective computers, the big brother said, “No way! We used up our 200 yuan so fast? It’s only been a few days!”

The fourth brother powered on his machine and said, “Nonsense! With late-night snacks and sometimes eating chips, lasting a few hundred yuan this long is already pretty good!”

Lin Jia frowned, “What do we do then? I dare not ask my family for money again.”

“What can we do? Tough luck! If I ask my mom for money again, she might think I’m doing drugs!” the fourth brother grumbled.

“Why don’t we find some work? Go out and get a job?” Lin Jia suggested.

The big brother and the fourth brother exchanged looks. After some thought, the big brother sighed, “With our trash diplomas that don’t even count as technical school, what kind of jobs can we find? Even street sweeper jobs probably require a college degree!”

His words weren’t an exaggeration. A cleaning worker with a stable job, a pension, and social insurance might be difficult for a third-tier university graduate to even get hired for. With their low qualifications, they probably wouldn’t even be looked at in society.

*******

[Note: This chapter is basically revised content from a rollback, but if it’s not published, the plot won’t connect properly. There are about two more chapters of rollback content, after which all will be new material. The rollback content has been modified, so please bear with it!

P.S.: This is the second update tonight! From now on, one chapter will be released every two hours until all seven chapters are out. If you can’t wait, please wait until tomorrow for the new content! Tonight, whatever amount of words are written will be posted. If the seven chapters aren’t all published tonight, I’ll fall asleep, and the rest will be made up during the day with two extra chapters as compensation!

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