Chapter 016: The Tucheng Auction

By now, it was already past seven in the morning. Once again, a large crowd of young people surged into Longtai Internet Café, eager to claim a computer and dive into Legend. Hearing the three brothers grumbling, the others squeezed over to see what was going on. At a glance, four or five players who had crowded forward cried out in unison, “What the hell! Level 20 already?!”

The players who had stayed up all night were startled by the commotion. As soon as word spread that someone had reached level 20, they didn’t care that their own characters were still battling monsters. They quickly logged out to the character screen and rushed over, shouting, “Seriously?! Are you kidding me? How did you level up so fast? I’m only level 15 and you’re at 20?!”

Fortunately, by then, the eldest and the fourth brother had already returned to the castle warehouse above ground, so their secret map remained undiscovered for now. However, hearing the envy and admiration in the voices around them made the three brothers, who’d been grinding levels all night, puff up with pride.

As the bewildered players bombarded the brothers with questions about how they’d leveled so quickly, a player sitting directly across from Lin Jia and his brothers suddenly forced his way through the crowd, craning his neck and shouting, “Hey, mage! Bro! Is that mage called ‘Mad Lingjia’ you?” This player had probably seen Lin Jia’s little mage’s location on his screen but couldn’t get through the crowd, so he ran back to his own computer and navigated his character to the same city to check out Lin Jia’s equipment.

By now, the city was bustling with players. In the so-called “safe zone” at the city center, a dense crowd of warriors, mages, and priests stood shoulder to shoulder, all clad in light blue armor. It seemed that some of the higher-level players were already transitioning to this high-level monster map.

Lin Jia turned to look at the player and nodded. Immediately, that guy let out a gut-wrenching wail: “What the—! Is this even real life?! A 1-5 Sea Soul?! Damn! And so many other rare items!” His shout attracted a group of young men, who flocked over to his computer to marvel at Lin Jia’s amazing gear.

In Legend, if you want to check another player’s equipment, you simply hold down Ctrl and right-click to open their character screen. You can then hover the mouse over each piece to reveal detailed stats.

Lin Jia also noticed a little mage in light armor wielding a Sea Soul staff standing next to his own character in the safe zone, feverishly whacking him with the staff. Only then did he realize this “Little Whirlwind” was the one who’d tried to get his attention earlier.

Most of the exclamatory players hadn’t been present yesterday when Lin Jia scored the overpowered Sea Soul. For these players, who already had some knowledge of the game, the shock was even greater. A few immediately called out to Lin Jia, “Wanna sell that? I can pay in gold or real cash!”

Lin Jia grinned and shook his head, smiling, “Not for sale! I need it myself!”

One of the brothers who’d been there yesterday scoffed, “Bro, you don’t know the market? You wanna buy it with gold? Someone offered a million gold for that yesterday and he still wouldn’t sell. By now, even if it hasn’t gone up to three million, it’s at least two and a half. How much gold do you even have?”

The would-be buyers instantly deflated. After a day of getting to know the game, the number of players in Legend was soaring, and as their levels increased, the demand for gold grew even more intense. Though the black market price for gold hadn’t risen yet—still 100,000 for fifty yuan—anyone willing to sell would be mobbed by wealthy players, supply never meeting demand.

One guy, still unwilling to give up, eyed Lin Jia’s character screen, suddenly snatched Lin Jia’s mouse, hovered over each piece of equipment, and stopped on a forged iron ring with +2 defense and +2 magic. “What about these accessories? I’ll give you fifty thousand gold for this forged iron ring!”

Lin Jia was startled, thinking the guy might try to steal it if he couldn’t buy it. But hearing the offer, he hesitated. Now that his little mage was level 20, he had a lot of new gear he could use. The forged iron ring’s magic stat matched the level 20 Snake Eye ring—both were 0-2—but the ring’s real value lay in its 0-2 defense boost, making it extremely practical for a mage. Lin Jia checked his inventory: over 300,000 gold, so he wasn’t short on cash. He shook his head and declined.

“Second brother, sell it! Top-tier forged iron ring! Defense 2, magic 2! Three hundred thousand gold! Anyone who knows what it’s worth, come trade!” Fourth brother called out, winking at Lin Jia, while the eldest brother made faces, grinning from ear to ear. Lin Jia, now thoroughly confused, simply watched the prospective buyer in silence.

Hearing the price, the player squeezed his way out of the crowd, grumbling, “What the heck! Three hundred thousand? Why don’t you just rob a bank?!” The others burst out laughing. Lin Jia’s forged iron ring wasn’t especially rare, but its combination of defense and magic made it better than most level 20 gear for low-HP, low-defense mages—so of course it wouldn’t come cheap. At this stage, no one was willing to spend a fortune on such a luxury.

Fourth brother chuckled, “Hey! Don’t go! If you can’t afford the forged iron, we’ve got other stuff! Listen up, everyone! Selling all kinds of gear for every class and level, a third cheaper than the shops! Lots of rare items, too! Name your price; if it’s fair, it’s yours!”

The crowd erupted in delight. Right now, most people were so broke from leveling and buying potions that even basic gear was out of reach. The chance to replace old equipment for cheap—even ordinary stuff—was a godsend. They all shouted, “Me! Me! Where?!”

Fourth brother glanced at his screen, then at Lin Jia’s. “How do I get there from here?” A helpful player quickly explained: the castle they were in was called “Sabac City,” while Lin Jia was in the main city on the Mengzhong Province map, known as “Earth City.” To get there, they just had to exit Sabac to the left, cross a short canyon, and they’d arrive at Earth City.

Seeing so many eager buyers for the fruits of their all-night grind, the three brothers were so excited they forgot all about being tired. Fourth brother had the eldest hand over all the top-tier gear, keeping only the very best for themselves, then took the rest to the Earth City safe zone to auction off. The eldest went to the Earth City warehouse to sell ordinary gear at fair prices. Everyone was overjoyed!

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(Trouble: Heh! I made it back alive! Nearly ran out of bus fare...

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