Chapter 4: Starting with a Knife, All Gear Depends on Spending
The four-man team fixed their eyes on the sparkling sapphire, as if seeing countless gold coins raining down before them. Luo Yong ignored those inexperienced fellows and continued with his task.
Skeleton monsters appeared randomly in the wilderness; it wasn’t possible to camp in one spot and farm endlessly. Luo Yong circled half the camp and spotted another five skeleton monsters. Matthew’s group of four were still panting, following at a distance, too afraid to get close—should the skeleton monsters become enraged and charge, they’d have no choice but to run; they simply weren’t strong enough to fight.
Luo Yong quickly dispatched the five skeletons, collected the quest items, and also gained three gems of varying colors. As he passed Matthew’s group, he was acutely aware of their heavy breathing and bloodshot, wolfish eyes…
Were these people about to eat him alive?
Feigning indifference, Luo Yong returned to camp, found out where to hand in his quest, and leveled up for free.
Afterward, Luo Yong wandered around the camp, familiarizing himself with the various places—otherwise, he’d be lost and constantly asking for directions, wasting money and perhaps even falling into traps.
He hesitated at the blacksmith’s, entered, and after a long round of questioning, failed to get a satisfactory answer. “Only level four, and hoping to farm decent gear by killing monsters? Not easy at all!” Luo Yong sighed.
It would be much more satisfying just to pay directly!
At the moment, Luo Yong’s purse held dozens of gold coins and seven or eight gems—not a fortune, but certainly wealthier than those heroes who toiled day and night at tasks and barely scraped together a few coins.
In the magic store, Luo Yong quickly found what he sought: a top-tier equipment summoning scroll.
With such a scroll, one could summon equipment matching their class. If he collected a full set, he could assemble an entire suit of gear.
“I need clothes, pants, shoes…” Luo Yong counted on his fingers, suddenly feeling disheartened. Just thinking about the cost for a full set made his head ache—even a mountain of gold wouldn’t suffice!
“Better get a cloak first—one with a hood.”
After much deliberation, Luo Yong selected a cloak-summoning scroll from the pile, checked the price, and turned green.
Moments later, Luo Yong stormed out of the magic store, gritting his teeth and cursing under his breath, “A den of thieves! This is outrageously expensive!”
At these prices, even two mountains of gold would vanish into the bottomless pit!
He spent ten gold coins on a magic coin pouch, left the camp, and began roaming the wilds, hunting skeleton monsters with abandon.
He lost track of time, but hunger eventually reminded him. Raising his eyes to the sky, he noticed a blood-red moon hanging there—time seemed frozen, with no sense of day or night.
After destroying another wave of skeletons, Luo Yong sat to rest, rummaged through a pile of bones, and picked up a bright red gem.
Its vivid hue mirrored the blood moon above.
“What’s that?”
Some distance behind him stood a group: three men, five women. Leading them was a young woman in a red dress and cloak, her dark red hair cascading over a delicate face, her figure graceful, a longsword in hand, exuding heroic aura.
“It’s a ruby!”
Though far away, Luo Yong gawked blankly at the gem in his hand, an image watched by the entire group.
“Looks like it dropped from a skeleton monster!”
“That’s one lucky fool.”
“He’s only level four, nothing to worry about…”
“Let’s go. Luck isn’t something you can envy,” the red-clad woman said, leading her team away from the camp until they vanished from sight.
Luo Yong ceased his hunt and returned to camp, ignoring the fat man and his companions who approached again. He went straight to the inn, spent a few coins on a heap of food, satisfied his hunger in his room, and crawled into bed.
He slept, not knowing how much time had passed. He woke now and then to eat, drifting in and out of sleep, oblivious to the fat man’s persistent knocking.
When he finally woke again, fatigue had vanished. Luo Yong was restored to full strength and headed directly for the magic store.
The summoning scroll he’d eyed before still lay buried among the unsold magical wares. No one could afford it, and by the time they could, they wouldn’t need it anymore.
Few were as determined as Luo Yong to walk the path of pay-to-win to its bitter end.
In the shop, Luo Yong gripped the scroll with one hand, and with the other, scooped coins and diamonds from his pouch.
Clatter!
Handful after handful of coins and diamonds spilled out, and Luo Yong’s heart bled with each one.
So much money…
“I feel nothing, I feel nothing, I feel nothing… Ruthless profiteers! Selling unsold goods at such exorbitant prices!”
Having bought the scroll, Luo Yong left the magic shop in tears—but his hand now bore a storage ring, a free gift for reaching a certain spending threshold.
He checked it: a basic storage ring, no attribute bonuses, about one cubic meter of space—barely adequate.
On his way back to the inn, he ran into the fat man, Gell, again.
“Brother Luo Yong! Let’s team up to hunt monsters! We got another quest…”
“I’m busy now, maybe next time.” Luo Yong just wanted to hurry back and use the scroll to obtain a cloak fitting his class. After spending that much, he had to see if it was worth it. He nodded, made a perfunctory reply, and quickly left.
“Does ‘next time’ mean never? Brother, I’m not well-read, don’t trick me!” the fat man shouted at Luo Yong’s retreating back.
Without turning, Luo Yong waved, returned to the inn, locked himself in his room, and grinned to himself.
“Am I being too cautious?” he wondered. Anyone else would have used the scroll on the spot, but as a Pretender, revealing his true identity in public was out of the question. He’d never use such a scroll in the magic shop.
He unrolled the scroll. A magic circle was inscribed upon it; placing his hand on the circle would summon class-appropriate equipment.
A dazzling light flashed, and a dark gray cloak appeared in Luo Yong’s hand. The magic circle on the scroll faded from existence.
Item: Cloak of Disguise!
Its rank didn’t matter; this was Luo Yong’s signature disguise tool, growing stronger as his own level rose!
He draped the cloak over his shoulders, pulled up the hood, fastened the cord at his neck, and paced his room, immensely satisfied.
“Pay-to-win is just so satisfying!” he exclaimed. The cloak’s color shifted, taking on a worn look, just suitable for a level 4 Magic Swordsman, and its name became “Cloak of Magic.”
With what little gold remained, he bought food and water, left the inn once more, and set out for another round of hunting—slaying skeleton monsters!
Crack!
Tiring of tripping skeletons and smashing them with rocks, Luo Yong wielded his Disguise Blade—the wooden staff in his hand—and struck mercilessly from behind, smashing a skeleton monster to pieces and leaving a shiny yellow gem the size of a fingernail on the ground.
“With you, I can rest easy!” Luo Yong picked up the gem, delighted enough to hug and kiss it.
Smack, smack, smack!
He smashed three more skeletons in quick succession, then paused as his information panel updated.
Name: Luo Yong
Class: Pretender
Level: 5
Weapon: Disguise Blade
Items: Disguise Gloves, Cloak of Disguise
Item: Book of Seals
“What’s this Book of Seals for? Where did it come from? Why don’t I remember getting it?” Luo Yong muttered, as his Disguise Blade changed form—no longer a wooden staff, but now a slender black bat, thicker than a stick, thinner than a club.
He swung it a few times; it felt just right—smashing skeletons would be even more satisfying.
When he glanced at the disguised weapon’s name, Luo Yong nearly burst out laughing.
Name: Luo Yong
Class: Magic Swordsman
Level: 5
Weapon: Magic Black Baton
Items: Magic Gloves, Cloak of Magic
With the disguise, the Book of Seals was hidden from the panel.
“Magic Black Baton! Perfect for bashing from behind! Heh heh!”
Smack!
With the fifth skeleton felled, Luo Yong squatted and picked up a pitch-black gem.
“Another one?!”
The beautiful woman in red, leading her team back to camp, spotted the gem in Luo Yong’s hand from afar and was baffled—was his luck really that good?
“Huh? That weakling reached level five?”
“Why haven’t we seen him before?”
“Did the drop rate change?”
They discussed how many skeleton monsters it took to get a gem as they entered the camp.
The woman in red said, “Everyone get some rest, eat, drink, and recover. Once we’re ready, we’ll tackle the next quest together.”
The group dispersed, and the red-clad woman headed toward an inn, only to stop abruptly.
The short-haired, ash-blonde girl behind her nearly bumped into her.
“Why’d you stop? What is it, Wendy?”
“Elia, something just occurred to me.”
“What is it? Can’t it wait? I’m exhausted!”
“I just realized…” Wendy turned, gazing out beyond the camp, vision seeming to pierce the wilderness to the lone figure slaying skeletons. “This quest of ours might just need a little bit more luck.”
“What are you talking about? Aren’t we the strong ones?” Elia leaned on Wendy, eyelids drooping, nearly asleep.
“Maybe next time, we’ll finally complete the quest!”