Wu Shaochen was harvesting wild boars at a pace of one every two minutes. Each wild boar dropped at least two copper coins and a Fang, which was quite decent.
"The thirteenth one." After poisoning another wild boar to death, Wu Shaochen leisurely walked over to the corpse to collect his loot.
"Oh, another piece of equipment!" Wu Shaochen happily picked up the equipment next to the corpse to inspect it.
[Butcher's Cleaver]
Quality: Blank Slate
Physical Attack +12
Equipment Requirement: None
Huh, that's it? It seems pretty useless to me. A few more or fewer attack points don't make a difference since I can't break through defenses anyway.
Looking at the Butcher's Cleaver in his hand, it was so ugly, not even as good-looking as the Novice Wooden Sword. Wu Shaochen couldn't be bothered to equip it. Maybe I should put it up in the Auction House and see if anyone wants it?
The Oracle Auction System was very convenient. Players could summon the auction interface to see the items in the Auction House, search for what they wanted by category, and purchase directly without returning to the city. Unwanted items could also be auctioned directly, with the option of cash transactions or in-game currency transactions. Successful cash transactions would automatically transfer the amount to a bound bank card. Players couldn't recharge directly; they could only use money to buy gold coins and equipment from other players, which greatly limited the rise of many wealthy players.
Wu Shaochen opened the auction interface and was momentarily stunned by the empty screen. Why is no one selling anything? How much should I list this Butcher's Cleaver for? There's no reference price.
"How about listing it for 500 bucks? After all, it's the only piece of equipment in the Auction House, it should sell for 500 bucks. Given how low the drop rate is in this game." Wu Shaochen muttered. He urgently needed money now, so he didn't consider in-game currency. He listed the Butcher's Cleaver, chose cash transaction for the auction currency, and selected the auction mode:
"Huh, I can choose between fixed price or bidding mode. Since I don't know the market price, why not just choose the bidding mode? This is pretty good." Wu Shaochen rarely praised something.
"Damn, a 10% fee for fixed price mode and 15% for bidding mode, that's so greedy!" Wu Shaochen complained again after just praising it.
"Well, greedy is greedy, but they're the developers."
He anonymously listed the item, chose bidding mode, set the bidding time to 10 minutes, confirmed, and continued to hunt wild boars.
***
At the entrance of the Novice Village, on the rabbit grassland...
"Young Master Huang, Young Master Huang, a weapon has been listed in the Auction House, adding 12 points of physical attack." A young boy excitedly ran over to Young Master Huang.
"No, it's for cash, but the seller set it to bidding mode. The bidding time is 10 minutes," the young boy replied.
"Since it's a cash transaction, it doesn't matter. Make sure to win it for me," Young Master Huang said calmly. As long as money could solve the problem, it wasn't a problem.
"Yes."
Meanwhile, five young men were methodically hunting rabbits when one of them frowned.
"Junlin, an item has been listed in the Auction House."
"Oh? Based on our observations and analysis, rabbits in the Novice Village shouldn't drop equipment. Did someone kill a level 2 goat?" The handsome man named Junlin asked in confusion.
"That seems impossible. With our current strength, we can't handle those goats yet. We'll have to wait until we all reach level 1 to try. Maybe someone got lucky and a rabbit dropped it," another young man suggested.
"Can we contact the seller and offer more money for information?" Junlin asked.
"No, the seller listed it anonymously," the young man replied.
"Alright, there's nothing we can do then. If necessary, win the auction for this equipment. Even though it's a Blank Slate, 12 attack points are significant in the early stages," Junlin said seriously.
"Understood."
Elsewhere, a middle-aged man approached a tall, elegant woman wearing a white veil, saying, "Young Miss, there's equipment in the Auction House."
"Finally, someone is selling equipment?" The woman's eyes lit up as she opened the Auction House and saw the only piece of equipment listed. She nodded and said, "A Blank Slate with 12 attack points. It seems this game's equipment has a significant boost. Let's see if we can win it."
"Understood."
Meanwhile, in every corner of Novice Village 8365, people were discussing the first piece of equipment in the Auction House. Just one Blank Slate item caused a sensation throughout the Novice Village. The Auction House only displayed items to players in the same area, currently the same Novice Village, and later the same Main City.
"Holy crap, someone listed equipment in the Auction House!"
"Finally, some equipment! Damn, this game's drop rate is ridiculous. I've been playing for over an hour and haven't seen a single piece of equipment. I thought this game didn't drop equipment at all."
"The lowest-grade Blank Slate equipment can add 12 attack points. Equipping it would double my attack!"
"Wake up, look at the current price; it's over ten thousand now. It's just a Blank Slate, but rich people really don't care about money."
"Young Miss, the price has reached twelve thousand. Should we continue bidding?" the middle-aged man whispered to the elegant woman.
"Bid up to fifteen thousand, but no higher. A Blank Slate isn't worth it; everyone should be able to get one soon," the woman replied.
"Understood."
"Junlin, many people are eyeing this equipment. The price has already soared to fifteen thousand, far exceeding its actual value," a young man said.
"That's normal. It's the first piece of equipment, and it's a weapon, which is crucial in the early stages. The drop rate in this game is just too low. Otherwise, a Blank Slate wouldn't be auctioned for such a high price," Junlin said.
"Add another two thousand, but no more. We'll be able to get plenty of this kind of equipment ourselves soon. Once Little Bei and Linzi reach level 1, we'll go for the goats."
Elsewhere...
"Young Master Huang, should we bid more?" the young boy next to Young Master Huang asked.
"Yes, I have plenty of money. Do these people think they can compete with me?" Young Master Huang said disdainfully. To him, it didn't matter if it was worth it or not; he just wanted the thrill of being better than others.
Meanwhile, Wu Shaochen, who caused all this, was blissfully unaware and continued his rogue tactics on wild boars.
"Sigh, if only the poison damage could increase a bit more, then it would take just two hits instead of three to kill one. It's annoying. It's all because of that damn spider and its useless skill, preventing me from grinding talents," Wu Shaochen complained.
"The 18th one, killing this will level me up." Wu Shaochen kited the wild boar while watching its health slowly decrease. With his speed at 18, killing wild boars was no longer a challenge. Soon, the wild boar fell unwillingly.
[Ding, congratulations on leveling up. Health +20, Mana +10, gained 5 Free Attribute Points. Please allocate them wisely.]
Reaching level 3, he once again allocated all five points to Agility, bringing it to 20, with a speed of 23 points. Health: 150, Mana: 80, everything else unchanged. Experience Points: 14/1000.
"Leveling up to 4 requires 1000 experience points. At level 3, each wild boar gives 26 experience points, so I need to kill 38 to level up," Wu Shaochen complained. Just then...
[Ding, the item you listed in the Auction House has been purchased by a player. The transaction amount is 20,000 yuan, with a 3,000 yuan fee deducted. The remaining 17,000 yuan has been transferred to your bound bank account.]
"What? 20,000?!" Wu Shaochen was stunned, quickly checking the transaction record to confirm it was indeed 20,000. He then opened his bank account information to check the balance, seeing 17,700 yuan. He swallowed hard and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Wu Shaochen had a silly grin on his face; this worthless item was worth almost half a year's salary. Who would believe it?
"Holy crap, there are so many rich people in this game." Wu Shaochen was in a great mood, looking at the wild boars ahead with newfound affection. With just this one piece of equipment, he had recouped the cost of the Game Helmet and made an extra 7,000 yuan, no longer needing to worry about sleeping under a bridge.
He continued hunting wild boars; they were all money to him.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan