Weed pulled out his stats bar and invested 80 points to stamina, another 50 to agility and another 30 to strength. It was the polar opposite as per the riddle to be investing in STR, AGI and STAM. But Weed decided that if the moonstone really did exist he would need to venture outside into the city at night. To do so investing in AGI, STR and STAM was the best option.
He opened up his inventory and found a beginner weapon, ‘Wooden Sword.’ Item information showed that it had only 2 ATK and 10 Durability. ‘I need something more powerful and durable than this.’ He rushed to the central market (which now took an hour only) and checked the armory store.
“Welcome Sir.” Greeted one of the NPC store keepers, “Are you looking for something in weapons or armour?”
“Both.”
“Well for beginners we have the complete set; here is the complete Dragon Set Armour, +80 to all stats and sword that does 50 damage, this is all for the price of 100 crystals.” The armour set was black in color with gold outlines and the sword looked like a Dao, in the shape of fiery flames blown from a dragon’s snout.
There were two sets of currency in RREV; crystals and coins. Crystals could only be purchased with RL currency or traded for coins in game. The current rate of 1 Crystal was US$1. Furthermore, crystals could not be changed into RL currency. Crystals could also be converted into coins, 1 Crystal was 1,000 gold coins however to trade coins to crystal the current rate was 10,000 gold coins for 1 Crystal. Though very few guilds had even 10,000 gold at the moment and no player had that much money, Lee Hyun anticipated that there would come a time when they would be able to convert gold freely into crystals. To stabilize the prices in the economy some of the better items could only be bought for crystals. Crystals also provided new players to buy expensive overpowered items to catch up with those who have been playing many months before them. But more importantly, it was a good source of revenue to Unicorn and Lee Hyun.
Weed jumped at the price, for beginners this was an excellent set however 100 crystals was ridiculous. It meant a $100 nearly the same price as one year’s subscription fees. Even if Weed had the crystals he would have not spent it on the dragon set as it stood out too much. The gold outline of the armour was sparkling like real gold and the sword was also shining with a red tinge to it. Weed felt he would become a beacon for envy and PKers. Even with all the additional stats gained, Weeds level was so low, that PKers would still easily finish him off and steal the armour.
“This is the most amazing armour set that I have ever seen. However I was looking for something which could be bought for just gold.”
The storekeeper who just blooming away with anticipation sighed and put away the dragon set. He then brought out a simple black cloak and a iron sword.
“The iron sword does 10 ATK and adds 10 STR. It has a durability of 15. It is for 1 gold and the cloak adds 5 DEF it is for 50 silver.”
Weed frowned, the sword was good, and it gave an overall attack of 15 ATK which appeared to be sufficient but the cloak was somewhat lacking.
“Would you have something for elves, with more defense and maybe costing no more than 1 gold?”
The storekeeper put away the cloak and happily brought out another, it wasn’t often you met newbies who had 2 gold. Higher level players would never buy from the armory store, so the main source of income was newbies. Armory stores did provide repair of weapons but the margins were too low.
“This is the best cloak for newbies, it is for 1 gold and 50 silver, but since you are buying an expensive sword as well, I’ll reduce 50 silver. It gives 10 DEF and has the added ability to conceal the user better in the darkness.”
“Yes this is just what I need. But compared to that, I feel now the sword is somewhat lacking. Don’t you have a sword for 2 gold?”
The storekeeper hurriedly brought out a sword, “This sword is for 2 Gold 99 Silver only, since you are willing to pay so much, I’ll offer you a discount so that you can buy this sword. It adds 20 ATK and 10 STR. Is this to your liking?”
Weed looked at the sword and then swung it around a few times. ‘This really is a good sword.’
The storekeeper began counting his profits, he just marked up the prices for the player. As the player had a fame of -5 (most likely from insulting the Wind God) and to add to it, storekeepers were notorious for ripping of newbies. The storekeeper thought of Weed as a foolish player who had just arrived today in Versailles. There was nearly a 1 gold margin on the sword and 50 silver margin on the armour. The storekeeper decided to close the shop early after he closed this deal and celebrate.
Weed put back the sword and frowned. “Storekeeper, I don’t think this is going well.”
The storekeeper grew suspicious immediately of Weed, ‘I see, this fellow doesn’t actually have the money and wants to negotiate down the prices. Well for all I care, it’s never going to happen!’
Weed took out 3 gold coins from his pocket and placed them in front of the storekeeper who was staring at him angrily. He had kept about 5 gold coins from the 1000 that Rodriguez gave for self use, Snappy did not notice this as he was busy jumping all over Theodore that time. Weed knew that the armoury store was the worst place to shop in but he didn’t want to reach out to merchants who were out in the open selling weapons. There would be many questions as to how a newbie got so much gold and then Weed would have to deal with all sorts of problems. To avoid it all he went straight into the armory store; expensive but Weed had faith in his negotiation skills. By putting money on the table Weed wanted to entice the storekeeper. He succeeded, the storekeepers expressions immediately changed from angry to one that said ‘I am your humble loyal servant please step all over me.’
“You see this is all I have and I really want to give it to you. But I feel like there is something more you have.”
The storekeeper frowned, he did have more items but they were expensive and came with restrictions.
He pulled out another cloak and sword, “This is the Night Stealth cloak, conceals you better in the darkness and gives 15 DEF. It is for 4 gold and has an additional restriction that you need the stealth skill. This sword is also called the extra iron sword, it has 20 durability, 25 ATK and 15 STR. It comes for 4 Gold and a restriction of melee class profession. As you are new and are buying such expensive items, I will give a discount of 250 silvers (2.5 gold).”
“The cloak is fine but the sword is something I cannot use, how much for the cloak and the previous sword?”
“The cloak has a restriction, are you sure you can use it?” The shopkeeper asked just to reconfirm, since very rarely did you come across new players who met the skill restrictions.
“No, however, I shall try my best to learn this skill.” Weed lied. “I truly, love this beautiful cloak and although it is something I cannot use immediately, I will be more than eager to learn how to do so. I believe every item in this shop will find its true owner eventually. If I were too openly discriminate on each and every item based on their restrictions, then these items will never be sold. Then how is it that you my fellow comrade will earn a living?”
TRRIIIINNG!!
- Proficient in Lying and Deceit has increased ~ Beginner level 3 – 95 %! -
“I see.” Replied the shopkeeper. The devotion and earnestness of Weed touched his heart. There stood before an elf who understood the grief and poverty of storekeepers. “I could give the cloak for 3 gold.”
TRRIIIINNG!!
- Relationship with storekeeper increased to 5-
Weed tried to conceal his smile. The better the relationship with NPCs the more you could bargain out of them.
Weed put up a painful expression in front of the NPC, “This is all I have storekeeper.” Pushing the 3 gold coins forward. “I know you said the total is 5, but at this time this is all I can offer. Let me please offer my wooden sword, all the rye bread that I have and a part of my flesh in compensation.”
The NPC storekeeper grasped Weeds hand and smiled. “There is no need, simply pay me back later when you do have the money.”
Weed thanked him and parted with the 3 gold coins, they weren’t his to begin with. The deal wasn’t a steal, but at least Weed did his best not to get ripped off. The shopkeeper calculated his profits, he managed to make no profit. The shopkeeper sighed; the basic raw material was so expense in this kingdom, making extra money on the side was near impossible. At least he got rid of his inventory.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Weed then went to an exchange and broke his gold coins into smaller denominations. He then used the money to buy healing potions, herbs, and a small bag of meaty treat. The grocery store keeper’s eyebrow was raised when Weed asked for Meaty Treat, but didn’t bother questioning..quests could be so weird. Given the enormous weight restrictions, Weed could not buy and carry much.
With his new armour equipped, Weed quickly glanced at his stats window:
Physical Status WindowNameWeedClass / LevelFF/001Health250Mana Conversion/Sec0Health Regen/Sec0Stamina Regen/Sec0.01Strength50+10Agility75Wisdom50Intelligence50Stamina200Defense30+15Dexterity0Luck200Looks/Beauty5
‘This would have to do.’ Weed still have 31 unused SP. But he was storing them as back in case, the moonstone didn’t turn out to be all that special. If compared to the first million players, Weed’s character stats did not stand out as much, as they all had bonus skill points from the first purchase scheme. Those who were in the first million got 25 SP, in the first 10,000 received 60SP and first 100 received 100SP. Those differences could easily be wiped out through the encashment scheme as most professional players and pro-gaming companies gained an average of 150SP through this. If one were to think about it, an average RREV player could be considered one who starts with about 250 Bonus SP in addition to the basic SP. Compared to Royal Road, players here would be 6-8 times stronger however the difficulty was adjusted accordingly, monsters such as rabbits and foxes were born with elemental affinity, they moved faster and inflicted more damage.
Those without any bonus SP, would find the game moderately difficult to begin with however, they could always catch up by purchasing SP or items for RL currency. Lee Hyun was aiming for this, he didn’t mind that the initial players held a significant advantage in terms of bonus SP.
Lee Hyun realized that pro-gaming companies were never after the grand prize. If the game was beaten they would have to move to a new game, which was a monumental struggle, pro-gaming companies were more like side characters which supported the rich players who were willing to hire them or buy items/info for them. Very few were like Lee Jun who played solo, aiming for the grand prize on their own.
Weed closed the stats window and headed for the Eastern gates. It was night by the time Weed reached the Eastern gates. The main gate had been closed and the side tower door was left open for player to enter and leave the city. Flashing his new armour to the guards, they let him cross through.
At night monsters were stronger at most by 50% but the rewards were also greater; they yielded 33% extra exp. However, this wasn’t perfectly identical to Royal Road, in Royal Road at night the monsters attack only went up by 50% all other stats remained unchanged. In RREV, depending upon monsters and locations, all stats could vary to a maximum of 50% increase. The rewards were slightly increased with the slight increase in difficulty, an extra 3% EXP. It might not look much but it really is quite a lot at the higher levels where every percentage counts.
As Weed stepped out he saw a lot of players and stalls set up. It would appear as if Weed walked into the central town square at early morning. Merchants had put up torches to light up their stalls and put various healing potions up on display.
“Looking for a Healer.”
“Looking for a specialized archer.”
“Looking for a specialized swordsman!”
As RREV allowed multiple professions, players initially learnt as many professions as they could however they soon realized at any given point of time they could only use one profession. Thus, it was more beneficial to work in a team of players where each player specialized in a particular profession. Thus, rather than calling out for an archer, the term specialized archer was added as prefix. All players here were at a higher level than Weed; somewhere FF/030s, others in F/020s and few who reached Class E. There was nobody here above class E. RREV was still a new game, so it wasn’t that surprising.
Weed quietly slid away from the noisy hub and made his way towards Theodore’s cabin. He needed money and wanted to try some ideas that were swarming in his head.
It didn’t take much time and Weed cross the Koi pond and followed the trail leading up to the clearing. There was lot’s of barking so Weed just followed the sound after the trail disappeared. He didn’t want to call out Alak for help who was unusually upset with him; more importantly Alak was annoying.
Weed knocked at the cabin door and could hear Theodore grumbling and cursing who could it be this late, “Who?”
“Weed.”
“Don’t want any, plenty growing outside.”
“No, Weed the elf, who wants to learn blacksmithing?”
“….”
“Who accepted your challenge?”
“….”
“Who proved to you that Balkans are liars ….” Weed said, as if provoking the flames of anger.
“WHO SAID WE ARE LIARS?” Theodore screamed as he broke open his door with the hammer.
Weed smiled, “See I knew you would remember me.”
Theodore grumbled, he really didn’t like elves, Weed was probably on the top of his most hated elves list.
“Aye, so Weed-elf, tell me what is it that you want?”
“Well firstly I came to check on Snappy.” Weed took out the meaty treat and emptied it into Snappy’s bowl.
‘Squirrel is a good slave.’ Snappy barked. He quickly gulped down his third dinner.
“Oye! Don’t feed him more meaty treat! I will have to take him out for a walk again!” Theodore grumbled.
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it for you.” Weed cheerfully replied, he had been hoping for this.
“I also wanted to check on the money left behind. You didn’t take any of it did you?” Weed asked as if he suspected Theodore of thievery.
“No! What do I look to you? A thief or a blacksmith?” Theodore hurriedly retorted to defend himself of acquisition.
“Well honestly a ….”
“Don’t even answer it.” Theodore interrupted as he stuck a butter knife to Weeds face.
“Ok I’ll take Snappy for a walk. How soon do you want him back?”
“Just tire the little monster out.”
“Ok!”
Weed dragged Snappy out of the house who refused to be separated from his master. Finally after much pulling, scolding and fighting, Snappy was frolicking around the forest joyfully. Weed was hoping to try out his new sword however Snappy’s presence scared away most of the smaller creatures. After much running and walking, they finally reach the mountain pass. Weed began scaling the eastern side of the mountain, hoping to see something gleaming, however nothing to his luck, there was dirt and snow everywhere. The eastern mountain side was huge, as far as Weed could see was the eastern mountain face. It took him 10 minutes to run from one end to the other.
‘This is going to be a long three weeks.’ Weed sighed.
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Authors Note:
1. Proof Reader Credits: Knaivvs
2. Released early as part of celebration releases.
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Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?YesNo
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