Chapter 273

Chapter 273: Chapter 270: "Found You

"Large Life Recovery Potions, fast recovery, slow recovery, all types available! Fourth Rank Pharmacist’s new creation, originally 50 points, now only 45 per bottle!"

"Selling! Selling all types of White Level and Green Level equipment, I won’t be entering the next world, everything must go—"

"1 point mystery gift boxes! Just open them, Main God Space certified, reasonable prices, whatever you open is yours, no returns..."

"Tour group about to depart! One-on-one, one-on-two groups available with guides! Guide strength over 700, has experienced at least three worlds, welcomes casual players wanting to join!"

"Hiring moderators for the live broadcast, manage comments, control opinions, ban certain users. Recruit world forum keyboard warriors, small super topic managers, all paid positions, join group q836894275 to learn more..."

"Strategies for sale, a compilation of skill timing and attribute counters co-authored by top players Avril and Hubert, verified reputation, quality guaranteed..."

Su Ming’an had just stepped out of his personal space when he came upon the bustling square.

Due to excessive fatigue, he had slept again after checking his emails and was still a bit groggy.

The sound of water "whooshing" from the Boss Rabbit fountain behind him blended with the flow of people in front, like waves surging in the sea. Countless figures were moving before him, so many that they made his head spin as if he were in the bustling environment of a marketplace.

Today, he hadn’t shrouded himself in privacy black mist. Earlier, Noel had sent him a message saying to avoid using the black mist if possible; it was sufficient to wear a cloak and cover his face.

Because of the series of consequences brought by the Sixth World, sometimes there were people with bombs strapped to themselves who would dash into shops cloaked in black mist, leading to a general fear of such mists.

Wearing a cloak was suspicious too, but it was moderately acceptable.

Su Ming’an looked around at the people nearby.

The moment he stepped out, he saw the crowd surging in the square, a scene he had never witnessed before.

But after a moment of thought, he understood the current situation.

The shock and fear brought by the Sixth World had caused a shift between adventurers and casual players; some were selling off their equipment out of fear, while others were looking for thrills and preparing to go into action, coupled with the upcoming auction, many players were eager to acquire current points, so active buying and selling was common.

...Come to think of it, he hadn’t explored such places before.

Most of his equipment and props were self-acquired; the standard equipment from the Main God Store was nowhere near the level of what he had, and browsing these small stalls was time-consuming and made it easy to be spotted. He preferred to use his rare moments of leisure for sleeping or gathering information.

After all, he wasn’t lucky enough to find bargains or meet extraordinary masters at such places.

Since the shadow cast by the "Number One Player" title after the end of the First World, he had never been in such places again.

But... wearing a cloak should ensure no one would specifically lift it to check him out.

Today, he was unlikely to be recognized.

After standing still for a moment, he began to move with the crowd.

The stalls surrounded the massive circular square, about the size of a 2,000-meter race track, reminiscent of a book fair he had once attended in high school. However, unlike that, whenever he stopped in front of a stall, a blue box floated up displaying the items for sale and their prices, eliminating the need to physically check the items himself.

After all, the place was already crowded, and using hands to pick up items would lower the efficiency of transactions.

Su Ming’an was the type to look but not buy; he mainly wanted to see the current standard of players and the general level of props and equipment being sold.

Although his focus was never limited to internal human conflicts, there were always those who targeted him as long as he remained the Number One Player. No matter how humble or accommodating he appeared, he would never lack competitors.

He had to understand the general standard of current players to ensure he wouldn’t be capsized unexpectedly.

As he passed each stall, he saw quite a few good items.

[Large Life Recovery Potion (Slow Recovery)

Type: Recovery Prop

Effect: After consumption, restores 80 health points every two seconds for a total of ten seconds.

Manufacturing Requirements: Fourth Rank Pharmacist, Frost Leaf Grass, Water, Red Autumn Fruit, Honeysuckle

Description: For consumption only, not to be directly applied to wounds, complete drinking action required, control timing of use during combat.]

[Cold Abyss (Blue Level): Coagulated Rain Pear Fragrance, Bluebird Comes

Attack Power: 15-22

Durability: 20/20

Equipment Requirement: Two-Handed Weapon, Strength Requirement 5 or higher

Special Attributes: Carries frost suppression and sharp attributes.

Note: Forged by a Fourth Rank Forging Master, due to excessive Cold Stone used during forging, there is a risk of fracture in high-temperature environments.]

Among these, Su Ming’an noticed some clearly superior equipment and props.

He remembered, before the start of the Sixth World, there were no large life recovery potions on the market, and even the highest potions sold in the Main God store were of medium size, but now, there were even higher-level props available from players than those in the store.

He glanced at the price and immediately felt that this item was not as glorious as it seemed.

A bottle of large life recovery potion was priced at 45 points.

If an ordinary player just returned and drew a skill, then bought a potion, they would have no points left, not to mention adding points or buying equipment.

Su Ming’an, being abundant in points, would always draw skills upon his return, he would draw even with full skills, just for the chance to advance his skills, but if it were an ordinary player, they would not continue drawing once they had filled their three skill slots. They would rather use points to buy some equipment and potions to seek better cost-effectiveness, rather than spending over a hundred points on a chance to advance a skill.

After all, these players generally equip only White and Green Levels, and some don’t even have a full set of nine pieces of equipment, naturally, they would not pursue higher skill advancement.

The realms of the two were simply not on the same level, thus it also led to the situation where the strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker.

These excellent large potions, special defensive barriers, and Blue Level weapons are clearly aimed at high-level players, so there are few customers in front of the stall. However, those selling a large number of White and Green Level equipment as well as ordinary potions have crowded stalls.

"You’re charging too much, make it cheaper, we’re all brethren after all, I still need to keep playing in the next world..."

"Take it or leave it, scram, price range only 5 points up or down. Don’t freaking moral bind here, I don’t need your worship."

As Su Ming’an passed by a stall, he heard the familiar sound of haggling.

These bargaining sounds, he had heard countless as he walked along. While the Main God World prohibited price gouging, it also gave stall owners some freedom in pricing, allowing for adjustment around a fixed set of points, also providing an opportunity for both buyers and sellers to haggle over the price.

He looked over to that stall and saw a piece of equipment.

[North Wind Long Boots (Blue Level): "Sofia, did you see it... the flame that ignited the earth, vanished in the North Wind of the Iron Cavalry."

Jumping Power: A

Running Speed +35%

Durability: 20/20

Equipment Requirement: Second Rank Players and above, Agility below 10 points

Special Skill (North Wind Backtracking): Active skill, once activated, movement speed increases by 35% for five seconds

Note: Made by a Fourth Rank Forging Master, due to immature techniques, a piece of high-quality equipment ended up with a ludicrous equipment requirement.]

Upon seeing this note, Su Ming’an couldn’t help but go back and check the equipment requirement again.

Well... it really is ludicrous.

Originally a highly versatile piece of speed boost equipment, desired by both Mage Series and close combat occupations, now it had a 10-point Agility restriction added to it.

Current Second Rank players... there should be very few with Agility below 10 points. Even pure Mage Series players, who don’t add points to Strength, will add some to Agility. Teleport skills are, after all, rare, and should they face any troubles, most can only rely on walking. If they’re not fast enough, it’s easy to meet their demise.

Without that Second Rank and above restriction, this piece of equipment genuinely would have been of high quality, as running speed doesn’t increase synchronously with Agility points. Even someone with 40 Agility points is only twice as fast as someone with 10. With the item’s active and passive skills in use, it’s like making up for many Agility points.

But... its inapplicability to other players doesn’t mean it is inapplicable to Su Ming’an.

In "Shadow" status, coincidentally, his Agility was far below 10 points.

Su Ming’an squeezed his way through.

There were quite a few people attracted by this bizarre piece of equipment, maybe too idle, they watched the bickering between the two men as if watching a drama.

"Look at these restrictions, they’re too harsh. If I hadn’t mistakenly added points earlier, I wouldn’t even consider your equipment," argued a youth with spiky hair, a dagger tied to his waist, looking like an assassin.

"Buy it if you like, otherwise get lost," the bald man sitting at the stall still spoke like that, his tone laced with a dismissive air, as if he truly didn’t care if the equipment went unsold.

Judging by his demeanor, the bald guy didn’t seem like a merchant who trafficked in equipment, but rather a straightforward Forging Master. This equipment might very well have been crafted by him.

"You—"

Seeing the seller’s impervious attitude, the spiky-haired youth stomped his foot, shuffled his feet about without turning away, seemingly still hesitating.

Su Ming’an glanced at the equipment price, 80 points.

...Surprisingly cheap.

The moment this thought emerged, he realized he might be accustomed to spending too much. Holding over seven hundred points, his sense of equipment pricing had gradually faded.

Watching the spiky-haired youth grit his teeth, those 80 points seemed enough to break his bank.

But Su Ming’an hesitated too.

He thought of the upcoming auction, six items.

He genuinely feared the scenario where he’d engage in a bidding war only to miss out by a mere tens of points, then have to personally fight for it in a game instance... He had seen such scenarios more than once in novels he read in high school...

If he didn’t buy the item now, and let it sit here until after the auction when he might still have leftover points...

Thinking this, he suddenly felt the crowd around him begin to surge.

"Damn it, who’s pushing me!"

"nmsl, what’s the rush, eager to visit a grave?"

"Stop pushing, stop pushing... Who touched my butt!"

A male voice shouted loudly, and people next to him quickly distanced themselves, fearing to be wrongly accused of inappropriate touching.

"Wait, wait, it seems like..." someone suddenly screamed and looked up.

"Oh God, so cool, is that... is that the legendary Plague Raven?"

"My goodness..."

Fighting through the crowd, Su Ming’an almost got pushed away from his stall. He quickly grabbed his cloak, making sure his hat wasn’t knocked off. In such circumstances, revealing his identity would be no different from jumping into a piranha-infested lake.

He noticed many people also looking up, as a strong wind pressure came from above.

"Whoosh—"

He saw a piece of falling black feather.

He looked up and saw a giant black bird whose wings seemed to cover the sky like thick dark clouds, spreading across the heavens, its sharp eyes glaring down at the crowd below.

Someone exclaimed, "—I remember now, that’s the second-ranked Noel’s giant pet raven—"

"Although I knew Area 25 has a Guild residence from the New World, I never expected the god himself would really appear, and with such a grand entrance! I’m getting jealous, I’m actually feeling like joining in."

"Damn, pets can fly? I thought the Main God World banned these things.

"Must be a flying pet from the Fifth World of Ming Hui. At this stage, dominating a mature pet probably requires a rare scroll... Who knows how low the drop rate is for that thing."

"Showing off in front of others, who wouldn’t envy that, it’s too cool..."

"Wake up, your mental illness is showing, time for your meds!"

"Ahhh—Noel!!" Suddenly, a girl with a hairclip screamed next to him, her voice piercing like it was cutting through eardrums, which startled Su Ming’an.

"Noel—I love you—I love you!!"

Amidst the crescendo of female shrieks, surprisingly, there were also male voices.

Caught in the surging flow of people and hearing the sound of their adoration, Su Ming’an momentarily felt a strange sense of belonging within the crowd.

He looked up at the slowly flying giant black raven in the sky.

...So this is how other people have been watching top-ranked players.

He stood still, like any ordinary player, listening to the cheers and screams of others.

He opened his panel, planning to contact Noel to set a specific meeting coordinate.

In this situation, meeting here was definitely not possible.

As he opened the panel, suddenly, the head with golden hair popped out beside the black cloud-like wings of the giant raven.

"Hmm, the coordinates are correct." Noel, lying on top of the black giant raven, checked his panel again.

Then, Su Ming’an saw the young boy poke his head out and wave towards him.

The scene felt strangely familiar, and an ominous premonition named "Plum Blossom Twice" began to rise.

"Su Ming’an—"

The loud voice, as if through a megaphone, came very clearly from above.

"Found you—come on up!"