The King's Avatar

”Oh, you are?” Ye Xiu had seen the booth’s sign board and came over. He hadn’t noticed the vendor’s name. He glanced: Blue Brook Guild, Bound Boat.

”I’m called Bound Boat. I’m from Blue Brook Guild.” Bound Boat introduced himself. Actually, he had met Lord Grim a while ago. It was just that because he was a Cleric, he had been kicked out of the dungeon team. The two hadn’t talked to each other before, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Lord Grim had forgotten him.

”Oh, so it’s you.” Ye Xiu grinned while saying, ”It’d be great if I could sell them back to you guys. What’s the point of money? Uncommon materials are forever. They’ll always be useful!” (TLCN: Adapted from ”A diamond is forever”–钻石恒久远,一颗永留传”)

Bound Boat heard this and laughed. This phrase had been around for a long time, but there were very few that still said it. Most new players had never heard of it. Players that say this phrase with ease meant that they had at least five years of experience in Glory.

Having many years of experience in the game didn’t necessarily mean that they were pro-players. There were numerous players in the normal player community that had played for a long time. Especially among the experts, most of them were ones that had played Glory for many years. They weren’t like pro-players, however. No matter how good or bad a pro-player was, they still had some level of talent. Most normal players had mediocre talent. If they wanted to reach a certain level of skill, they could only use time and effort to slowly train themselves. It wasn’t easy for them.

Bound Boat was this type of player. He had played Glory for seven years. Even in the eyes of the pro-community, he’d be considered as having played the game for a long time. As for this Lord Grim, Bound Boat believed that he was a veteran that didn’t lose to him in experience.

Two players, who were extremely knowledgable on Glory, would be able to save a lot on buying and selling. In any case, they wouldn’t be ripped off.

”40 Silver coins for each Strong Spider Silk.” Bound Boat didn’t say anything more.

”Don’t joke with me. It should be 1 Gold coin for each.” Ye Xiu said.

”In front of us two seniors, the new server is just like floating clouds, which is why we have to do things according to our knowledge as seniors. If I consider that you’re the one buying, then 80 Silver coin for each.”

”If I can buy them at 40 Silver coins each, why should I buy them at 80?” Bound Boat said.

”That’s only right now. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to start buying them at 80 Silver coins each. Just think of it like that.” Ye Xiu said.

”You should go back to reality. This is the new server.” Bound Boat laughed. It was clear that this was a very calm and careful person. Lord Grim’s powerful strength hadn’t affected his judgement on business transactions. He wouldn’t let up an inch.

Ye Xiu was also helpless and had no choice but to ask again: ”If it’s 40 Silver pieces for each Strong Spider Silk, then what about Frosted Stones?” Those were much more valuable than Strong Spider Silk. They were items that only dropped from hidden BOSSes at Line Canyon. Players could only run the dungeon three times every day in addition to their low chances of meeting a hidden BOSS. Yesterday, Ye Xiu and the others had run the dungeon three times and they hadn’t met a single one.

”20 Gold coins.” Bound Boat said.

”35 is more like it.”

”New server, new server.” Bound Boat emphasized.

”30! 20 is looking down on the fact that I’m a senior too much.” Ye Xiu said.

”Ha ha, how many do you have?” Bound Boat asked.

”If it’s for 30, then I can give you ten of them!” Ye Xiu said.

”Ten….. ten?” Bound Boat stammered. Because of his cool-headedness and carefulness, he had immediately felt that picking up ten Frost Stones was unimaginable for someone who had just hit Level 30. These were materials that only dropped from a specific hidden BOSS. Even though their chances of dropping were high, that wasn’t the reason why they were uncommon, rather it was because of the probability of meeting that specific hidden BOSS. Only once this was considered, could uncommon materials have the word ”uncommon” in them.

Lord Grim had just reached Level 30 yesterday. This was something that Blue Brook Guild had been watching closely. Adding in two day’s worth of runs, Line Canyon could have only been run six times at most. Even if he had met a hidden BOSS every run and each hidden BOSS all happened to be the exact same one, then it still might not mean that he’d be able to get ten of them. The chances of this happening weren’t zero, but it was close.

”What do you think?” Ye Xiu asked.

”How do you have so many Frosted Stones?” Bound Boat couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t possible for him to get that amount by himself. If he had purchased them, it didn’t make sense for him to go sell them to someone who purchased materials like himself. For a senior with so much experience, that would be too stupid. Apart from that, Bound Boat could only think of him getting those through some shady business like killing others for their items.

”10 is a lot?” Ye Xiu, on the other hand, was grinning.

”You have more?” Bound Boat was astonished.

”I have plenty. To be honest, I probably have as many as the amount in your Blue Brook Guild’s storehouse.” Ye Xiu said.

”Impossible...” Bound Boat still doubtful, ”How did you get them?”

”You don’t have to worry about that! Just tell me whether you want them or not!” Ye Xiu said.

Bound Boat was unexpectedly unable to answer at this moment. Even though he had put a price on Frosted Stones, he hadn’t had any plans on how much he would purchase. At this moment, only high-leveled players would have these items and the majority of these were from big guilds like his. Big guilds would only buy materials and use them. They would practically never sell them. It still wasn’t the time for Frosted Stones yet.

When Lord Grim had suddenly asked him, Bound Boat had thought that even if Lord Grim had gotten lucky, he would only have one or two at most, which was why he didn’t care too much about it. But who would have thought that Lord Grim would be so mysterious and start out with ten. Besides the big guilds with Clubs behind them, this amount shouldn’t be possible for anyone to have. And in addition, Lord Grim’s tone implied that ten wasn’t all he had.

”How many do you have total?” Bound Boat asked. He hadn’t made any plans for them because he hadn’t thought that he’d be able to get any. But some would come sooner or later. Seeing that the goods had already arrived, he didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

”Thirty to forty!” Ye Xiu said.

Bound Boat almost fell off his chair. If this guy really had as many as that, then it really would be about how many Blue Brook Guild had. Before Bound Boat went out to buy materials, he had checked up on their guild’s storehouse and recalled that they only had around forty, less than fifty Frost Stones.

”25 Gold coins! I want them all.” Bound Boat said. This type of large purchase wasn’t something that he would ever see again. There was no way a private player could gather this many uncommon materials.

”When did I say I was selling them all? I’m only selling 10. 300 Gold coins and they’re yours!” Ye Xiu said.

”25!” Bound Boat didn’t care if it was all of them or ten of them. He’d buy whatever he could.

”And then me 29, you 26, me 28, you 27, in the end we’d agree on 27.5, so 275 Gold coins? Your guild’s so big, what’s 25 Gold coins to you guys? How shameful! 300!” Ye Xiu said.

”How’d you come up with that.” Bound Boat said.

”You really are calm.” Ye Xiu said.

”Ha ha, 25 Gold coins is a very fair price!” Bound Boat said.

”It’s you who doesn’t want them!” Ye Xiu said. Lord Grim suddenly stood next to Bound Boat.

”What are you doing?” Bound Boat couldn’t help but panic. He had been puzzling over how Lord Grim had obtained so many materials. He definitely couldn’t have gotten them from only clearing dungeons. Bound Boat could only come up with Lord Grim killing others and stealing their items. But to get this many would mean that there would be a huge fuss over it. Bound Boat had also ran Line Canyon everyday, but he had never heard of anything like that…..

Don’t tell me he somehow hacked the game? Old players had experienced a lot, so they had a lot of ideas. Glory hadn’t been hacked in many years, but Bound Boat still recalled how players robbed from each other in the early days.

But after Lord Grim had walked over to his side, Lord Grim immediately moved. He had created his own booth and then said: ”At 30 Gold coins as the retail price, they’ll be sold off in an instant. It’s your own fault you didn’t want them.”

After saying this, Lord Grim’s booth was finished setting-up. Ten Frosted Stones were placed on the table. Each of them 30 Gold coins.

Bound Boat stared blankly. In the game, items had a purchase price and a retail price. The purchase price was relatively low, but was a stable path for the seller. It was very easy to find someone who would buy it. As for the retail price, the price was a bit higher. Only players who really needed it would buy it. It was difficult to say how long it would take to sell the item off. It required patience. For players that were in urgent need of money, they clearly wouldn’t set their items at a retail price.

Right now, Lord Grim set his items at a retail price. In the Heavenly Domain, the retail price for Frosted Stones were usually around 35-40 Gold coins, while the purchase price was around 30 Gold coins. Ye Xiu was set on 30 Gold coins and wouldn’t budge. In the end, Bound Boat didn’t reply, which was he just straight-up set up a booth.

30 Gold coins. For the new servers, this was considered a retail price. A retail price that required patience. But what had to be noted was that this was in the tenth server. Practically no one was selling Frosted Stones. Currently, the big guilds wouldn’t use these to make money off of them. As a result, this was extremely convenient for Ye Xiu. Right now, it looked as if he was at the very front of players in terms of levels. He had gotten a few high-leveled materials on his own and as a result was selling them however he wanted to. And moreover, he wasn’t setting up any monopoly price. It was only 30 Gold coins, the normal market price.

”Let me think, at Level 30, what equipment blueprints can Frosted Stones be used for?” Ye Xiu muttered as if talking to himself.

”Right, isn’t Soul Staff one of them? This weapon does extra damage to undead monsters, very useful. The dungeon only drops the blueprint, so you’d need Frosted Stones if you wanted it.”

”Oh, and the Polished Cross, a light-element weapon. If a Cleric uses it, then their Light Elemental skills will have increased effects. And dungeons only drop the blueprints, so you’d have to make it yourself. You should know this right? Ah? Cleric.” Ye Xiu said.

”Hm? Seeing that Berserker, I suddenly remembered that their Rock Cutter needs Frosted Stones too! Oh! He’s coming over! He’s coming over to buy! Ah, too bad. He’s not. He’s a Tachi Berserker. How unfortunate. Rock Cutter ah Rock Cutter. If you buy my Frosted Stones, you can make a Rock Cutter.” Ye Xiu reminisced.

The calm Bound Boat was finally shaken up. It was true that only the blueprints for these Purple weapons dropped. They required the secondary professions and the materials to create them. Frosted Stones were all one of the necessary materials for them. It was just 30 Gold coins. A player that wanted to make one of those Purple weapons wouldn’t hesitate to buy them, right?

Just as he was thinking, he saw a player walk forward forward: ”Oh? This place is selling Frosted Stones!”

”They’re all gone. I’ve already bought them all.” Bound Boat hastily said.