Chapter 22
Chapter 22: All In
Nearby players were talking. One said: “You should just open the Mall’s recycle tab and sell straight to the Mall.”
Another asked: “Then why do so many people still list their stuff on consignment?”
The first player answered: “Because the Mall’s buyback price is too low. Some people can’t accept that.”
A third asked: “So how much can my jewelry sell for?”
The first explained: “It depends on grade and color. Art pieces and materials here are graded as White Tier, Blue Tier, Purple Tier, Red Tier, Orange Tier, and Gold Tier. Higher tiers sell back for more. Gear has no tier, but you can still recycle it to the Mall. Most people won’t, since gear can be traded.”
Someone said: “I see.”
Long Ming heard all this and opened the recycle screen in the Mall.
Gold Nugget (White Tier): 300 1D Coins.
Rough Necklace (White Tier): 200 1D Coins.
Unknown Ring (Blue Tier): 7,600 1D Coins.
Golden Short Staff (Purple Tier): 100,000 1D Coins.
He stared at the buyback prices and frowned. [So cheap. No wonder people don’t like selling to the Mall.]
Even so, the other player was right: art and similar items were useless to players. [At least for now, nobody will buy them.] He chose to recycle, and the Wristband popped a message: “You obtained 108,100 1D Coins.”
After selling, he looked around. There had to be people nearby buying coins.
Sure enough, he soon found several players holding signs that said they bought 1D Coins at high prices. One male player with dyed yellow hair and a leather jacket was even paying in Mountain Coins.
Long Ming walked over and asked: “Excuse me, what’s your rate?”
The buyer glanced at him, yawned, and held up one finger: “One hundred 1D Coins for one Mountain Coin. If you have a lot, I can go a little higher.”
Hearing that rate, Long Ming’s heart sank: “That’s way too low, isn’t it?”
The buyer said: “Don’t complain. That’s the market now. Ask around if you don’t believe me.”
Long Ming nodded: “Alright.”
He didn’t argue and stepped aside. He now had 108,600 1D Coins, which meant 1,086 Mountain Coins if he exchanged them. [So two days of work only made about a thousand.] The income looked fine for most people, but not for him. [Game income is unstable. You don’t always get lucky, find valuables, and extract safely.] This time he had also made more because Gu Yi’s team didn’t want the items.
His expenses wouldn’t shrink, though. He sighed, feeling a little gloomy. [I wanted this game to change my life, but the road is hard.] For a moment he lost confidence.
Then shouts came from not far away. Someone yelled: “Haha, sold!” Another cheered: “Five hundred thousand 1D Coins in hand!”
Curious, Long Ming walked over. A group of players were crowding around one player and praising him: “No wonder he’s Brother Cui!” “So awesome!” “Help us get rich too!”
Brother Cui laughed and said: “No problem!”
Long Ming asked a nearby player with envy in his eyes: “Bro, what did Brother Cui sell? Why is it so valuable?”
The player, a bit jealous, said: “He got lucky. Found an old submachine gun and sold it to a tycoon.”
Long Ming asked: “An old submachine gun sells for that much?”
The player said: “What’s so strange? Weapons are all expensive. And even if you want to buy one, you may not find it.”
“Thanks,” Long Ming said, excited.
His bad mood blew away. [If an old submachine gun can sell for 500,000 1D Coins, then the M24 I picked up should start at a million.] [This game is crazy.]
He opened the Mall to list the M24, but paused. Selling now would bring a huge profit, but it would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. He would have no gear. His hard-won edge would vanish, and he might fall behind.
He stood there for over ten minutes. At last his eyes turned firm. He gave up on selling his gear. [If the game has chances for big returns, I should go all in and fight. Maybe I can build a new life.]
He opened the Mall to buy supplies for the next run. In the search bar he typed “ammo.”
A list of consigned ammo filled the screen. He looked for 12-gauge shells for his Golden Double-Barrel Short Shotgun, but couldn’t find any. There were many ammo listings, but not every type, and 12-gauge was missing.
He did find 7.62 mm rounds for the M24, but the price made him suck in a breath: 5,000 1D Coins per bullet. He checked the price of a common axe and found that even axes, which you could find everywhere, cost 3,000 1D Coins.
[That player was right. Only useful gear is worth real money.]
He exhaled and searched for food, water, and other supplies.
Compressed biscuits: 1,000 1D Coins.
Bottled water: 1,000 1D Coins.
Canned military beef: 5,000 1D Coins.
Medical kit: 50,000 1D Coins.
After he reviewed everything he needed, the corner of his mouth twitched. [Essentials are expensive, and I can’t skip them.]
He noticed special notes on some consigned items: “Accepts offline cash payment!”
He understood at once. In-game coins were limited, so many people chose to pay with real money offline. But paying with Mountain Coins didn’t help him. [I’m trying not to cash out my game assets into money, let alone spend money to buy in.]
He thought for a bit, then started buying.
Bzz bzz, the Wristband kept popping messages: “You spent 100,000 1D Coins to buy 20 bullets. They have been stored in your warehouse.” “You spent 5,000 1D Coins to buy 5 packs of compressed biscuits. They have been stored in your warehouse.” “You spent 3,000 1D Coins to buy 3 bottles of water. They have been stored in your warehouse.”
Seeing that he had only 600 1D Coins left, his heart ached. But these things were necessary.
He opened his warehouse and stored the Golden Double-Barrel Short Shotgun. Without matching shells, bringing it into a run was useless. If he lost it, the loss would be huge. Better to keep it safe.
Then he packed all his newly bought items into his backpack.
Soon he was ready. He took out the invitation letter he had gotten from the Supply Pod. Compared to the Level 1 Civilization Random Experience Voucher, this invitation looked finer and more premium.
He scanned it with the Wristband. The info popped up:
Anfa Civilization Invitation.
Civilization Level: 1.
Note: Using this invitation sends you directly to the Anfa Civilization.
He studied the info. [It also leads to a Level 1 Civilization, but it should be better than the random voucher.] He planned to use this invitation for his second run.
A prompt appeared on the Wristband: “Activate Anfa Civilization Invitation?”
He was about to tap Yes, then stopped and chose No. He had almost messed up his timing in the Wabiga Civilization last time. Making the same mistake twice would be foolish. This invitation was more valuable, so more stay time meant more value.
[To get the most out of it, I shouldn’t use the helmet. I need a game pod.]
He frowned. Getting the helmet had been hard enough, not to mention a pod. Then an idea came to him that might work. He immediately tapped the Wristband to log out.