Chapter 40: Selling Strategies

Chapter 40: Selling Strategies

Inside the second vortex, a team of twelve approached the canyon entrance and spotted a Gray Moon Wolf lying in the dense grass.

A team member who was closer triggered a text dialogue: "Gray Moon Wolf Guard: Quick, save me... save me..."

He turned to shout, "There's a dialogue, it wants us to save it."

Several teammates moved closer, one of them subconsciously chimed in, "How do we save it?"

"Gray Moon Wolf Guard: Hungry, so hungry, quick, save me, I'm starving..."

The ice mage nearby joked, "There's a famine outside, change your request."

The archer teammate said, "Don't joke around. This entrance barrier can only be breached by force or by getting the guard to open it. Looks like we need to complete a small quest first. I have some coarse grain buns in my bag... nope, can't use them."

A prompt appeared: Props cannot be used inside the vortex.

A marksman came over and rummaged through his inventory, "Maybe the props are wrong? I have grilled meat... uh, no, can't use it either."

Other teammates also searched their bags, trying to find something the Gray Moon Wolf Guard could accept, but nothing worked.

Everyone was at a loss, and the atmosphere began to turn tense.

The healer in the team said, "It says it's hungry, and we've provided food, but we can't use it. What do we do?"

The swordsman teammate asked, "Captain, did you receive any special instructions when we entered?"

The captain shook his head, "Only a danger warning, the same as when we entered the first vortex, nothing else."

Some were skeptical, wondering if the captain had missed something due to not reading carefully or moving too quickly, but they didn't voice their doubts to avoid conflict.

Another teammate suggested, "Captain, why don't you try asking if we're missing a key dialogue..."

The captain came over, but still only received the same repeated lines, with no additional clues.

Patience wearing thin, suggestions started pouring in, "Since the barrier can be forced, let's just charge through."

"Yeah, we can't use the food in our bags, and there are no other prompts. Just charge."

After confirming that they couldn't solve the Gray Moon Wolf's hunger problem, everyone turned to attack the barrier.

Under the assault of various skills, it took a full five minutes to break the barrier and rush inside.

Upon entering, they encountered a snake demon.

"Hey, egg thief!"

Despite the change in their names, the team reacted quickly and attacked. Moments later, the snake demon fell, and they continued forward.

"What's this about changing our names?"

"Just a setting."

The players discussed the name changes but didn't pay much attention to it.

At this point, the captain spoke up, "These lesser demons are similar to the ones before. No need for everyone to bombard them. Don't waste mana or stamina. Let's stick to our previous group formations and take turns killing them. One group handles the next demon, then the second group, followed by the third. If more than one appears at once, follow the previous allocation method: Group One takes the middle, Group Two takes the left, and Group Three takes the right. Maintain the rhythm to avoid wasting skills."

Everyone agreed.

The second snake demon appeared, shouting "Egg thief!" and began attacking.

The mage, swordsman, and summoner of Group One simultaneously unleashed their skills, while the healer in the group held back. Three players were more than enough to handle one snake demon, which soon fell.

They continued forward, and another snake demon appeared, again shouting "Egg thief!"

As soon as the words were out, the marksman's attack hit the snake demon, followed by the poison master's status effects and the attacks from the martial artist and archer. The demon was quickly defeated.

Progressing smoothly, the team's earlier frustration gradually dissipated, and they began chatting as they walked.

"This level isn't too difficult."

"Yeah, there aren't many monsters in the canyon."

"Not only are there fewer monsters, but this place is barren, unlike the dense grass outside where monsters could pop up unexpectedly."

Pushing steadily forward, they finally saw the BOSS in the distance.

Everyone cheered, "Finally, we made it!"

They rested on the spot to adjust their status, then got up and moved together toward the BOSS.

As soon as they stepped into its territory, a prompt appeared.

"Enraged Heaven Swallowing Python, damage increased by 50%. Do you wish to challenge? Continue/Exit (Exiting will result in failure of the vortex mission and character death for one hour)"

The team was shocked.

"Why is it like this?"

"How does it suddenly increase by 50%?"

"I told you the barrier shouldn't be forced..."

"Then why didn't you say how to solve the wolf's hunger problem?"

"Alright, everyone, quiet down." The captain called out, his face stern, "With the BOSS's damage increased by 50%, the difficulty is high. Should we continue or give up?"

"Retreat, there's no way we can win. Let's step back and reassess the situation. I think that wolf is the key point; we need to find the critical point..."

"The damage is too high, it's impossible to fight. We might as well retreat and start over."

"Why retreat? Of course, we should continue. We've come this far, why quit now?"

"Exiting will result in direct death and probably loss of equipment, which means total annihilation. If that's the case, we might as well give it a shot."

"Losing the fight means death, and exiting directly also means death. Of course, we should fight. There's still a glimmer of hope."

"The higher-ups didn't mention any item drops upon death. What if we don't lose our equipment!"

The debate continued until the team leader shouted again, "Let's vote. Raise your hand if you agree to continue."

Many hands went up, and with a majority, he said, "Majority rules. Those who disagree must still be prepared. No one is allowed to hold the team back. If anyone intentionally slacks off, they'll face our wrath. Prepare for battle, I'm clicking continue!"

He clicked to continue.

No one dared to slack off, each preparing their skills.

Suddenly, a fierce wind rose from the ground.

A message appeared in the air: "Despicable humans, it was you who stole my egg! Despicable, despicable! Die, all of you must die!"

Everyone was shocked. "What egg?"

"That thief meant this, but we didn't..."

Before they could react, an incredibly thick tail swept toward them with a furious momentum, the skill effects fast and powerful.

"So intense!"

"This isn't right!"

"It seems to be in a rage..."

"Dodge, everyone, dodge!"

They turned and scattered, pushing their speed to the limit, not noticing something flying out of their bags and drifting toward the Heaven Swallowing Python.

Despite their best efforts, their escape speed couldn't match the skill's speed.

A chorus of screams filled the air as the entire team's health bars were drained, their consciousness fading.

The Heaven Swallowing Python coiled around a large egg, its mood gradually calming.

*

"[Team] I Am Not a Beast: Hahaha, I'm back, Hu Hansan is back!"

Characters who died remained in the team as long as it wasn't disbanded, so Jiang Xujie quickly reported his resurrection and nudged Zhai Gangyong: "Are you alive yet?"

Their death times were close, and Zhai Gangyong, just opening his eyes, hurriedly replied, "I'm alive, I'm alive."

"[Team] Smile Gently: Stop joking around, hurry up and regroup."

Jiang Xujie saw his skyrocketing experience points and the pile of private messages in his inbox, immediately realizing they had cleared the stage. He whispered to Zhai Gangyong, "We made it, we did it again!"

But this time, he didn't respawn in the vortex, so he quickly checked his equipment, only to find himself barefoot, feeling utterly helpless.

Zhai Gangyong grinned, showing his teeth, "Following a god is great, I got carried again."

But where was his weapon?

That elegant and flowing silk ribbon that matched his style so well?

Zhai Gangyong felt like he was about to bleed from the heart.

Jiang Xujie quickly typed a reply, adding a joke.

"[Team] I Am Not a Beast: Coming, coming, Ruan Ruan and I are rushing... I can't run, I lost my shoes, woe is me."

"[Team] Smile Gently: The captain picked up everything you dropped. Hurry up, coordinates..."

"[Team] I Am Not a Beast: Woe is me, thank the captain, thank everyone!"

"[Team] Soft and Tender: Captain is fair, everyone worked hard. Love the captain, love you all, heart."

"[Team] Fish: ..."

Jiang Xujie and Zhai Gangyong, one barefoot and the other empty-handed, supported each other as they walked to the coordinates to regroup with the team.

Jiang Xujie was overwhelmed by the private messages in his inbox, mostly requests for leading through the vortex, strategies, and introductions to the other teammates. He reflected deeply, "I got too cocky last time, I added several people."

Zhai Gangyong glanced at his inbox and nodded in agreement, "Me too. Later, I collaborated with other teams and added more friends. My inbox is also flooded."

Fortunately, they had both thought to turn off new friend requests, or they would have been overwhelmed by those as well.

As they walked, they read the chat channel, where everyone was discussing their successful first clear of the second vortex.

Many were asking for tips and requesting to be led, some even resorting to moral coercion.

However, there were no replies from Fish and the others.

Ren Yu also received three private messages. Besides Old Wolf expressing interest in collaboration, 'Deer in Love' and 'Die if You Suck My Blood' sent congratulations.

'Die if You Suck My Blood' also mentioned that the remaining bucket was ready and asked when she wanted to pick it up.

Ren Yu, who hadn't finished the hat she promised to make, gave a rough time, around 8 PM.

"Die if You Suck My Blood: Won't there be monsters in the alley at that time?"

"Fish: It's fine, it won't affect us!"

Only now did Yu Jingwen realize that with Ren Yu’s strength, she wouldn’t be afraid of the small monsters in the alley.

She hurriedly agreed.

Jiang Xujie and Zhai Gangyong arrived, and Ren Yu said, "I'll throw out the items; you two pick them up first. We'll divide the boss loot back at the residence."

"Alright, thank you, Miss Hero."

"Thanks, Captain."

She began throwing out their drops—equipment, materials, and so on.

The two quickly picked them up.

Not far away, a Stealth player saw this scene, his eyes flickering with intent. He went invisible, approached, but found that not only did the female player stop throwing items, but they all left together.

The sneaky Stealth player, hoping to get a freebie, was left speechless.

Back at the residence, the group gathered at Ren Yu’s place to ‘divide the spoils.’

Those carrying items dumped everything on the floor, covering the living room densely.

Dual daggers (rare), boxing gloves (rare), heavy sword (rare), longsword (fine), pistol (fine), ring (excellent), windbreaker (fine), earring (good), dagger (good), 3 skill books, 1 residence permit, 4 window papers, 2 enhancement stones, 2 yellow gems, 2 red gems, wood, cotton cloth, tin ore, iron ore, and more...

"Copper coins are with me. I'll transfer them to you after we divide the items," Ren Yu said. "Also, we’ve taken photos of all the drops for your verification."

Zhai Gangyong was deeply moved.

After mixing with other teams, he increasingly felt the unity, relaxed atmosphere, and fairness in distribution within their team.

It turned out to be even better than he imagined.

Not only did everyone wait for them to respawn before dividing the loot, but they also took photos to ensure they could check everything.

This showed the utmost respect for the 'fallen.'

At that moment, the tough guy was almost moved to tears.

Jiang Xujie quickly added, "Miss Hero, what are you doing? If we can’t trust each other, what kind of team would we be?"

Zhai Gangyong echoed, "Exactly, exactly, this is too formal. We trust you, very much."

Li Jiao said, "This is mutual respect. Alright, let's divide the items."

This time, Ren Yu surprisingly took the top contribution again, her contribution value just ten points higher than Starry Sky.

But she didn’t hesitate, stepping forward to take the skill books: "I’m just short of three! By the way, killing level 3 monsters also drops skill book fragments. Tomorrow, we can form a team and go outside the city to kill level 3 monsters, gather more fragments, enhance our skills, and then do a second run of the second dungeon."

Suiyin said, "That sounds great. What time should we meet? I’ll start enhancing my Shadow Kick."

Ren Yu replied, "Tomorrow morning, we need to go out to find resources. We’ll probably be done between eight and nine."

"Alright, I’ll join you then." Suiyin knew their strength and didn’t want to tag along because he wouldn’t be much help and would only take a share of the experience.

Starry Sky stepped forward and took the dual daggers.

Although they weren’t suitable for his class, he could sell them or trade them for equipment he wanted.

Suiyin happily picked up the boxing gloves: "I need to level up quickly and reach level 10 to change my equipment."

Although Jiang Xujie couldn’t respawn on the spot, his contribution wasn’t low, ranking fourth this time. He looked over and, passing on the purple heavy sword, took the blue ring.

Zhai Gangyong also didn’t take the purple weapon, choosing the windbreaker instead.

Li Jiao picked up the heavy sword.

In the second round, Ren Yu chose the blue pistol. She checked it, finding the stats good. The green weapon she was replacing had dropped some durability, but due to its good stats, it should fetch a decent price.

Starry Sky took the blue longsword, and Suiyin took the residence permit: "I’ll go to the trading hall tomorrow to buy a house."

Jiang Xujie took the earring, and Zhai Gangyong took the dagger.

Li Jiao picked up the yellow gem that increased health.

Ren Yu chose the window paper, and Starry Sky took the enhancement stone...

The remaining materials were gradually divided, and then Ren Yu distributed the copper coins according to contributions. Afterward, everyone traded among themselves, selling the materials they had picked up in the vortex to those who needed them.

Starry Sky bought Phantom Stones for 40 copper coins and other ores as well.

Ren Yu bought various animal skins, fabrics, threads, and food materials.

Li Jiao bought medicinal herbs.

After finishing these transactions, no one rushed to leave. They each took out their food to satisfy their hunger, discussing the day’s events while eating. They chatted for over half an hour before saying their goodbyes.

Li Jiao, as usual, made plans with the two to continue gathering materials the next morning.

Ren Yu disbanded the team, locked the door, returned to her room, opened the chest, and took out the synthesized skill book and the one awarded for reaching level 10, proceeding to enhance her skills.

Enhance!

"Skill: Deadly Pursuit, Level 1, usable with gun and cannon weapons, deals 140 damage per hit, effect ‘Pursuit,’ 100% accuracy, 20% chance to cause Flame Burn, dealing 25 continuous damage over 12 seconds."

"You have performed four enhancements. The cooldown of ‘Deadly Pursuit’ has been reduced from 0.5 seconds to 0.3 seconds."

The damage value increased by 60 points, the chance of burning with flames increased by 10%, the continuous damage increased by 10 points, and the duration extended by 4 seconds. The skill cooldown time also decreased.

This amount of time is almost enough for a rapid shot.

"Great!"

But the next enhancement will require ten skill books.

"Getting darker and darker!"

Fortunately, she wasn't in a hurry; she could save up slowly.

Ren Yu went to the back of the house to check on the wheat seedlings. They were short of water again, not only that, but a weed had grown as well.

She watered them and pulled out the weed, then turned back to the house to make a leather cap.

Magic defense 36, physical defense 60, health +42, 1 point fixed agility.

Ren Yu sent a message to the customer: "Swimming Fish: [Leather Cap] mainly focused on physical defense, is it okay?"

The customer replied quickly.

"Suck My Blood: It's fine, can we trade now?"

"Swimming Fish: I'll knock on the door, then you come out."

She got up and went out, not even using her Flame Pistol, switching to the blue weapon she received today. One shot per monster, killing them instantly was too easy.

Arriving at the customer's doorstep, the nearby monsters had already been cleared.

Just as she was about to knock, the door opened from inside.

They exchanged prices, which were roughly the same, so they decided to barter directly.

Ren Yu: "I'll continue collecting wooden buckets; you can do this long-term."

Yu Jingwen: "May I ask if I can buy some water from you?"

Ren Yu replied cheerfully, "You can buy it, or you can exchange it with materials I need, but you need to prepare your own container for the water."

She listed the materials she needed, and Yu Jingwen thought for a moment: "I have some meat, leather, cotton cloth, cotton thread, and berries. Besides water, can I also exchange for some food? I can make up the difference with copper coins."

Ren Yu went through the transaction again, collecting the materials and giving Yu Jingwen two buckets of water, two roasted sweet potatoes, one portion of roasted wild boar meat, and a packet of brown sugar.

However, the carpenter had no more buckets left, owing Ren Yu two buckets, which would be delivered the next day.

After the transaction, Ren Yu turned around, and more small monsters wandered over from elsewhere. She raised her gun and killed them, picked up the drops, and calmly returned home.

Yu Jingwen watched thoughtfully.

Half an hour later, she came out again, holding a bow and standing at the door, shooting arrows at the small monsters on the opposite wall one after another.

Maintaining distance, with a retreat path behind her, she seemed to have found a new trick for fighting monsters at night.

Guarding the door until midnight, Yu Jingwen happily counted her harvest, which was surprisingly good.

"Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

On the other side, Ren Yu didn't make any more equipment when she returned. She processed all the newly harvested ingredients, spun the hemp thread into rope, and then lay in bed browsing the chat channels.

After days of grinding, she wanted to take a break today.

Her fingers slowly scrolled, searching for previous chat records.

After finishing the vortex in the afternoon, the channel messages were too chaotic, scrolling too fast, so she didn't bother reading them. Now, it was much quieter, and she could revisit them.

Slowly flipping through, she found a recent message, where someone was looking to buy a walkthrough guide and tagged all members of their team.

"[City] Huang Chong: I sincerely want to learn the walkthrough guide. The terms are up to you—materials, equipment, or copper coins are all acceptable, @StarrySky @SwimmingFish @..."

In short, he tagged all the team members.

Below this message, he posted another: "[City] Huang Chong: If anyone knows those top players, please help connect us. I genuinely want to buy the guide."

Some players joined the conversation, but most of their comments were sarcastic, like "Don't ask, they look down on us common players" and "They're in love with themselves and ignore everyone."

Ren Yu thought for a moment, checked the time, and sent a party invitation to StarrySky and the others.

Once everyone was in the party, she mentioned the matter in the channel and concluded, "The walkthrough guide is valuable now, but once everyone's skills improve, information will be everywhere, and it won't be a mystery anymore. What do you think?"

"[Party] StarrySky: We can take advantage of this opportunity to earn something."

"[Party] Smile Gently: How about we talk to them and see what they can offer?"

"[Party] Suiyin: Whatever you decide, Captain, I'm fine with it."

"[Party] I Am Not A Beast: I don't mind either; I support whatever decision you make."

"[Party] Soft and Easy to Push Over: +1"

"[Party] SwimmingFish: Let's discuss what we should ask for. We can estimate the value ourselves and then negotiate with them."

Everyone started discussing.

The most frequently mentioned item was food.

They all agreed that equipment could be farmed, and with a tailor and a blacksmith in the team, they could handle armor and weapons, making whatever they lacked.

Counting everything, what they currently lacked the most was food.

In the end, Ren Yu made the decision: they would ask for food.

One hundred portions each of wheat, rice, and sweet potatoes, open to negotiation, with a minimum of seventy portions each.

If not available, alternatives could be accepted, but they had to be food items.

She would take charge of processing, and after processing, she would distribute them to everyone.

“[Team] Suiyin: Wouldn’t it be better to ask for finished products? Steamed buns, cooked rice.”

Ren Yu didn’t mention that she could produce double the amount herself; instead, she said, “I can earn some processing experience, and I can share my portion of the finished product with you all.”

She was already making a good profit by keeping the double reward.

“[Team] Suiyin: No, no, no, there’s no need for that. It’s too formal. I should have thought of it earlier.”

Jiang Xujie was concerned that they might not have enough supplies, as resources were scarce, especially food.

Ren Yu left the negotiations to Xingkong.

After some haggling, they finally agreed on eighty portions of wheat, forty portions of rice, forty portions of corn, fifty portions of sweet potatoes, and thirty portions of potatoes.

The transaction was set for 9 AM the next day at the Safe Zone Trading Hall.

Once the goods were delivered, Xingkong would provide detailed instructions to the other party.

“[Team] Not a Beast: Rich guy, to be able to come up with so much food.”

“[Team] Free Fish: They probably have a team. Besides, resource points are just hard to find, not nonexistent. Our activity range is too fixed; we don’t venture out much.”

“[Team] Xingkong: The captain’s analysis is correct. They are from the same company, spontaneously forming a small organization with a dedicated gathering team.”

After a few more words, Ren Yu dismissed the team to rest.

Four hours of deep sleep had her waking up a little after three in the morning.

She got up and made two windbreakers and two homemade belts. Checking the time, she sent messages to Xingkong and Li Jiao, then reformed the team and waited for their applications.

She took out a bowl of Lanzhou noodles and a plate of stir-fried spinach and started eating.

As she was finishing up, Xingkong and Qianxiao both applied to join the team. She finished the last sip of soup, stood up, and headed out, ready to start her new day.