At this time of the day, the Players Market was very lively. Many players came here to set up stalls like hawkers on the streets. The Players Market was located in a rather recluse area of the Trading District. This was the only way the players could set up their own stalls. If they went to more popular areas, the guards would force them to move out of the way.
The guards were more tolerant when it came to these recluse areas and so, players jumped on that opportunity to sell their loot. Not everyone was going after contribution points at the Associations. Some were there only to exchange items while others came to sell for gold.
Stalls could be seen everywhere and not all of them were selling their loot. There were some Grade 0 cooks trying to sell their creations and some stalls were dedicated to entertainment purposes.
While normal players could only use these stalls, the three big guilds, having more capital, were able to purchase and rent some shops. The shops were not special in any way. They sold the exact same items that the stalls sold but occasionally, a few NPCs would come to the shops. The shops did not generate much profits; they were mainly a way to demonstrate their strength causing many players to join them in return.
Since Li Wei's departure, all the guilds recruited a massive number of players. The richest one, the Gem Family, even rented a building in the War District to serve as their official Headquarters.
Li Wei was naturally surprised when he walked into the players market. It felt exactly like a market in real life. Many players were walking around looking at the stalls while the vendors were excitedly trying to attract customers.
Li Wei did not plan to buy anything yet. His inventory was still full; he was only here to have a look and relax. From what he saw, most of the players sold collectible resources of the dungeon and the nearby areas. These were mainly bought my aspiring craftsmen who did not have time to go out to collect them. It was better to buy from the players than from the NPC's shop. Here, prices could be cut and business networks could be built.
"Sir! Look at these iron ores! They are perfect for Grade 1 equipment!"
"Great discount on Red Funel Grass and Branches of Toulika! Hurry up! First come first served!"
Promotional shouts came from several stalls, but Li Wei simply ignored them. He did not plan on obtaining a crafting profession yet. This environment was very enjoyable for him since it reminded him of his hometown.
Li Wei was silently strolling the streets, looking at the different stalls when he saw a stall that attracted a particularly large crowd. They seemed to have deliberately allowed some space for the customers to stand and watch.
Intrigued, he approached the crowd to have a look. It was not even selling anything. Instead, it was an entertainment stall. He just arrived at the section dedicated to entertainment; there, many games were available to play.
At the stall in front of Li Wei was a game where the player needed to throw a ball into a particular container. It was a common game seen in night markets and so people tried to replicate it. It was a very nice break from killing monsters. As there were no computers, many people turned to such entertainment forms.
Li Wei continued his stroll. He was familiar with these games but did not try to play. He clearly knew that these were extremely hard to win and would rather keep his money.
At the end of the alley, he saw another large crowd of players.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming here! It is now time for the long-awaited Lottery Draw of the Day! I hope that you all have your tickets ready!"
"A lottery?" said Li Wei to himself as he joined the crowd.
At the stand, all Li Wei could see was a huge black box. The crowd was excited. All the players there were anxiously holding a ticket in their hands, each having a specific number. Lotteries were yet another form of entertainment that the players brought to Zero. Li Wei curiously stood among the crowd to watch the draw. He was curious about what the prize could be.
The host kept inciting the crowd to buy tickets and hyping up the atmosphere, building up more and more suspense. Eventually, the host asked a random player from the crowd to come and pick a ticket from the box. It was seemingly a random person, but no one knew if it was rigged.
The person that the host chose turned out to be a cute girl wearing a ranger's outfit. She timidly walked on the stage, encouraged by her party. The crowd immediately applauded her and calmly waited for the draw.
However, the host chose to delay the drawing by a few more seconds just like a professional building up the suspense. Finally, upon receiving the permission, the cute girl placed her hand into the black box and mixed the tickets. After a few seconds, she anxiously took out a piece of paper and read out the number.
"It is number 381," said the girl with a timid voice.
The host quickly picked up, "Number 381! Our grand winner tonight is number 381! If you have the corresponding ticket 381 please step forward!"
Many players in the crowd wore dejected expression but they still wildly applauded as they waited for the winner to reveal himself and a few seconds later a silhouette made his way towards the stage. As Li Wei was curiously looking, he immediately recognized who it was, it was Bright Sun. "The winner is actually her?" said Li Wei to himself.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! A quick round of applause for this lucky lady please!" declared the host as he stepped forward to congratulate Bright Sun.
The audience immediately responded. They were all surprised to see that such a beautiful lady came to the market to play the lottery.
Bright Sun was overjoyed. She kept a very composed attitude. She warmly smiled and thanked the host. Quickly, an assistant brought a small jewel box and passed it to Bright Sun. Li Wei could not see what the box contained, but he knew that it should have been decent from Bright Sun's reaction.
The prize was a Grade 1 Bracelet, it was mediocre in quality for a grade 1 but still, it was worth at least 20 gold and playing the lottery only cost 10 silver per ticket.
The crowd once again warmly applauded before slowly dispersing. The event here was over, they started to move towards the other entertaining stalls. Li Wei was about to turn and leave when he suddenly heard a voice calling him:
"Hey Seven! You are finally back!"
Li Wei turned around only to see Cai Wenji walking towards him, "Ah Hello Cai Wenji. I just came back and was just having a look at the market."
"That's great! You blocked all your messages and I could not contact you! I thought you would not make it back for the guild's weekly event tomorrow."
Li Wei smiled, "I told you I will be back, but it looks like you did not have a good time here, right? What exactly happened?" The first thing Li Wei noticed when he saw Cai Wenji was his level. He was actually level 11 which was the same as when he left. That was not possible unless he died. Li Wei himself was already level 12 and considering that he was traveling most of the time and gaining only a small amount of exp, Cai Wenji who was diligently farming should have long reached level 12.
"Yeah, when you left..." started Cai Wenji but he was immediately interrupted by his sister.
"Hello Seven! How was your trip?" said Bright Sun as she joyfully hopped towards Li Wei and Cai Wenji. Behind her was Sun Rose who was silently following her friend.
"Hi!" politely greeted Sun Rose.
"Hello!" answered Li Wei but he immediately noticed another detail when he looked at the two girls' levels, Sun Rose's IGN actually changed to Liu Beibei.
"Wait, why is your IGN different? Did you change it?" asked Li Wei.
"Oh that! I changed it recently. There's an item called Renaming Table that you can use to change your IGN. it's sold at the Trading District," answered Liu Beibei with an embarrassed expression.
Bright Sun on the side giggled and teased her, "Yes and I've never seen such a lame attempt at running away from home!"
"Hey! How was I supposed to know that we could search the players according to their real name during the first day?" answered Liu Beibei.
The reason she did not use her real name was that she wanted to freely explore this world. Her family clearly declared that everyone would use their real name in the game, but she chose not to so that she won't be identified and would be free. She just wanted some freedom after the rough life she lived till now. Unfortunately, since the game allowed players to search for others with their real names on the first day, she was quickly found and was scolded for that. In the end, their family spent 20 gold for the Renaming Table.
"Cough cough! Anyway, shall we go to the Prosperity Hall? I am really hungry now!" said Liu Beibei to redivert the topic.
"Yes, I am hungry too, we should go quickly before all the spots are taken," replied Bright Sun.
"Seven? Do you want to come with us?" asked Cai Wenji. The latter was entangled with the two girls since they came back from the dungeon. While it was enjoyable at first, it quickly became boring to follow them on their shopping spree and to listen to girl's talk. And now that he found someone to talk to, he would naturally try to get him to stay.
"Eh that would be inappropriate, I..." said Li Wei but he was immediately cut by Cai Wenji.
"That would be fine. You haven't been to the Prosperity Hall yet I suppose. The more the merrier, I am treating anyway! You guys don't mind right?" asked Cai Wenji to the two girls.
The two simply smiled and indicated that they did not mind inviting Li Wei and so, the latter found himself joining the group of three.
He was reluctant at first but under Cai Wenji's persuasion, he ended up following the group.
He clearly knew what the Prosperity Hall was; it was a very famous restaurant in the Trading District. Apparently, eating food there would give players some bonus stats for a small period of time but more importantly, the food there was really delicious. The one downside was the price, it was significantly more expensive than the other restaurants.
Since he was given the opportunity to try the dishes for free, Li Wei naturally would not refuse.
As they walked towards the restaurant, Li Wei narrated his trip to Abe's forest. The three were very curious since they did not get the opportunity to explore the outside world yet. They all focused hard on training and leveling in the dungeon. Naturally, Li Wei omitted his experience with the Ghost Farmer and the Lake Fairy. He obtained some good items from them and had no plans of sharing them with the guild for now.
"Wow! I wish we could go an explore outside too..." commented Liu Beibei.
"Yeah... We should ask the sect to arrange events like that! It would be much more fun than just going to the dungeon," said Bright Sun.
The small group was happily chatting when they finally arrived at the Prosperity Hall. The place was just massive. It distinguished itself from the surrounding buildings with its unique architecture. The first floor looked very welcoming and simple, it was precisely the lack of decorations that made this place attractive. But the other floors were different, just the outside was lavishly decorated. The higher the floor, the more intimidating they looked as if saying that only the rich could step in.
The restaurant was divided into four floors, each serving a different type of food. The first floor served normal dishes with normal quality ingredients, it was a very affordable place for the commoners and low-level players.
The higher the floor, the higher the quality of the food and service provided there. As for the last floor, players were not allowed to go there yet; it was a floor that only accommodated nobles or people with special titles.
As Li Wei and his group stopped at the entrance, a cute waitress immediately stepped forward to welcome them,
"Hello and welcome to the Prosperity Hall! Tonight, the theme is Western food. Would you like a table for four?" politely asked the waitress.
The Prosperity Hall was famous not only for the quality of the food provided but also for the large variety. Every day, they would serve different style of dishes, ensuring that no leftovers were used.
"Western food? Alright, can we please have a table on the second floor please?" asked Cai Wenji.
"Of course, please follow me!" politely said the waitress as she lead the way upstairs.
At the same time, many players turned to look at the newcomers. Going to the second floor was not uncommon but it was still a sign of status.