Xiao Yu looked up at the sky and realized it was dusk, meaning that he would be able to level up in an hour and a half. He went out and resumed his mission of killing monsters.
He went to the deepest part of the desert, looking for level-3 monsters. He found an area with recently respawned level-3 desert weedles. He figured that he could gain more experience points and practice his skills by killing monsters that were at the same level as he was. This way, he wouldn't encounter much danger. Xiao Yu was a prudent guy, after all.
He snuck behind a desert weedle using stealth travel, knocked it unconscious with a sneak attack, and then slashed it. As the desert weedle came to its senses and counterattacked, Xiao Yu retreated first and then struck it with the reversed backstabbing skill. Because the reversed backstabbing skill dealt high damage, the desert weedle was defeated as soon as he used this skill.
Xiao Yu evaluated his current level of strength and found that he could easily challenge level-5 sand salamanders, which were obviously higher than his current level. However, he didn't want to challenge them just yet because sand salamanders were able to unleash very strong attacks. If something happened, his hard-earned level would be wiped out. After some thought, he figured that he would be able to challenge them after leveling up once more.
Reversed backstabbing skill; 100% success rate.
Seeing this, Xiao Yu smiled contentedly. After a great deal of practice, his reversed backstabbing skill had finally started improving. He could complete the skill with a 100% success rate at least two out of ten times, and his body had already gotten accustomed to the movements required to execute the skill.
The sun was going down, and the endless golden desert was shining beneath its red glow. The colors looked as magnificent as a richly-colored oil painting, and they added a sense of heroism and tragedy to the atmosphere.
The scene was as wonderful as a dream, and Xiao Yu could hardly imagine such a remarkable view existing in a desert. He couldn't help but halt his steps.
Beauty was fleeting.
The iridescent scene lasted a mere 20 minutes before the sun dropped behind the mountains. The sky dimmed abruptly, and the dark of night overtook the world soon after. It took merely a moment before one couldn't even see their fingers any longer.
It was dangerous for Xiao Yu to kill monsters in such a darkly-lit environment, so he had no choice but to return to his city in the real world.
He went offline in the city and took off the helmet. Nighttime in the game world happened to be daytime in the real world. However, sunlight still shone dimly inside the wooden house, those few slivers of light streaming in through the cracks on the roof.
The rice in the pot was still warm, which meant that Little Rain had just gone to school. Xiao Yu got up and stretched a bit, then noticed a note on the table:
"Comrade Little Rain is on her way to school. The rice is in the pot. Some roasted duck is in the pot. Work hard, Comrade Xiao Yu!"
A smiley face was drawn at the bottom of the note.
Seeing the note, Xiao Yu thought of the bright and adorable smiling face Little Rain always had. He put some rice in his bowl and began to eat silently.
"It's time to work hard now," he reminded himself. He had to do it for his younger sister, who had been by his side for more than ten years. When it came to her, blood was indeed thicker than water.
After he finished eating, Xiao Yu put on the helmet and entered the game again.
It was nighttime in the game world, so he couldn't kill monsters. What else could he do but tour the city?
"I should spend more time learning about the game then," he thought.
Xiao Yu walked about the city for a while and found that the other players were all busy practicing their vocational skills. Almost every player had learned one or two vocational skills, like smelting, manufacturing, and engineering, all of which could be practiced at night.
It suddenly struck him that it would not be a bad idea to learn one or two vocational skills to earn some money.
What vocational skill should he learn then? He knew that game forums were a good place to go to for the answer. Xiao Yu left the game and entered the gaming forum via his helmet, reading the thoughts of the players regarding The Legend of Enzes.
Judging by the players' comments, mystical pharmacology was the most suitable work for thieves. This type of pharmacology had two branches: One was orthodox mystical pharmacology, which would make all sorts of treatments and antidotes possible. The other was poison-based pharmacology, which would make poison and all sorts of harmful medications.
Thieves often smeared poison on their daggers to boost the potency of their assaults and to make their foes feel sick. This was why mystical pharmacology was naturally very useful. In addition to coating your dagger with poison, after learning mystical pharmacology, Xiao Yu could make his own potions and avoid buying them from others.
After some consideration, Xiao Yu decided to learn mystical pharmacology. He figured that he might have to rely on this knowledge to earn a living in the future. Now that he decided to study mystical pharmacology, he would also learn how to collect medicinal plants, which meant that he would be able to live a self-sufficient life.
He read some of the players' comments regarding mystical pharmacology and then entered the game. After that, he learned the mystical pharmacology skill and learned how to collect medicinal plants. Fortunately, these two skills didn't cost that much, merely five silver coins. After checking the money in his bag, he found that he had 21 silver coins left. In addition to the silver coins, he had five white-level items for other professions.
It was unclear how much money he could get by selling white-level equipment to non-player characters. Xiao Yu went to a non-player character's store to inquire about this and discovered that he could sell them for five or six bronze coins. He thought that price was too cheap and so he didn't want to sell them. Perhaps other players would need these items. He would be satisfied if he could sell them to other players at a higher price.
Xiao Yu left the store and arrived on the street, finding that only a few players were setting up stalls to sell their items. The way they set up their stalls was quite simple: they found a ragged cloth, put it on the ground, and then placed their items on the cloth. Fortunately, the small town of Tabarka didn't have city management personnel to regulate them.
Many players were checking out these stalls, but few of them had bought any items.
Xiao Yu was startled when he saw the prices. It turned out that these items were more than 10 silver coins each, which is why few people were buying them. Looking at the adjacent stall, Xiao Yu found that the price was eight silver coins, but still, nobody wanted them.
Were these items truly worth so much money? Xiao Yu thought that his level, even though it was merely level 3, was already quite high among regular players. The majority of players were level 2 and had killed fewer monsters, so they didn't have that many items. As such, many players wished to purchase some items at the night market to improve their defense. It would be easier to kill monsters in the daytime tomorrow. During this time, the need for items went up, and the price naturally followed.
After calculating the burst rate, Xiao Yu figured that five silver coins was the upper limit for each item. Those price tags of more than 10 silver coins were aimed at a few "fat sheep."
After some thought, Xiao Yu also found some ragged pieces of cloth and set up a stall. He priced each item at six silver coins. As soon as he set up the stall, many players came over and checked his stuff out. But nobody made an offer. Some of them were talking in hushed voices. It seemed that the price of six silver coins was still a little too expensive.
"Brother, could you lower the price for this magic robe?" asked a young element mage while pointing to the magic cotton robe on the cloth.
"This is the lowest I can go," Xiao Yu said, shaking his head. These players were hesitant and undecided, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't ultimately make a purchase. If Xiao Yu lowered the price for one of the items, then he would have to lower the prices for all the others. It was still early in the evening, so he could wait until midnight. If nobody bought anything, then he could lower the price.
After some hesitation, the elemental mage made up his mind while gritting his teeth, saying, "I'll buy this. Here are six silver coins."
As expected, the price, though it was a little high, was acceptable for some people. Xiao Yu felt a bit relieved. More players came over, probably because they had found the prices at the other stalls to be too high in comparison to Xiao Yu's. The items at his stall were sold one after the other. By midnight, he had sold all five items and earned 30 silver coins.
This result was pretty good. Xiao Yu understood one thing: he should sell items in the evening since he had so much spare time then, and by doing so, he could make some money and make himself more financially stable.
Xiao Yu cleaned up his stall and was about to leave before a voice rang out behind him.
"Brother, wait a second!"
Xiao Yu spun his head around and saw that element mage from before.
"What's the matter?" asked Xiao Yu. It was kind of dark, so he couldn't see the elemental mage clearly under the dim magic light on the street.
"I just bought an item from you. I'm Ji Huo," the element mage said, introducing himself.
"I'm Xiao Yu," said Xiao Yu. He was baffled as to why this player was speaking to him in such a rush. Did he intend to return the item he had bought? The sold goods were nonrefundable. But Xiao Yu told the elemental mage his name for the sake of being polite.
"The thing is that I'd like to find a player to make a party with so that we can practice together. I'm level 4, and I'm an elemental mage. I've seen you sell many items at your stall; I believe you're also a high level, at least level 3," said Ji Huo.
His guess was right. Xiao Yu examined the other person and found that Ji Huo was a young man of 26 or 27, and he wore the gray magic robe he had just bought from Xiao Yu. The two of them stood close to each other, so Xiao Yu could see his face clearly under the dim light. Ji Huo was somewhat good-looking and held a phoebe wooden staff. His outfit was slightly better than Xiao Yu's, and he had on a full set of white-level equipment.
"I am level 3. As for making a party…" Xiao Yu was hesitant, wondering why this player wanted to team up with him. Level 4, for an elemental mage, was rather high at the moment; the highest level in the Evil Federation was merely level 6 so far. But he was a fire mage and could cause high damage, so it was understandable that he would be one level higher than Xiao Yu.
"The combination of a thief and a fire mage is pretty good. Should we kill monsters together tomorrow?" asked Ji Huo expectantly. He would be able to exert maximum damage if someone with a profession suitable for close-range combat could fight in front of him. Even though the experience points would be divided up among the party members, it would be faster for two players to kill monsters than one, and leveling up would be faster as well. Ji Huo had been looking for a suitable party member for a long time, but a vast majority of the players in the small town were only at level 2. That was why he considered Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu was used to doing things by himself and didn't like leveling up by joining a party. He had already leveled up fast enough by himself. Moreover, he wished to practice his skills more, especially the two skills of backstabbing and evisceration that he hadn't mastered yet. "I have something to take care of tomorrow. We can team up later if the opportunity presents itself," said Xiao Yu, shaking his head.
It was evident that Xiao Yu was using this as an excuse. Since Xiao Yu had no intention of making a party with him, Ji Huo said disappointedly, "Fine. We'll get in touch if the opportunity presents itself."
Ji Huo was merely courteous by saying that. The two of them parted without adding each other to their friend list.
Having sold all his items, Xiao Yu left the game and then ate dinner. Afterwards, he entered the game again. With nothing else to do, he strolled around in the night market.