John pondered for a long time in the temple.
In real life, he was not poor, but still far from wealthy.
Nowadays, he is basically living off the savings he made from playing games before.
That clearly wouldn't work in the long run.
His original intention was to use his gaming talent to make some money in the most popular new game, "Godslayer."
Now it seemed that this goal could be easily achieved.
He tried to consign three sets of 100 gold coins each at 120,000 dollars, 150,000 dollars, and 180,000 dollars in the trade association and observed the reactions of other players.
...
Soon, the players noticed that another three sets of gold coins had been consigned in the trade association.
And they were all sets of 100, consigned by an anonymous player.
This immediately caused a stir among the other players.
In the public chat channel, various comments were flying.
"Oh my God! A full 300 gold coins! Whose handiwork is this?"
"I don't think it's consigned by one person. The game just launched the day before yesterday, how could anyone accumulate 400 gold coins at once? It must be other big shots who saw the first person consign and make so much money, so they took out their own saved gold coins to consign!"
"Damn it, why are these gold coins bound and sold in sets? I just want to buy a few gold coins... I can't afford 100 at once!"
"Looking for a group purchase of a set of gold coins! We have already raised money for 36 gold coins! Players in need, please contact me quickly! Time waits for no one!"
...
People were discussing it, and many players were pooling money to buy a set, but they clearly underestimated the purchasing power of the other players.
In no time, the 100 gold coins priced at 120,000 dollars were snapped up.
Before people could react...
The 150,000 dollars gold coins were also instantly bought.
Now, the public chat room was even more explosive.
"Who?! Who bought it so quickly?! I hesitated for a few seconds and you bought it?!"
"Hey, there are still many rich guys. The remaining set is too expensive for me. Will someone really spend 180,000 dollars on 100 gold coins?"
...
Meanwhile, Darklord, standing in the trade association, looked extremely pale and upset.
His dwarf subordinate didn't dare to breathe, fearing that they might say something to upset his boss.
Just a moment ago, Darklord had wanted to buy the 120,000-dollars gold coins but hesitated, then someone else snapped them up.
When he was about to buy the second set, the noise of his subordinates distracted him, causing him to enter the wrong payment password and miss out on the second set of gold coins.
"Forget it! Buy the 180,000-dollars ones!"
Darklord clenched his teeth, even though he really thought these gold coins weren't worth 180,000 dollars and the exchange rate would eventually drop.
But at this moment, he really needed this startup capital to give his guild a head start.
But just as he made up his mind.
That set of 180,000-dollars gold coins was also snapped up.
From being listed for consignment to being bought, it took less than a minute.
This infuriated Darklord.
He vented all his anger on his subordinates.
"You're all useless! A bunch of useless trash!"
"What were you babbling about just now?! It made me enter the wrong password! Just one wrong number, and those 100 gold coins are gone!"
Just as he couldn't help but scold his subordinates, ten sets of 100 gold coins appeared in the list. All of these ten sets were priced at 200,000 dollars!
"Damn, if I don't buy it now, the price will probably go up again... Buy it!"
Darklord gritted his teeth and quickly selected one set to place an order.
Soon, 100 gold coins were credited to his account.
And from his bank card, he lost 200,000 dollars in cash.
Although it was painful, it was necessary for Darklord.
"Originally it only needed 100,000 dollars, but I ended up paying double the price to get it, such a loss..."
"Never mind, this amount of money is not much compared to the pocket money my dad gives me."
"At worst, I'll just ask my dad for more money."
"Let's go, little ones, we have money now!"
"We've bought all the necessary items, let's continue leveling up!"
The subordinates around him responded in unison: "Yes! Young Master!"
...
Half an hour later.
John looked at the extra 2.55 million dollars in his account, not knowing whether he should be excited or not.
When money comes easily and in large amounts, it's just a string of numbers.
John didn't waste too much time on this matter.
He also didn't continue to list more gold coins for sale, because he knew that too much of anything is not good.
If he were to list tens of thousands of gold coins... It would inevitably cause the early price of gold coins to fluctuate too much, which would not be conducive to the subsequent sale of gold coins.
It's better to have a steady stream of income.
John no longer focused on the gold coins he listed for sale, but turned his attention to the items listed by other players:
[Silver Tear (Common): Holy water of the Silver Church, said to be the divine tear bestowed by the Silver Angel, extremely precious. Apply a drop to your forehead to temporarily increase your spiritual power and intelligence by 5% (lasting 1 hour), and gain +10% Exp points.]
This item was listed by a player with the ID "White Feather," and each drop was priced at one silver coin.
However, this player only listed ten drops, a total of only 10 silver coins.
John directly sent him a private message, asking if he could sell more.
He wasn't trying to buy it cheap; he just didn't want to spend the gold coins in smaller denominations. If he could buy more, he would buy more, and it would be best to buy in whole gold coins.
Soon, the other party replied: "Yes, I can. My Class is the hidden class 'Silver Knight', and now I am the only player in the Silver Church, so basically only I can get 'Silver Tear'."
"But even if you buy a lot, I can't offer a lower price, because obtaining Tears is really troublesome, and the material and time costs are high. This price is already very cheap."
John didn't expect this person to be so naive, even telling him about his hidden profession and how he obtained the item.
To know that this kind of rare intelligence is worth more than gold in the early stages of the game!
The other party misunderstood that he was trying to buy more to bargain and sincerely told him that the cost was high, which made John think that this person was too naive.
"I'm not trying to bargain, just give me 100 drops at one silver coin per drop." The other party obviously didn't expect John to be so generous and sent a somewhat incredulous message:
"Really? Many people have complained that my price is too high, saying that no one would buy this for one silver coin. If you think the price is acceptable, I can send it to you immediately, as I have some stock on hand."
Both parties felt the sincerity from each other, and the deal was swiftly agreed upon.
John handed over a gold coin to the stone statue plate, and after the gold coin disappeared, a wooden cup appeared on the plate.
It was filled with a silvery liquid.
Without a doubt, this was the "Silver Tear."
Upon system inspection, there were 101 drops inside.
To thank John for his generosity, the other party even gave an extra drop.
John dipped his finger in, took out a drop, and applied it to his forehead.
Soon, his mind became crystal clear, and all traces of fatigue were swept away.
John had never felt so refreshed and energized.
"It seems that the item description is true... This would be really helpful for leveling up!"
"Although players are currently unwilling to spend a silver coin, it's only because silver coins are too valuable now. In comparison, an additional 10% experience gain for an hour doesn't seem worth it."
However, John believed that the price of this item would eventually soar.
Because levels and Exp were the core of this game.
Moreover, John speculated that with proper refinement, the Tear's effects could be improved!
John made another round of purchases at the trade association, buying a complete set of basic distillation equipment – something that could be found in any alchemist's general store in every town, nothing unusual.
Then, John began distilling the small cup of Silver Tear on the spot, refining it down to just a single drop.
This drop was worth one gold coin of Silver Tear!
John carefully examined the remaining drop of "Silver Tear" in the container...
[Silver Tear (Uncommon): Sacred water of the Silver Church, said to be the divine tear bestowed by the Silver Angel, extremely precious. This sacred water has been refined from one hundred ordinary Tears and, when a drop is applied to the forehead, temporarily increases spiritual power and intelligence by 10% (lasting 1 hour) while granting +200% experience gain.]
As expected!
John excitedly clenched his fist.
His speculation was correct – after refinement, the Exp gain efficiency would be tripled!
...
PS: In this novel, in-game items are divided into seven tiers: Poor (gray), Common (white), Uncommon (green), Rare (blue), Epic (purple), Legendary (orange), and Divine (red).