Mark got down the bed and headed downstairs to grab some dinner. The inn has its own dining area so he didn't have to go out.
The lady at the reception noticed him going down the stairs, but Mark didn't even bother to glance at her. This made her feel that he was intentionally ignoring her.
Mark headed straight to the dining area and looked at the menu. One particular dish caught his eye.
Grilled Rat Leg - 2 Orbes
Mark's stomach churned when he saw this on the menu. He couldn't help but recall the ugly big rat that he had slain earlier in the forest. 'I wonder if I could sell it here?' The carcass of the big rat was still inside his storage bag.
Thinking about this, Mark pulled a waiter and asked. "Excuse me, do you buy things like animal carcass here?"
The waiter stared at him in surprise. "We do buy them, but we only purchase their meat. If you are trying to sell the beasts you hunted, you should go to the market. There are many merchants who are willing to buy such things there."
"Is that so? Thank you." Mark secretly handed him 1 Orbes for the information he provided.
The waiter smiled happily as he kept the coin in his pocket. "You're welcome, sir!"
"It seems like I have to go to the market tomorrow and sell the animal carcass. I wonder how much it would go for…" Mark mumbled to himself. He then ordered some food and told them to deliver it to his room.
Mark paid 3 Orbes for the food.
Soon, his food was delivered by a food server. He gave the guy 1 Orbes as a tip.
"Not bad." The taste of the dish was much better than he had thought. The meat was from an ordinary bear and he didn't expect that it would taste so good.
After eating his meal, Mark decided to check the map of Greenwood Village. "So the market is here, huh…" He studied the map for a few minutes before keeping it in his storage bag.
Mark sat in a lotus position and closed his eyes to cultivate.
+1 Qi
+1 Qi
+1 Qi
***
The next day, Mark opened his eyes and he was greeted by the warm rays of light that passed through the gaps of the window. It was already morning and his stomach was already protesting. "I'll go eat first before I go to the market." He stood up and headed to the dining area.
He ordered three dishes worth 8 Orbes. While waiting for his food to arrive, he checked his player information.
Player IGN: Wolf of the Grassland
Cultivation: Body Strengthening First Level
Physique: Mortal
Qi: 12/100
Wealth: 810 Orbes
Vitality: 1.7
Endurance: 2.4
Strength: 1.8
Stamina: 1.7
Speed: 1.7
Spirit: 2.9
Cold Resistance: 0.3
Heat Resistance: 0.3
Damage 0.5
He gathered a total of 12 Qi from his cultivation last night, but he still has a long way to go from the required amount to reach the next level.
"Here's your order, sir." The food server placed the food he ordered on the table.
"Thank you." Mark smiled at the server.
"Enjoy your meal, sir!" The server smiled in response.
The food here was great. It was even comparable to the high-end restaurant in the real world.
While he was eating his breakfast, he stared at the other diners. All of them acted no different than real humans. It was like they had emotions of their own and not just some NPC with predictable lines and stories. 'How did Ethereal Inc., create this world?' He thought deeply in his heart. He didn't even feel like he was in a game world. It was like he was transported to another world.
After eating his meal, he went out of the inn and headed to the market. Not long later, he arrived at a busy street filled with stalls and small businesses.
"Sir, what are you looking for? I sell authentic jades here that were mined from the Altamira Cave." A suspicious-looking man pulled Mark towards his stall. There were all sorts of beautiful gems in his little stall, but Mark was not interested in them.
"No, thank you." Mark forced out a smile as he walked away.
There were quite a lot of people in the market. "I wonder if there's a player among these people." He mumbled to himself. He hasn't encountered another player since he entered the game. According to Ethereal Inc., Ethereal was fifty times larger than Earth. The probability of encountering another player was low considering the massive size of the planet.
Mark soon found a shop that deals with mystical beasts. They sell the newborns and eggs of mystical creatures. They also sell tamed beasts, beast food, and many other things. This place was like a pet shop in the real world.
"Hello, sir!" A worker from the shop greeted him with a smile. He wasn't like the receptionist of the Mystic Cloud Inn. Despite Mark's ordinary outfit, the man treated him with enough respect.
"Hi! I was wondering if you buy beast carcass here." Mark inquired.
"Oh! Are you a hunter by any chance?" The eyes of the worker flickered with enthusiasm. Their shop was very reliant on hunters for their raw materials so he respected them a lot.
Mark shook his head. "I'm not a hunter. I only managed to slay a beast by chance." He replied.
The man nodded his head. "You must have been incredibly lucky! Please follow me, sir. I'll appraise the beast carcass you brought."
"Alright." Mark smiled and followed the man to a separate room.
"Could you take out the beast carcass? I'll inspect it for you." The man smiled at him.
Mark took out the big rat carcass from his storage bag. "Should I put it down?" He asked.
"Yes, sir!" The man nodded his head.
Mark carefully put down the big rat carcass.
The man inspected the corpse with a serious look on his face. "This is an ordinary beast that is about to become a mystical creature. Normally, a complete and undamaged big rat carcass is worth 50 Orbes, but this one already has traces of Qi in its body. I would have offered you 80 Orbes if its fur was in perfect condition, but there's a long cut on its neck area and a small cut on its belly. How about this? I'll give you 65 Orbes for this carcass. What do you think, sir?"
"65 Orbes?" Mark was pleasantly surprised. He thought that this carcass was only worth 20 or 30 Orbes.
The man thought that Mark was not satisfied with the price he quoted. "Sir, this is already the most I can give you based on the state of the carcass." He carefully said.
"Alright. I accept your offer." Mark smiled at the man.
"Great!" The man clapped his hands. "Please wait here for a moment, sir."
"No problem."
The man left the room and he later came back with a small pouch filled with coins. "Here's your payment, sir."
"Thank you." Mark grabbed the pouch and kept it inside his storage bag.
"It's my pleasure doing business with you, sir! If you have more things to sell, don't hesitate to come back to our shop." The man smiled in response.
Mark left the shop with a satisfied expression. He now had 875 Orbes. It was enough to last him for a few weeks.
"Hey, have you heard? Some hunters encountered a Black Scaled Boar in the Enchanted Woodlands."
"Eh? Isn't that a mystical creature?! What happened to those hunters?"
Mark perked up his ears when he heard some people discussing this.
"Sir Jason was with them so they managed to return alive, but some of them were still injured."
"The Enchanted Woodlands is becoming more dangerous! Hopefully, the village head would do something about those stray mystical beasts."
Mark didn't know who that Jason fellow was, but for him to escort the hunters safely right under the nose of a mystical beast, the man should be a strong cultivator. As for the Enchanted Woodlands, that was the name of the forest where he was randomly teleported. He was lucky enough that he didn't encounter a mystical creature during his time in the forest.
"From what I heard, the village head is organizing fifty hunters to kill this Black Scaled Boar. Sir Jason would also be there to lead them."
"Really? It seems like the village head is determined to kill that mystical beast."
"That is only natural. After all, one of the injured hunters was his grandson. The village head even said that the hunters who would join the hunt would receive 100 Orbes as an initial reward and if the Black Scaled Boar is killed, an additional 200 Orbes would be given."
Mark who was about to leave suddenly revealed a look of interest. 300 Orbes wasn't a small sum, but the thing that made him more interested was the Black Scaled Boar. He hadn't seen a mystical beast yet and he was curious what it looked like. The big rat he encountered recently was only an ordinary creature. Although it possessed traces of Qi, it was still far from becoming a mystical beast.
Mark walked up to the discussing men and asked. "Excuse me. Where can I sign up to join the hunt?"