It was just his food delivery. Irving breathed a sigh of relief.
Not long after he'd posted his trade, many forum users were discussing a player nicknamed "Lucky Pretty Boy". This player was, in fact, Irving.
The nickname suited him perfectly.
A tenfold drop rate was akin to cheating! If this wasn't a lucky pretty boy, what was?
"I thought someone had traced me through the internet..." Irving shook his head.
He opened the food bag, pulled out a burger and fries, and took a sip of his cola. Just as he was about to fill his stomach...
Ding! The small horn on the forum interface flashed.
"Congratulations! The trade was successful!"
"Your trade post: Pigman Bones *320...has been bought by another user."
"First trade reminder: This forum is globally networked. To ensure transaction safety, the transaction amount is temporarily held by the official, and will be automatically transferred to the personal account provided after the buyer successfully receives the goods."
Irving wasn't too concerned about this. After all, a good market environment was the foundation.
$100,000 was easily obtained.
Irving thought of another problem - how to deliver those pigman bones to the buyer?
That was a total of 320 pigman bones.
If he get larger items or materials in the future, wouldn't transportation be a big problem?
Ding!
System prompt: "All game materials transferred into the real world can be proportionally reduced!"
Irving was overjoyed and quickly tried it out.
He went into the game, and chose to take out the 320 pigman materials. A prompt popped up on the system interface.
"Do you want to proportionally reduce this item?"
"Please enter __ __ ratio!"
"3%."
Irving typed in a random ratio, and the pigman bones, which were about the size of an arm, were all reduced to the size of toothpicks.
All 320 of them could fit into a small box.
"This is amazing!" Irving exclaimed.
Having solved the transportation issue, Irving breathed a sigh of relief. When he looked back at the forum, he noticed that the little horn for message notification was still flashing.
When he clicked on it, it wasn't a trade reminder, but a private message from a stranger: Username, Anna.
"What properties does the ruby have? How did you obtain it?"
Irving's smile faded and his brows furrowed, his guard immediately up.
The internet was very advanced now. Although this forum was organized by the official, its security was somewhat guaranteed. But who knew who was behind this stranger's account?
"The ruby can increase the critical hit rate by 1% when embedded in a weapon... As for how I obtained it, you don't need to know." Irving replied coldly.
The other party seemed to sense something and continued to reply using the account Anna: "I know you are wary. But there is no need!"
Lucky Pretty Boy sent a, "?"
Anna: "Let me introduce myself briefly. I am an official forum inspector and also one of the first beta testers of the Otherworld!"
"I saw you post two trades in a row, one for Pigman Bones *320, and the other for this ruby."
"To be honest, I am very interested in you."
Lucky Pretty Boy: "Official? Inspector? How can you prove that what you're saying is true?"
Anna: "Very simple! Each official inspector's account has a certification at the end. You can see it if you click on it!"
Irving directly clicked on the user "Anna" profile, and indeed there was a V-shaped certification symbol next to the username.
Upon hovering the mouse over the certification symbol, a line of text popped up: Official Inspector.
"It seems like it really is someone from the official team." Irving said.
After confirming her identity, he finally let his guard down.
A new message popped up.
Anna: "Irving, I really admire you personally, and the official team could really use someone with your talents!"
"I've looked at your IP address and it seems you're near the capital. Would it be possible for us to meet offline?"
"..."
Irving didn't respond.
He wasn't sure what this Anna was up to.
But he decided that since she was from the official team, she would probably have access to more resources and information... It might be a good idea to meet up.
Irving, using the account "Lucky Pretty Boy", replied:
"Alright, but I want to make things clear in advance!"
"I came to this forum to sell this ruby. If I'm not satisfied with the items or conditions you're offering, I will refuse."
Anna replied: "Rest assured! How about tomorrow at noon?"
After their conversation, the username on the other end turned grey indicating she had logged off.
Irving spent some more time on the forum. Although many users had messaged him privately showing interest in the ruby and some even offered one million dollars to buy it, he rejected them all.
After finishing his takeaway, Irving, who had been messing around in the game all day, felt sleepy. He went to bed and fell into a deep sleep.
....
The next day.
The harsh sunlight poured in through the gaps in the curtains. By the time Irving woke up, it was already 11 a.m.
He looked at his phone. Unread messages: 99!
When he clicked to view them, all of them were from Alice, that bitch. The messages were all about why he wasn't replying to her and how she wanted to meet up to clear things up.
"Meet up? Let's see how I deal with you then, bitch!" Irving cursed.
After hesitating for a moment, in order to stabilize Alice first and implement her revenge, he reluctantly replied, "I'm busy these days. I'll find you when I'm free!"
Immediately afterward, Irving closed his phone.
On the other side, Alice was eating at home.
There was a young man sitting next to her. He was eating and scrolling through pictures of beautiful women on his phone, occasionally letting out a lewd smile.
This was Charles, Alice's younger brother.
Seeing her brother's worthless behaviour made Alice, who was already in a bad mood, even more irritable: "Can you stop playing with your phone while eating? All you do is sleep around! Don't you dare bring any diseases back home!"
Charles's face fell at her words: "Sis! Can't you wish me well for once? And what do you mean sleep around? I always pay."
Alice became even more irritated!
Their parents were retired and the only source of income was her salary.
Alice snapped: "Pay? You think that justifies sleeping with prostitutes! The little money we have at home is almost gone because of you. My salary is not even enough for you to pay for two nights with a prostitute! Can't you just go find a job?"
Charles's face alternated between pale and green as he struggled to find the right words to say.
Suddenly, the old lady sitting quietly at the table rapped her knuckles against the surface. Her weathered face bore a stern expression as she shot Alice a fierce glare and said, "What's wrong with your brother?
"Isn't it normal for young people to love having fun? What's wrong with messing around with some women? It's better to have more breeding; that way, I can hold my grandchildren sooner!"
This elderly woman was none other than Aurora, the mother of both Alice and Charles.
"Oh, by the way, sis!" Charles, who had spent all his money on women the night before, asked, "How's that sucker you hooked up with last time?"
"Did he enjoy spending money on you? Seems like he's got a house or something!"
"Rare to find such a sucker! Make sure you milk him for all he's worth. Get him to sell the house and give me a cut so I can have some fun too!"
"Sis..."
Charles tried to continue, but Alice left without a word.
Back in her room, Alice couldn't help but sigh as she instinctively glanced at her stomach.
She was pregnant!
"I always made sure to use protection. How could this happen..."
Alice often frequented bars for entertainment, and when she got drunk, things sometimes got out of hand. But even now, she had no idea who the father of the child in her belly is...
She couldn't tell anyone about this news. She desperately needed a sucker to take responsibility.
Just then, her phone rang.
Seeing Irving's message, a glimmer of hope sparked in her eyes as she murmured to herself, "Sorry, but you're so naive!"
"It looks like I need to establish a relationship with you quickly. That way, I can smoothly pass off the child in my belly as yours!"
Alice began to strategize.
...
Irving emerged from the shower feeling refreshed. As he entered the living room, a knock sounded at the door.
"Here we go!"
Irving smiled, remembering his appointment with the official inspector from yesterday.
However, when he opened the door, he realized that more than one person had come...