Wu ShaoChen was harvesting wild boars at a rate of one every two minutes. Each boar yielded at least two copper coins and a fang, which was fairly decent.
"This makes thirteen." Poisoning another boar, Wu walked calmly to the corpse to collect his loot.
"Oh, another piece of equipment." Wu happily picked up the gear next to the corpse to inspect it.
[Boar Killing Knife]
Quality: Common
Physical Attack +12
Equipment Requirement: None
"Oh, is that it? Doesn't seem useful to me. A few more or less attack points don't matter since none break through defenses anyway." Wu looked at the Boar Killing Knife in his hand, finding it ugly and not even as good-looking as a beginner's wooden sword, so he didn't bother equipping it. Maybe he should check if anyone wants it in the auction house?
The Oracle Auction System was convenient. Players could summon the auction interface to view items listed, search by category for desired items, and make direct purchases without returning to town. Unwanted items could be auctioned with options for real-money or in-game currency transactions. Real-money transactions automatically transferred funds to a linked bank account, restricting the rise of many wealthy players who could otherwise recharge directly.
Wu opened the auction interface. Seeing it empty, he hesitated. "Why isn't anyone selling anything yet? How much should I list this Boar Killing Knife for? There's no reference price."
"Should I try listing it for 500 bucks? It's the only piece of equipment in the auction house, so it should sell, right? Especially with such low drop rates in this game." Wu muttered to himself. He needed money urgently, disregarding in-game currency. He listed the Boar Killing Knife for auction, opting for real-money transactions, and selected auction type:
"Hey, you can choose between fixed-price or bidding mode. Since I don't know the market price, why not go with bidding mode? That sounds good." Wu complimented the system for once.
"Damn, 10% commission for fixed-price and 15% for bidding mode? Isn't that steep?" Wu complained again right after his praise.
"Oh well, it is what it is. They're the developers after all."
Anonymously listed, bidding mode selected, with a bidding period of 10 minutes confirmed, Wu went back to hunting boars.
Near the entrance to the newbie village, Rabbit Meadow...
"Huang Shao, Huang Shao, there's a weapon listed on the auction house, +12 physical attack." A young man ran over excitedly to Huang Shao.
"Why wait then? Just buy it instantly, or is it in-game currency?" Huang Shao urged anxiously.
"Not quite, it's a real-money transaction, but it's set for bidding mode. Bidding period is 10 minutes." The young man explained.
"Since it's real-money, it doesn't matter. Just make sure you get it for me." Huang Shao remained calm. If money could solve the problem, it was no problem at all.
"Got it."
Meanwhile, five youths were methodically killing rabbits. Suddenly, one of them frowned.
"Junlin, there's equipment listed on the auction house."
"Oh? From our observations and analysis lately, newbie village rabbits shouldn't drop equipment. Could someone have killed a Level 2 mountain goat?" Junlin, a handsome man, wondered aloud.
"Shouldn't be possible. Even with our current strength, we can't handle those goats yet. Unless someone had an insanely lucky rabbit kill," another youth replied.
"Can we contact the seller? Maybe spend a bit more to get some information?" Junlin suggested.
"Nope, it's an anonymous listing," the young man said.
"Alright then. This equipment... if necessary, we'll bid for it. Even though it's common, +12 attack is significant in the early game," Junlin stated seriously.
"Yeah."
Meanwhile, a middle-aged man approached a tall, graceful woman wearing a white veil.
"Miss, there's equipment listed in the auction house."
"Finally, someone's selling equipment?!" Her eyes lit up as she opened the auction house and saw the only listed item, nodding in approval. "A white-grade item with +12 attack. Seems equipment upgrades are substantial in this game. Let's see if we can secure it."
"Alright."
Simultaneously, throughout the corners of Newbie Village 8365, discussions buzzed about the first item on the auction house—a single common-grade item causing a stir.
"Whoa, someone listed equipment in the auction house!"
"Finally seeing equipment. Damn, what's up with the drop rates in this game? Been over an hour and haven't seen a single piece of gear. Thought this game didn't drop equipment."
"Even the lowest-grade common gear adds +12 attack. That's a doubling of damage output right there."
"Hey, wake up upstairs. Check the current bid prices—over ten thousand. It's just common gear, but these rich folks don't care about money."
"Damn, seriously? Better start grinding. Next rabbit might drop gear worth over ten thousand, enough to last me months."
"Miss, the bid's reached twelve thousand now. Should we continue bidding?" The middle-aged man quietly asked the stunning woman.
"Raise it to fifteen thousand, but no higher. It's just a common-grade item. It won't be long before everyone can get one," she replied.
"Understood."
"Junlin, lots of people are eyeing this equipment. Bids have shot up to fifteen thousand, far beyond its actual value," a young man reported.
"Yeah, expected. First piece of equipment, a weapon at that, but crucial in the early game due to the ridiculously low drop rates. Otherwise, a common-grade item wouldn't skyrocket to tens of thousands," Junlin remarked.
"Add another two thousand. Once it surpasses that price, let it go. We'll be able to find plenty ourselves soon enough, once Xiaobei and Linzi hit Level 1 and we can handle those goats," he continued.
Elsewhere...
"Huang Shao, should we raise our bid?" asked a youth by Huang Shao's side.
"Raise it. I may not have much else, but I've got money. And these folks think they can compete with me," Huang Shao scoffed. To him, it didn't matter if it was worth it. Anything solvable with money wasn't a problem. What he sought was the thrill of being better than others.
At this moment, Wu Shaochen remained oblivious, continuing his brutish method of slaughtering wild boars.
"Sigh, it'd be nice if I could increase the poison damage a bit more, then I could finish them off in just two hits. Right now, it takes three hits to kill one, so annoying. Damn that spider with its annoying skills. It's preventing me from leveling up my talents," Wu Shaochen complained.
"This is the 18th one. Once I kill it, I'll level up." Wu Shaochen continued strolling while monitoring the slow decline of the boar's health. With a speed attribute of 18, killing boars was now completely stress-free for him. Soon enough, the boar unwillingly fell.
"Ding! Congratulations on leveling up. Health +20, Mana +10, and you've gained 5 attribute points to distribute freely." Reaching level 3, he once again allocated all five points to agility, bringing it to 20, and increasing his speed to 23. Health: 150, Mana: 80, and everything else unchanged. Experience: 14/1000.
"I need 1000 experience points to reach level 4. Killing boars at level 3 gives me 26 points each. That means I need to kill 38 more boars to level up," Wu Shaochen grumbled. Just then...
"Ding! Your item listed on the auction house has been sold to another player for 20,000 yuan. After deducting a handling fee of 3,000 yuan, the remaining 17,000 yuan has been transferred to your linked bank account."
"What? 20,000 yuan?!!" Wu Shaochen was stunned, quickly checking the transaction record to confirm the amount. Opening his bank account, he stared at the balance of 17,700 yuan, swallowing hard and pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Wu Shaochen grinned foolishly, realizing that this single item had earned him nearly half a year's salary. Who would believe it if he told anyone?
"Wow, there are really wealthy people in this game," Wu Shaochen exclaimed joyfully, looking at the wild boars ahead as if they had become his friends. With just this one piece of equipment, he had not only recouped the cost of his gaming headset but also made an extra 7,000 yuan. Finally, he didn't have to worry about sleeping under a bridge anymore.
He continued slaughtering boars, realizing each one was money in the bank.