Not far away, the teleportation array flickered with light.
One by one, players stepped into it.
This was the gateway to the vast world of New World, marking the start of the real adventure.
Elliot didn't hesitate and walked straight into the teleportation array.
The array's light enveloped him, and in the blink of an eye, his body vanished from the novice village map.
[Congratulations, you have arrived at the main map of New World!]
[Bigbucks' unique hidden class detected. Main quest automatically accepted.]
[Main Quest: The Way of the Shady Tycoon.]
[The Way of the Shady Tycoon: Humans have their way, ghosts have theirs, and the Shady Tycoon follows his own path. He doesn't participate in the New World conflicts, but can influence them. Create your own faction and stay neutral.]
[Quest: Go to Willow Leaf Town and gather information about faction tokens.]
[Quest Reward: Faction Token (Bound!)]
Elliot hadn't expected that after changing classes, he would be tasked with creating his own faction.
And to top it off, there was a main quest like this.
"Now that's how you play the game! A faction all to myself?"
Elliot couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
The light faded.
His body appeared in the center of a grand city square.
It was a huge open space, surrounded by towering buildings and bustling activity.
The square was encircled by teleportation arrays, with a three-story fountain in the middle.
Many players were sitting on the ground, setting up stalls.
Others hurriedly walked by, heading to quests or monster grinding spots.
Beyond the square were towering, golden buildings, stretching endlessly into the distance.
This was Aisnova's main city—Campa Fort.
In New World, the novice villages and main cities were mapped according to real-world geography.
Only players from Aisnova could teleport here, making Campa Fort their central hub.
The New World developers knew exactly how to keep things interesting.
Soon, not only would there be territorial disputes, faction wars, and regional battles, but once players reached level 10, they'd be able to engage in PvP outside the cities—no restrictions.
Death would cause players to lose not just their equipment and items but also a level.
This would only fuel the growing player conflicts.
The pattern of the novice villages would soon be shattered.
Elliot didn't give it much thought—these matters weren't his concern.
He opened the system interface, looking for the job reward given to him: a shop.
Other players' class upgrades usually meant stat boosts or new skills.
But for him? A shop, not bad at all.
Elliot headed towards his new store, all while checking the rankings.
He was still number one on the pet leaderboard.
His store was located in the largest commercial street just outside the square.
Elliot was ecstatic.
This street was where NPCs for class promotions, skill learning, the auction house, and the warehouse could be found.
It was the busiest shopping street in all of Campa Fort.
To his surprise, his store was right in the middle of the busiest section.
"Tsk tsk, no wonder it's a unique hidden class!"
Elliot smiled in satisfaction as he gazed at the large shop. Unfortunately, the shop couldn't be traded.
If it could, he could easily cover his mother's surgery expenses.
The shop had an NPC attendant, a girl who smiled and bowed as Elliot entered.
"Boss!" she greeted.
The store interface popped up immediately.
[Ding! Please name your shop!]
"Cheap Tycoon!"
[Congratulations! Shop named: Cheap Tycoon!]
The sign outside the shop slowly shimmered with the words "Cheap Tycoon."
The store interface wasn't complicated:
Level 1 Shop: Tax (15%) Selling Space: 1000 Shop Owner: Bigbucks
"Taxes are high... most items will have to be sold in bulk at low profit margins."
This was when the benefits of being a Shady Tycoon kicked in.
Elliot didn't have to pay taxes.
He began organizing his inventory, placing potions in the display windows, all marked with the same prices as the local pharmacy.
Every piece of equipment was priced and displayed:
Speed +1 boots: 3000 gold Speed +2 boots: 6000 gold Speed +3 boots: 9000 gold Health regen +1: 3000 gold Health regen +2: 6000 gold Health regen +3: 9000 gold
He dumped a total of 190 items into the shop.
The inventory was instantly cleared, leaving only a book and the Tree Demon Spirit.
He noticed the Knife Sharpening Technique book.
Elliot slapped his forehead, realizing, "How could I forget? I should sell this book to SoloMan!"
Finally, a big spender, and he almost missed it.
Elliot opened his friend list and contacted SoloMan again.
[Want this item?]
He sent over the Knife Sharpening Technique's attributes.
SoloMan replied with a single word.
[Want!]
[100,000 gold.]
"Woah! Bro, why don't you just steal it?"
[Hehe, already trying to.]
There was a brief silence.
[I trust you. Do you think it's worth 100,000 gold? If you say it is, I'll buy!]
[Not really. It's probably worth about 50-70k.]
SoloMan went silent, slightly confused. This Shady Tycoon was pretty decent.
[You... could be a little more tactful. Make the scammer feel better!]
Elliot sent another message: [With this, you could get Knife Sharpening 2 and 3. You'll dominate the power rankings! Knife Sharpening 1 is rare.]
SoloMan went silent again.
Then sent a single word:
[Want!]
Elliot blinked, stunned: [Are you sure?!]
[Yes, meet by the fountain at the square!]
Making connections with the rich really paid off.
Excited, Elliot took the Knife Sharpening book and headed for the fountain.
But he didn't see SoloMan.
[Where are you?]
[Charging!]