Retrograde Gaming

Chapter 40: Trade

There was a big tavern in the business district of the City of Divine Protection. Built in a western style, the tavern was mainly a place for players to rest. Although the virtual wine could never taste as good as the wine in reality, the spacious tavern had lots of seats and a nice, cozy environment alongside an elegant background music played by an NPC pianist. During their spare time, it was a good place for players to frequent and take a break.

Because it was only a few days ago that the server first opened, people were still crazy about leveling up. Therefore, only very few people were in the tavern right now. They were all casual players who didn’t really care much about their levels. Li Huailin and Night Flyer had their conversation here.

“Huailin, congratulations on passing Abyss Mode.”

When Li Huailin sat down, Spiritual World Night Flyer commended him with a smile. “So, What were your gains? It’s said that the drop rate is usually higher when a dungeon is first cleared. I assume it’s not bad, right?”

“We got a skill book, quite a good one,” Li Huailin said honestly. “We also got a piece of Level 20 Gold weapon, it was a staff for priests.”

“Level 20 Gold weapon…” Spiritual World Night Flyer gasped. “This is the first gold equipment in the server.”

“Well, I guess so.” Li Huailin didn’t really care about it. Because they were still leveling up, the weapons they had right now could only be temporarily used. Since Li Huailin didn’t have to fight monsters in order to level up, a good weapon wasn’t really of much help to him. In addition, whenever he dies, he would sooner or later lose his weapon. If a warrior’s weapon was really dropped, there was a high chance he would’ve sold it for health potions.

“Are you keeping the weapon? Do you want to sell it? We have enough money to buy it.”

Night Flyer took it for granted that the weapon was with Li Huailin since he was the leader of the party.

“Well, somebody else took it.” Li Huailin scratched his head. “I got a skill book. Nothing else.”

“What?” Night Flyer was a bit surprised. However, when he recalled the several ladies who were following Li Huailin, suddenly realized something. With a cunning smile, he continued, “Oh! I see… I understand. I totally understand.”

Li Huailin cleared his throat. Li Huailin didn’t know what Night Flyer was talking about, he simply had a suspicion that it wasn’t something good judging from the cunning smile on the latter’s face. He was too lazy to explain everything.

“Besides the equipment, is there anything else you want to know?” Li Huailin asked him.

“Well…” Night Flyer stopped for a moment and thought about it, he then asked, “I wonder if you would like to sell a guide book on Viper Cave.”

“A guide book?” Li Huailin was a bit surprised. After thinking for a while, he realized that he really had nothing of use that could guide the Spiritual World guild at all. If he told them his secret, the entire guild would immediately report his bugged character.

“It’s a bit difficult, you see… I used some skills… unique ones. I don’t know if they’ll work for others,” Li Huailin said some ambiguous words.

“I understand.” Night Flyer nodded. It seemed that taking advantage of the bug required some special skills or items. Or was it simply because Li Huailin didn’t want to share the information?

“Nevermind then,” Night Flyer responded.

“However, I can tell you information about the monsters and bosses inside,” Li Huailin quickly spoke up. Since he was given 10 Gold Coins from Night Flyer, he believed that he should at least provide some help.

“Oh? Really?” Night Flyer’s eyes lit up. This was also quite good! Even though they couldn’t use the bug, knowing information about the monsters in the dungeon could save them a lot of trouble. In most cases, they had to die countless times in exchange for a bit of information, this would not only waste their time, but also a lot of experience. Having information beforehand would be very useful for the guild.

“That’s right, this would also include the hidden boss’ skills,” Li Huailin continued.

“Wait, Abyss Mode dungeons really have hidden bosses?” Night Flyer had once heard of this, since he had never really challenged Abyss Mode before, he was very surprised once Li Huailin confirmed it for him.

“Yes, the hidden boss is the Shadow of Serpent God Deckimas. Its skills are…” Li Huailin realized that there was too much to say and it was also time for supper, so he stopped and said, “It’s late and I need to go offline now. You can leave me your email, I can write down everything I know and then send it to you later.”

“That’s no problem.” Night Flyer nodded and then gave Li Huailin his email address. After momentarily thinking about it, Night Flyer asked, “Huailin, how much are you going to sell this information for?”

“Sell?” Li Huailin was a bit surprised. Even though he indeed needed money, this time, he wasn’t going to ask for it.

“Don’t mind it, it’s a gift. Last time, you gave me 10 Gold Coins, and that was a big favor. Thank you for your help.”

“No, a free gift isn’t good. Our leader asked me to be kind to you, heck, it’s even better if I can make you owe us one. I might be strangled to death if he learns that you gave me a gift, instead of making me owe you, I prefer that you owe us something.”

Night Flyer was being very straightforward because Li Huailin was also very honest from the beginning. Night Flyer knew that Li Huailin would prefer a frank conversation.

“I see.” Li Huailin nodded. While feeling a bit strange, he asked, “Why does your leader want to show goodwill to me?”

“Don’t you know how famous you are right now? It isn’t only our guild, I believe that all the big guilds are looking for you right now.” Night Flyer smiled while continuing, “Think about it, as of now, you’re the only one who has cleared an Abyss Mode dungeon so far. This is why every guild values you. Of course, there must also be guilds that have enmity against you.”

“Enmity?” Li Huailin’s eyes lit up. He wanted a lot of guilds to go after him.

“That’s right. Didn’t you know that some guilds were about to pass Hell Mode? But now, you’ve stolen all the attention and glory. This is why they hate you of course,” Night Flyer spoke with a smile. In fact, many people in the Spiritual World guild also wanted to strangle Li Huailin.

“Well, just let me know if you need our help. We’re not afraid of any guild,” Night Flyer added.

“You don’t need to,” Li Huailin quickly rejected this favor. This was a really rare opportunity for him, he couldn’t let the Spiritual World guild ruin it. He hurriedly made up an excuse and said, “I have great confidence in myself. Please don’t help me or my pride will get hurt.”

“Oh, I see.” Night Flyer smiled. “We seem to have strayed off from the topic. Let’s get back to it, how much do you want to sell this information for?”

“Well…” Li Huailin paused for a moment, thinking about it. He suddenly had a good idea. “You guys have many alchemists in your guild, right?”

“Oh, of course. There should be about 50 people in the logistics team that specialize in alchemy. Why do you ask?” Night Flyer started wondering what he wanted.

“I assume that they’ve made a lot of health potions in order to level up their alchemy skills, right? I mean… the ones that have a slow and constant recovery, not those instant recovery potions…” Li Huailin asked.

“Are you talking about the Medium Health Potion? We have a lot of them. In fact, we have too many. Our banks are jammed with those potions, do you want them? Night Flyer found it a bit strange.

“Yes, I need them! A lot of it!” Li Huailin was elated. “They’re exactly what I want. I’ll take them all. You can give me as many as possible.”

“What for…?”

“Well… I actually have a quest that needs a lot of health potions.” Li Huailin made up another excuse.

“That’s no problem. I’ll go back and ask someone to bring them to you. Of course, we still have to keep some for ourselves, I’ll need to talk to the logistics department for a specific number we can part ways with. I can probably give them to you tomorrow, are you okay with this?” Night Flyer asked.

“Yeah, there’s no need to hurry.” Since the buff on Li Huailin that increased his health points would still last 5 more days, his crazy leveling up plan could only start by then.

“Okay. And again, on behalf of the Spiritual World guild, let me express to you our goodwill. I should leave you so that you can enjoy your dinner now.”

Night Flyer was also quite satisfied with the outcome of their conversation. Although Li Huailin did not tell him what the bug was, Night Flyer still got important information about the dungeon, he also expressed their goodwill. Basically, he managed to complete his mission.

“Okay, see you tomorrow.” Li Huailin nodded.