Chapter 217 – The Store (1/2)
Fatty had a few items left, but they were all the cream of the crop and quite rare, such as the Shadow Wheel Axe skill book, Heart of the Bat King mask (a superb gear for Knight), and the skill book dropped by the Stone Puppet King.
It would make a loss to sell these things at a set price at the stall. Fatty planned to auction them at the Auction Hall and set a starting bid without limit to how high one could bid, the bidding time being seven days, and just let the players compete amongst themselves.
Ice Witch spotted Fatty when she came to enroll for the competition. The girl had been quiet until now, but when she heard Fatty say ‘auction,’ she asked, “You want to auction them?”
“That’s right. Selling them here is too inefficient.” Fatty let Ice Witch check out the items. The girl’s ever expressionless face surprisingly revealed a hint of shock.
“There are actually so many good items. What a pity.”
“A pity, what?” asked Fatty, dubious.
“After the tournament ends, Star Fantasia will begin to sell stores to players. You can buy a store and make it an auction house then, and conveniently auction these items to boost your store’s reputation. However, the price definitely can’t compare to now after the tournament’s over,” Ice Witch explained.
“Star Fantasia is going to let players buy stores?” Fatty was stunned. Now this is a big move from the developer. Who doesn’t know that estate brings the quickest bucks?
“That’s right.” Ice Witch nodded slightly. “So you didn’t see the official announcement. It’s all written there.”
Fatty immediately opened the virtual forum and visited Star Fantasia’s official website. Sure enough, aside from the eye-catching big “First Under Heaven Tournament” at the top, there were several other news, one of them saying that after the tournament, the system would unlock the sale of estates for stores and residences to players.
Stores were, without a doubt, for doing business, and residences were a place the players could use for temporary rest. The game would surely push out a marriage system in the future. If one wanted to get married, they would definitely need to have a residence first.
Reading to this point, Fatty sweated. In reality, people are already being under heavy pressure to buy a house. Now, even the game is doing it too. No wonder it’s all screams and curses in the comment section.
Fortunately enough, residences can be bought with money, unlike stores that require players to have enough Reputation points to qualify for the purchase.
“Are we starting or not? Didn’t you say there is more good stuff to come?” asked an impatient player.
“My apologies, everyone. This one has an emergency. Friends with interest to buy stuff, please visit the Auction Hall,” Fatty apologized and excused himself. Then, he ran off after saying a quick goodbye to Ice Witch.
Looking at his departing form, a gleam flashed through Ice Witch’s eyes. She appeared to be musing about something.
“Please make way, please make way!” Running all the way to the city lord manor in a frenzy, Fatty stopped to fix his appearance a little before entering.
“Completed your mission already?” Lin Xi’s eyelids fluttered, refusing to spare Fatty a glance.
“You think?” Fatty strode over with an amiable laugh. “My Lord, can we negotiate about something?”
“About what?”
“I heard that the government is going to sell stores?” Fatty asked with a sly laugh.
“Oh, that? There has indeed been an order from the Imperial Capital, but the sale only opens after the First Under Heaven Tournament ends. It’s useless to come to me now,” Lin Xi replied outright with a shrug.
“As the saying goes, the higher-ups announce the policies, and the lower-downs have their leeways. How about this, you see, I won’t buy it now, but I can still rent one, right?” That “order from the Imperial Capital” must have come from the system, and Lin Xi simply can’t contravene it. However, every rule which cannot be broken can still be bent, just like in the real world.
Fatty knew he should have thought of this sooner, but he was too befogged by the fact that the system had never put stores on sale before. He never thought of renting one using his connections.
“Rent? Indeed, that isn't prohibited.” Lin Xi was a little stunned at this, but he quickly regained his composure. “However, if I allow this and news of it spreads, there’ll be a negative impact on my reputation. Don’t even think about it.”
“If it’s not prohibited, then what negative impact could there possibly be?” Fatty kept laughing that crafty laugh of his. It made all of Lin Xi’s hair stand on end.
“My Lord, I have this equipment, perhaps you’ll have some use for it?”
An armor appeared in Fatty’s hand, emitting a gentle green light and occasionally a flash of violet gold mix.
“Dryad Plate?” Lin Xi’s face abruptly changed. He received the item from Fatty’s hand.
Dryad Plate
Violet Armor
Level Requirement: 50
Defense: 90
Strength: +27
Endurance: +30
Active – Seasonal Sacrifice: Sacrifice one rank to leave your main body behind and escape with your soul.
Fatty got this Dryad Plate right from Dragonslayer Saber’s hand when he was fighting to steal the Wood Walk Book. The dryad boss monster had relied on exactly this Seasonal Sacrifice skill to escape with its life, just to be chanced upon by Fatty.
“Seasonal Sacrifice! Seasonal Sacrifice!” Lin Xi repeatedly mumbled to himself, before suddenly lifting his head. “Only this one Dryad Plate isn’t enough to let you rent a store.”
Gotcha! I’m not scared that you demand more, I’m scared if you don’t.
Fatty carefully considered. He still had some items in his storage, but they certainly wouldn’t be able to catch Lin Xi’s eye.
“How about Holy Unicorn Pelt? You can use it to craft gears that can resist dark magic,” Fatty tried to sound Lin Xi out.
“One thousand Holy Unicorn Pelts, plus a thousand of its horns.” Lin Xi put up a finger.