Chapter 535 Fiery Rose (1/2)

This was the first time Emily had met this 'young woman'. However, she was the most important piece of the puzzle for Rhode's plans.

Emily Edward.

She was the daughter of the Edward Trade Association's Chairman and also a young woman determined to become a merchant. If female players emerged in this Trade Association with a merchant's identity, it would trigger a 'Fiery Rose' mission which requested players to assist Emily through a series of tests in becoming a merchant. It was extremely rare to find a female who wished to become a merchant in the original world of the Dragon Soul Continent. Emily didn't want to be a 'Merchant' who stood by the shopfront all day selling merchandise. Instead, she hoped to roam around the continent as a 'Travel Merchant', which was viewed as a rebellious behavior by the aborigines. Although there were indeed female Travel Merchants in the history of the game, there were more female presidents and prime ministers. Emily had been working hard to achieve her goals, but the world cruelly refused to accept her ideal.

Therefore, once any female player merchants emerged, it would fulfill Emily's 'anticipations' and she would seek assistance from the female player to teach her everything about being a Travel Merchant. Of course, the missions were trivial and began from the most basic product identification to training her so she could travel alone into dungeons to fight creatures and monsters. After completing the series of missions, the player would receive an [Unwavering Hope] achievement and generous rewards. Emily would then travel the continent and there would be certain chances for her to meet other players. She would randomly gift equipment and weapons and the players who completed her mission could purchase merchandise from her with a 20% discount. Although this young lady was barely level 30, the rare list of equipment on her menu was between level 50 to 60, occasional with legendary equipment in them. But no one knew where she laid her hands on that much top-grade pieces of equipment. Even though players had tried to rob her, they had little success as they couldn't loot the equipment from her corpse. Not only that, the players' reputation with various influential forces would fall drastically. After this consequence was made known, players seldom laid their hands on her anymore.

Rhode didn't lure her out for the sake of mission rewards. Instead, it was due to her identity as the Chairman's daughter and as one of the people qualified to enter the deep mine. Players knew that Chairman Edward had intentions of raising his daughter as his successor, but she 'failed to live up to expectations'. She gave up the hopeful position as the future Trade Association Chairman and had chosen to become a Travel Merchant… Rhode had no interest in family affairs. But he had to admit that if he could get close to Emily with his disguise, he could penetrate deep into the mine without being suspected.

Rhode knew that his guesses were correct after gazing at Emily's cordial and anticipative expression. As a male player, he naturally wasn't able to trigger this event. However, he had read about the strategies on the forum and heard from Mini Bubble Gum and Canary when they flaunted their equipment purchased from Emily.

I guess the scene when they first arrived here should be similar to now.

Rhode said inwardly as he let loose of his handshake with a gentle smile.

Ding! At this moment, a system prompt flashed before his eyes.

[Hidden Mission — Fiery Rose: The young lady before you has always wished to leave this piece of land to become a merchant who travels the entire continent. You are her expectation and ideal. In order for her to gather sufficient knowledge, courage, and strength to achieve her dreams, you must…]

It can't be.

Rhode was dumbstruck. Frankly speaking, he only triggered and received a small number of random, sudden missions after arriving in this world, unlike the gaming world, where he could receive every mission. He had never expected that he would receive this mission… Let's not talk about why it suddenly appeared… Isn't the hidden condition of this task only triggered by 'female merchants'? Are the 'Masquerade' so amazing that the fake identity they created could perfectly bypass even the system?

Rhode had the urge to strip before a mirror to see if he had really turned into a woman…

”Miss Seren?” Emily called out inquisitively.

Rhode collected his thoughts and cleared out the mission before his eyes. He let out an awkward coughed before displaying her smile again. ”Please pardon me, Miss Emily. I never expected to meet someone so similar to myself… After all, there are really too few people like us in this line.”

”Ah. Haha, that's right. But, Miss Seren, I'm not as capable as you. I'm just acting as a supporting role for my Father and I'm still far from being a competent merchant like you.” Emily let out a sigh, a look of hopelessness and envy smeared across her face.

The man beside her stepped forward hurriedly and interrupted their conversation. ”Miss Emily, please pardon my rudeness. Our guests came from afar, so don't you think we should…”

”Ah. Right, right. Don't worry, I've not forgotten,” Emily patted on her forehead and turned around with a wink. ”Miss Seren, you and your servants must be tired from the long journey. Our Trade Association has prepared a room for you. Please, follow me and have a good rest for the day. We can have our discussion tomorrow.”

Rhode didn't reject Emily's suggestion and he nodded kindly in agreement, leaving Emily envious and deeply moved. Just as Rhode had expected, Emily had seen the proof of identity for 'Miss Seren' in her father's room and she was entirely fascinated. Firstly, this 'Miss Seren' hailed from the Country of Light and the Southerners had always admired the Country of Light, resulting in her being extraordinarily heartwarming. Secondly, this 'Miss Seren' was actually a registered merchant recorded in the books of the Merchant Association, which made Emily all the more curious and envious. She knew how hard it was to obtain a registered merchant identity. Besides, 'Miss Seren' had come all the way from the Country of Light to discuss business with her in such a small place… Not only Emily, but even her father was thrilled to think that this was a chance for his Trade Association to rise abruptly to a towering position. If their business transactions went smoothly, their tiny Trade Association might develop vastly. However, as a merchant, he knew the importance of not overly expressing his eagerness. Since the other party came here to discuss business with them, he held the power to act according to his own intentions. As a result, he allowed his daughter to greet them in his stead while he seized the chance to gather every supply intelligence to ensure the real and rightful value of goods.