Chapter 28: The Impact Brought by Lin Mu

Of course, even a merchant must have their bottom line and principles; otherwise, it is easy to lose everything, offend others, and find oneself ostracized.

Since he had already raised the price twice, he could not increase it further. To do so would not make him a shrewd merchant, but a vampire—and a bottomless one at that. Such behavior would easily offend other tycoon-level players and paint him as unscrupulous. In that event, Lin Mu’s future reputation would be severely damaged; sacrificing a lifetime of standing for a moment's gain would be a losing trade.

Currently, those capable of purchasing high-tier weapons in bulk were essentially wealthy, well-established, and rapidly developing factions. To thoroughly offend them would be to alienate an entire circle—a circle of the wealthy that could be described as both vast and remarkably small. These people were, after all, his future source of income.

...

After listing the weapons, Lin Mu did not check the sales information. It was unlikely that players would snap them all up instantly; even the wealthy needed time to gather funds. Even purchasing copper coins on the real-world black market required time.

"Steward, go to the real-world BattleNet black market platform and buy copper coins. Regardless of the amount, take every order. We must obtain 1,000 of these weapons to equip 1,000 members of our elite unit. That will give us the confidence to conquer the mountain stronghold!"

"Yes, young master!"

...

"Buy! Go buy copper coins quickly! Sweep up every single coin on the market!"

...

"I need a massive amount of copper coins! Men, go buy them! Have every member turn in the copper coins they are holding for now. We will record your points and compensate you later, either with interest or cash!"

...

"Wow, boss, the copper coin market is in chaos! The exchange rate has surged; the highest order is actually 1 to 2! Boss, we still have 6,890 copper coins in our hands—let’s sell them all!"

"Damn it, I heard that Dongye County is selling top-tier divine artifacts that can only be bought with copper coins. No wonder the exchange rate spiked. Let's list ours too—2 Yuan per coin, go with the highest rate! Once the coins are sold, let’s go offline and splurge at the food stalls! Haha!"

"Boss, save some coins, or we won't have money for food and we'll starve to death!"

...

"Boss, do you think all these top-tier weapons appearing in Dongye County were sold by that 'Second Village in the World' player?"

"Hmm, it's very likely. Men, gather all the building blueprints, iron ore, timber, and stone you have in your hands. Let's go to Dongye County to sell them to that lord. Since he's so rich now, he'll definitely be buying up all sorts of resources needed for a territory. Ah-Hua, how is the mission to win over that salt merchant going? If we can buy salt secretly, we’ll make a fortune!"

...

"It’s still in progress. It seems to require reputation points and whatnot. Sigh..."

...

What Lin Mu did not know was that his decision to sell the weapons had caused the price of copper coins on the black market to skyrocket, reaching a peak of 1:2—meaning one copper coin was selling for two Yuan. Even so, the market was in a state of "buy, buy, buy!" Demand far outstripped supply.

However, Lin Mu’s act of sweeping up copper coins also prompted those forward-thinking small teams to bring their blueprints and territory items to sell here, greatly enriching the market in Dongye County.

This was a classic case of pulling a single hair and moving the whole body; for Lin Mu, this was a good thing. He now decided to stroll through the market to see if there was anything he needed.

...

By now, news that top-tier weapons were being sold in Dongye County had spread across China through various channels:

"Could the seller be that mysterious player, the one who built the second village in the world?"

"In my opinion, it's a hundred percent him."

"Who would have thought that mysterious player would be in a county in our Yangzhou region!"

"Good stuff! It adds 600 combat power and has +10 sharpness. It's a monster-slaying tool. With weapons like these, dungeons won't be hard at all. Buy fast!"

"Brother, pool some money together, let's grab a few weapons..."

"Boss, hurry back to the county! Divine artifacts have appeared in the trading market! Come quickly..."

...

The players in Dongye County were going crazy, and players in other regions of China were becoming frantic as well. How could there be such weapons? I must buy them too!

This situation spread throughout the Chinese server, and wealthy players even began using the system teleportation arrays to travel there. The system teleportation array was even more impressive than a spaceship, costing 1 gold coin—or 10,000 copper coins...

...

The thousand-plus weapons began to be carved up by players. Although the large factions had many subordinates, their various expenses were also extremely high. Copper coins did not drop from wild monsters; they were only obtained by clearing out bandits, robbers, or rebel camps. In the early stages, the sources of copper coins were very scarce. Many people could only scrape them together bit by bit from the black market, which drove the exchange rate even higher. Many "gold-farming" studios began selling copper coins in bulk, and many casual players sold their own meager holdings to exchange for some spending money.

The changes in the trading market led to shifts in the copper coin market, and the situation in the copper coin market eventually reached the ears of people in the real world. Even some gaming channels and television stations began to heavily publicize these trends.

Even the prestigious CCTV began broadcasting long reports on *Myth World*:

"The world's top virtual holographic game, *Myth World*, has launched. So far, the number of players has reached 2 billion. Various industries within the game are flourishing, leading many players from other virtual games to move over. This has caused other virtual games to enter their twilight, gradually declining, as countless virtual game companies have begun to shut down and announce their entry into *Myth World* to hunt for gold. The mystery and playability of *Myth World* have allowed it to become a global monopoly. While this is not ideal for the structure of the virtual game industry, the globalized *Myth World* has brought broader, deeper, and more diversified virtual industrial reforms to the virtual economic circle. A great number of enterprises have begun injecting capital into the game, and even large financial groups have invested massive amounts, hoping to carve out a piece of this emerging cake."

"With the injection of huge sums of money, the professional gaming circle is also booming. In our country, the number of registered professional players has reached 198,003,575. Official data shows that professional players with assets in the millions reach 235,569; those in the tens of millions reach 4,090; and those with over 100 million reach 289. The economic status of the professional gaming circle reflects the vibrant vitality of our country's virtual holographic industry, attracting more and more players to join this big family. The wealth of the public is increasing, and the nation's economy is improving!"

...

With CCTV showing its support for *Myth World*, many elderly people and children began to take an interest in the game. Although their combat prowess might not be great, they could still enter to enjoy the scenery or transfer to production professions to assist their children or spouses.

A new peak of players entering the game erupted today, with countless people braving the cold to line up to buy gaming helmets—a purchase that required them to be present in person.

The catalyst for this surge was Lin Mu’s act of selling weapons.

...

"Quickly, arrange more people to go to Dongye County, Kuaiji Commandery, in Yangzhou. Conduct a carpet search; we must find that player and his territory!" the leader of a major faction ordered.

"As expected, he is worthy of being the second in the world. He can already produce such high-quality weapons. It must be that mineral vein he received as a system reward. With that vein, there is truly a gap between us and him now!"姜承龙 (Jiang Chenglong), the village chief of China's second village, lamented in his territory's council hall.

...

Regardless of how the winds and clouds shifted inside or outside the game, Lin Mu—who had transformed from a commoner to a tycoon—began his preparations to sweep the market.

Once he had money, he had to spend it. He would purchase more building blueprints, illustrations, skills, and other items to accelerate the development of his territory, produce more high-quality goods, and amass even more wealth to further develop his land. This snowballing development model was the second step in Lin Mu’s grand blueprint: "Accumulate grain extensively."

Furthermore, Lin Mu would use his advanced knowledge and experience to purchase items and resources at low prices that would appreciate in value later. In the early stages of the game, price volatility was extreme; this was one of the iron laws of the virtual gaming world.