Chapter 043: Strange Equipment?

The Legend of the Mage—No Pop-ups

Lin Jia's heart was pounding as he quickly calculated in his mind. The three sets of current profession gear, though considered high-end among players, paled in comparison to the four items Monkey Boy wanted to trade. After all, the drop rate for profession sets around level 22 wasn’t terribly low; many people managed to get them, only Lin Jia and his group could produce them in bulk. But at least two of those four items were top-tier, branded gear. Even the “Magnifying Glass” among the accessories was practically unseen at this stage!

“I’ve struck gold!” Lin Jia thought gleefully. At present, the black market price for gold coins among players had dropped to around 10–15 yuan for 100,000 coins, and few were willing to sell. The Magnifying Glass might be worth about 500,000 coins, the Gold Bracelet, though less desirable, would still fetch at least 100,000. Lin Jia couldn’t estimate the price for the Frost Condenser and the Demon-Expelling Ring—perhaps the ring over a million, the condenser three million? Altogether, the total value definitely exceeded five million coins in Legend!

An astronomical figure! Eight hundred thousand coins plus four items—an absolutely profitable deal. Lin Jia remained calm and said, “These? All good stuff! You want to trade for three sets of profession gear?”

Monkey Boy and his two equally haggard companions nodded vigorously. Monkey Boy smiled eagerly, “Yes! Trade with us, please?”

Lin Jia feigned hesitation. “Alright then. Since we’re from the same internet café, I won’t cheat you. We originally wanted to sell the gear for gold to buy a Skeleton Set for my brother’s warrior, but your items happen to be what we need. We can trade, but let me be upfront. Of your four items, I don’t know the price for the Frost Condenser or the ring, but I’m guessing they’re valuable. Magnifying Glass and Gold Bracelet aren’t as impressive, but still decent. I recognize the three of you—you’re from Qiaomiaoling, right? I’ll skip the 800,000 coins. You trade your four items for three sets of profession gear, and I’ll throw in some top-tier items suitable for your current levels. I might profit a bit myself, but we’re all from the same place—no need for you to accuse me of cheating you later and ruin our reputations. What do you say?”

Lin Jia’s streetwise talk left Monkey Boy and his friends momentarily stunned. The smiles faded as they exchanged glances. Monkey Boy sat up straighter and sized up Lin Jia, testing the waters, “Brother, what’s your surname? How should we address you? You’re local too, right? I thought you and your brother looked familiar—I saw you guys when you went out to eat. If you hadn’t come down to sell gear, I wouldn’t have spoken up. Maybe we’re acquaintances?”

Lin Jia grinned, perched himself on Monkey Boy’s chair arm, and put a hand on his shoulder. “You probably don’t know my name, but my brothers call me ‘Madman.’ ‘Black Bear,’ ‘Gorilla,’ and ‘Iron Bun’ are my classmates. The guy upstairs you mentioned is my sworn brother, Xu from Qiaomiaoling Village, the seventh prince…”

As Lin Jia rattled off the nicknames, the three men’s expressions changed. Monkey Boy gave a cautious, ingratiating smile, “Boss! We play with Black Bear. I know you—Bear and Iron talked about you. That guy upstairs is the ‘Prince’?”

Lin Jia squinted behind his glasses and replied cheerfully, “Ignore him! So, how about this trade for your four items?”

Monkey Boy’s face was full of awkward laughter, “If you’re Bear and Iron’s brother, take them—no problem…”

Lin Jia frowned, “Hey, it was you who came to buy from us—I’m not forcing you! As long as you don’t regret it or accuse me of cheating, that’s all I care about.”

“Of course not! Of course not! Just call me Monkey!” As it turned out, Monkey Boy’s nickname really was “Monkey,” and he grinned, “You’re generous! I heard the gold in this game is quite valuable; 800,000 coins fetch quite a bit. If you hadn’t told us, we wouldn’t have known! Take the stuff, no need for other words. It’s all up to you!”

What a great conversation! Lin Jia chuckled and stood up, ready to go upstairs and finalize the trade with Monkey. As he rose, he caught sight of the screen next to Monkey Boy, which showed the warehouse page, filled with several items Lin Jia had never seen before. Curious, he leaned closer, “What are those?”

Monkey Boy’s friend, seeing Lin Jia’s interest, eagerly pulled the items out of the warehouse for him to see. One was a beautifully crafted, slender ring with a small, pale blue cat’s eye gem embedded in the middle; another looked very much like a chestnut-shaped helmet.

Lin Jia bent over and moved the mouse to inspect the helmet—it was called “Beautiful Elf Helmet,” but had no attributes, only a durability of 5/5. Beautiful? Lin Jia couldn’t help asking, “What’s this? I’ve never seen it. And a hat without attributes—what’s the use?”

That friend giggled, “It’s a quest item I got from doing a task. I got halfway and couldn’t finish it—an old man in Woma Forest asked me to find the butcher, but after talking to every butcher in Bicheng, nothing happened, so I stopped and focused on leveling.” Lin Jia broke out in cold sweat at the adorable giggle coming from such a shabby, disheveled guy—his voice really didn’t match his appearance.

“Quest? There are quests in Legend?” Lin Jia was astonished; he’d never heard of any quest system in this game, not even from Fourth, the gaming expert.

Monkey and his friends laughed, “You didn’t know? Quests start right from the newbie village!” They then eagerly explained how to do quests and even gave Lin Jia a website—a little-known gaming forum where someone had posted several Legend game quests.

After jotting it down, Lin Jia looked again at the beautiful ring—“Paralysis Ring.”

Paralysis Ring: Level requirement 16, Attack 0–1, Weight 1, Durability 5

A low-level ring, with only 0–1 attack, not very useful, but its design was indeed quite charming. “What kind of ring is this? I’ve never found one.”

That friend giggled happily, “This isn’t a drop! We were killing pigs in the Pig Cave and took down a wedge moth. I was bored and tried extracting meat, and got this ring. I don’t think it’s useful, but it looks nice, so I kept it. Thought I’d wear it at level 16. If you like it, I’ll give it to you!”

Lin Jia laughed, “You can get stuff from wedge moths like you do from deer or chickens? I didn’t know! No need, keep it for yourself!”

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(Trouble: Keeping my word! Here’s the morning chapter. Have to work an early shift, so updates will come in the evening! Please vote for me! The story is starting to take off—thanks for your support!)