Chapter 061: Making Friends

Mage’s Legend—No Pop-ups

“Alright! Since I don’t have any gear left, I’m not planning to play anymore! Consider this a gift for you all! I’ve got over two million gold coins—everything our group of more than twenty brothers owns. I’ll give it all to you! I was thinking that since the others stopped playing, I, as a mage, can’t survive on my own. I might as well sell everyone’s stuff, buy warrior gear, and switch to playing a warrior. It’s just too hard to level up alone as a mage… But I actually quite enjoy doing business; I’m studying trade and economics, you know! When I got tired of leveling, I’d do business in the safe zone…” He rambled on as he walked over to face Lin Jia, opened the trade window, and placed 1,205,781 gold coins in the coin slot.

Lin Jia silently stared at the odd amount of coins. It seemed he really was giving away every last coin. This fellow was truly something.

Lin Jia cancelled the trade, saying, “Seriously? Bro, don’t you know that 100,000 gold coins can be sold for about ten yuan? Your two million coins could fetch two hundred yuan!”

Gust of Solitude replied in surprise, “What? Gold coins can be exchanged for real money? How? I had no idea!”

Lin Jia chuckled. It seemed this college kid was just here for the game, oblivious to the industry secrets. Lin Jia found him rather amusing, so he explained how to trade gold coins for cash.

After a moment of silence, Gust of Solitude typed, “That sounds so troublesome! Never mind, I don’t need the money. Just take it!” Once more, he sent the gold coins through the trade window. Lin Jia was astonished; he’d never met someone so straightforward and generous. His equipment had been sold off to strangers, and now he was giving away money as well—just because they’d chatted a bit?

“It’s a shame that a nice guy like this is quitting the game!” Lin Jia was suddenly moved by a pang of sympathy and typed, “Don’t be like that, bro! You seem like a genuinely decent person. Why not join us? The three of us play together as brothers! Now we’ll have two mages leveling up together! I’ll give your mage gear back to you, and the mage’s robe plus those warrior and priest items can count as sold to us.”

He removed the two top-tier ebony bracelets with Magic +0–2 from his character, fetched the Magic +0–3 Snake Eye Ring from the warehouse, and sent them through the trade window. Gust of Solitude took a long time to respond, finally clicking the confirm button.

The eldest brother let out a huge yawn nearby and grumbled, “Are you guys done yet? Let’s go home—I'm dying of sleepiness! Second brother, what are you doing? Still talking to that mage? He’s not asking us to swap his gear back, is he? He sold it to us himself, not like we tricked him…”

Lin Jia shook his head, laughing. “Nope! Come check out my chat with him!” As the eldest and the fourth brother leaned in behind him, Lin Jia scrolled up to the top of the chat window with the page-up key, then used the arrow keys to show them the conversation.

The eldest and fourth brother couldn’t stop laughing at the chat. The fourth brother remarked, “This guy’s alright. Hey, did you just give him his gear back?”

Before Lin Jia could reply, the eldest exclaimed, “Damn! Those top-tier ebony bracelets are nearly impossible to buy, and you actually gave them back?”

Lin Jia felt a twinge of regret. Such rare gear was hard to come by, especially bracelets that boosted his class’s attributes. Gust of Solitude probably managed to collect that set through gifts and purchases from his twenty-some classmates. Now, in a moment of confusion, he’d sold it all to their brotherhood and found himself unable to play anymore. Taking just a robe was already a good deal; after all, there were alternative bracelets, and while they offered less magic, they were sufficient for leveling up. What mattered most was that this guy had good character—he didn’t curse anyone even after being taken advantage of. It was worth befriending someone so sincere.

“Let it be! We’ve made plenty. This brother’s a good guy. If he keeps playing, it’d be nice to be friends with him. Second brother, give him some mage items you don’t need,” the fourth brother patted Lin Jia’s shoulder.

The eldest brother, though pained by the loss of those items, was naturally generous and wholeheartedly agreed with his brothers’ decision. Many players would think them foolish for this, but the bonds between people are sometimes so mysterious. It might begin with a conflict, or a trivial event, but it could lead to a true friend!

“I’ll give him some more gold coins!” The eldest brother returned to his seat, maneuvered his little priest character to Gust of Solitude’s naked mage, opened the trade window, and offered 500,000 gold coins. Yet Gust of Solitude didn’t click confirm.

Lin Jia sent him a private message, “Are you still there, bro? Our eldest wants to give you some more coins—consider it payment for those items!”

Gust of Solitude suddenly cancelled the trade, dashed over to Lin Jia, opened a trade window, and sent back the three items Lin Jia had returned, plus a million gold coins. After confirming the trade, he said, “Crazy! You said it yourself—let’s be friends. I’ve never met people like you in a game before, who don’t care about gear or money. Anyone else would have confirmed the trade already. Consider these items my gift to you, a token of friendship. Apart from leveling, I’ve just discovered that this game is actually quite fun—you can make friends like you guys! Here’s my QQ number: 11559864. Add me, so we can keep in touch.”

Lin Jia noted down his QQ number and said, “How will you level up without gear? If we level together, having the gear on you or me makes no difference. Two mages can fry monsters twice as fast!”

Gust of Solitude laughed, “Honestly, I wasn’t planning to play anymore, but I didn’t expect to meet people like you. I thought everything online was fake, but you brothers are alright. From now on, count me in for leveling, though truthfully, I don’t really like grinding. I prefer doing business in the safe zone. Crazy, take these items—I have a suggestion!” Lin Jia had no choice but to confirm, accepting the equipment that kept changing hands.

“Since you treat me as a friend, I’ll be upfront. When Crazy told me gold coins could be sold for cash, I got an idea. I want to trade and do business in the game, earn gold coins, and see if I can make real money. After all, I study trade and economics—consider it early internship.”

“And my computer’s specs are poor. With so many people online lately, it’s nearly unplayable—lags like crazy. Except for standing in the safe zone, I can’t go anywhere. So, how about this?”

“Could you sell me those items just now? I'll handle the sales. In the future, if you get more gear, you can give it to me, and I’ll sell it for you. What do you think? Trust me, I’m not trying to scam you!”

His torrent of messages left the three brothers stunned.

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[Trouble: Chapter Two for today! More after dinner!]