Chapter 2: When You're Out in the World, Your Identity Is What You Make It

Liu Kongkong casually dismissed the stunned Lonely as a Song, then looked down at his own appearance. Unlike other players who were dressed in plain cloth, he was bare-chested, wearing only a pair of black trousers, with nothing in his hand but an ordinary iron hammer. On top of that, he had a blacksmith's shop to his name...

Unlike regular players, he could freely enter and exit the blacksmith's shop, and could even see exactly how much inventory remained inside. And that wasn't all...

"This beat-up wooden sword sells for 30 copper coins?" Liu Kongkong casually picked up a wooden sword and checked its stats.

Crude Wooden Sword (White Quality): Attack 2, Attack Speed 1, Durability 100/100

He had no idea whether that attack stat was high or not — he hadn't gone out to fight any monsters yet, and frankly didn't dare to. After all, the glaring number "1" on his HP bar made it pretty clear that any random wild mob could step on him and he'd be done for.

"This has to be a bug." Liu Kongkong reached out and felt around in front of him — there seemed to be an invisible wall trapping him inside the blacksmith's shop. "If all else fails, I could just log off and contact customer support?" The Game Pod wasn't exactly cheap, but it had still cost him three thousand yuan. Being stuck here, unable to leave, unable to grind monsters — where was he supposed to make any money?

"Hey boss, give me a wooden sword." Just as Liu Kongkong was about to log off and call customer support, another player ran up to him.

Player [Night's Gentle Chill] has initiated a trade with you.

Liu Kongkong was taken aback. Someone actually wanted to buy a wooden sword with 2 attack? He casually grabbed one and handed it over — and instantly heard the jingle of copper coins! He instinctively glanced into his inventory and found that his previously empty bag now held 30 copper coins...

Wait a moment! Liu Kongkong watched Night's Gentle Chill walk away, then looked back at his inventory.

Does that mean all the money this shop makes goes to me?! Isn't that way easier than going out to grind monsters and do quests? Liu Kongkong recalled the process and opened the game's built-in trading system.

"Holy shit! That exchange rate?! One copper coin equals one yuan?" Liu Kongkong stared at the trading page. Since he had logged in relatively late, there were already plenty of people selling in-game currency. He checked the price trends and discovered that at the very start, one copper coin had gone for as much as ten yuan! Without thinking, he anonymously listed his 30 copper coins — and within a few seconds, they were sold.

So the shop's in-game currency really does belong to me? Liu Kongkong pulled up the shop's inventory. There were still over a hundred weapons inside, all crude weapons priced at 30 copper coins each.

If I sell all of this, I'll break even?

Looking at the packed Starter Village, with so many players in this game, there shouldn't be any trouble selling them, right?

"Maybe I should recoup my costs first, then talk to customer support. They probably won't claw it back... right?" Liu Kongkong wasn't entirely sure, but decided to give it a shot. He quickly ran into a problem, though.

Crude weapons with 2 attack didn't seem to have many buyers.

"Not surprising, really. At the current exchange rate, not many people are going to drop thirty yuan on a trash weapon." Liu Kongkong casually waved off a female player — most of the people who'd come to him during this time were just here to pick up quests.

Where am I supposed to find enough suckers to buy my weapons? Liu Kongkong stood at the shop entrance, racking his brain.

"Master Dameng! I'm back — here are the five rabbit pelts you asked for!" Just as Liu Kongkong was fretting, Lonely as a Song — the first player who had taken a quest from him — came running back. He was covered in wounds and looked thoroughly disheveled, clearly having gone through quite an ordeal for those five pelts. After all, this game's pain sensitivity was set to a minimum of 30%.

Are rabbits really that hard to kill? Liu Kongkong didn't understand, but it wasn't really his problem. He took the pelts without much thought, and immediately saw a golden light flash over Lonely as a Song's body — his wounds vanished in an instant.

He leveled up already? Liu Kongkong felt a twinge of envy. Leveling up meant stat points, and more stat points meant more in-game currency from grinding later on. Then he remembered that the quest reward was supposed to include a crude weapon, so he opened his inventory to check.

Sure enough, something new had appeared... a stick of wood?

Crude Weapon: Attack 0.5, Durability 100/100

This game is that stingy? The starting weapon is literally a broken stick?!

Liu Kongkong froze for a moment, then slowly handed the weapon to Lonely as a Song — who, upon receiving it, actually looked delighted.

Having received his quest reward, Lonely as a Song was overjoyed, especially at that earth-shattering attack power!

"Master Dameng, you don't look so great — is something on your mind? Don't worry, just leave it to me!" Lonely as a Song still felt that the NPC in front of him was suspicious. This guy was definitely hiding some kind of hidden quest!

Something on my mind? Liu Kongkong blinked, then his eyes lit up. "Well, since you ask — I do have something weighing on me."

Here we go! Lonely as a Song's heart started racing again. He had logged in fairly early, and Starter Village No. 0113 had been completely uneventful so far. The fact that Liu Kongkong had earlier told him to go kill the village chief was clearly not something a normal NPC would say. Even though no quest-accept button had appeared, this was definitely a sign!

"My shop here... business hasn't been great lately. Look at all these top-quality pieces of equipment just sitting here unsold — it's driving me crazy." Liu Kongkong sighed heavily, then snuck a glance at Lonely as a Song, who had also gone quiet and seemed to be lost in thought.

"What? Is there something wrong with my weapons?" Before, he might have thought a wooden sword with 2 attack wasn't much — but after seeing that 0.5-attack piece of junk, he suddenly felt like everything in this shop was a legendary artifact for the Starter Village.

"Your weapons are perfectly fine, it's just... they're a bit expensive..." Lonely as a Song's voice grew less and less confident. He had just spent considerable effort killing over ten wild rabbits and only gotten thirteen copper coins to show for it...

"Expensive?" Liu Kongkong's eyes went wide with indignation. "Look at this village — where else are you going to find a better weapon than what I've got here? You're complaining about a mere 30 copper coins?! Just look at this terrifying attack power!"

"It is pretty high..." Lonely as a Song was a little embarrassed. Buying a weapon with 2 attack would certainly make early-game grinding easier, but leveling up fast meant the weapon would be obsolete in an hour or two anyway.

"Hmph. Fine — clearly you're not the right person for this. I won't force you. You can go." Liu Kongkong immediately shooed him away and turned to walk toward the back room.

"Wait! I'll buy it!" Lonely as a Song, who had been hesitating, snapped to attention the moment he heard the words "right person." Without another word, he bought twenty yuan worth of copper coins from the trading exchange. "I was thinking too small, Master Dameng! It's my honor to obtain such a legendary artifact for a mere 30 copper coins — please, sell me one!"

"One?" Liu Kongkong turned around and looked at Lonely as a Song with a serious expression.

One isn't enough? Does he think weapons need to be changed like underwear?! Lonely as a Song had been about to close the trading exchange interface, but hearing that, he kept it open and waited for what came next.

"Here's what I'll do — I'll make the sacrifice and sell you ten. And given that you and I share a special connection, I'll throw in a secret on top of that."

There it is! The moment he heard "a secret," Lonely as a Song didn't hesitate — he immediately bought 270 yuan worth of copper coins from the trading exchange and purchased all ten wooden swords on the spot!

Big spender! Liu Kongkong was laughing on the inside. He then opened the quest interface, selected the custom quest option, typed something up, and sent it to Lonely as a Song.

"Special Quest: [Blacksmith Dameng's Inner Demon — The Killer Rabbits]?" Lonely as a Song blinked at the name. "'Blacksmith Dameng recently went out to admire the flowers, but was unexpectedly attacked by a horde of wild rabbits. Though Dameng fought valiantly, he was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. A hero is sought to slay three hundred wild rabbits and help him overcome this inner demon.'"

Three hundred?! Lonely as a Song's mind went blank. Ten-plus rabbits had already been terrifying enough — now he had to kill three hundred?! That would take until the end of time!

He scrolled down to read the rest.

Quest Reward: 3,000 EXP.

Not even a gear reward? Lonely as a Song looked at the quest, then looked at Liu Kongkong's perfectly calm face.

"Master Dameng, if I may ask — when you say you were overwhelmed by numbers, how many rabbits exactly?"

"About thirty thousand, give or take. This time, we're just going to teach them a little lesson." Liu Kongkong said casually.

Please. When you're out in the world, your identity is what you make it. Not saying three hundred thousand already counts as holding back.