Game: Civilization Paradise

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Sorting Out

「In his rented room.」

After finishing the last of his instant noodles, Long Ming picked up his phone to check his balance. Only 5,710 Mountain Coins remained.

The cost of his medicine alone was 12,000 Mountain Coins every month. What he had left wasn’t nearly enough.

Long Ming sighed softly and walked toward his bedroom.

He went to his bed, picked up the helmet, and put it back on before lying down.

He took a deep breath, then raised his hand and pressed the power switch before closing his eyes.

’To be honest, this game is starting to give me some serious trauma.’

When Long Ming opened his eyes again, he was already in Starry City.

He immediately brought up his wrist interface and saw a red dot on the mission log icon.

Long Ming tapped open the mission log.

Prompt: Survival (Newbie Mission) complete. You have received 500 1D Coins.

After a quick glance, Long Ming began to take stock of his earnings from the instance.

Gold Nugget (White), Crude Necklace (White), Unidentified Ring (Blue), Golden Scepter (Purple), Golden Double-Barreled Pistol, M24 Sniper Rifle, Perception Potion x1, Invitation Letter x1, and 500 1D Coins.

Long Ming looked at the tallied earnings, a satisfied expression on his face.

Although he had thrown away a lot of things, what was left was still substantial. He just didn’t know how much profit these items would bring him. He was in desperate need of money right now.

Just then, a wave of curses and complaints reached him. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"Fuck, what kind of shitty game is this? Why make it so realistic!"

"Boo hoo... It’s so scary, and it hurt so much!"

"I demand they lower the pain sensitivity, or I’m filing a complaint!"

...

Long Ming turned his head and saw a large group of players gathered together, furiously denouncing the game.

At that moment, a few players from Sinful City walked by. Hearing their complaints, they sneered and retorted.

"A bunch of idiots. If you can’t handle it, then don’t play."

"Who are you calling idiots? We’re defending our legitimate rights! There’s clearly a problem with this game. It felt like I actually died for real."

"Defending your rights? I think you’re the one who’s dense. It’s written in black and white: this game is designed for you to experience the thrill of death. If you don’t want to die, then make it out alive!"

"We’re not pro players, we don’t have those kinds of skills! And where is that written?"

"There’s a note on the Civilized Experience Voucher. You just didn’t read it carefully."

"Ah!"

...

The protesting players were stunned into silence.

Seeing this, Long Ming’s expression grew thoughtful.

’Actually, their protests aren’t entirely without reason. Because the game is so realistic, the experience of death upon failing to extract can cause a certain degree of mental trauma. Not everyone can handle it.’

’But that has nothing to do with me. Others might choose to quit after a setback, but I don’t have that option. If I can’t make money in this game, my very survival will be at stake.’

Long Ming took a deep breath, quickly adjusted his mindset, and looked around.

He needed to turn the items he had into Game Coins or Mountain Coins.

But a single glance around revealed no one setting up stalls to buy or sell.

However, he did see many people walking toward the mechanical obelisk in the center of Starry City.

After a moment of thought, Long Ming followed them.

As he got closer, he saw many players standing at the base of the mechanical obelisk, looking down and tapping at their wrist devices.

Just then, a prompt appeared on Long Ming’s wrist device.

"Open the marketplace?"

Seeing the prompt, Long Ming instantly understood why so many people were gathered here.

But he didn’t open the marketplace right away. Instead, he opened his friends list and tried adding Gu Yi as a friend.

’Although I was the one who brought the items out, I couldn’t have extracted safely without Gu Yi and the others’ cooperation. In a way, they were my teammates, so it wouldn’t be right to take everything for myself.’

Just then, his wrist interface showed that the friend request had been accepted.

A chat box immediately popped up.

"Holy shit, you’re a pro! You actually added me! To be honest, I wanted to add you ages ago, but your name was just too long. I couldn’t remember it."

Gu Yi sent a flurry of messages, clearly ecstatic.

"Right, about that..."

For a moment, Long Ming wasn’t sure how to put it.

"Hey, don’t say it, I get it. The stuff is gone, it’s gone."

Gu Yi could tell with one look that Long Ming must have failed to extract and gotten killed in the end. ’That’s normal, though,’ he thought. ’After all, that bastard Zheng Bin and his crew are a special kind of disgusting.’

"No, I brought the stuff out."

"You brought it out? You successfully extracted?"

Gu Yi was completely dumbfounded, his face a mask of disbelief.

"Yes!"

Long Ming replied calmly.

"Fucking awesome! You’re a pro, after all! Haha!"

Gu Yi beamed with joy. Long Ming had actually managed to extract successfully! He could just imagine how pissed Zheng Bin and his cronies must be. He was overjoyed.

"I added you because I wanted to talk about the items I brought out. Even though you said I could have them, you guys deserve a share."

Long Ming got straight to the point with Gu Yi.

"Hey, don’t worry about it. We don’t want any of it. It’s all yours."

"Is that really appropriate?"

"What’s not appropriate about it? If you feel bad, how about this: next time we run into each other in an instance, you can carry your bro."

Gu Yi replied magnanimously.

Long Ming fell silent. Honestly, his first instinct was to refuse, but he really was short on cash right now. So, he replied.

"Alright."

"Great, it’s settled then. I can’t talk right now, I’ve got something to take care of, so I’m logging off."

"Okay."

Long Ming closed the chat window, then opened the marketplace. The consignment page popped up immediately.

It was filled with a dazzling array of all sorts of goods.

Smooth Pearl Necklace (White)

Price: 500 1D Coins.

Gargoyle Bronze Statue (White)

Price: 800 1D Coins.

...

Long Ming was quite surprised looking at the items listed on the consignment page.

He never expected so many items could be produced in just two days.

Long Ming scrolled through the interface, looking for items similar to his own to get a sense of the current market price.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Long Ming scrolled for a long time but couldn’t find a match.

Moreover, all the listed items seemed to be one-of-a-kind, with a variety so vast it was dizzying.

Just then, Long Ming overheard a player complaining to his companion nearby.

"Damn, what the hell is going on? My consigned item has been up for a whole day and still hasn’t sold. Are there no whales in this game?"

"Bro, what are you selling?"

"Jewelry."

"Are you stupid? Jewelry and stuff are considered art pieces. Why are you trying to consign them? Who are you selling them to, a ghost?"

"But... I worked my ass off to bring this out. Isn’t it valuable?"

"It is valuable, but the problem is, it’s useless to other players. Would you buy it?"

"No... So what should I do?"