Red Leaf Town, Fountain Square.
The sun was setting, casting a pale crimson glow across the square. Plenty of life-skilled players had set up snack stalls beside the fountain, selling treats unique to the Divine Realm.
These snacks were delicious — far tastier than anything you could find in reality — and they cost only two or three copper coins. A real bargain.
After a long day of fighting, many players would come here to rest and sample the Divine Realm's delicacies. After all, they could earn dozens of copper a day, and after subtracting expenses, still have ten-odd copper left over. Treating themselves now and then was perfectly affordable.
Couples sat on stone benches chatting, nibbling on their purchases and soaking in the pleasant atmosphere.
Then every player in Red Leaf Town received a system message at the same time.
System: A player has triggered a special storyline. The storyline "Murloc Uprising" has been unlocked. Red Leaf Town has opened Expedition Quests. Players may visit the Adventurer's Guild to pick up Expedition Quests. Completing quests will yield generous rewards and Guild Prestige.
Instantly, all the players were thrilled. In Red Leaf Town, where quests were scarce, an Expedition Quest with lavish rewards? It was almost unbelievable.
"Who managed to trigger a special storyline?"
That player instantly became the talk of Red Leaf Town. Everyone could imagine the kind of windfall that must have come from unlocking a storyline — such things were exceedingly rare, and the rewards were bound to be substantial.
Quite a few players entertained the thought of hunting down the one who had triggered the storyline quest, but unfortunately the system announcement hadn't revealed the player's name.
The major guilds, however, were in an uproar. At this stage, the only way to earn Guild Prestige was by clearing Dungeons. No quest in the game could boost it.
Guild Prestige was a prerequisite for upgrading a guild. If a guild could reach Level 2 ahead of the competition, it would unlock guild-wide perks — a significant advantage over rival organizations.
Not just Red Leaf Town — several smaller towns around Red Water Lake had all received the same system notification. Every major guild began drawing up plans to assault the Murlocs.
And the culprit behind the storyline — Shi Feng — was sitting inside the Auction House.
The Auction House was an incredibly convenient place. Anything a player listed wasn't just visible in Red Leaf Town; hundreds of towns and small cities under White River City's jurisdiction could see and purchase it as well. The catch was that the Auction House took a steep 5% commission, so listed prices tended to run higher.
But for selling items you didn't want people to trace back to you, the Auction House was the perfect choice. The Divine Realm had been open long enough that players had accumulated a fair amount of wealth, and the major guilds should have collected substantial funds too. Trying to sell through street stalls in Red Leaf Town alone would attract too much attention — and risk getting targeted by Yan Hu again.
More importantly, there simply weren't enough players in Red Leaf Town who could afford anything, so prices would stay low. But with hundreds of towns competing, the situation was entirely different.
So Shi Feng listed one piece of Iron Rank plate armor with a starting bid of 25 silver coins, along with five pieces of Bronze Rank equipment — plate armor with a starting bid of 3 silver coins, and everything else at 2 silver coins each. These were all items his party had no use for. As for his level 10 Gold-grade greatsword, putting that up would be far too terrifying. The weapon was worth at least two gold coins — two hundred silver coins — and at a time when even a single silver was considered a fortune, who could possibly afford it?
Next, Shi Feng searched through his backpack on the semi-transparent screen. The starter backpack had only 100 slots, nowhere near enough for his needs. Each player could equip up to seven backpacks, so he went ahead and purchased six of the largest available — each with 25 slots, priced at 40 copper coins apiece. Six came to 240 copper coins, far beyond what an ordinary player could afford, but pocket change for Shi Feng.
Once the six backpacks were equipped, his storage space increased dramatically.