Chapter 122 - God’s Domain Changes

The sky above Red Leaf Town glimmered brightly.

Players, one after another, appeared on the wide, spacious road, all of their faces filled with excitement. They all wished to dive into experiencing the new changes to God’s Domain.

However, these players were all quickly disappointed.

Be it the System Interface or all of Red Leaf Town itself, there was not a hint of change felt. Everything was just the same as usual.

“What kind of bullshit is this? I’ve painstakingly waited for twelve hours, and this is what you give me?”

“Why isn’t the official website showing the changelog for the upgrade?”

Many veteran players started their discussions on the streets. There were also some players who paid no attention towards the upgrade, immediately heading out of Town to kill monsters and level up.

Aside from these veteran players, there were tons of newcomers in Red Leaf Town now. Most of these newcomers were curiously enjoying the novelty of God’s Domain.

“Looking for top-tier experts to carry me! I’ll pay 100 Credits for every level-up! If you are looking for a fool to scam, then don’t bother talking to me! I’m looking for serious inquiries only!” a new player shouted on the wide street.

Following, several more newcomers similarly shouted. However, though their offers were all lower than 100 Credits, they all acted like tycoons, standing proudly as they shouted out their offers.

At that moment, Shi Feng stepped out of the Hotel. He felt his spirit brimming with energy, one of the benefits of staying in a Hotel.

After the evolution of God’s Domain, the number of Hidden Attributes a player possessed had greatly increased. For example, Stamina, Concentration, and so on. However, one would only become aware of these changes after personally experiencing them. Players could no longer run tens of kilometers without tiring like before, nor would they be able to battle for as long as they wanted. Before, the only problem players faced was the tiring of the spirit. Now, however, everything was largely different. For players at Level 0, they would become dead-tired after only walking for two or three kilometers, not having even an ounce of fighting strength remaining. Similarly, continuously grinding monsters also became much more difficult. It was just like jogging. Players would consume a lot of stamina when battling monsters. Once a player’s stamina reduced to a certain threshold, their four limbs would turn feeble, while their spirits would grow exhausted.

Besides that, there were many more hidden changes that occurred after the evolution of God’s Domain.

As the Main God System made God’s Domain more realistic, simultaneously, players would find it even more difficult for them to level up.

“It should be time for me to go shopping.”

In Shi Feng’s previous life, after the upgrade of God’s Domain, the prices of items soared sky-high, increasing by at least two or three folds. As a result, many players regretted not stockpiling a large number of resources after the evolution of God’s Domain.

Meanwhile, the current situation was slightly different from before. The prices of items increased even more than last time.

Aside from the difficulty of leveling up increasing, the time just so happened to coincide with the influx of a lot of newcomers. As a result, the competition for items would become much fiercer, increasing the difficulty of obtaining resources by manyfold. Hence, the increase in prices for these items would be even more exaggerated than in Shi Feng’s previous life. Now that God’s Domain had recently evolved, before players discovered the new changes, Shi Feng could use this chance to purchase and stockpile all the important items. After the prices soared, he could then resell all of them.

If the major Guilds were to get ahold of this information right now, they would definitely soar to become the tyrants of their respective Towns. For Shi Feng, however, he could only make a quick buck.

When comparing an individual to a Guild, the resources obtainable by both were on totally different levels. There were plenty of players within a Guild, so they would be able to easily obtain a ton of rare resources within no time at all. Meanwhile, although Shi Feng knew how to obtain those resources, just how much of them could he obtain by himself? During the time he was procuring those resources, his level might be surpassed by other players. Hence, his only choice was to shop for the resources at the Auction House.

“This expert over here, please wait a moment. Are you interested in making some extra income?” a Level 0 Berserker walked up to Shi Feng, asking with a smile on his face.

Shi Feng was wearing a complete Silvermoon Set Equipment. His weapon was also a Secret-Silver Rank. Although newcomers did not possess Identification Skills[1] to discern Shi Feng’s level, Shi Feng’s dazzlingly high-quality equipment was clearly much better than the veteran players on the street. It was needless to say that Shi Feng was definitely an expert.

“Extra income?” Shi Feng turned around, discovering that it was a newcomer calling out to him. For convenience sake, some of the more wealthy players would normally hire experts to aid them in completing a Quest. In return, they would pay a considerable amount of Credits as remuneration. Regarding such extra incomes, Shi Feng was still somewhat interested. He continued, “Tell me about it, then.”

“It’s very simple; you just need to help me level up. I’m also not a miserly person, so I’m willing to pay 100 Credits per level. If you can help me catch up with the majority of the other players, I am even willing to pay you 1,000 Credits. What do you think?” the Berserker proudly stated.

Shi Feng’s brows wrinkled as he heard the man speaking, “Sorry, but I don’t have the time. You should look for someone else to help you.”

Shi Feng had too many things he had to do. Not only did he need to make sure his level didn’t fall behind, but he also needed to earn money and accumulate advantages for his future Guild. He needed to make preparations for the upcoming power struggle in White River City. Just from clearing out the items in the Auction House, he could earn several hundreds of thousands of Credits. So, why would he waste his time just for a measly 1,000 Credits? He hadn’t fallen to such a low standard as of yet.

Finished saying his piece, Shi Feng turned and walked away, heading towards the Bank to store his items.

“Hold on a moment...” the Berserker called out for a long time, but Shi Feng paid him no attention from beginning to end. Immediately, the Berserker said in a fit of rage, “Crap, what’s there to be so proud of? If you don’t want to do it, there will be many other experts who would be willing to carry me. You’ll regret it when that time comes!”

“Looking for an expert to power-level me! One hundred Credits per level! Don’t miss this good opportunity!” the Berserker started shouting once again.

However, even after shouting for a long time, not a single veteran player paid him any heed.

“Hahaha! This newcomer is just too hilarious! My stomach is hurting from laughing too much!” a Level 5 Ranger laughed as he passed.

“Don’t bother with him. There are bound to be fools amongst the newcomers. We don’t have any time to spare right now. We need to purchase some bread and potions quickly. Otherwise, we’re going to be scolded by our leader,” the Ranger’s pro companion[2] hurriedly said.

“I know. I know. I just think that person is a fool. Does he really think God’s Domain is just some small-time game? Does he think we can level up once every minute? Forget 100 Credits per level; even if it were 1,000 Credits per level, I still wouldn’t do it, not to mention a top-tier expert player. Without ten to twenty thousand Credits, there won’t even be a need for a discussion!” the Ranger sneered.

In the initial period of the game, everyone was rushing to level up. They were all afraid of being left behind by the majority of the players, losing their chance to shine. Hence, where would they find the time to help the newcomers? Not to mention 100 Credits, right now, the pro players at Level 5 could earn more than 1 Silver in a single day. When converted to Credits, that amount would be more than 100 Credits. If their luck was good and they managed to obtain a piece of Common Equipment, that would be the equivalent of obtaining several hundreds of Credits. If it were an expert player, it was an entirely different story altogether. They certainly did not lack such a meager amount money.

When the newbie Berserker heard their conversation, he was greatly shocked by the Ranger’s words. Moreover, he could tell that the Ranger was not fooling around. The Berserker was just a white-collar worker in a company. Previously, he was similarly willing to spend some money to seek the aid of others, letting others power-level him. At that time, his offer had been only 30 to 50 Credits, yet, even then, there were tons of players fighting over his offer. However, right now, his offer of 100 Credits did not receive even the slightest attention. It turned out that power-leveling even a single level required several thousand Credits. That was practically an entire month of his salary!

The Berserker’s face immediately flushed bright red. He felt that he had just humiliated himself greatly. He had been shouting on the streets for so long, thinking highly of himself all this time. Even when he heard the gossiping of the passerby players, he only thought that they were astonished by his offer. However, in reality, it turned out that they were just scolding him as foolish. It was no wonder the previous expert had rejected his offer immediately after hearing the price.

Meanwhile, the other newcomers seeking the aid of an expert had similarly shut their mouths, one after another. Every one of them felt their cheeks burning up, shamefully walking away to search for Quests to level up.

In another location, Shi Feng was currently fervently buying items at the Auction House, accumulating a large amount of rare resources. When he had spent all of his money, only then did Shi Feng release a sigh of relief. He then placed the Glimmer Chestplate Forging Designs for auction, their base prices set at 2 Gold Coins each. He would not need to worry about them not selling.

“It should be about time to collect the Ice-Blue Devil Flame...” After Shi Feng finished busying himself, he switched back to his original appearance. He prepared himself to collect the Mysterious Flame ahead of schedule. Now that God’s Domain had evolved ahead of schedule, the Mysterious Flame might similarly be obtained by other players ahead of schedule. To prevent the unexpected from happening, it was best for him to obtain it a little earlier. He would only be able to relax when the Ice-Blue Devil Flame was in his possession.

TL Notes:

[1]Identification Skills: Observation Skills will now be changed to Identification Skills.

[2] pro companion: the term ‘pro’ will be used to refer to occupational players from now on. However, do take note that ‘pro’ doesn’t necessarily mean that they are on the level of ‘experts.’ I hope I’m not offending anybody with this, but ‘experts’ are like the globally renown singers that earn millions of dollars, while ‘pros’ are like full-time/part-time pub singers that earn thousands of dollars. Of course, ‘pros’ definitely possess the chances of becoming ‘experts.’