Lu Chen woke up to find it was already nine in the morning.
"Damn, I said I'd get up at seven to level up, but I ended up sleeping this late," Lu Chen hurriedly got up to wash up.
He wondered if other players had caught up during those 11 hours.
After grabbing a quick bite, Lu Chen swiftly put on his helmet and entered the game.
Soon, he saw the line of text above his head, "Exceptionally Strong, Agile, and Burly Gnoll."
"Good, I'm still a wild monster," Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
[Beep, beep, beep...]
Lu Chen almost forgot he had equipment for sale, so he quickly opened his mail.
All 11 pieces of equipment, including two auction items, were sold.
"They were all sold a little after ten yesterday, which means they were snapped up right after I listed them."
Lu Chen checked his messages and saw 11 transactions around ten, totaling 3,915 yuan.
"Damn, this is awesome. I made over 7,000 just yesterday! That's more than two months' salary!"
Fueled by the cash injection, Lu Chen was instantly energized.
"Right, let's see how other players are doing." Lu Chen opened the official livestream page and found the most popular female streamer, "Wind Chime Fairy."
Wind Chime Fairy was at the entrance of the Starter Village, seemingly waiting for her teammates.
To Lu Chen's surprise, the Starter Village was still packed with people.
"Damn, I spent all day yesterday sightseeing, and then watched the scenery all night! I stood in the Starter Village all night! Can this game even be played?"
"Trapped in the Starter Village for 22 hours, 18 minutes, and 43 seconds. I yearn for freedom..."
"Why are there more and more people? Am I going to die in the Starter Village? Skywalk, can't you do something about this?"
Wind Chime Fairy had something going for her; at least she made it out of the Starter Village and even had a club in her hand!
"Oh, they are so pitiful," sighed a delicate-looking girl in the livestream.
Wind Chime Fairy's looks were indeed striking, with exquisite features and large, beautiful eyes, save for a bit of redness. Her face was soft and not like the pointed faces of some streamers.
Her slightly messy hair didn't make her look sloppy; instead, it added a touch of sexiness. She wore light makeup that couldn't even hide her dark circles, leaving one to wonder how late she played last night.
The furniture in the video wasn't noticeably distorted, indicating that even if she used beauty filters, they weren't too aggressive.
Perhaps this was why she stood out among many beautiful streamers and became the most popular.
Naturally beautiful, so she could afford to be capricious.
"Hehe, luckily I got into the game early and made it out," Wind Chime Fairy said playfully, changing the subject.
"Ah, leveling up in this game is so hard. I was grinding until four in the morning yesterday and only got to level 3," Wind Chime Fairy said gloomily. "And the equipment is super hard to drop."
"By the way, do you know Lone Madman? How does that guy manage to farm so much equipment?"
Lu Chen was a bit surprised that the popular streamer on the Nine Heavens Official Website mentioned his name...
"I really don't know what kind of monster he is."
Seeing their goddess praising another man, the chat went wild.
"Goddess, you're overthinking it. He's just a middleman."
"Yeah, I'm from a professional guild, and even we can't farm that much equipment. How could he?"
"He's probably just tricking newbies who haven't played much, buying low and selling high."
"That's right, Nine Heavens' online numbers keep rising, and many people who don't usually play games are drawn in. They don't even know what their equipment is worth, giving him an opportunity."
"Our neighbor, Old Wang, over 40 with no kids and disabled legs, never played games before, but now he bought a helmet just to feel like he can stand again in the game! How could someone like that not get scammed if they find equipment?"
"Speaking of which, I heard blind people can play Nine Heavens too. The Quantum Helmet can restore their sight in the game. Is that true?"
Lu Chen felt a bit frustrated. Are there really that many newbie players?
There definitely are.
Even many who never touched games before, or those who are disabled or older, might be drawn to this ultra-realistic game, experiencing something different in the game.
However, most newbie players are stuck in one place—trapped in the Starter Village!
Even if they entered the game early, they don't know how to form teams or fight monsters. Once they die, they just return to the Starter Village...
Wind Chime Fairy saw so many people talking about Lone Madman and frowned, pouting, "But even if he's a middleman, I think he's got something. Have you ever seen another middleman get so much equipment?"
With that question, no one could answer.
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Lu Chen smiled slightly; this girl wasn't too dumb after all.
Seeing the atmosphere in the livestream room getting a bit off, Wind Chime Fairy didn't mention it again, "Haha, Xiao Ming finally logged in. Alright, today we must level up well! Let's work hard to reach level 4!"
The chat immediately expressed concern for their goddess.
"Only pro players are at level three or four now. Can you compete with them?"
"I heard some people are already level 5."
"Level 5? Don't even mention it. Those are the top of the top, the elite among elites. You probably can't find three in the entire National Server."
"Leveling from 5 to 6 requires 10,000 experience points. Is that true? Isn't that astronomical?"
Wind Chime Fairy tilted her head slightly, proudly saying, "There's no level 5 in our Starter Village, so I don't know how much experience is needed. As for others, I'm a pro player too, I'm not afraid of them. My level isn't lower than theirs, and our squad has two weapons, so we can definitely compete."
Lu Chen frowned slightly. An entire night and not even level 4... What kind of efficiency is that?
But now there are players at level 5? Just one level away from him!
Lu Chen didn't actually know that Wind Chime Fairy's high livestream popularity wasn't just because she was pretty and friendly. There was another important reason.
She was definitely a top player!
Who would want to watch someone stuck in the Starter Village or fighting over monsters at level one or two? Watching top players' streams is much more interesting.
Wind Chime Fairy not only had a high level herself, but her squad was also strong. A squad with two weapons, based on current online transaction volumes, even professional guild squads might not have that setup.
Moreover, even if someone reached level 5, there was still a big gap to Lu Chen at level 6.
Although level 5 is only one level away from level 6, the experience required triples to 10,000! And having just one person at level 5 in a squad is useless; they still can't farm high-level Gnolls.
In short, leveling from 5 to 6 is not easy!
Getting intel from Wind Chime Fairy, Lu Chen felt some pressure.
Before exiting the livestream, Lu Chen thought for a moment and, for the first time, sent a small gift worth 10 yuan, 10 chocolates, totaling 10 yuan.
It wasn't that he was stingy; he just wasn't in the habit of tipping streamers. The 10 yuan tip was because Wind Chime Fairy had said something nice about him during the stream.
For a streamer of Wind Chime Fairy's caliber, such a small tip wouldn't usually catch her eye, but somehow the 10 yuan managed to make a small splash on the screen, impossible to miss.
Wind Chime Fairy was momentarily stunned by the tip.
What caught her attention wasn't the amount, but the... ID!
Lone Madman!
Lone Madman? Could it be that middleman?
"Ring ring, what are you daydreaming about? If we don't go now, the monsters will be gone!" Her teammate Xiao Ming pulled Wind Chime Fairy back into the game.
Wind Chime Fairy absentmindedly agreed, following along with a heavy heart.
***
Lu Chen also logged out of the official website and returned to the game.
"Someone's already level 5. I need to step up my game!" Lu Chen thought anxiously...
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan