Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Cashing Out
"Agreed."
Seeing he had a bite, Long Ming’s spirits lifted, and he immediately confirmed.
Just then, a chat box popped up.
"Bro, that unopened gene box you listed looks pretty good. Where’s it from?"
After seeing the message, Long Ming narrowed his eyes and replied.
"A military base."
"What kind of military base? What’s its name?"
"I don’t know the name. I just know it’s a military base."
"Then which world is it from? You have to know that, right?"
In a corner of Starry City, a man with a scar on his chin and calloused hands stared at the chat box, asking with a mix of excitement and caution.
"I do know that, but why should I tell you?"
A message quickly popped up.
Old Ghost looked at the message, his eyes narrowing. He knew he was dealing with an expert, so he continued to press.
"If you don’t tell me, I can’t buy it."
"Buy it or don’t. This is an unopened box, and I listed it for cheap. There are plenty of other buyers willing to take it."
"Don’t be like that. Let’s talk this out. Can you just give me a little bit of information?"
"You want information? Fine. Pay double, and I’ll tell you which world it’s from."
"Isn’t that a bit too expensive?"
"It’s not. You should understand this is a trade secret."
After replying, Long Ming held his nerve and waited quietly.
’I’m not even sure I can get back into the Anfa World anyway. If this guy is willing to pay double, I might as well take it.’
"Can you go any cheaper?"
Old Ghost asked tentatively. He didn’t want to be a sucker.
"Not a chance!"
Long Ming directly ended the temporary chat, then waited with his heart in his throat.
’If he doesn’t take the bait, I’ll lose my leverage and have to slash the price.’
Meanwhile, Old Ghost stared at the closed chat window, so angry he was grinding his teeth. But when he looked back at the unopened gene box, a greedy expression, like that of a gambler, returned to his face.
In the end, even knowing there was a nine-out-of-ten chance something was wrong with the box, he still tapped his wristband a few times and bought the unopened gene box.
On the other side, Long Ming’s wristband vibrated.
"Notification: Your consigned unopened gene box has been sold. You have received 15,000,000 one-dimensional coins."
When Long Ming saw that the guy had bought it after all, he breathed a sigh of relief, a slight smile touching his lips. ’As expected, this world isn’t short on gamblers. They’ll jump into a pit even when they know it’s a trap.’
Just then, his wristband vibrated again, and another notification popped up.
"Notification: Your consigned bug healing potion has been sold. You have received 600,000 one-dimensional coins."
Long Ming watched the sales notifications, waiting in a pleasant mood.
He didn’t stay idle, though. He took out the military combat manual from his backpack.
’To be honest,’ Long Ming thought, ’I’m still skeptical about this manual. A game can’t really teach people dangerous combat techniques, can it?’
With this in mind, Long Ming opened the manual and began to study it carefully.
Two hours later, Long Ming’s brow was deeply furrowed. Back when he was a student at Mountain City Mountain’s First Advanced Academy, he had also received professional military training, which included several months of military combat techniques.
The military combat moves in this book were different from what he had learned.
But it was just a difference in style and technique. Judging by the moves themselves, they seemed very real.
Long Ming’s expression shifted. He then tried to mimic the neck-snapping technique from the book, gesturing at his own neck.
He was suddenly startled. ’These moves... they seem like they’d actually work.’
’This game is insane! It’s actually teaching real-life killing techniques.’
’Looks like I’ve struck gold. Even though this military combat manual is a white-grade item, its value is the highest. After all, it can concretely improve my real-world strength.’
With this thought, Long Ming placed the manual into his storage.
He had already memorized the contents of the manual; he just needed to practice them regularly.
Long Ming then looked down at the notifications on his wristband. Almost everything he had consigned was sold, leaving only a Baka Rifle and the Old Moon Necklace.
He checked the market for the rifle and found that the price had dropped. ’It’s probably because I listed too many at once, and at a relatively cheap price, too.’
Thinking this, Long Ming lowered the price from the original 320,000 to 300,000.
Within seconds, the last Baka Rifle sold. Total income: 2,180,000 one-dimensional coins.
Long Ming then looked at the Old Moon Necklace. It still hadn’t sold. ’As expected, only equipment and potions are selling well right now. Very few players are buying anything else.’
’Of course, that doesn’t mean the Old Moon Necklace is worthless, just that it’s not in high demand right now. Maybe it’ll sell in the future.’
But Long Ming didn’t have time to wait. He canceled the consignment and had the system recycle the necklace for 2,000,000 one-dimensional coins.
Long Ming opened his wristband and took a look. He now had a total of 19,180,600 one-dimensional coins in his account. The marketplace hadn’t charged any transaction fees.
This was a huge sum for Long Ming. The next thing he needed to do was convert his Game Coins into Mountain Coins.
The reason Long Ming was in such a hurry to cash out was simple. In any new game, due to supply and demand, items are scarce at the beginning. Many rich players are willing to pay a premium, so values are relatively high.
But as time goes on and production increases, those rich players are no longer willing to be suckers. In-game items and Game Coins become less and less valuable, with the exception of a few special items whose prices might rise against the trend.
Of course, these principles only apply to newly launched games.
As for Civilization Paradise, although it was very special, the initial market principles wouldn’t deviate too far.
’Even though I’ll lose twenty percent in the process, as the Game Coins devalue, it’s like I’m earning that money back in a roundabout way.’
Long Ming scanned his surroundings and quickly found the blond kid he had consulted before. He walked over to him and asked in a low voice.
"Kid, what’s the current buy-back rate for Game Coins?"
Hearing someone call him "kid," the blond kid instinctively looked up. When he saw Long Ming, his whole demeanor lit up.
"Whoa, a pro! The current rate is 110 one-dimensional coins to 1 Mountain Coin."
"Can I get a better ratio for a large volume?" Long Ming ventured.
"Of course! But how much do you have?"
The blond kid looked at Long Ming excitedly.
"16,500,000."
’I’ll sell some of these Game Coins for cash to relieve my real-world pressure and hold onto the rest for now.’
Hearing Long Ming’s number, the blond kid broke into a brilliant smile.
"Bro, let me introduce myself. My name is Ah Bi. 16,500,000 one-dimensional coins works out to 150,000 Mountain Coins at the current rate. How about this? I’ll give you 160,000 for them."
"Deal!"
Long Ming was very satisfied with this price.
"But bro, online trading is so inconvenient, and you get hit with Mountain City Mountain’s 20% transaction tax. Why don’t we trade offline? I can pay you cash in person."
Ah Bi proposed an offline transaction with a grin.
In reality, Ah Bi suggested an offline transaction for two reasons: one, he was planning to pay Long Ming with gray money, and two, he wanted to see who Long Ming was.
"No, I only accept online transactions."
Hearing this, Long Ming immediately became alert. An offline transaction was far too risky for him.
"Bro, listen to me. You just need to give me an address, and I’ll come to you."
"No need!"
"Then I can only offer 150,000 Mountain Coins. After tax, you’ll only get 120,000. That’s a 40,000 Mountain Coin difference. You should think it over carefully."
Ah Bi tried his best to persuade Long Ming.
"150,000 is 150,000. Let’s do the online transaction."
Although the loss of 40,000 pained him, Long Ming didn’t want to be targeted. ’In the real world,’ he thought, ’I’m no different from a grasshopper.’
"Bro, you won’t reconsider?"
"If you want to trade, let’s trade. If not, forget it. I’ll find someone else."
"Fine, online transaction it is."
Ah Bi was out of options. He raised his wristband and sent Long Ming a trade request.
A notification popped up on Long Ming’s wristband.
"Notification: Player Ah Bi has initiated a trade for 16,500,000 one-dimensional coins. The other party will pay 150,000 Mountain Coins. After deducting Mountain City Mountain’s 20% transaction tax, you will receive 120,000 Mountain Coins. Do you accept?"
"Yes!"
Long Ming tapped "Yes," then entered his card number on the screen that appeared.
The transaction was completed.
Ah Bi looked at Long Ming with a chuckle and said,
"Bro, you must be a professional player, right? Want to add me as a friend?"
"No thanks."
Long Ming refused him outright.
