MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player

Chapter 501: The Face of Fate

The old man leaned forward, his cloudy eyes suddenly sharp, lit with a strange, restless hope. "Young man, do you still have that purple dragon jade pendant with you? Let me see it again."

Marcus paused. He hadn’t expected the old man to still care this much after all these years. It was obvious now that the pendant had stayed on his mind the whole time.

"Sorry, sir," Marcus said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I didn’t bring it with me today."

Trying to ease the disappointment, he added, "Honestly, maybe it’s just an ordinary stone. It might not be anything special."

"Nonsense!"

The old man snapped so fast his chair creaked beneath him. His eyes flared with irritation as he pointed a finger straight at Marcus.

"Ordinary? Are you doubting my judgment?" His voice rose, full of conviction. "That pendant of yours, its color, its grain, its shape, even the way it feels in the hand, it’s flawless. Do you know how long jade like that takes to form? Ten thousand years at the very least. And that texture... cold, smooth, pure. I’ve handled the finest jades in this country, and none of them compare."

He fixed Marcus with a hard stare, his voice lowering. "I’m telling you, that thing is an ancient treasure. The only reason there’s no written record of it is because it’s too rare. Rare enough to vanish from history itself."

Marcus nodded obediently, not bothering to argue. The old man’s temper was sharper than he remembered. After a moment, the appraiser calmed down, though his eyes still carried that stubborn fire.

"And even setting aside the material," he continued, "I told you before, the craftsmanship alone is enough to shock anyone. The carving style matches artifacts from the Bronze Age. It looks simple at first glance, but those patterns... modern craftsmen couldn’t reproduce them even if they tried."

He shook his head slowly. "That pendant is at least two or three thousand years old. At the very least, it’s a priceless antique. How could something like that be ordinary?"

Marcus wisely chose silence. Then the old man’s expression shifted, as though his thoughts had wandered back into the same mystery that had haunted him for years.

"But there’s one thing I still can’t understand," he murmured. "That dragon sealed inside it... it looks like amber, like a fossilized living thing. A purple dragon, trapped within stone."

His brows furrowed deeply. "But dragons don’t exist. And if dragons don’t exist... then what exactly is that?"

He fell quiet, staring into empty space, his mind circling the impossible question again. A long moment passed before he sighed and looked back at Marcus. "Shame you didn’t bring it."

Then he waved it off and leaned back in his chair. "Well, if you’re not here about the pendant, what did you come for?"

Finally, they’d reached the real reason for Marcus’s visit. "Actually, sir," Marcus said, "I wanted to buy some jade jewelry for my girlfriend. But I don’t know much about jade, so I figured I’d come here first and see if you had anything worth looking at."

The old man laughed. "Worth looking at? That’s exactly how a beginner talks."

Marcus smiled awkwardly. The old man folded his arms.

"Listen carefully. There’s no such thing as ’good jade.’ There’s only jade that suits the person holding it. Truly exceptional jade is unique. If someone has a piece like that, why would they part with it so easily? And if it’s ancient jade with historical value, then it’s an antique. You’d be talking millions."

He narrowed his eyes. "Can you afford that?"

Marcus rubbed his nose and laughed. "Looks like I’ve got a lot to learn."

The old man snorted, but his expression softened. "Still, fate brought you here again. I’ve got a few pieces I’ve been thinking of selling. There’s some decent stuff in there. You can take a look."

He raised a finger.

"But I’ll repeat myself. Jade is personal. If you don’t feel anything for it, then even the finest piece is worthless to you. So choose with your own hands. I won’t guide your taste. All I’ll guarantee is this, my prices are honest, and nothing here is fake. Take it anywhere else, and no one will say you got cheated."

He paused, then added, "Because of that, though, I can only sell you three pieces."

With that, he disappeared into the back room and returned carrying an old wooden box.

When he opened it, Marcus’s eyes immediately sharpened.

Inside, laid neatly against dark velvet, were more than twenty jade ornaments and carvings: necklaces, bracelets, rings, pendants, hairpins. Every piece carried an understated elegance, and it was obvious this collection hadn’t been thrown together carelessly.

"Thank you, sir," Marcus said. "I’ll skip the carvings. I’m looking for something wearable."

He picked them up one by one, turning each over in his palm, studying their color, shape, and texture.

At the same time, without drawing attention, he quietly sent his Human Rock energy into each piece.

The moment his energy touched them, the differences became clear.

They were all high quality, far better than anything on display outside. Every piece held traces of elemental energy, meaning they’d formed naturally over centuries. But quality wasn’t everything.

Some pieces were excellent, yet they simply didn’t feel right to him. The shape felt off. The color didn’t match what he had in mind, so he put them aside.

In the end, he picked three pieces: a blue jade necklace, a pair of green jade bracelets, and a white jade hairpin.

The old man quoted him a total of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.

Marcus nearly smiled. It was cheap. In the luxury stores downtown, pieces like these would easily cost twice that, maybe more. And judging by the energy within them, they were all over two hundred years old.

No wonder the old man limited him to three. For a moment, Marcus wondered where these pieces had come from. Probably private collectors, estate liquidations, or underground channels. In this business, rare things often changed hands quietly. Whatever their origins, the old man clearly knew their worth and wasn’t trying to exploit him.

Marcus withdrew the cash and paid. After using Snow’s father’s money to settle his family company’s debts, there was still over three million left in the company account. Spending this much wasn’t a problem.

"Sir," Marcus said after pocketing the items, "I’d like to buy a few more. Could you recommend other places?"

The old man looked at him for a long moment, his gaze unusually deep. Then he smiled. "Young man... your fortune’s changed."

Marcus blinked. The old man stroked his beard. "Your face is glowing with wealth, power gathering at your crown, and romance surrounding you from every side. Your luck with women is absurd. Even I’m a little envious."

Marcus could only laugh, embarrassed. ’So the old man could really read faces.’

"I’ll have my grandson take you around," the old man said. "He knows which shops keep their real goods in the back. The unregistered pieces. Tell them you came with him, and they’ll show you what they normally hide."

Then his expression turned serious. "But don’t misunderstand. They’re businessmen. They won’t cut you a deal. They’ll mix fakes with the real treasures, and their prices won’t be kind either. Whether you can tell the difference is your own problem."

Marcus nodded. "Understood. Thank you."

With his Human Rock ability, he wasn’t worried about fakes. And now that he had the old man’s prices as a benchmark, he knew exactly where the floor should be when bargaining.

The old man turned and shouted toward the back room. "Larry! Get out here!"

A teenage boy, around fourteen or fifteen, came jogging out. After a few quick instructions from his grandfather, Larry nodded and motioned for Marcus to follow.

Soon, the two of them were weaving through narrow alleyways behind the main jade district, avoiding the polished storefronts entirely and heading straight for the hidden backrooms where the real trade happened.

As Marcus disappeared into the maze of alleys, the old man leaned back into his chair, his eyes narrowing in thought.

Five years ago, he had seen something in that young man’s face: a dragon hidden in deep waters, silent and waiting. If the day ever came when that dragon rose into the sky, his fortune would become immeasurable. And now, that day had arrived.

Marcus was surrounded by radiant energy, golden light gathering around him like an invisible tide. It was the mark of overwhelming fortune, supreme vitality, and destiny so vast it was almost blinding. It was the rarest face he had ever seen.

But what shocked the old man even more was the balance within it. Amid that fierce, blazing yang energy were strands of yin woven perfectly through it, soft, steady, and complete.

A flawless equilibrium. That meant no matter how high Marcus climbed, his foundation would never collapse. No matter how much power he gathered, he would never suffer the natural backlash that came from excess.

This was beyond rare. In the ancient art of face reading, it had a name: The Fated Sign, the face of one destined to stand above all others.

Marcus and Larry got along surprisingly well. The boy was lively, sharp-tongued, and knew the district like the back of his hand. He led Marcus from one hidden room to another, skipping the storefront displays completely and heading straight for the owners.

Every time Larry mentioned his grandfather, the shopkeepers would quietly bring out their better stock, the kind they never left out in the open.

That was when Marcus finally understood. No wonder he hadn’t found anything worthwhile before. The real treasures were never displayed for ordinary customers.

Just as the old man had warned, the collections were mixed. Genuine antiques sat beside convincing fakes, with junk blended in between to confuse buyers. But Marcus’s inner energy could tell the difference the instant he touched them.

Within an hour, he picked out two more excellent pieces, both bought at prices far below market value. Larry estimated Marcus could resell each one later for at least fifty thousand in profit.

Then, as they turned into another street, Larry pointed ahead. "Marcus, that place up there, Jade Royal, it’s the oldest shop in this district. Their connections run the deepest, and they’ve got the widest supply."

His expression turned wary. "But the owner’s greedy as hell. Keep your eyes open and haggle hard."

Marcus looked up at the entrance, his eyes narrowing slightly. Then he followed Larry inside.