Gamers of the Underworld

The twenty gamers who had gone out on the expedition arrived at the Dungeon entrance. They brought back eight dead Underground Spiders which were dragged using ropes.

Sherlock had not expected them to bring back eight Spiders within a few hours.

Besides the Spiders, there were four gamers’ corpses and some injured gamers. They had gone through tough fights.

The gamers working in the Dungeon saw the victorious expedition group come back with loot and surrounded the victors as they asked excitedly about their experience.

NotWearingPants narrated their combat scenes enthusiastically. They didn’t have casualties in their first two skirmishes. But in the third encounter, there were too many Spiders. After four gamers were killed and many were injured, they managed to repel the Spiders. With the casualties, they did not stay at the Spiders’ Lair entrance. Once the Spiders retreated, they immediately returned with their loot and their comrades’ corpses. The dead gamers would be revived since creating new characters would void their previous Reputation Points. They were not willing to give up their hard-earned Reputation.

While the gamers were celebrating, Sherlock treated the wounded and healed the corpses. He saw the gamers dissect the Spiders and concentrate on the stomach. But, they were not going for the meat. Previously, they had witnessed Arthur obtaining a strange metal ball from the Spider’s stomach and appraising it. The gamers wanted to obtain special items from the monsters and unlock hidden plots.

Perhaps other Spiders had similar items in their bodies?

Even if there were no hidden items, the Spider’s parts could be exchanged for Reputation points and rewards! Sherlock had decided on the prices for the Spider’s parts. For example, ten kilograms of Spider Meat could be exchanged for ten Reputation Points and ten bronze coins. The Spider Leg could be used for food and making weapons. It could be exchanged for ten Reputation Points and ten bronze coins. Spider Silk was an important raw material for many items and could be used to improve weapons. A ball of Spider Silk could be exchanged for a hundred Reputation Points and a hundred bronze coins. The production of Spider Silk was limited and the quantity depended on luck.

After collecting the loot from the gamers, Sherlock could produce additional food. He could also give Simba the Spider Leg and silk to produce high quality weapons and equipment. Then, he could sell them back to the gamers. In order to obtain better equipment, the gamers would have to complete more missions or hunt for more Spiders to gain more money and Reputation Points. Their actions supported the positive developmental cycle of the Dungeon.

The gamers dissected the eight Spiders quickly. The Spider Legs and the meat were arranged neatly by the side, but the Spider Silk was in low quantity.

Sherlock could smell the stench of the Spiders from a distance. The gamers were not affected by the smell as they squirmed excitedly into the Spider’s stomach to see if they could find any treasure.

They searched for half a day but did not find any treasure. At most, they found remnants of the Spiders’ meals. It was not like they could find treasure every time.

Sherlock observed the gamers taking stock of their loot. He thought they were going to approach him to exchange the loot for rewards, but the gamers instead held an internal auction for their own expedition members.

“Spider Leg, starting price is twenty bronze coins per piece!”

NotWearingPants was the auctioneer. The members of the third expedition started bidding and pushed the price to twice the starting price. Arthur bought five pieces with his bid of forty bronze coins per piece. Other rich gamers like BurningChestHair, Sakuranomiya Cat Demon and Sylvanas bought the rest of the Spider Legs at high prices.

The Spiders Meat was sold at lower prices. The last item was the Spider Silk. As the quantity was not sufficient to make a ball, the starting price was eighty bronze coins, and the bid price was quickly pushed to three hundred bronze coins. In the end, Arthur bought the Spider Silk.

The other gamers witnessed the Dungeon’s first loot auction and lamented, “My God, the price of a bronze coin is now at least ten to twenty Renminbi. They were that generous, but it’s still hard for us to cope. I have to work harder and join the Golden Group ¹ !”

“It’s not easy to get into the Golden Group. Are you able to fight the Underground Spiders for two hours without injury? I’m unable to do that.”

“I must train more!”

“Hurry up, carry more bricks and earn more money. I earned my kid’s school fees just by carrying bricks.”

“Don’t mention it. After the game goes into open Beta, I intend to quit my job to be a professional gamer. After playing for a few hours, the bronze coins that I earned are worth much more than what I earn in my day job!”

“You can forget about it. In the Beta Testing, the number of gamers is small, so the bronze coins are expensive. Once hundreds of gamers come onboard, the work rate will skyrocket. Would the bronze coins be expensive? They will definitely become cheaper and cheaper. Earn more while it is still in closed Beta!”

“Yes, this is the reason…”

Sherlock could not figure out what was going on as the gamers discussed among themselves. What situation was this? What were the gamers doing? Were they… making commercial transactions?

Though he had seen the gamers trade their bronze coins before, he had not been bothered. The gamers had been helping a small number of them to raise enough money to buy weapons and equipment in their expedition to the Spiders’ Lair. He had not considered that as part of a larger system of commerce. But now, Sherlock was witnessing their trading and auction! After the auction, the twenty gamers of the expedition split the earnings of the auction equally.

The gamers who had bought the Spiders’ meat came to look for Sherlock to claim bronze coins and rewards. Sherlock could understand their intentions, but he could not figure out those gamers who had bought the Spiders’ legs and silk at high prices. Did they know the uses of those items?

Sherlock intended to use those materials to improve the equipment and then sell them back to the gamers at high prices. Then, he could collect back the metal coins and create a shortage of coins to make the gamers work harder.

Sherlock decided to ask Bru about their strange behavior. “Bru, do you know why the gamers bypassed my intention of collecting the Spiders’ legs and silk? Instead, they auctioned those items.”

“They are probably stockpiling them. Simba told them that the items can be used to improve equipment. They have great desires for improving their equipment,” Bru explained.

Sherlock frowned.

“Those gamers intend to bypass me, stockpile the materials and then improve their equipment all by themselves?”

“That’s correct. This works even better. Let them trade the materials. When they decide to improve their equipment, they have to find Simba. As long as you fix the prices with Simba, you will still collect back the metal coins. In the last few days, I have come up with another plan to exhaust their metal coins faster,” Bru said. “How about giving the equipment an improvement level?”

“Improvement level?” Sherlock was hesitant.

Bru explained, “After improving equipment, the panel will show a ‘+1’ or ‘+2′. We can also decide on the number of Spider Legs and silk for each improvement. Once Simba improves the equipment to a certain level, he can destroy the equipment and claim that the improvement failed. The higher the improvement level, the greater the chance of equipment damage. Once the equipment is damaged, new equipment will be needed and a new cycle of improvement will begin. We’ll earn metal coins more quickly this way than just selling equipment. We can also add another equipment improvement reward like an equipment improvement voucher that can improve the efficiency of the equipment! Furthermore, we can even collect the broken equipment and make new ones out of them before selling them back to the gamers!”

Sherlock agreed that Bru’s method was brilliant. It would exhaust the gamers’ coins rapidly. In addition, the Diamond Seam material would not be wasted if they collected the damaged equipment.

Sherlock accepted Bru’s suggestion and shouted for Simba to discuss the details in the Dungeon Core Main Hall.

Sherlock explained the details to Simba and requested him to place a new signboard that read “Equipment Improvement” at the Blacksmith Shop entrance. He also indicated the price and the increasing amount of Spider Legs and silk required for each improvement. The probability of failure would also increase correspondingly. Of course, it was also dependent on Simba and the gamers’ mood.

Simba could not understand why the Dungeon Lord would make the equipment improvement that complicated, but he was the boss, so Simba had to follow his instructions. Simba hung up the new signboard at the Blacksmith Shop entrance. Using Spider Silk and legs, there were only five improvements available. The probability of damage started after three levels of improvement. From the fourth improvement onwards, there was an incremental chance of equipment damage.

A nearby gamer discovered the new signboard and bolted like a wild dog to the other gamers who were splitting the money. He shouted, “Whoa! A dog’s plan for equipment improvement!”