Chapter 19: Ambushed by a High-Level Magical Beast
According to the black market purchase price at the time, a bottle of mana potion went for about forty-five thousand credit points... But if you were to sell it now, heh heh... at least three thousand gold coins, seventy-five thousand credit points, and there’d be a lot of people scrambling for it!
White Valentine spoke with a smile on his lips, watching the expression on Scavenger Qilin’s face. As expected, the look on the latter’s face morphed from initial surprise to outright shock, and finally to stunned disbelief!
At this point, White Valentine finally laughed smugly and said, “So, what do you think? Isn’t it precious?”
Staring at the star-studded sky, I rolled my eyes in frustration...
Damn.
A single bottle of mana potion is worth tens of thousands of credit points?
I’d never make that much even if I spent several Earth years working on this damned scavenger planet... If this isn’t expensive, then what is?
Feeling stifled, I looked at him speechlessly, “You’re not joking, right? How could something in a game sell for this much? Seventy-five thousand credit points is enough for a family’s expenses for several years! Just one sip and it’s gone? Only a fool would buy it.”
Before my words even settled, Black Tea immediately defended White Valentine: “Heh heh, you don’t know—there are plenty of fools nowadays... We’re not kidding, it’s true. In fact, if mana potions sold for only seventy thousand credit points, people would rush to snatch them. Now, they’re so rare there’s no market at all...”
Pausing, Black Tea looked at my silent face, as if she knew I still didn’t believe it, and continued to explain: “Qilin, this is your first time playing, so you don’t know how sought after rare items are... Mana potions can only be obtained by completing high-level quests or from bosses. The difficulty is high and the probability low. Basically, only twenty or thirty bottles appear each day...”
Hearing this, a careless, unfiltered thought slipped out of my mouth: “Twenty or thirty bottles... That’s not so rare, is it...”
White Valentine couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Haha... Sure, if everyone could get twenty or thirty bottles a day, they’d be as common as water. I’d drink them constantly! But...” His voice suddenly dragged out, the tone playful, “What if the entire game only produces twenty or thirty bottles a day...?”
His words sent a jolt through my mind!
Suddenly, I recalled yesterday’s announcement for Magic Era’s highest online player count...
A chill crept up from deep within me.
Two billion!
More than two billion players...
If only twenty or thirty bottles of mana potion are produced each day—without accounting for consumption—then even in a lifetime, only a tiny fraction of people would be lucky enough to get one or two bottles.
At that thought, I couldn’t help but gasp...
No wonder they’re so expensive—I was starting to believe it...
Still, for someone who’s always lived frugally, it was hard to accept the idea of swallowing seventy thousand credit points in a single gulp. Although on other planets, a few thousand credit points meant little to the wealthy—just half a bottle of wine, a night out with friends... But this was a game, after all...
“Actually, Qilin... it’s impossible for you to fully understand right now. Wait until you change your class; then you won’t need us to explain. You’ll gradually understand this world, and recognize its values...” Black Tea wrapped up the rather heavy topic.
I nodded.
At that moment, White Valentine seemed moved by Black Tea’s words, murmuring thoughtfully, “Honey, I didn’t expect you to say something so profound—tsk, impressive...”
She answered him with a charming roll of her eyes. Who knew if he was praising or teasing her.
I smiled, rising to my feet alongside Black Tea.
The exhaustion from slaying over thirty little Kodo beasts had mostly faded...
Black Tea’s one-minute rest was over, and I was sure her MP was full again!
However...
Just as Black Tea closed her eyes to sense the elements, swiftly gathering the second spell of the night, a sudden thunderclap exploded right beside us!
Boom!!
Lightning split the night sky, accompanied by frantic screams and a deep beastly roar from somewhere to our right!
“What’s going on?”
My heart jumped. I wasn’t sure if it was the thunder’s proximity or White Valentine’s earlier warning about high-level monsters crossing boundaries. I immediately turned toward the chaos and flickering candlelight on the right!
White Valentine and Black Tea reacted quickly!
White Valentine swung his broad, heavy sword, cutting down the fat Kodo beasts surrounding him one by one;
Black Tea decisively opened her eyes, dispelling the icy aura unique to water magic. As a mage, she was most sensitive to magical fluctuations in the air. From the thunder and lightning, she distinctly sensed a powerful surge of lightning element—it was a second-tier lightning spell.
Judging by the beast’s roar and the chaos, the source was probably a high-level monster that had crossed over, or... the boss of the Kodo Beast Valley!
A high-level monster—or a boss—capable of casting second-tier lightning magic was not something Black Tea wanted to encounter...
Either way, it was bad news...
Just as the three of us watched tensely, the area of chaos was suddenly swallowed by darkness!
If not for the final thunderbolt and the screams, we might have thought everything was over...
But...
Anyone could see that whatever had caused the commotion was clearly wiped out by an unknown high-level monster or boss!
“Quick! Let’s get out of here!”
By now, White Valentine had easily dealt with the fat Kodo beasts around him and rushed to us, visibly anxious.
That went without saying...
The wilderness at night was the most dangerous. If you ran into a high-level monster or boss, your chances of dying were high.
White Valentine and Black Tea had just managed to reach levels 24 and 26—they wouldn’t take that risk.
As Black Tea quickly grabbed the magic fire candle and we prepared to flee, the nearest team also picked up their magic candle and started to run...
“Not bad, good reaction!” I’d barely thought this when I noticed a serious problem: “Damn! If you’re going to run, just run—why are you heading straight toward us?!”