The Great Thief
chapter-31

Chapter 31: Setting Up a Stand For Auctions

The Dark Ravine was very lively at night. The elves who preferred the quiet couldn’t stop players from entertaining themselves and having a good time.

A bonfire had been lit in the open area, and cheap wines that were sold in the grocery were the most popular item amongst the players. Everyone’s dramatic fantasies were all satisfied here; there were even some young girls dancing and singing.

There were also many people who set up stalls. The Elven Bodyguards acted as if nothing was happening, not caring about the influence that these foreigners had on the city’s image.

Returning to the Dark Ravine, Azure Sea Breeze went about looking for Unions to talk to while Lu Li went around looking at the stalls. He checked if there was anything he could use and scoped out the market prices.

After some investigation, Lu Li discovered that the equipment being sold here was more expensive than what he expected.

A bronze equip that added 1 bonus attribute sold for at least 20 silver coins. An equip that added 2 bonus attributes was worth around 35 silver coins. As for Steel Equipment, there wasn’t a single one to be found.

After giving it some thought, he realized that this was normal, as the Elite difficulty Spider Lair was the only place where Steel Equipment could be dropped. Those that could beat this Instance Dungeon would most certainly use the equipment for themselves. Those who couldn’t use it had a long queue of people in their Union waiting to trade with them. There was no way any Steel equips would end up in a stall.

After a leisurely stroll, he had only found a Ring that added 1 point of Agility being sold for 1 Gold. What a rip off!

Lu Li didn’t think about it much longer and immediately set up a stall of his own.

The last time he set up a stall he was attacked by other people, so this time he was smarter about it. He cut a while cloth with his offhand dagger, making a makeshift mask and covering his face with it.

There were 7 bronze equips, including two pieces that made one Druid set. In addition, there was a brace, a Steel Axe and a Hunter skill book: Trueshot Aura.

Anything that added 1 bonus attribute he priced at 25 silver, while anything that added 2 bonus attributes was set at 40 silver. The Magic Staff that added 3 Intelligence was priced at 80 silver, while the brace was priced at 1 gold. With some hesitation, Lu Li marked the two Druid set pieces to be 2 Gold each. Of course, no one would buy it at this price, but Lu Li planned to wait until someone asked about it to discuss a price. As for the Steel equip, he set an exorbitant price of 10 gold.

The skill book didn’t actually have much innate value, but as no one currently had one, Lu Li marked it to be at 2 gold.

After setting up the Booth, Lu Li squatted behind it and read through the forum. Some posts contained techniques, some analyzed different parts of the game and others introduced the large Unions.

The video of him PVPing sat in the highest position, with over 100,000 comments on it. It was simply unsurpassable.

Like the day before, it wasn’t long before Lu Li heard someone call out in alarm because of the equipment and skill book.

Yesterday they called out in alarm because of the Bronze equipment, but today it was because of the Steel equipment!

“Oh my, it really is a Steel equip. This is the first time I’ve even seen one, how lucky.” People who saw it were shocked, drawing attention to the stall and causing more people to see it. Eventually, more people were called over to look at it.

Soon enough, even those who couldn’t afford anything began crowding around Lu Li’s stall.

“Can you give me a discount for this Magic Staff?”

“How can this Steel equip be so expensive!”

“How much would you sell the 2 pieces of the Druid set for in real world currency? I want them!”

“25 silver for a Bronze, how are they selling these for so cheap? I’m already prepared to buy them!”

The clamoring was a sea of voices; it was difficult to clearly hear what was being said.

Two of the ordinary Bronze equips were bought first. Bronze equips were already worth quite a few silver, so they were a profitable purchase at this price, regardless of whether they were for personal use or for selling. Those who had money on hand immediately bought the equips, leaving those who were too slow frustrated and angry.

Seeing that the sales had begun, the better Bronze equips quickly disappeared from Lu Li’s stall. He didn’t even know who bought the Brace, but the items that were left behind seemed to be of interest to no one. Despite this, the number of people crowding his store kept growing.

On the local channel, some people had announced that the Moon Shadow Valley had a Steel equip on sale!

There was a masked man who had set up a stall in Moon Shadow Valley plaza with a pile of high quality equips for sale!

Who could keep their cool after hearing this news? People who were doing Instance Dungeons, or out in suicide squads all made a return trip to see this.

Some even went offline to make some phone calls with their rich acquaintances.

Dawn had done well: their large player-base meant that there were also many tycoons. Many people were trying to trade for more gold to scrounge together more money. However, Steel Equips weren’t something you could purchase even if you were rich.

“Step aside, step aside, those who aren’t buying anything please step aside.” There was a Mage who was being escorted. By the looks of it, he was definitely rich.

“Can you make this Magic Staff a little cheaper?”

“Nope.”

“It’s not even a Steel equip and you’re selling it for 80 silver. That’s a bit of a rip off.”

“Steel equips are at least 5 gold each. I sold a skill book yesterday for 20 gold.”

“Oh, so it was you who sold the skill book. Brother, add me as a friend. If you ever find good Mage items, you can message me directly.” It appeared that this Mage called Holy Thunder was truly rich, as he bought the Magic Staff at its original price.

Lu Li couldn’t reject a tycoon like this, immediately adding him as a friend.

His approach to the friend’s list was to reject anyone that added him, however, he allowed himself to add other people.

In such a short period, he had managed to make 3 gold. If you included the items that he received from the treasure chests and the Boss, his total profit would be 4 gold.

Lu Li opened the Trade Window and was stunned.

1:1000!

It wasn’t 1500 for each gold coin anymore! Lu Li shook his head and bitterly laughed. No wonder the equip prices had increased by so much. The tycoons must have realized that yesterday’s gold conversion rate was just too much.

In reality, even 1000 for 1 gold was crazy. However, the gold exchange rate would continue at this level as long as the big unions kept accepting it.

When the prices settled down after the 3rd soft reset, 1 gold would not even be worth 100 real money.

“Can I trade the pieces of the Druid set for real money? No one is going to pay 4 gold for it. Brother Thief, if you don’t need gold, how much real money are you willing to sell it for?” A leather clad Druid pushed in, his heart set on the two pieces of the Druid set.

“We also would like to buy the 2 pieces of the Druid set for real money, so go ahead and make a bid.” Others had also taken a special interest in the Druid equips. Once they saw that Lu Li was about to yield, they also started yelling.

Lu Li never thought that the interest for these two 2 Bronze equips would be greater than the Steel equipment. It appeared that he had underestimated the demand for healing equipment among parties.

The Steel equip would increase one’s DPS and overall attack strength, but the healing equip could increase healing for the whole party. It looked like they were all aware of this, as most of them were Druids, but were trying to buy it for their own party.

“The 2 pieces of the Bronze Druid set were dropped by the Wild Boss. The suit’s special effect increases the duration of Recover by 6 seconds. I will begin the auction for it now, but I want to be paid before I give you the goods.” Lu Li thought of his previous life, and suddenly had the bright idea of starting an auction.

Upon hearing what Lu Li said, the surrounding crowd quietened down.