"Let's just say . . . I got lucky."
Hoggy laughed and patted Ren's shoulder. "I think you have found all my stocks with this amount! Great! Great!"
He then snatched the Ox Horn from the side of his belly and blew it so loud that everyone who heard it felt like they momentarily passed out.
At the loud cry of the horn, everyone went back to the Oasis. They were shocked to find that the winner got almost more than a hundred [KangKong Balls] while they barely scraped ten from that amount of time.
And the others were even more surprised when they saw that it was just a solo player.
"How did you do it? Us three have a hard time fighting those Tieflings, and you defeat a bunch of them solo?" a player asked Ren.
The latter only said three words, "I got lucky." Before he went to Hoggy to claim his prize.
"What did he mean that he got lucky?"
"Maybe he found a hidden place or something where the Tieflings all stock their stolen goods?"
"Maybe."
While the others were still guessing with each other at how Ren achieved an impossible fit, Hoggy gave his promised special prize to the one who would give him the most [KangKong Balls].
"Chose one among the special items, Ren," Hoggy said with a smile.
Ren didn't expect that there would be a list of special items. Maybe the quest was some kind of a game, and whoever brought the most [KangKong Balls] would receive a prize from the special prize pool.
Browsing from the list, there were many valuable items in Hoggy's inventory, but the one thing that made Ren's eyes glow was the [Pink Zircov].
It was a rare precious stone that not many knew the value of if they sold it to a regular merchant in town. Even if they auctioned it, it wouldn't sell much.
However, selling it to the land of the elves was an entirely different matter. Those stones were the most expensive accessory material in the continent of the Elves. And the price even reach up to thousands of gil if he auctioned it.
Without a second thought, Ren picked that stone and double check if it safely reached his inventory. After making sure that it did, Ren gave Hoggy a big thanks while the latter nodded his head in glee.
"Alright. Now that my KangKong Balls are back in stocks. Let's hop into the road and resume our travels after thirty minutes!"
The crowd dispersed, and Ren was about to stretch his neck and limbs when someone patted his shoulder. Looking over, he saw a player looking at him with an awkward face while his companions were standing at the side, urging him on.
For some reason, this reminded Ren about those boys and girls, and his mood plummeted. But he guessed he still had to give thanks to Lily. If not for her, he couldn't have known Pii's real strength this early on. And he wouldn't have acquired another valuable [Spell Book].
"Uhm . . . Ren, right?" the player said, looking at the name over Ren's head. "My name is Adam. If you don't mind, can we ask where you get those hundred KangKong Balls?"
Ren was silent, and Adam didn't know why he felt intimidated even though he couldn't see Ren's face, and he rumbled on and on with a nervous stricken voice.
"W-we are planning to attempt this quest again, you see, and we appreciate it if you can share the information."
Ren looked at the man before he said with a straight voice, "How much?"
". . . Huh?"
"How much are you willing to give me for that information? And I mean real money."
Adam's eyes rounded. "You want real money for it?"
Ren only nodded, and this was the time when Adam's friends joined in.
"Can you just share it?" Nika said voice laced in irritation. "It's just a game, why ask real money for it? And you already acquired the special price."
Adam and his friends nodded, and someone added, "Yeah. We just want the information. It's not like you're going to die if you share it. Don't be so stingy and selfish. Help your fellow players."
Ren only smirked. He expected this reaction. He was the one who almost died acquiring the loot, and yet people expected him to just hand it out for free. And if he refused, they had the guts to get mad and call him names -- shaming him for being selfish and what not.
"Alright." Ren's lips lifted into an evil smile. "Hundreds of meters north from here is a ruined temple. There's a woman's statue in there. Pressed her eyes, and a hidden lair will reveal before you.
"Inside, there are dozens of Tieflings at the end of the hallway. Each one of them holds ten Kangkong Balls. But don't worry, I'm sure you can defeat them. I defeated them solo as proof."
Adam and the others' faces brightened, and without saying a word of thanks, they turned and left.
Ren even heard them say.
"He is going to say it after all."
"What if he is lying?"
"We'll see."
"He is just playing hard to get."
"The audacity of him to ask real money for just a game?"
"Maybe he wants us to bend our knees and begged?"
"He wishes."
And they laughed.
Ren only shook his head while smiling underneath his evil thoughts. There was no way that those bunch could defeat Amol Sha with their ATP and numbers.
They wanted the information. They could have it. But if they got wiped out, then don't blame him.
Ren laughed to himself. The ATP damage would surely be huge enough for them to restart again.
Ren already got firstblood, and Amol Sha's information value was already much lesser than if he didn't claim firstblood.
And he didn't feel that much need to sell the information since he was occupied with his goal of mining nonstop, accumulating so many gil while levelling his [Foraging] life skills.
Ren resumed stretching his neck and limbs when a notification popped on his screen.
[Player Scar has left you a message]
Ren sighed. When it rained, it poured. Could this really be the day for irritating people to irritate him even more?
Ren pressed Scar's message since he was curious about what he was going to say.
[Scar: This is Scar from Black Lion.
Is this Ren? The one who Silvia employs to take on Vulcan's Cave?]
[Ren: Yes]
[Scar: I've messaged you, as the leader of Black Lion, to ask about the information on how to clear Vulcan's Cave.
Of course, I will compensate you for the information]
Ren knew Scar would ask about that, and he already had an answer.
[Ren: You should ask Silvia. I was merely employed, and my lips are sealed]
[Scar: Silvia said that she also didn't know. She said that you're the one who defeated the Boss.
And don't worry, I already have Silvia's permission to ask you. She said that I am free to ask . . . that is . . . If I can get you to talk]
Ren chuckled. Silvia was confident he would never talk about it since he hid it even from her. She was probably expecting him to do the same with Scar. No. Silvia was self-assured that he wouldn't say anything to Scar.
And that's where she was wrong.
Ren couldn't contain his grin as he replied.
[Ren: Sure. How much are you going to offer for it?]
There was a slight pause before Scar replied.
[Scar: How about ten thousand real money?]
[Ren: I don't know . . .]
[Scar: Twenty, and you can join Black Lion if you want. I'll give you a spot and a favorable contract. I'm an easy guy to talk to]
[Ren: I don't want to enter any guild]
[Scar: Then . . . how much do you want for it?]
[Ren: I think fifty thousand is fair]
[Scar: That's expensive for a Boss that's already got firstblood]
[Ren: Is that so? Then goodbye]
[Scar: Wait]
[Scar: Fine. Give me your account]
Ren stifled a laugh. Scar was really desperate. He could have raised the price, but he wasn't after the money and Scar might back out. His real motive was beyond that.
Ren gave Scar his New Era Account, and not before long a notification rang saying that the money was wired into his account.
Ren smirked while typing how to defeat Vulcan.
[Ren: If you study it, you'll notice that it had a pattern. If you knew how to count, it would stop north at fifteen seconds after it launched]
On the other side of the map, Scar was skeptical of Ren's reply. He studied Vulcan for hours, overnight, and he had to agree that he indeed noticed a pattern but didn't know how or when to attack it since he always missed the timing.
How could Ren have noticed that very small detail on just his first try? Or maybe he already attempted the cave before?
But Scar didn't question Ren further.
[Scar: Alright. We'll contact you again after we confirm what you said]
After that, Ren closed the message box. His grin couldn't be contained, waiting for Scar's following message.
There was one little thing that Ren didn't mention, but Scar didn't ask too. The different difficulties in a cave meant different patterns too. And he knew that Scar was attempting the Hard Difficulty, and if Ren remembered it right, Vulcan would still stop north but only after ten seconds. And if you miss that small window of time, you have to wait again after ten seconds and restart counting from there.
Not his problem. Ren thought. He already answered Scar's question on how to defeat Vulcan. In Normal Difficulty, that is.
Ren laughed before he resumed his life as a player hungry for gil.
