Chapter 14: A Truly Mysterious Vending Machine

When Ember hurried back to the commercial district, he indeed found his shop completely surrounded. Yet the chaotic scene he had expected never appeared. Instead, more than a dozen people had formed a long queue in front of the shop, while others crowded around the edges, watching with keen interest. Altogether, there were nearly a hundred players. Ember guessed that if Reality Island had no limit on its population, this whole area would have been packed to overflowing.

He also noticed that many people were holding brightly colored cans of soda, which left him baffled.

“Even if it tastes good, it shouldn’t be selling this wildly, should it?”

The truth was even more absurd than he had imagined. Some people had even come forward voluntarily to maintain order.

Not Sword Immortal would periodically step out of the shop and urge the next player to enter. The problem was that the player who went in full of anticipation would emerge with his head hanging low, his expression scarcely better than the purple can in his hand.

Ember was even more confused. Could the purple soda actually taste terrible?

“Everyone, don’t rush. As long as you stay in line, everyone will get a drink. The vending machine produces one every thirty seconds, so please be patient.”

At that moment, Not Sword Immortal called out to the crowd, answering Ember’s question in the process.

“The odds of getting something truly valuable may be low, but it’s absolutely worth the price! You all saw what happened earlier as clearly as I did. One guy spent a hundred credits and got a super-status effect that increased all attributes by one. Even if it only lasts for a day, that’s still an incredible bargain. It greatly increases the odds of passing an advancement trial! The black-can soda is pretty good too. I didn’t witness it personally, but I heard its explosive power is astonishing. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have killed so many people in one shot.”

“Besides, the special properties of this vending machine were only discovered recently. We’ve bought barely thirty cans in total, and two of them turned out to be valuable items. Strictly speaking, those aren’t bad odds for individual draws. There may even be other types of special drinks waiting to be discovered! And even if your luck is poor, you won’t lose out. The soda actually tastes quite good. It’s only a hundred credits—no one’s going to regret buying it!”

“Come along, come along! Time’s up. Next person, please!”

Not Sword Immortal gave his explanation with such vivid enthusiasm that several spectators were moved to join the queue.

After finally understanding what was going on, Ember muttered, “What the hell,” then struggled toward the shop entrance. Only now did he realize how mysterious the mysterious reward truly was. If not for the collective efforts of the masses, he would never have learned the secret of the automatic vending machine.

“Don’t push! What are you doing? Trying to cut in line?”

“No…”

“Everyone else has been waiting this long. Who do you think you are?”

“Wait…”

“Go to the back of the line. Don’t force us to gang up on you!”

“Listen to me…”

Perhaps the special drinks had captured everyone’s attention so completely that the players in front began scolding Ember for breaking the rules before they had even seen his face. Just then, an extremely excited shout came from inside the shop. Someone rushed out with a black can held high in the air.

Remembering the black can’s effects, the players at the entrance immediately scattered in panic, leaving a clear path before Ember. Even so, he did not dare move forward rashly.

“Does this thing really explode?”

Ember was not the only one wondering. Many spectators watched with curiosity. It was hard to believe that an ordinary-looking black can of soda could possess power comparable to a high-explosive grenade.

Several players began urging the lucky buyer to test it on the spot. Though he was clearly reluctant to waste such a precious item, his curiosity ultimately won out. He told everyone to move farther away, popped the tab, and threw the can.

Boom!

The black can had barely touched the ground when a deafening explosion erupted. Carbonated liquid burst into the air, instantly covering a wide area. The smell of soda filled the air, while the solid ground had been blasted into a crater. Having witnessed the black can’s explosive power with their own eyes, everyone stared in astonishment.

“Wow! It really explodes!”

“Speaking of which, where did the player who bought the first explosive drink go?”

“Because he injured players inside the safe zone—and there were a shocking number of them—the offense was considered serious. He was taken away and locked up for an hour. Don’t ask me how I know.”

“Got it…”

“Then who owns this player shop?”

“I heard it belongs to Ember.”

“Oh, no wonder. At this stage, he’s probably the only person who could get his hands on something this unusual! Hurry up and get in line. If black cans already exist, how far behind can the gold cans be? And Ember is surprisingly generous. He found something this good and didn’t keep it for himself. If it were one of those major guilds, they definitely wouldn’t put it out where everyone could benefit. If Nine Trigrams or the others cause trouble for him again, we have to help him no matter what. Even if we can’t fight, we can at least cheer him on!”

“Exactly!”

“Well said!”

Hearing the player who had just asked who Ember thought he was now publicly declaring his support, Ember was left somewhere between laughter and tears.

After thinking it over, he decided to leave the vending machine where it was. Benefiting the public was only a secondary consideration. A steady income came first. Producing one can every thirty seconds meant more than twenty-eight hundred cans a day. Selling even a fraction of that would be equivalent to the points he earned from his next dungeon run.

After all, regardless of difficulty, players could enter dungeons only three times a day. At least for now, no other source of income could compare.

Qiu Yinong had also told him that skills were obscenely expensive. Even with the fortune he currently possessed, it would be difficult for him to build a satisfactory set of supporting skills while maintaining two abnormal pieces of equipment.

Rather than keeping the vending machine for himself, he might as well turn it into a stable source of income and ease some of the financial pressure. He was not a hardcore player, nor did he intend to pour money into the game. Keeping the player shop running suited his current situation perfectly.

“Hey, Ember! You finally made it!”

Not Sword Immortal spotted Ember and greeted him enthusiastically. Only then did the surrounding players realize that the shop’s owner had arrived. Their gazes turned toward Ember.

Many of the newer players were deeply curious about his sudden rise during the closed beta and wanted to see for themselves what made him so special. The closed-beta players, however, had more complicated feelings. Some admired him, some refused to accept him, but most believed that Ember had simply been lucky.

“Hello, everyone. Thanks for looking after my little shop. The vending machine is inside and operates twenty-four hours a day. Once you finish your drinks, please don’t throw the cans around. There are trash bins inside. Protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility!”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ember slipped into the shop and heard Not Sword Immortal asking, “Where did you get this thing? It’s incredible. With a little luck, it can save you a lot of credits. And the gold-can drink that increases every attribute by one is something you can’t even buy with money! The only drawback is that it works only on basic-level players. Otherwise, I’d suggest you keep it for yourself.”

“So there are restrictions on its use…” Ember pondered this. “After receiving a perfect rating on the difficult mode of a second-tier dungeon, I got one lottery draw. Cup of Wine Grows Stronger happened to draw the mysterious reward from the miscellaneous section, and this is what came out. Apparently, my luck is only good enough to draw a trash bin.”

“Tsk!”

“What are you tsking about?”

“Nothing. My mission was a real pain. I failed it by accident. I heard from an expert that you can create skill cards with built-in displacement effects. Could you make one for me? And preferably give me a friendly price.”

“If you provide the materials, I’ll do it for free.”

Ember picked up a trash bin and handed it to Not Sword Immortal.

“Since you’ve already helped organize everything, you might as well see it through. I’ll make the card, and you collect the empty cans.”

“What?”

“Protecting the environment.”

“…”

Not Sword Immortal gave Ember a suspicious glance, then carried the bin around, encouraging everyone to throw their cans inside.

What he did not know was that when Ember inspected the trash bin, he found not only more than a hundred credits but also a special material called a Basic-Level Abnormal Alloy Fragment. Ten fragments could be combined into a single piece of abnormal alloy, which could enhance the special effects of basic-level abnormal equipment without consuming an enhancement attempt.

For Ember, who possessed only one second-tier piece of equipment, this opened up an entirely new path to greater strength.

Unfortunately, it seemed that abnormal alloy came from the rumored gold-can drinks. Collecting ten fragments in a short time would probably be difficult. Ember spent fifteen minutes completing Not Sword Immortal’s skill card and, at the same time, delivered another closed-beta player’s order at a discounted price. He still saw no gold can appear.

He did, however, personally witness the arrival of a third type of special drink: the silver can.

Drinking it temporarily increased one core or important attribute by one. Its effects were far inferior to those of the gold can, which increased every attribute by one, but it had the advantage of working on second-tier players as well. When recycled and dismantled through the trash bin, it produced one Second-Tier Abnormal Alloy Fragment. Completing a whole piece of abnormal alloy required no fewer than one hundred fragments.

“Going by that, the drop rate is fairly moderate. Perhaps the vending machine even has a guaranteed gold can within the first ten draws, with another safety net appearing at fixed intervals. That would stimulate people to keep spending without making me feel cheated. If the market remains stable, the abnormal alloy will accumulate over time. This really is a business with enormous profits!”

The unexpected windfall put Ember in a relaxed mood as he headed for the vocation district to see whether any suitable missions were available. Since the Shadow Queen had deliberately hinted at it, the matter should not have been mere acting.

Sure enough, under the guidance of a Dark Veil Black Servant, he found the mission hall for second-tier players and discovered that all second-tier players could currently accept only one kind of mission.

They had to clear out the rampant Shadow-Devouring Insectoids within designated areas of the wilderness, laying the groundwork for further expansion of the wilderness zone.

The mission rewards were inferior to those of dungeons, but the missions could be accepted repeatedly. For every certain number of insects eliminated, players received fifteen hundred credits and one mission token.

Mission tokens were essential for learning skills and exchanging for special items and dungeon-access items. No matter how many credits one possessed, those things could not be obtained without them—and they could greatly increase a player’s strength.

After accepting the mission, Ember entered the skill hall next door to inspect the exchange requirements himself. He could not help clicking his tongue in surprise. Hearing others describe the prices had not seemed so shocking, but seeing the conditions with his own eyes made him realize just how harsh they were.

Take the skill Ember intended to exchange for, Throwing Mastery. It required three mission tokens and ten thousand credits. Although his dual titles of Sun Guardian and Dark Veil Envoy reduced the credit cost by twenty percent, the price was still astonishingly high compared with the solo challenge tournament.

No wonder his superior and his superior’s superior had repeatedly emphasized that he must seize this hard-won opportunity.

“Esteemed Dark Veil Envoy, the sales channels operated by the three major organizations often raise their prices,” the Dark Veil Black Servant assigned to Ember said quietly. “If your funds are insufficient, you might consider purchasing the skill you want from another Kindling Seed. There is a trading house in the commercial district dedicated to Kindling Seeds. Kindling Seeds from every plane can see your trade request.”

“Understood.”

Ember nodded indifferently. Kindling Seeds was the collective term used by the game’s characters for players. He had known for some time that skills did not necessarily have to be purchased from official channels.

Among the two spoils he had obtained after killing Nina was a Ring of Repulsion skill stone. Only university-tier players who specialized in fire-based abilities were permitted to learn it. Ember could also try having the Mimic Pen generate a copying template, though its success rate was painfully low.

“I don’t think I know anyone who can learn Ring of Repulsion. I might as well put the skill stone up for sale in the trading house.”

After making up his mind, Ember remained in the skill hall for a while and examined several abilities that interested him. Once he had a general understanding of their learning requirements, he turned and entered the abnormal equipment enhancement room to prepare for the upcoming mission.

After experiencing the Snow School dungeon, Ember realized that he generally favored Strength when assigning points to important attributes. With the Eye of the Dark Veil, five points of Perception were enough to handle most situations. This allowed him to settle on a development path that suited the Eight-Spider Spear’s requirements of nine Strength and four Agility.

Nine Strength was enough to raise the attack and defense values of weapons and armor to the next level. Four Agility happened to meet the learning requirements of several skills he had selected. Once Ember gained one more level, he would be able to wield the second-tier Eight-Spider Spear and gain a ranged attack.

Thus, Ember spent sixty-four hundred credits to complete the third enhancement of his Living Soft-Bodied Bio-Arm. He also used another sixteen hundred credits to embed an item that increased basic damage by two. This brought the abnormal weapon’s basic attack damage to forty-eight, while its usage requirements rose neatly to nine Strength and four Agility.

He invested even more in the Living Soft-Bodied Bio-Suit. The debts he had incurred earlier had to be repaid sooner or later. Using two enhancement materials that each increased defense by one hundred percent, he completed the second and third enhancements of the abnormal armor.

The total cost was ninety-six hundred credits, raising its defense to forty-two and its usage requirements to eight Strength and three Agility.

Fortunately, the Killing Island and Snow School had earned him nearly twenty thousand credits. Otherwise, merely enhancing his equipment would have drained his entire fortune.

As a result, Ember valued the shop’s income more than ever and decided to hurry to the wilderness to earn some points through missions.

“Hey, I’m going to farm insects. Want to come?”

By coincidence, Qiu Yinong sent him a message. Ember naturally agreed at once. Before heading into the wilderness, he took a detour through the trading house in the commercial district and listed the Ring of Repulsion skill stone, hoping that a player would trade him Throwing Mastery plus two thousand credits.

Without supporting skills, he could not bring out the full power of the Eight-Spider Spear. And this was only the first step in building his skill set.

“The road ahead is long and arduous.”

With that thought, Ember set off for the wilderness together with Qiu Yinong.