Chapter 72 -72-You Want to Compare Gear with Me?
"Looks like the players in Zone 2 are developing pretty fast. Even the poorest player here has 1,000 gold coins in their pocket."
Blending into the crowd, John sighed inwardly.
Because of all the Special Structures in Overlord City’s pool, along with the existence of the trial dungeon, the money of Zone 5 players was basically flowing into John’s City Lord Mansion.
Very few players chose to save their money.
That was why the Traveling Merchant Fair had yet to appear there.
As believers of the Cult Faction, the players of Zone 2 studied every single game statistic in great depth.
Since he was already at the Traveling Merchant Fair, John naturally intended to take a good look around.
He followed the crowd all the way forward.
In the end, he stopped in front of the busiest shop of them all.
This shop was also the largest setup in the entire fair.
It was an enormous tent.
After entering the tent, one could see all kinds of goods laid out on the ground, each protected by a magic array.
If a player wanted to take one, the corresponding amount would be deducted directly from their wallet balance.
At the center of the tent, there was also a small enclosed room.
In front of the room was a counter.
The scene inside was concealed behind a curtain.
This was one of the special features of the Traveling Merchant Fair:
Flash-buy items!
At regular intervals, the room would throw a piece of equipment or a skill book onto the counter.
The price would already be fixed, with no bargaining allowed.
Whoever placed the order first got the item.
Quite a few people were camped around the counter right now, fighting over the goods being tossed out.
After all, anything used in the flash-buy section was usually an extremely rare treasure.
John stepped over as well.
His disguised body was tall and imposing, giving off a strong sense of intimidation.
It did not take long before he squeezed his way to the front.
Clack!
Just then, an item was thrown out.
John quickly looked over.
[Flame Gauntlets][Quality]: A-rank[Effect]: +1000 Attack Power, +20% Attack Speed, and adds a burning effect that deals 100 fire damage every 10 seconds![Price]: 10,000 Gold Coins...
The moment the A-rank gauntlets appeared, the nearby warriors all rushed to buy them.
For them, gaining magic damage on their attacks was undoubtedly one of the best possible attributes.
Ten thousand gold coins was an amount many people present could afford.
But after seeing the stats, John merely shook his head slightly.
"Too ordinary."
As luck would have it, the player who bought the gauntlets heard that remark.
He immediately turned around and sneered,
"Kid, if you can’t afford it, then stay obediently in the back row.
Don’t stand here acting like grapes are sour just because you can’t reach them."
John looked over.
It was a Level 40 Holy Warrior named Hesul.
Even among the players on the entire server, he was considered one of the ones developing ahead of the curve.
Hesul let out a cold laugh.
"You look unfamiliar. I’m guessing you’re not from our Thunder Guild either, right?
Where did you get the nerve to mock something here?"
It was obvious that Hesul held extremely high fame within Thunder Guild.
The people beside him immediately chimed in.
"Exactly. This poor loser can’t afford it himself, so now he’s trashing such a good piece of equipment."
"If you ask me, paupers shouldn’t even be allowed inside this tent."
"Poor bastard, hurry up and get lost."
Voices rose one after another from the crowd.
Their malice was completely undisguised.
Inside Highland City, the vast majority of players were members of Thunder Guild, the top guild in Zone 2.
Since John had not joined their guild, he naturally became the target of collective hostility.
Yet despite being mocked by so many people, John did not get angry in the slightest.
He simply pointed at the gauntlets in Hesul’s hand and said calmly,
"That thing you’re holding is trash."
His tone was as if he were stating a simple fact.
Hesul was so angry he laughed.
"I think you genuinely have no concept of what an A-rank item means.
You can’t even show your level, so you’re probably just some newbie who only recently hit Level 20.
And someone like you has the nerve to evaluate an item like this?"
Because John’s level was hidden by the effect of the Thousand-Faced Mask, the other party naturally assumed he was a low-level player.
John could not be bothered to argue with such a person.
He simply kept his eyes on the counter, waiting for the next item to appear.
But in Hesul’s eyes, that reaction looked like guilty retreat.
Hesul immediately pressed the advantage.
"What are you still standing here watching for?
There’s no way you’ll be able to afford the next item either.
I told you to get lost, so get lost. Go level up properly in the wilderness first before coming back here pretending to lecture people!"
John felt a little helpless.
Why were there always idiots who loved to run their mouths?
He glanced sideways at Hesul and said,
"If I can take out a piece of equipment better than those gauntlets of yours, will you kneel down and call me Dad?"
Hearing this, Hesul flew into a rage.
"What did you just say?! Say that again if you’ve got the guts!"
Clearly, he believed John could not possibly possess a better piece of gear than his gauntlets.
To him, John’s words were nothing but deliberate humiliation.
But John simply looked at him calmly.
"Do you dare bet or not?"
The surrounding crowd immediately began egging them on.
"Pah! Looking as broke as you do, you think you can pull out equipment better than an A-rank gauntlet?"
"To beat an A-rank gauntlet, it’d have to be at least S-rank, right?"
"This guy doesn’t even look like he has a single F-rank item on him. No way he’s the type who could pull out an S-rank piece of equipment."
Mocking remarks poured in from every direction.
John’s expression did not change at all.
He only looked at Hesul and repeated,
"I’ll ask you one last time. Do you dare bet or not?"
Hesul gave a scornful laugh.
"Since you’re so desperate to kneel down and call me Dad, then I’ll gladly grant your wish!"
Who would have thought—
the moment those words left his mouth, a crimson dagger appeared in John’s hand.
[Bloodfang] (S-rank)[Attributes]: Attack +5580, Agility +5880[Effect]: ??? (Hidden by player)...
Naturally, this was the dagger John was currently using.
After synthesizing it, he had upgraded it to S-rank.
Since its effects had been modified, John had no intention of making them public.
Even so—
the appearance of an S-rank weapon instantly blew up the entire scene.
The surrounding players’ eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Staring at the dagger, which flickered in the dim light like a demon’s fang, they could not help swallowing hard.
Damn it—
it was actually an S-rank weapon!
Among them all, the one most shocked was undoubtedly Hesul.
His heart pounded wildly, his face full of disbelief.
This guy... how could he really have an S-rank weapon?
John put the dagger away.
The assassin-class players around him, whose eyes had practically turned green with envy, immediately showed regret on their faces.
As assassins, they understood better than anyone how terrifying the dagger’s stat bonuses were.
What was more, this person had even deliberately hidden its effects.
That alone was enough to prove just how outrageous the weapon’s effects had to be.
If this were not inside a main city, where rules could not be violated so casually, they would have wanted nothing more than to get their hands on an S-rank weapon for themselves.
"Kneel."
John said flatly.
The moment those words came out, everyone’s gaze immediately fell on Hesul’s face.
After all, he had personally agreed to the wager with John just moments ago.
Now that John had produced an S-rank weapon, the loser of the bet was clearly Hesul.
Hesul’s expression instantly turned extremely ugly.
As one of the vice guild leaders of Thunder Guild, if he were to kneel publicly here, his fame would undoubtedly suffer a severe blow.
He gritted his teeth, then suddenly said,
"Wait. The rules just now weren’t clearly stated.
It should only count as my loss if your equipment is actually stronger than mine!"