Chapter 74 -74-The Server-Wide Wealth Rankings and Cross-Zone Fundraising
The moment John returned to Zone 5, a notification rang out beside his ear.
[Server-wide Announcement: The first Mystic Merchant has been discovered by "Ares," a player from Zone 1!]
[Server-wide Announcement: The global Wealth Ranking is now open!]
[Server-wide Announcement: The Mystic Merchant is about to hold the first Zone-wide Auction. The top one thousand players on the Wealth Ranking will be invited to participate!]
...
Three notifications sounded in rapid succession.
John stood there in a daze for a long moment, a strange glint appearing in his eyes.
"I didn’t expect the first Mystic Merchant to appear this quickly."
The Mystic Merchant was something John was very familiar with.
It specialized in selling rare items that could not appear in dungeons or ruins.
Generally speaking, the items sold by a Mystic Merchant in the early stages were absolutely worth far more than their price.
A single item could boost a player’s strength tremendously.
The appearance of the Mystic Merchant instantly stirred discussion among players across the entire server.
[Alan] (Zone 5, Overlord Guild): "Mystic Merchant? Damn, what even is that? What did the guy from Zone 1 do?"
[Zoro] (Zone 4, War God Guild): "Damn it, and it just had to appear at a time like this. John, the players of Zone 4 will never forgive you!!!"
[Ace] (Zone 4, War God Guild): "Aaaah, why, why did it have to appear while we’re in debt? We’re done for. Hardly anyone from War God Guild will be able to participate!"
Before the crowd could fully shift their attention to the auction itself, the complaints of Zone 4 had already taken over the entire world channel.
Zone 4’s unusual reaction quickly drew everyone’s attention.
[Locke] (Zone 3, Death Guild): "What’s going on? Why do the Zone 4 guys have such a huge grudge against Boss John?"
[Arthur] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "Do you even need to think about it? Their boss was probably stolen."
[Kane] (Zone 2, Thunder Guild): "666, that brutal? Boss John can actually cross zones and steal mobs?"
[Lucas] (Zone 3, Death Guild): "Tsk, tsk. Boss John, please don’t come after Zone 3."
[Evan] (Zone 4, War God Guild): "Heh. What John did this time is a formal declaration of war against Zone 4! We, the players of Zone 4, will remember this day forever!"
[Noah] (Zone 5, Overlord Guild): "Shut up, idiots from Zone 4. Believe it or not, Boss John can come back and slap a few more of you around!"
[Ethan] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "Hahahaha, I like this. Boss John, I support you!"
[Dylan] (Zone 2, Thunder Guild): "Everyone, hurry up and look at the global Wealth Ranking!"
Reminded by one player, everyone hurriedly turned their attention to the ranking.
...
[Global Wealth Ranking]
[1st]: John (Zone 5, Overlord Guild)
[2nd]: Lucy (Zone 2, Thunder Guild)
[3rd]: Edward (Zone 1, Glory Guild)
[4th]: Ace (Zone 3, Death Guild)
[5th]: Alan (Zone 5, Overlord Guild)
[6th]: Natsu (Zone 1, Glory Guild)
[7th]: Grey (Zone 4, War God Guild)
[8th]: Erza (Zone 1, Glory Guild)
[9th]: Lucy (Zone 2, Thunder Guild)
[10th]: Lisanna (Zone 1, Glory Guild)
...
Unlike the Level Rankings, Zone 1 actually held the majority of the top ten spots on the global Wealth Ranking.
And among the top one thousand, Zone 2 had the largest number of players.
Zone 5, on the other hand, accounted for less than one-fifth.
That was because most of the first-clear rewards for Zone 5’s dungeons had been taken by John.
On top of that, the Trial Dungeon and many of the buildings inside Overlord City all required payment.
As a result, the players of Zone 5 were, on the whole, not as wealthy as those in the other zones.
What surprised everyone even more was that Zone 4 still had a player in the top ten.
...
"Grey?"
John narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at that name.
If his guess was correct, this was probably the player the remaining forces of Zone 4 were focusing all their resources on.
"During my trip to Zone 4, I only severely damaged a portion of their players.
For the whole of Zone 4, it wasn’t enough to cripple them.
This Grey probably hates me to the bone already.
The upcoming auction may not be peaceful."
John thought coldly to himself.
Yet he did not feel much anxiety.
When it came to wealth, he had never feared anyone.
No matter how much money the other side had, for him, it was merely a matter of adjusting a balance with system points.
Just then, the players inside Overlord City began gathering together, calling out from outside the City Lord’s Mansion.
"Boss John, we noticed that a lot of positions on the Wealth Ranking keep changing.
The players from the other zones might be forcing their way onto the ranking by pooling money together.
Should we do the same?"
John walked out onto the balcony of the City Lord’s Mansion.
From that position, he could look down over everyone gathered below.
The moment he appeared, the players beneath him immediately shouted up to him.
"Boss John, do you have enough wealth?
If needed, we can transfer our balances to you,
so you’ll have a stronger edge at the auction!"
Because the players of Overlord City were basically all members of John’s warband, they had no intention of hiding anything from him.
At this moment, they were actually willing to offer up the little wallet balance they had without hesitation.
John waved a hand.
"No need. I haven’t fallen so low that I need your support yet.
Right now, all you need to do is grind levels in peace. I alone am enough for this auction."
The players below him were clearly still worried.
"But if players from the other zones transfer all their wealth to a single person at any cost,
that player’s competitiveness at the auction will become unprecedented.
Boss John, can your savings alone really be enough?"
Clearly, these players had their doubts about John’s financial strength.
John could not be bothered to explain.
He simply returned to the City Lord’s Mansion and waited patiently for the Zone-wide Auction to begin.
Behind him, the players of Overlord City could only sigh.
It seemed that this Zone-wide Auction was not particularly attractive to Boss John after all.
...
Zone 2.
Thunder Guild Headquarters.
Lucy, dressed in a flowing mage gown, was constantly accepting transfers from the other guild members.
Watching the amount in her wallet climb higher and higher, her eyes narrowed into delighted crescents.
As the guild leader of Thunder Guild, she held almost absolute control over Zone 2.
The moment she heard about the Zone-wide Auction, she immediately ordered the guild members to transfer their wealth into her wallet.
That way, Lucy could secure absolute bidding dominance at the auction.
What disappointed her, however, was that no matter how much wealth she accumulated, the first-place position remained firmly in John’s hands.
Lucy stared at the unmoving ranking and murmured softly,
"John... just how much wealth do you actually have?"