Chapter 16: The Auction of the Tusk Greatblade
In the end, the [Silver Wolf Bracelet] was sold for 20,000 dollars, leaving Ethan Carter baffled. "Twenty grand for that thing? Seriously? People have way too much money to burn." With a sigh of disbelief, he returned to grinding silver wolves for over an hour before finally giving in to exhaustion. As much as he wanted to keep pushing—since he didn't have a job and planned to make a living from the game—his body couldn't take more than ten hours of non-stop grinding.
Feeling drained, Ethan decided it was time to call it a day. Before logging off, he listed the freshly looted [Silver Wolf Armor] on the auction house. Since he already had the [Wild Boar King Armor], which provided +80 health and +2 defense, there was no need to keep the new armor. Still, the [Silver Wolf Armor] was decent with its health-focused attributes—it might even trigger higher health regeneration for someone.
He set the auction to anonymous, chose the bidding mode, and confirmed the listing before logging off.
Removing his VR helmet, Ethan rubbed his temples, feeling dizzy. "Man, I really need to save up for a gaming pod. With one of those, I could stay online for a whole week without a problem." He had heard that playing in a gaming pod put the body in a state of optimal rest, and the built-in nutrient fluids could sustain physical needs. The only downside? A gaming pod cost a whopping one million dollars—definitely a luxury for the rich.
Curious, Ethan checked his bank account balance on his phone. $188,700 His face lit up with excitement. "Wow, I made over ten grand on the first day of the server opening. This is insane!" Any lingering fatigue vanished instantly, replaced by exhilaration. "Damn, how am I supposed to sleep now?"
With nothing better to do, he opened the game's forum to browse for interesting threads. Sure enough, the pinned thread at the top was once again about him.
"The Terrifying Wild Boar King: How Was It Defeated?"
The post contained various analyses of the Wild Boar King's stats, concluding that it was currently impossible for anyone to have defeated it. However, the post didn't accuse Ethan of cheating, as most players had noticed the game's advanced system, which made hacks virtually impossible.
The thread ended with a fervent request for Ethan to share his strategy. The comments section was flooded with replies, each trying to persuade Ethan to spill the details with all sorts of seemingly noble reasons.