Chapter 7: Crimson Rage

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

With just one touch, the Black Panther King’s loot entered Zhang Yang’s inventory.

[Black Panther King’s Shin Guard] (Black-Steel, Heavy Armor)

Defense: +3

Vitality: +7

Strength: +2

Dexterity: +1

Level Requirement: 10

[Black Panther King’s Chest Plate] (Black-Steel, Heavy Armor)

Defense: +3

Vitality: +6

Strength: +3

Dexterity: +1

Level Requirement: 10

[Black Panther King’s Armguard] (Black-Steel, Leather Armor)

Defense: +2

Vitality: +3

Dexterity: +2

Level Requirement: 10

Warrior and Knight classes wore heavy armor, Hunter and Thief classes wore leather armor while Spellcaster and Cleric classes wore cloth armor.

Of the 3 equipment Zhang Yang had looted, he could only use 2 of them. It was not too bad but he had to reach Level 10 before he was able to use them.

In ‘God’s Miracle’, helmets, chest plates, and shin guards were the equipment that would add the most Attribute Points. Gloves, boots, necklaces, capes, and rings added comparatively lower Attribute Points but necklaces and rings would usually have a special effect attribute.

A weapon would only increase physical or magical damage and would not possess any attributes, though some high-grade weapon would have special effects.

The next item loot was not an equipment but a bloody severed head of the panther.

[Bloody Skull] (Black-Steel, Special Item)

Description: This is the skull of the Black Panther King! Take it back and present it to Village Elder Hu An, he will definitely reward you for your contribution!

Bound.

A bound item would be an item that players cannot trade or give away, which meant that the rewards could only be claimed by Zhang Yang.

The corpse of the Black Panther King disappeared instantaneously as soon as Zhang Yang had finished collecting all his battle loots. He then proceeded to mine the Refined Iron Vein.

“Ding! You have used <Mining> on the Refined Iron Vein. You have obtained Refined Iron Ore x2. Your <Mining> skill has increased by 2 points!”

Zhang Yang grinned as he picked up the two shiny Refined Iron Ores. Due to the ore’s rarity, it had become a form of currency in the game. The ores were glowing with a silver gleam, the beautiful lustrous glow was a feast for the eyes!

He kept his pickaxe and left the valley, beginning to wander around in search of more Iron Ore to mine. The respawn rate of the Refined Iron Ore was 1 hour, so he recorded his time before he left. When the time arrived, he would return to mine again.

On the other hand, the respawn time of the Black Panther King was 24 hours. Zhang Yang would have had acquired enough Refined Iron Ores to even wait for the boss to respawn.

Zhang Yang would gladly be looking forward to battle more respawned bosses as he would not only acquire equipment but also EXP! One boss alone had given him enough EXP to fill up 80% of his experience bar. With just two kills, he could have leveled up. How easy!

Zhang Yang made a few rounds in the mountain for about 4 hours and had already mined the Refined Iron Vein for 5 times, obtaining 11 Refined Iron Ores. Without dilly-dallying, he was grinding and searching for ores. By then, he had reached Level 7 but only had 126 Iron Ores, still quite a distance from reaching 200.

Zhang Yang cussed the developers of the game as he resumed his search of Iron Veins. Checking his mini-map that showed a blinking point not too far from where he was, he rejuvenated and rushed over with the pickaxe in his hand – Upon the acquisition of the <Mining> skill, spawning points of Iron Veins around would automatically be indicated on the mini-map.

“Tang! Tang! Tang!”

Zhang Yang swung his pickaxe and began mining the Iron Vein.

A piece of pale silver metal came into view as he lifted the pickaxe. “Eh, looks like my luck is finally here. I’ve finally gotten an Immature Refined Iron Ore!” Zhang Yang exclaimed with mixed feelings. After mining 126 Iron Ores, this was the first time he had actually encountered an Immature Refined Iron Ore, leading him to question his luck.

At this very moment though, he would rather trade his precious Refined Iron Ores for Iron Ore. With the fierce competition to get to the highest level, he could not afford to waste too much time in completing just one quest. Just 10 Refined Iron Ores were enough!

Putting away the ores and his pickaxe, he turned, wanting to leave the place before hearing a clear female voice.

“Hold up mate!”

Zhang Yang was astonished and turned around. Two exceptionally beautiful girls appeared from behind a large boulder.

Both of them did not look any older than 20. The girl on the left wore a dark red leather armor. Perhaps the developers of this game had a domination fetish for the leather armor which was extremely short and tight. The deep V-cut design was so low that almost more than half of both her round voluptuous mounds were exposed.

As she walked, the resulting bounce was definitely a scene that could cause massive nosebleed within seconds should the man not possess sufficient willpower. Her lower half was covered in a leather skirt, tightly wrapping her firm, shapely buttocks. Her legs were long and fair, hips swaying with each step she took.

The other girl wore a plain long dress in white. The dress was very loose and so it had completely hid her figure.

“Me?” Zhang Yang asked pointing at his nose.

The hot girl cladded in leather armor asked with a pout, “Is there anyone else here besides you?” Her voice was coy and sweet as honey, sugary enough to disarm anyone.

Zhang Yang might have looked like he was in his 20s but he had gone through reincarnation, experiencing life and death, and thus had became calm and collected, unfazed by much. After he was done admiring the girl cladded in leather armor, he averted his gaze to the girl dressed in white and asked, “What is it?”

Just like him, both of the girls had their character information hidden so Zhang Yang did not know how to address them.

“I’m White Orchid, a Cleric from the Crimson Rage Guild,” the girl introduced herself. “She is Thorny Rose, Crimson Rage’s Thief!”

Crimson Rage? Zhang Yang had some impression of this guild. That was because this was the only guild in ‘God’s Miracle’ to have an all-girls team! Their guild master, Thousand Seeker Snow, ranked 4th in the ‘Top 10 List of Godly Magicians’ in the China region. Crimson Team that was under her lead was also an S -Class professional clan league team.

“Oh!” Zhang Yang casually acknowledged and said, “Well, nice to meet you. See you then!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Thorny Rose was a little upset seeing that Zhang Yang wanted to leave. In her eyes, men were animals who think with the lower part of their body. She had never encountered a man who had not flocked to her like bees around a honey pot. Even if she chased them away with a broom, there would still be people who would not leave, what more a man who initiated his leave.

Zhang Yang would be the first time Thorny Rose had met a man who brushed her off.

She ran up and held on to Zhang Yang. “We have some business to do with you!”

“What of it?” Zhang Yang knew he did not have much to do with anyone from Crimson Rage.

“We want to buy the Refined Iron Ores that you have just mined!” Thorny Rose huffed.

These two sure had sharp eyes! Not only that, they, too, possessed a knack for business!

Even though ‘God’s Miracle’ had countless players, those who actually did material gathering were of a scarce number. Supplies for materials such as herbs and ores would never keep up with the players’ demands! Now that this profession had yet to become popular, prices of all these materials were extremely high. Especially the rare materials, the price would still remain stable even as the game made progress, never once decreasing!

So far, most of the players only cared about leveling up, not yet realizing the value of these precious materials. Later on, hell would break loose simply over the right to own a spawn point of rare metal veins or herbs.

Yet now, these female players from Crimson Rage had actually begun collecting rare materials. Zhang Yang was quite impressed with their awareness ahead of time.

“Not selling!” Zhang Yang shook his head, denying their offer. The Refined Iron Ores would only cost a few Copper Coins if sold right now, not even close to 1% of its true value.

Thorny Rose could not help but be surprised that her offer was denied directly by Zhang Yang. She had thought that this man was playing hard to get in order to attract her attention but she was now completely certain that this man had no interest in her.

Since when did I lose my charm? Thorny Rose’s competitive desire to overturn this situation came ablaze. “We can offer you a high price. How about 10 Silver Coins?”

Just as Zhang Yang wanted to reject her offer, he suddenly thought of something and said, “I will not sell them. But if you can trade them with Iron Ores, I might consider!”

White Orchid then replied, “How many Iron Ores do you plan to trade for one Refined Iron Ore?”

Since Zhang Yang was still lacking 72 ores, he said, “Hm. Let’s make it 72 pieces!”

“72 pieces?” The girls looked at each other, pleasantly delighted. They knew the low rate of mining a Refined Iron Ore, mining over 200 to 300 Iron Ores only to come across one Refined Iron Ore. If luck was lacking, the rate could be even lower! It was an absolute worthy steal to trade 72 pieces of Iron Ores for one Refined Iron Ore.

“Is it not enough? How about an extra one?” Zhang Yang took out two Refined Iron Ores from his inventory and with a sincere smile on his face, “2 Refined Iron Ores for 72 pieces of Iron Ores, how about that?”

This man… was a complete idiot!

White Orchid and Thorny Rose shared a look. Without hesitation, they took out 72 pieces of Iron Ores and entered the trading interface to place them there. Once Zhang Yang had placed two of his Refined Iron Ores, White Orchid immediately pressed ‘Confirm’ to complete the transaction.

With a “Ding”, the system notified them that their transaction was completed. The three of them looked at each other, smiling thinking that they had caught a good deal and bade each other farewell.

“Hehehe. And here I thought that stinking man is somewhat different. He was just a little more guarded. For a moment there, I thought I’ve lost my appeal!” Thorny Rose exclaimed with relief patting her pendulous chest after they had walked some distance.

On the other hand, White Orchid replied thoughtfully, “I still think that the man was… how do I put it, he should have been a little more cunning!”

“Hmph, these two pieces of Refined Iron Ores are not fake anyway!” Thorny Rose was nonchalant. “The shield blueprint Ying Ying managed to get her hands on requires 5 of these Refined Iron Ores to be able to craft a Black-Steel grade shield. Our guild will definitely be the first to make it and gain a huge advantage in the first dungeon war.

White Orchid thought about it and had to agree. No matter how hard she could think, these two pieces of Refined Iron Ores were definitely worth more than those Iron Ores!

“Di! Di! Di!” the game messenger rang.

White Orchid quickly answered the call and heard the voice of a woman speaking, “Sister Orchid, Sister Rose, the Guild Master has just ordered everyone to bring all the Iron Ores to the Village Hall!”

Thorny Rose and White Orchid exchanged a look and felt ominous.

“Xiao Qing, what does the Guild Master want the Iron Ores for?” White Orchid asked.

The person on the other end of the line had answered immediately, “The Warrior class quest requires 200 pieces of Iron Ores. Mei Mei is waiting for you!”

“Oh – No!” Both White Orchid and Thorny Rose cried at the same time.

“Ah that evil man, he actually dared to scam me! Don’t ever let me see him again. See if I will entice him with all my might and then send him off flying with a kick. If I didn’t make him cry and broken-hearted for at least a few years, I shall not be named Jiang!” Thorny Rose spat spitefully, hating Zhang Yang with a burning passion. The thing was, she was actually more annoyed that her usually alluring charm did not work at all this time!

After a while of seething with anger, she began to feel thankful that she was not the only one deceived and said, “Sister Orchid, I’m all boobs and no brain. What’s your excuse?”

“…”