294 Shifts In The Rankings

The days within Dawn were very long; there was about 16 hours per day. This gave Lu Li the time to deal with a few other things before logging off to sleep. He didn’t log back on until the afternoon. This was the game’s afternoon, which meant that it was at nighttime in real life.

Lu Li left the Forging workshop and walked towards the busy business street. More and more players had set up a shop there.

There were players selling equipment and materials, as well as taverns and even hairdressers.

Players of all races could be found here and it seemed like business was going well.

Lu Li walked into an accessories shop.

"Mister Thief, how can I help you?"

The salesperson was also a player and spoke using language that was standard in the retail industry.

She couldn’t tell if this thief could buy anything, so her voice wasn’t particularly friendly. She was still transitioning between working in a real shop to working in a virtual one.

Lu Li glanced at the counter and saw an array of gold ornaments, precious rocks and metals. Most of these items existed in real life too.

The game company had introduced a new function that allowed business owners to scan in products that they had in real life. Players could then choose to buy those goods either in the game or in real life or both. Then, the business would send those goods to your house. Alternatively, you could just take them and wear them in game.

"Are there any ornaments that have dropped from the Mooncake Box?" Lu Li asked.

Lonesome Flower had received a pair of beautiful earrings from them and had given to his sister March Rain. Lu Li saw the envy on his sister’s face when that had happened.

He wasn’t lacking in money at the moment, so he didn’t mind spoiling her a little.

For her entire life, the only jewelry she had were flower bands that you could buy from roadside stalls.

"Here we have a headpiece that is very rare. Please have a look."

The salesperson led Lu Li to the counter and pointed at an item in the glass window.

It had small emerald green flowers on it with crystal droplets.

Lu Li imagined what it could look like on his sister’s forehead and was very satisfied.

Similar to what Lonesome Flower had received, this gave +5 Constitution which was better than nothing.

"How much is it?"

The time for bargaining had finally come. The salesperson spoke slowly and then held her breath, afraid that she would scare the customer away.

"80 gold coins. We can also deliver the same item in real life to your house for an additional 120 gold coins."

200 gold coins was equivalent to around $30,000-40,000, which was no small sum of money.

However, the salesperson seemed to know what Lu Li was thinking and further elaborated, "We are the second largest jewelry store in China and can be found in any city. These diamonds are the highest quality diamonds from Botswana…"

After taking in a string of complex explanations, Lu Li’s started to feel a little dizzy.

Getting this kind of jewelry for a young girl – who would have thought that the great expert’s tastes were so light?" a cold voice rang out from behind him.

Lu Li turned around and saw that Water Fairy was leaning on the counter and watching him.

This time, she looked quite different. Water Fairy wasn’t wearing leather armor and instead was dressed in some kind of feathered costume. She looked like a person in a classically painted piece of art.

"Fancy seeing you here." Lu Li nodded and didn’t bother asking how she had recognized him.

He almost always had his mask on and this time was no exception. He had started to feel like he wasn’t free unless he was wearing the mask. Of course, this was limited only to the game.

"Are you buying that for a girlfriend?" Water Fairy got up and looked at the accessory Lu Li held in his hands.

Lu Li had a good eye. For it to have this kind of material and shape, it must have been hand-crafted by a master.

"Giving my sister a gift – she’s turning 15 this year," Lu Li replied as he gently gazed at the emerald-green ornament.

"Your sister is very lucky to have such a good brother." Water Fairy’s attitude towards him was completely the opposite of when they were fighting.

"I’ll take this and I’ll buy it in real life too," Lu Li officially confirmed with the salesperson.

"Use my membership card. I’m a regular customer so I get 20% off," Water Fairy offered as she handed over a card.

They had cooperated on many things already so Lu Li didn’t feel bad in taking the membership card.

The Salesperson took the card and went through the formalities, leaving Lu Li and Water Fairy to chat. They talked about nothing other than the Shadow Cup.

Water Fairy had brought with her the Drizzle Court’s Mage Deadly Green Orange and Priest Star Baby. They had made it into the top 100 without a single loss with their Thief, Mage and Priest lineup.

Drizzle Court was ranked seventh, so their strength could not be overlooked.

"It’s a good thing I didn’t run into you. I hear the match you had with Gaze was very exciting; the official website replay has already exceeded over a 100 million clicks," Water Fairy said.

"Over 100 million," Lu Li sharply inhaled, "will I get paid for that?"

There was usually a payment of 10 copper coins for each click on the official replay. Normally, this didn’t amount to much for a normal player, but a view count of over 100 million would produce a significant amount of money.

"Yeah, you’ll get paid." Water Fairy appeared unfazed by the fact that Lu Li was about to make an obscene amount of money. She was actually quite calm about it all.

"The game company is crazy…" Lu Li smacked his lips and looked helpless.

"Are you confident in getting to the finals?" Water Fairy asked.

"Nope." Lu Li shook his head.

"Liar!"

"No, really."

"If you aren’t confident then why do you still have tricks up your sleeve? I think if it wasn’t for Gaze, you wouldn’t have changed your weapon." Water Fairy’s smokey eye had a look of resentment.

Lu Li’s mouth was gaping wide and he was speechless.

"What skill was that?" Water Fairy came over and stared straight into Lu Li’s eyes.

Lu Li’s face was hidden behind his bandana, but his emotions could still be seen through his eyes.

Of course, Water Fairy was inevitably disappointed.

Other than responding to the fact that a beautiful woman had suddenly approached him, Lu Li’s eyes were calm and unmoving.

His intentions were obvious. She wanted to know but he didn’t want to tell her.

Water Fairy honestly suspected whether Lu Li thought she was beautiful. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so quiet towards her.

"It’s going to be really annoying if I run into you in the competition," Water Fairy sighed.

"The feeling is mutual," Lu Li comforted half-heartedly. "Why aren’t you farming? Isn’t everyone rushing to get to level 25?"

"I’m already level 25," Water Fairy responded.

Lu Li was surprised for a moment before he quickly opened up the rankings list. Apart from the players who were in the Xin Xin Mercenary Group, there were a few others who were also level 25.

Their level advantage had been lost.

"Do you still have confidence in getting into the finals?" Water Fairy had never seen Lu Li’s face go pale before and couldn’t help but ask.

However, Lu Li’s shock lasted for only a moment. He quickly regained his composure and asked, "Did you guys use the bomb to level up?"

He had given the bombs to Shen Wansan in the morning and these players were now on the rankings in the afternoon. Old Shen Wansan must have been really impatient.

They had already agreed that he could sell them if he wasn’t going to use them. However, if they had really been sold and used by other players, Lu Li couldn’t but feel a little anxious.

If he had hidden these bombs and waited until after the competition to sell them…