Leo and Happy entered a large stadium like building. They could see a few players constantly moving around and screens hanging from the floor in the center. The screens showed various ongoing fights from the arena and Leo could hear player talking about it.

[Unimportant Person #1] “Come on you stupid Lancer! I bet 5 silver on you, so WIN!”

[Unimportant Person #2] “Yeah, way to go Mage! Finish him!”

[Dave] “Aw man. I lost another 10 silver. My wife’s gonna kill me.”

Leo walked up to the reception desk and reserved a private instanced arena. He paid 1 silver and teleported inside together with Happy. Leo then went into the settings and set chose the ‘Realistic Fight’ option. This would set their attributes to be similar to how it would be in the real world if attributes were a thing. It also disabled all use of weapons, items, and skills. It was as close to a real-world fight as the game could get.

“Set your pain simulation rate to be 75%.”

Happy did as she was told. The pain simulation rate indicates how much pain the player feels when attacked. It is only simulated but it feels real. The game automatically forces players to logout if their body experiences to much pain in a very short amount of time. The game set’s the level to be 0% by default which makes it difficult to tell when you are attacked. Casual players usually increase this to about 10-15% in order to react to attacks more easily. Experts normally have it set to 25-35%, which is the minimum needed to use all your senses.

Leo personally plays on a 35% simulation rate which allows him to react appropriately to most situations. A fighter that can’t feel pain will never be able to react properly in a fight. The pain makes the player’s adrenaline flow and helps with breaking through their limits and perform at the top of their game. 75% is the upper limit the game considers to still be safe. It’s the preferred value for fights without the use of weapons.

Leo began the fight and a timer appeared in front of both of them. It quickly ticked down and they were now free to attack each other. Leo called out to Happy and instructed her on what to do.

“Attack me with everything you have.”

“Ok.”

Happy dashed towards Leo and began by sending a kick with her right leg. The kick flew towards Leo’s abdomen with tremendous speed. She watched as the leg connected with the left side of Leo’s abdomen. Happy expected there to be a sound from the impact but she couldn’t hear any at all. Her leg continued in an arc as if it had purposefully missed Leo.

Leo still stood where he had been this whole time yet her kick missed. How was that possible?

“What happened?”

“You missed.”

“Well, I can see that. What I mean is, how did I miss?”

Leo pulled up the video from the attack and played it back to Happy in slow motion. This made her able to see that Leo didn’t stand still. He moved his upper body slightly forward and then back again with a slight rotation once Happy decided to commit to the kick. His motion had been so smooth and precise that she couldn’t pick up on it at all. The kick had only missed by a few millimeters.

Happy’s eyes lit up with stars as she gazed at Leo in awe. They continued to fight for a solid hour yet Leo had not needed to do anything but move a bit. Happy was exhausted after failing to hit him even once. She felt annoyed that despite being amongst the top martial artists of her age and gender group, she still couldn’t even scratch Leo.

Leo was impressed by her improvement rate. He only had to move his upper body for the first attacks but as the fight progressed, he actually had to move his entire body to avoid it. The speed of her improvement reminded him of Lily. Did everyone improve this quickly? Leo had too few samples to make a conclusion.

“Let’s see how your defense holds up.”

“Mm.”

Leo positioned himself in a battle stance and sent out a fast kick towards Happy’s face. He stopped the kick right before hitting her face and discovered that she had not reacted at all. Happy’s left arm shot up between her face and his motionless leg. Her action was quick but it was far too late to have stopped his kick. If Leo had continued, she would take his kick with full force to her unprotected head.

He did a few more attacks, slowly decreasing his speed until she could keep up. Leo managed to somewhat estimate her fighting potential. He gave her a few pointers before ending the fight. Happy thanked him and continued on her quest. Leo prepared to walk toward the Alchemy Shop when he received a message from Snow.

System: Incoming chat-request from [Snow].

“Hello, Snow. How may I help you?”

“Have you done the Frozen Caverns dungeon yet?”

“No, I have been a bit preoccupied as of late. Why do you ask?”

“I want to get the first clear record for my Guild, Legacy.”

“Ah, that’s right. You created a new guild. Did something happen with Rising Embers?”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. The situation is complicated.”

Leo did not bother prying into the matter more. She obviously had a reason for creating a new guild. He could just ask Alex later anyway or wait for her to tell him.

“Alright, then. Do you want me to join you for the dungeon?”

“No, I want to do this alone with my guild. We can’t rely on others for something like this. I want to ask your help with creating a strategy for the dungeon.”

“Do you have a video from Nightmare mode?”

“Yes. I’ll send it to you right now.”

Leo watched through the video with analytical eyes. Snow had been so kind as to add specific timestamps, making the nearly 3-hour long video turn into a 20-minute long video. Leo was silent throughout the entire video. He collected his thoughts and began explaining how they should proceed. The dungeon was fairly simple and most of the boss’ mechanics were easy to counter. He finished by giving some general tips for the final boss. They hadn’t made it that far yet, but Leo figured it would have a similar pattern to the first boss of the dungeon. He also added a few details from the version he knew from his past life, although he had no idea how helpful that would be.

“Thank you. I think we can get through it with all this information.”

“Good luck.”

Leo continued to walk toward the Alchemy Shop but was once more interrupted, this time by Alex.

“Let me guess, you want to get the first clear of Frozen Caverns.”

“Ah, yes, actually. How did you … Actually, never mind. I guess Legacy is doing the same thing.”

“Yup.”

“Are you joining them?”

“No, I’m staying out of it this time.”

“Does that mean I can’t convince you to join us for the first clear?”

“I’m afraid so. I can give you the same information I gave Snow. Let the best guild win.”

“You did say you wanted to stay out of guild related stuff. Fine. It’s better than nothing at least.”

Leo ended his call with Alex and proceeded to finally enter the Alchemy Shop. He could see several players buying potions from an old man sitting behind an equally old wooden desk. Leo quickly talked to the old man and a shop interface appeared in front of him.

Intermediate Health Potion: 1 silver | Your price: 70 Copper

Intermediate Mana Potion: 1 silver | Your price: 70 Copper

Intermediate Spirit Potion: 1 silver | Your price: 70 Copper

He quickly bought a few dozen potions of each type and began advertising inside the shop.

“Selling all Intermediate Potions, 92 copper!”

The players inside the shop looked at him with mixed expressions. They knew that it was possible to gain a discount on normal shops if they had enough reputation to gain a title, but 92 copper was simply too cheap. No one expected Leo to have a higher title than Citizen at the very most, which would give him a 10% discount. Why would anyone sell potions at a mere 2 copper profit?

“My friend, is what you say true?”

“Of course. What would I gain by lying?”

“Okay then. I need 8 Health Potions and 5 Mana potions.”

After securing his first customer, Leo’s reselling business quickly escalated. One customer turned into ten, then a hundred. No one wanted to miss out on the chance at getting potions cheaper. This was especially true for Guilds aiming for the first clear record of Frozen Caverns.

Leo grinned from ear to ear at the amount of money he earned. The players thought he was being generous by selling at a 2 copper profit which only served to increase his sales even more. Leo had no reason to disclose his actual profit margin and never confirmed nor denied their assumptions.

This business model would only work for a short while. Although it’s unlikely for more Saint’s rings to appear near Ferima City any time soon, there’s still the possibility. Leo assumed that someone was doing the exact same thing as him in another city. It’s not difficult to see the need for potions. When player Alchemist begins to level up enough to make Intermediate Potions, the prices will drop to maybe 20 copper at the most.

Leo was not going to let this opportunity wander away. He sat in the shop for several hours and saw his coin pouch become heavier by the second. The news about someone selling potions at an 8 copper discount quickly spread throughout the city. Leo continued to serve his customers when a kingdom announcement appeared.

Kingdom announcement: Congratulations to the Guild [Legacy] for achieving the first clear of [Frozen Caverns] on [Nightmare Mode]!

Kingdom announcement: Congratulations to the Guild [Legacy] for achieving the fastest clear at 3 hours, 47 minutes and 14 seconds for [Frozen Caverns] on [Nightmare Mode]!

It would seem that Snow ended up victorious this time. Leo opened his friend’s list and sent out a congratulation to Snow. He also sent out his condolences to Alex. He felt slightly bad for not helping Alex more, but he knew that this was not just a simple first clear. This would determine who leads the alliance between Legacy and Moonlight. He had no right to interfere with this balance. They both had the same amount of information and it could have ended either way.

System: Incoming chat-request from [Snow].

“Snow, congratulations once more.”

“Thank you. Your help made the dungeon a lot easier. I want to pay you for the guidance.”

“No need. I simply pointed out a few things. Call it a small favor.”

“Ok.”

“Did you get any good loot?”

“Yes, we also confirmed that the first clear makes the drops tailored to each player in the dungeon. We got a Guild Residence Permit which will save us 1,000 gold when someone in the guild manages to get the title of Knight. I think it will take at least a month considering how slow gaining reputation is.”

“I have the title of Knight.”

“What? How?!”

“It’s from something called a Saint’s ring. There’s no way to intentionally find it, you’ll have to just play the game and hope a ring chooses you.”

Leo had no problem telling Snow about his ring. The information would eventually be spread anyway and having her aware of the rings could help him track down the other owners later on.

“I must once more ask for your assistance. How much do you want for establishing our Guild Residence?”

“I want a private room in the residence and to use the guild’s various facilities once they are built.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Trust me when I say that it’s a fair trade for both of us.”

Leo arranged to meet up with Snow at the Merchant’s Guild to buy the residence. He waited for about 10 minutes before she appeared from a horse carriage.

Leo walked together with Snow towards the Merchant’s Guild’s entrance. They quickly made their way towards the Guild Residence Registration Desk at the far left corner inside the massive building. Unsurprisingly, there was not a single person lining up at the desk.

“Hello, how may I help you today, Sir?”

They were met by a young man in his 20s sitting in a wooden chair behind a glass window.

“I would like to buy a Guild Residence.”

The man made a small gesture with his hands and a map over the city appeared. The map showed several plots of land ranging from Bronze to Diamond in rating. In an NPC City, all plots are categorized by a rating. The rating begins at the lowest level of Bronze → Silver → Gold → Diamond.

An NPC City only has a single Diamond rated plot for each category, namely: Guild Residence, Personal House and Shop. Besides the requirements to actually own a plot, the only requirement to gain a Diamond rated plot of land is to be the first to claim it.

Leo quickly pointed at the only Diamond plot for guild residences. The location was perfectly placed near the center of the city, making traveling to any of the important buildings such as the Auction House and Adventurer’s Guild take a few minutes at most.

“Ah, an excellent choice.”

Leo handed over the permit Snow gained from the dungeon and the young man quickly proceeded to register the guild residence.

“This permit is registered to the Guild Legacy. Do you still wish to proceed?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good. I need your signature here and Ms. Snow’s signature here … Thank you. The construction will take roughly 10 minutes. Here’s the certificate of ownership Ms. Snow. I hope you two have a splendid day.”

Leo walked out of the Merchant’s Guild together with Snow and quickly moved towards Legacy’s new home. It took them less than two minutes to arrive. The previously empty green plot of land was now partially covered by a large white cloth stretching around the construction site for the guild residence.

Sounds of sawing and hammering could be heard, causing many players to stop in their tracks and look towards the white cloth.

[Unimportant person #1] “What’s going on here?”

[Unimportant person #2] “Looks like a Noble has decided to build a house.”

[Unimportant person #1] “House? The land is vast enough to build a mansion, surely a plot for a house would be smaller.”

[Unimportant person #2] “Well, it can’t be a mansion. There’s no way someone has gained 300 reputation already.”

[Dave] “Seven crows walk the path of redemption.”

[Unimportant person #2] “What?”

[Dave] “Mark my words.”

The crowd slowly increased in size and the construction finished. The white cloth disappeared and a beautiful wooden building appeared. The building was as large as a mansion with delicate carvings on the supporting pillars. It was two stories tall and blended in perfectly with the many mansions in the background.

City announcement: Congratulations to [Legacy] for becoming the first Guild to own a Guild Residence in Ferima City! All Guild members will receive a 100% increase in all experience gained and a 100% increase in drops from monsters for 48 hours!

City announcement: Queen Allison Ferimhart is pleased to welcome the first Guild to settle down in her beloved City. All players with Ferima City set as their resurrection point will receive a 50% increase in all experience gained and a 50% increase in drops from monsters for 48 hours!

The construction of the first Guild Residence caused every player in Ferima City to cheer in joy. Players began to create parties and headed straight out into the open fields. Who would miss such a golden opportunity to level up faster?

This was also a golden opportunity for Leo and his potion reselling business. It would explode with customers due to the sudden increase in players wanting to level up efficiently. Normally players refrain from using potions as much as possible, but when they can gain 50% more experience, all common sense goes out the window.

Of course, the system would never be so kind as to give rewards after the fact. Anyone who has not registered Ferima City as their home will not gain the buff after registering now. The same goes for Legacy, any new member will not gain the 100% increase buff. The two buffs also do not stack.

Leo quickly ran back to the Alchemist Shop and prepared to start his business once more. The NPC selling the potions would not go empty any time soon. Potions are considered an essential item for every player, the shop carries more supply than you would ever need. Unlike his business at the Tilted Anvil, reselling potions was both reliable and profitable.

Leo could not help but feel sad when he thought about how Alchemist would soon destroy this profitable business model. He would at least earn as much money as he could before the first Alchemist reaches the Basic level and begin to produce the Intermediate Potions. It was unfortunate to miss out on a significant portion of the increased EXP event, but the potential loss in profit outweighed his need to level up right now.