The Almighty Ring

An enlightened, purpose-driven Jiang Fei logged into the game.. He brought his guild for a round of Heroic dungeons. After that, Jiang Fei collected Green Smithing Recipes that were Level 20 and above. He wanted to become stronger. The fastest way to do so was to increase the level of the ring. Eventually, he could bring more equipment from the game into the real world!

Of course, Jiang Fei would use all his might to fight for a treasure similar to the Evolution Blood. However, such treasures were highly uncommon.

Despite all his effort, Jiang Fei could not find anyone selling Recipes, even after roaming around the city gates and the stalls set up there. The odds of pub players obtaining items like that were abysmal!

“Hey! Brother! Do you want to see something good?”

Jiang Fei was still shopping. All of a sudden, someone whispered next to his ear.

“Eh?”

Jiang Fei turned around and saw a player standing right next to him.

It was an odd, peculiar character. He was not very tall, and his mouth looked like a monkey’s. He looked pathetic. By right, most people would beautify their appearances with the system’s aid when they created their avatars. However, this fellow looked so helplessly ugly, that not even the system’s beautifying effects worked. This had been a deliberate act!

Smart Tomato (Rodent Race, Thief)

Level: 19

Health Point: 1624

Attack Power: 284

Remark: Guildless.

Jiang Fei took a look at the person’s attributes. He finally understood why this fellow looked so pathetic. Since he had chosen the rodent race, he looked like an anthropomorphic rat. No orc player would submit themselves to such a fate. It was bizzare, to say the least.

“What do you want?” Jiang Fei asked suspiciously.

“Hey! Brother, I have some good stuff here, do you want to have a look?” Smart Tomato asked, grinning deviously.

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Fei frowned. This person somehow looked familiar.

“Good stuff! Come, come over here and we can talk!”

Smart Tomato ignored his questions and continued pulling Jiang Fei towards a secluded area.

“The hell are you on about! Have we met before? God damnit, is this what I hear of vagrants selling porn films underneath bridges?”

Jiang Fei pulled away from the fellow.

“Really good stuff!”

Smart Tomato even playfully raised his eyebrows as he spoke to Jiang Fei.

“Bloody hell! There are so many people around here. Why don’t you pull one of them along? Do I look like someone selling fur hides?”

Jiang Fei was getting annoyed.

Well, it was not like he could blame him. There were indeed many people shopping around. However, none of them stood out like Jiang Fei. He was covered in a body of bedazzling, expensive looking armor. Apart from a few pieces of equipment shining with a blue light, most of them were shining with a purple light. He was a truly wealthy man!

Not only the quick-witted Smart Tomato was acting so intrusively. Everyone who had set up a shop would eagerly promote their own products as Jiang Fei passed by. It was as if Jiang Fei would pay ten thousand dollars for a stalk of wheat!

“Come! Come!”

Smart Tomato ran to a corner with no other people around. He waved enthusiastically at Jiang Fei.

“Come, my arse! Are you sick?”

Jiang Fei turned around and started walking away.

“Ayy! Ayyyy! Don’t leave!”

Smart Tomato ran back to him and lowered his voice when he spoke. “I really have some good stuff. Don’t you want to have a look?”

“What toy is it? Show me!”

This fellow had said those words multiple times. Jiang Fei’s curiosity soon got the better of him.

“Come, come, come!”

Smart Tomato dragged Jiang Fei to the corner with no other people. As they were still in the city, Jiang Fei was not worried if the fellow was trying to play tricks on him.

When Jiang Fei arrived, Smart Tomato peeked around carefully. Once he was certain no one else was looking, he displayed a screenshot of the game to Jiang Fei.

“A golden treasure chest of Legendary quality! I am sure you haven’t seen it before!” Smart Tomato said giddily, full of himself.

“I have actually seen quite a few of those golden treasure chests. That monster guarding it — can’t say I have!”

Jiang Fei rolled his eyes. He had no idea where this young fellow could have gone to take such a picture. The golden treasure chest was indeed rare and rather alluring. However, the tiger next to it was way too intimidating. It had sharp fangs and ferocious-looking claws, on top of a large, mighty body. As it was only a screenshot, Jiang Fei could not determine the level of the tiger. Was this a boss, or simply an elite?!

“Hehe! This is quite the secluded spot. There are monsters all around it. I died four times trying to find a safe way in!” Smart Tomato said. Again, he seemed as full of himself as before.

“That explains your low level!”

Jiang Fei nodded. Most mainstream players were mostly Level 20 and above. Even the frontliners were around Level 23. This fellow was only Level 19. He did not even have a complete set of equipment. He was basically half-naked. At first, Jiang Fei could not understand why. Now, the pieces were falling into place. This fellow was most determined to approach the treasure chest. He had not give up, even after dying four times!

“I’ve got the route sorted out. The only problem left is that thing in front of the treasure chest. You look like you’d be able to fend it off for a while. What do you think? When we get there, you can distract the monster while I open the treasure chest. We can split the loot. I will take eight-tenths of the loot while you take the remainder!” Smart Tomato said, as he gave Jiang Fei a charitable look.

“Don’t kid around now. What a scam!”

Jiang Fei rolled his eyes and started walking away.

What kind of a joke is this? I fight the damn boss while you open the treasure chest. What if you ran off with the loot? Not to mention how dangerous the beast looked. What if I died? Forget about the experience points he had at this level. Jiang Fei’s overall equipment was most definitely worth more than a Legendary Quality treasure chest!

Did Smart Tomato really think he was dumb enough to take such a huge risk for this tiny gain?

“Aye, aye, aye… Don’t leave, brother. We can talk about this!”

Smart Tomato tugged at Jiang Fei.

“What is there to talk about? Go do it yourself”

Jiang Fei glared at Smart Tomato.

“So…. What do you propose?” Smart Tomato asked helplessly.

In truth, Jiang Fei was not the first person he had looked for. However, no one would fall for it so easily. Forget about the ratio of the split. Nobody would simply trust the other person to open the treasure chest!

“How about we do it this way? You will forget about whatever is inside the treasure chest. I will buy the treasure chest from you. Once you bring me to the location of the treasure chest, I will give you two thousand gold coins!”

Jiang Fei thought for a while before he spoke. After all, the Legendary Quality treasure chest was rather attractive to him.

“What about the monster? Will I be distracting it?” Smart Tomato asked. He was rather convinced. Although he did not know what was inside the treasure chest, it would be pointless if he cannot even have it in the first place. Moreover, someone else might discover the location of the treasure chest eventually. If that happened, he would have lost everything!

Furthermore, two thousand gold coins was not a small sum. Some guilds could not even gather this much money. For someone who relied on gaming to earn money for a living, it was a massive sum!