Chapter 4: Filthy rich.

You are now friends with Imagine Losing.

You have received 7 friend requests.

You have 12 unread messages.

Your guard has entered Lucky Flames Town. The Lucky Flames Region has been unlocked. Please check your map.

Luna was bombarded with notifications just as she logged in. "What the hell?"

She went through her inbox and inspected the friend requests.

You have received a friend request from Walking Catastrophe.

You have received a friend request from Merciful Saint.

You have received a friend request from Lunar Sun.

You have received a friend request from Sinker.

You have received a friend request from Jimmy's Resistance.

You have received a friend request from ZHGVI.

You have received a friend request from N1na.

"Accept Merciful Saint and ZHGVI friend requests." Luna decided to start with Martha and Aster. She then chuckled. "Jimmy's Resistance? Really? Fuck it. Accept Jimmy's Resistance friend request."

Jimmy's Resistance is calling.

Luna was jumpscared by the system's popup. "Accept call."

"Hello, OFMZ. I am Jimmy's Resistance, you may call me Jimmy." a male voice talked to Luna. "I am very interest in buying your 3 Silver Coins from you. I can offer you a hig-"

"If you want my Coins, then you should bid for them like everyone else." Luna said before she hung up and unfriended the man. She then sighed as she checked her inbox.

You have unread messages from the following players:

N1na (1)

Sinker (2)

Jimmy's Resistance (2)

Lunar Sun (1)

Walking Catastrophe (1)

Merciful Saint (3)

ZHGVI (2)

"I guess I'll check out Martha's messages first." Luna clicked on Merciful Saint.

Merciful Saint: How's Virtual Worlds treating ya? Did you see any NPCs?

Merciful Saint: Find a Town and call me.

Merciful Saint: Looks like you won't be able to progress in the game without a party. If you meet someone try to team up with them. But don't replace me or I'll snap your neck <3

"Why is she so violent?!" Luna read the messages with a stunned smile. She proceeded to message her back.

OFMZ: I wouldn't think of it. Trust me.

OFMZ: gtg now my new best friend is waiting for me.

Merciful Saint: BIIITCH!!

OFMZ: byyyyyyyyeee!

Luna chuckled as she messaged Aster.

ZHGVI: Yo, the combat in this game is super realistic.

ZHGVI: That taekwondo training coming in clutch rn.

OFMZ: You still remember taekwondo training?

ZHGVI: I occasionally hang out with my friends from back when we used to go.

ZHGVI: Anyway gtg. My party is raiding this rare lvl 1 monster.

OFMZ: gl hf

"Well, I don't really want to check out the other messages but..." Luna relented as she opened N1na's message.

N1na: FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY FIND ME IN LUCKY FLAMES TOWN AND PARTY UP WITH ME!!!!

OFMZ: Calm down xD

OFMZ: What's your Job?

N1na: I picked Healer like the dumbass I am and now I'm stuck and can't fight anything without dying :(

N1na: I've already died 5 times...

"Five times? Seriously?" Luna muttered to herself as she started making her way to Noah's location on the map.

OFMZ: Alright, I'll send you a message when I'm in Town.

N1na: Thank you so much!

OFMZ: No problem.

"What a weirdo...whatever." Luna then went to the next person.

Sinker: Hello, OFMZ. I am Sinker, the Fifth Vice Guild Master of the Item Hoarder Guild. We are a Guild that is listed as D-class in the official Guilds list, you can check us out for validity.

Sinker: I have contacted you in hopes of purchasing some Coins from you. In exchange, we will help you unconditionally 3 times.

OFMZ: If I sold you a Silver Coin for 5,000 Links, would you buy it?

Sinker: How about 3,500 Links?

"He's actually entertaining the idea?" Luna grinned.

OFMZ: 4,000 Links.

Sinker: I can do 3,700.

OFMZ: 4,000. Take it or leave it.

Sinker: Okay. 4,000 Links but we will only help you for 2 times.

OFMZ: Deal.

Sinker: Great, what Town are you in?

OFMZ: I am near Lucky Flames Town. I will send you a message when I arrive there.

Sinker: Very well, then.

"I got a great deal from that!" Luna celebrated. "Maybe I should go shopping with Marth tomorrow."

She continued to the next messenger.

Jimmy's Resistance: Hello! I am very interested in buying your Coins. Contact me if you're interested.

Jimmy's Resistance: Really? -_-

"I'll just leave him on read." Luna went onto the next.

Lunar Sun: Hello! Are you in Underground Serpent Town? If you are, let's party up.

OFMZ: Sorry, I am not in the area. If I ever go there, I'll hit you up.

"One left." Luna turned to the last messenger, Walking Catastrophe. "What a name! God damn!"

Walking Catastrophe: Penis.

OFMZ: What the fuck? xD

Walking Catastrophe: Oh shit you actually replied xD

Walking Catastrophe: I thought you were a Guild's expert and you had everyone on mute

OFMZ: Nah man I'm just a regular player.

Walking Catastrophe: What's your Job? If you're in the Lucky Flames Town, I can trade a dagger here that I can't use.

OFMZ: I'm an Assassin.

OFMZ: What's your Job?

Walking Catastrophe: I'm a Berserker.

OFMZ: Perfect, I have a longsword I can't use.

Walking Catastrophe: Cool, meet me at the entrance of the Town in around an hour. I'm doing a quest right now.

"What a weird guy." Luna chuckled. Trolls were insufferable, but his message just cracked her up. The intimidating name didn't match the tone of the message.

ROAAAR!!!

A large bear came rushing through while being chased down by five NPCs.

"Adventurer! Help us subdue this beast and we will adequately reward you!!" one of the NPCs yelled.

A quest has arrived! You have received the quest (Garrison's aid).

(Garrison's aid):

Details: Lucky Flames Town's garrison guards need help subduing the Killer Bear. Help them fight against it, and kill it if you can!

Current Objective: Kill the Killer Bear.

Reward: 80 EXP, 7 Silver Coins, Lucky Flames Region Fame.

Luna looked at the Bear's name.

(Killer Bear, Rank 1, Level 5 Monster, Rare)

HP: 2,524/19,430

"Oh hell no." Luna turned around to run away, yet she was stunned when she saw the NPCs' levels. They were all Level 20!! Luna then grinned madly as she turned around to face the beast. "Let's dance!"

She quickly unsheathed her daggers as she stabbed one of them into the fleeing Killer Bear.

-5

"Oh boy..." Luna looked at the HP bar drop like it was leaking one drop at a time.

"Thank you for holding it back, adventurer!" one of the NPCs thanked loudly. He then moved with his companions, each one slashing into the Bear with their swords.

-29

-31

-25

-31

-25

Luna smiled at the damages. While it was a drop from the monster's HP, they could still whittle it down.

The Killer Bear has used the Skill: Stunning Roar.

She then frowned as she saw the NPCs tense up for a few seconds, [Stunned] showing up on their status bar. She was just outside of the Skill's range. "Damn it, if only I had...skills...wait...system commands: inspect Skill list."

Attack Skills:

Backstab (Equipped)

Reverse Grip

Defense Skills:

Redirection (Equipped)

"DAMN IT!" Luna cursed as she rushed Bear. She attacked it with her dagger, yelling. "Backstab!"

Whoosh!

Her dagger missed its mark as the Bear swiped its claw at Luna.

"Redirection!" Luna yelled as she crudely pushed the claw to the side. She kept dodging and dodging. After around 10 seconds of constant dodging, she got hit.

-12

As the NPCs lost their [Stunned] status effect, they turned to the Bear once more. "Keep it there for a second!"

"Holy shit!" Luna barely dodged the Bear's other claw. She hurriedly rushed to her feet and held her daggers in a reverse grip. "Equip Reverse Grip!"

Your Attack Skill is on cooldown.

"Forget it!" Luna rushed the Bear again. That was 80 EXP and 7 Silver Coins!!

-20

"A CRIT!!" Luna yelled to the NPCs. "KILL IT! NOW!!"

ROAAAAAR!!!

The Bear roared in pain as the NPCs unleashed their Skills.

-94

-130

-134

-142

-122

"AGAIN!!" Luna yelled the crit double damage only lasted for 3 seconds. Luna swiped her daggers only for them to miss.

"SHIT!! HOW DID I MISS?!" Luna raged, though it quickly subsided as one of the NPCs also crit.

-70

-70

-164

-144

-132

"Time to put in work." Luna noticed a small text in the bottom left of her vision indicating that her Backstab Skill's cooldown finished. She now had 2 doubles from the 2 crits, meaning she had 4x damage. "Backstab!"

-56

"Still too low." Luna grit her teeth.

"Worry not, adventurer! We will back you up!" an NPC said as he rushed to hit the Bear again.

-124

-112

-120

-621

-124

"A Super?!" Luna looked at the 621 damage with her jaw dropped. The chances of a Super were 0.2%! A 1 in 400 chance!

The Killer Bear's body hit the ground as its HP hit 0.

The quest (Garrison's aid) was completed! Giving rewards. 80 EXP, 7 Silver Coins, 100 Lucky Flames Region Fame.

You have leveled up!

Please use your available Attribute Points to complete your level up.

"I'll put both into my Dexterity." Luna decided. As an Assassin, her damage focused on her Dexterity, so she was trying to pump it up.

"Thank you, adventurer! This vile beast has been terrorizing Lucky Flames Town for a while now. Every time we tried to catch it, it would use its Stunning Roar Skill on us and escape. But not this time, thanks to you!" one of the NPCs said to Luna. "As the captain of the garrison of Lucky Flames Town, I'd like to grant you the title of Noble."

You have gained the title: (Lucky Flames Noble).

"Thank you. Since you are heading to Lucky Flames Town, could you please escort me there?" Luna asked politely.

"I don't see why not!" the guard laughed.

"Thanks." Luna smiled as she checked out her title.

Lucky Flames Noble (Title, Common):

The bearer of this title gets to enjoy 10% discounts for all items in Lucky Flames Town, as well as protection within the Town's parameters.

"Nice!" Luna celebrated. This would help her out a ton, since she's decided to operate in Lucky Flames Town. "I guess since I have a ton of Coins, I'll put some up for auction."

Luna put 6 Silver Coins for auction. "Guess I'll watch...not like I've got anything better to do."

Luna put the minimum for the 6 Silver Coins as 20,000 Links. She was simply going with the math of it. With the minimum increments as 30 Links. She slowly watched the price go up.

20,060.

20,200.

20,500.

20,900.

21,100.

"God damn! I'm RICH!!" Luna couldn't believe it. This was an in-game currency not real-estate. "What kind of moron would spend that much money on Coins?!"

Yet what shocked her the most was the decisive increase she saw.

23,000.

Such a bid was obvious. They were basically telling everyone to back off.

23,030.

Another person bid, as if to taunt the first one.

"Keep fighting!" Luna grinned from ear to ear as she saw the bidding increase tremendously. It climbed its way up to 24,230 Links!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------

"So, this is the Link-to-Coin system?" a young girl looked at the bidding going on. She smiled as she saw the bids. "What kind of moron would spend that amount of money on 6 Cop-"

She paused as she saw the currency.

"SHIT!!" she cursed. She then quickly contacted her Guild Master. "Guild Master! I need permission to get 6 Silver Coins!"

"Fine. Use whatever means you can. You can use the Guild's account." the deep voice of a man sounded out in her head before he hung up the call.

She quickly smiled as she put in her bid.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"What the hell?" Luna looked at the bidding. "I guess no one wants to spend more than 26,000 Links on Silver Coins."

That's when she saw the last bid.

100,000.

"..." Luna's mind blanked as she stopped walking.

"Is something wrong, adventurer?" the NPCs looked at her.

"N-No." Luna responded calmly. She then thought to herself. 'They must've pressed an extra zero. I should find that person and return their money.'

While Luna misunderstood the message, many of the Guilds in the Sirius Forest Region understood...there was a powerhouse in the area.

100,030.

Such a bid meant one thing...a Guild was saying that even if they were smaller, they weren't scared of a fight.

200,000.

"OKAY. THERE'S NO WAY THAT'S A MISTAKE!!" Luna jumped a little at the number. That was larger than most people's yearly salaries!!!

Your 6 Silver Coins have sold for 200,000 Links.

200,000 Links will be transferred to your bank account ending in 4324.

Would you like to confirm?

"Confirm!" Luna nearly lost her mind. She turned to the NPCs and asked. "Can you please carry me and go full speed?"

"I mean...s-sure." the NPC looked to his companions. He awkwardly held Luna princess style and dashed forward.

His speed caused Luna to close her eyes from the wind's resistance.

After she arrived in 2 minutes, she quickly logged out.

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She awoke to her phone ringing. It was an unknown number.

"Hello? Who is this?" she asked.

"Hello, Miss Riyson. I am from the Blue Horizon Bank. We are contacting you today to ask about a large transfer to your account ending in 4324, can you please confirm the amount?" the employee said.

"Oh, yeah. The 200,000 Links right?"

"Correct. We would like to inquire on how you got this money. It says that it was a wire transfer from the ATLAS company."

"Um...do you know the new game by ATLAS? Virtual Worlds?" Luna asked, slightly nervous.

"Yes, I am familiar with it." the employee responded.

"There's a system there which allows players to open virtual stores for trading in-game currencies for Links. I put up a large amount of in-game currency, so a lot of people bid for it in an auction." Luna explained anxiously.

"I see. Do you expect on getting more transfers soon?" the employee asked.

"Hopefully, but none as exaggerated as this." Luna chuckled slightly.

"I see. Would you like to register for our new VIP pac-"

"I'm...not interested." Luna chuckled nervously.

"Very well. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day, Miss Riyson." the employee said as he hung up.

Luna took a deep breath as she opened her account which displayed 200,328 Links on the screen. "I can't believe this is real."