This Text Adventure Game is definitely poisonous
Chapter 238 - 199: The Value of Life (6000 words)_2

Chapter 238: Chapter 199: The Value of Life (6000 words)_2

"So, the deal is one pair of Excellent Grade Mud Boots in exchange for all four pieces of ordinary equipment and another twenty-six pieces of Iron Grade Equipment."

Currently, there are only four ordinary and twenty-nine Iron Grade equipment pieces in her shop. Mu You’s offer would virtually empty her stock.

"The Mud Boots...were one of the rewards you offered in your sunflower exchange post, weren’t they?" Lu Yao was perplexed. "If you use it now, what will you use for the sunflower trade?"

"Rest assured, I won’t short you on Excellent Grade equipment."

Mu You let out a sigh.

Six Iron Grade items could be combined in the Synthesis Furnace to create one ordinary item, and six ordinary items for one Excellent Grade. In terms of value, this is equivalent to thirty-six Iron Grade items, which means that for a lifespan of 180 years, you could obtain an Excellent Grade item. The selling price of Excellent Grade is 250 years, so each time an Excellent Grade item is synthesized, it is equivalent to a net profit of 70 years of lifespan.

With the items he bought, and the four ordinary items he already has, he can synthesize two pieces of Excellent Grade equipment. One for the trade, and he can keep the other for himself. It’s a sure-win deal.

"That works."

The two quickly struck the deal, agreeing to deliver the goods the next morning.

Once he hung up the phone, Mu You continued to browse the Fool’s forum, switching to the trading interface to take a look.

Lu Yao’s comment about ’recent price fluctuations in the cash-for-lifespan exchange’ had caught his attention.

Upon inspection, indeed, recent trends in magic item and equipment trading had changed significantly.

Previously, the exchange ratio for cash to magic items was 100,000 RMB to 1 year of lifespan, but recent trading posts showed a drastic fall in this ratio, from 50,000 to 1, to 30,000 to 1, and some posts today even suggested an exchange rate of around 10,000 RMB per year of lifespan, a tenfold reduction from the start!

Mu You, of course, could guess the reason: the pre-open beta announcement was clearly having an effect!

The reason lifespans and magic items were so valuable before was due to their rarity. But once the open beta arrives and the lifespan trading is opened to all players worldwide, the influx of magic items into the market will cause the value of lifespans and magic items to plummet until they return to their original values, close to the prices in the Star Spirit World.

According to what Mu You learned from the Goblin Merchant, a bag of food, enough to feed a person for three months, costs about 20 days of lifespan. Of course, this only refers to the bare minimum to stay full.

Based on this value conversion, a day’s lifespan should be worth around 20 to 30 RMB.

And by this standard, the current exchange rate may continue to decrease. In other words, the value of Earth’s currency will continue to rise for a while, so trading cash for magic items now would not be a wise move.

No wonder there have been fewer large cash transactions on the forum recently. It seemed the players’ sense was quite sharp.

After browsing the forum for a while, the time passed midnight.

Meanwhile, in the game, he finally arrived at the Drunkard Blacksmith’s location.

Mu You switched to his Medicinal Plant Gatherer avatar and entered the blacksmith’s shop.

The old dwarf was as diligent as ever, not making him wait even late at night. As soon as he arrived, an interactive text box popped up.

Mu You pointed to a bottle of the prepared Maotai from his ring.

[You have gifted an unknown liquid to the Dwarf Blacksmith.]

[After tasting, the Blacksmith hailed it as ’Divine Wine’ and immediately treated you as an esteemed guest, warmly asking if you needed anything.]

The dwarf indeed liked the undiluted wine.

Mu You clicked on the Synthesis Furnace in his pack.

[You take out the cracked Synthesis Furnace and ask the blacksmith if it can be repaired.]

[You see the blacksmith take the furnace and examine it for a long time. His face became grave, but in the end, he nodded at you.]

[The blacksmith says that the furnace’s material is special, and it can be repaired, but it needs a very special material. Without it, even he can’t fix it.]

[You ask the blacksmith what material is needed.]

[The blacksmith solemnly raises all the fingers of his two hands at you.]

[Ten bottles! The blacksmith tells you, if you want to know the secret, you need at least ten bottles of the wine you just gave him.]

"Ten bottles, huh..."

Mu You’s finger was on the ’gift all’ option for the case of Maotai in his ring. Seeing this condition, he paused and withdrew his finger, opened the case, and took out ten bottles.

[You have given ten bottles of an unknown liquid to the Dwarf Blacksmith.]

[The blacksmith is overjoyed, quickly packs away all the bottles, and enthusiastically reveals the secret.]

[The material required to repair the furnace is called ’Cold Iron Essence,’ an extremely rare living metal that can only be born and continuously grow in extreme cold environments.]

[The old blacksmith used to have a sprout of Cold Iron Essence, but its volume was too small to be used for refining weapons. This is why he chose to retire at the foot of Foggy Mountain after being exiled by the empire—the icy environment at the peak of Foggy Mountain is the perfect environment for the growth of Cold Iron Essence.]

[When he was young, the blacksmith placed the Cold Iron Essence sprout at the top of Foggy Mountain. Now, after hundreds of years, it should have grown to a size sufficient for weapon refining.]

[However, the environment on top of Foggy Mountain is too extreme. Winds laced with ’unendurable cold,’ an effect at the rule level, blow across the summit year-round, carrying a ’unendurable coldness,’ people would continue to lose body heat in the wind no matter how thickly they dressed, until eventually, they freeze to death.]

[Dwarfs, who live in icy, snow-capped plateaus all year round, naturally resist the cold. Coupled with the blacksmith’s vigorous physique in his youth, he was able to withstand the cold winds, but now, the aged blacksmith, having drank heavily for many years, is not as strong as he used to be. He can no longer withstand the severe weather on the mountain, and thus has been unable to retrieve the Cold Iron Essence.]