Chapter 4: Desert Eagle
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“3,800 going twice! Is there any lady or gentleman who wants to increase the bid? This staff is actually an amazing Level-44 piece of equipment. After equipping this, energy attacks will be increased significantly. There’s also a fire-based percentage damage increase. You won’t have any problem fighting same-level Elite-grade monsters at all! Don’t miss this chance, everyone!”
The “blazing red lips” beauty onstage continued to provoke and tease the emotions of the attendees below with her sweet voice. On the virtual screen behind her, the attributes of the magnificent staff were displayed, along with an image of the staff itself. It was embedded with a fiery red ruby with flames and backlight surrounding it, spinning slowly.
Heart of Fire (Energy Converter)
Grade: Excellent
Attack: 480
Intelligence +9
Increase Fire Energy Damage: 8%
Level Requirement: 44
Overall Evaluation: Excellent
Equipment in War was categorized into four grades. From the lowest to the highest, they were Normal, Fine, Excellent, and Rare. Above that were they additional levels of Legendary, Epic, Mythical, etc., but those were not yet available, as of the current version. Excellent-grade equipment did not seem to be the rarest variety of equipment at the moment, but, in reality, the equipment worn by most current War players were simply blank items that did not have any additional attributes on them.
Any high-level Fine-grade piece of equipment could be sold for several hundred star coins. The prices of Excellent-grade weapons were in the thousands, especially staffs (the official name for a staff in War was “energy converter”), which were the main weapons of energy Manipulators. Because an energy converter needed to be a.s.sembled in multiple parts, it was even more expensive. Selling it for 2,000 to 3,000 was not uncommon. Of course, 4,000 was a bit too much, but the customers below the stage were actually still increasing the bid!
It seemed like the atmosphere of the bar, and the influence of Miss Blazing Red Lips standing onstage had everyone’s blood pumping. After all, alcohol and hormones were the two substances that most induced impulsive behaviors.
It was no surprise that Mu Wu would have thought of such a method. Compared to buying items from the in-game trading post, the atmosphere of this sort of live auction got the blood pumping. Moreover, it also pleased those who wanted to show off and attract attention to themselves in reality.
In the end, that staff was won for a price of 4,500 by a balding, middle-aged man with a bulging belly and a beautiful woman in his arms. The woman, wearing heavy makeup and transparent black silk, was overjoyed and gave him a big kiss on his cheek.
“The next item is a pistol. It is also the main event today—one of the three Rare pieces of equipment available.”
Onstage, Miss Blazing Red Lips in the bunny outfit began introducing the equipment. Behind her, the image on the virtual screen changed, turning into a black pistol with distinct edges and sharp corners. It had a metallic s.h.i.+ne and emanated a vague, murderous aura.
“A Rare pistol? Hmm. This model is…” As he studied the strangely familiar pistol on the screen, Feng Luo was unexpectedly shocked.
Desert Eagle (Pistol)
Grade: Rare
Attack: 410
Attack Coefficient: D
Agility +15
Effective Attack Range: 100m
Bonus Effects: Increase movement speed by 10% when in possession
Level Requirement: 39
Overall Evaluation: Perfect
Onstage, the long-legged beauty began to pa.s.sionately describe the amazing qualities of the pistol. However, Feng Luo wasn’t listening at all. His familiarity with the Desert Eagle was, without a doubt, better than hers by at least 100 times.
The Desert Eagle had been considered the most popular pistol of the 20th century on Earth. Most people with military knowledge would have heard about it. It had a structure similar to that of a rifle, so bullets fired from this handgun carried frightening kinetic energy. Within the effective range, conventional bulletproof equipment was as fragile as paper against its AE bullets. Within 100 meters, it could easily burst the head of a human, and outside of 100 meters, it was still powerful enough to kill a large beast in one shot. It was a prime example of a powerful pistol.
However, although it had great power, the Desert Eagle had limited uses apart from hunting. Its weight of two kilograms as an empty weapon was too heavy for a pistol. At the same time, the recoil was frightening. A slight lapse in concentration could cause the shooter to suffer bone fractures. Moreover, the pistol had a limited ammo capacity and low reliability; it easily broke down in poor environmental conditions, so it was also impractical. As such, this was not a good gun in reality!
As a piece of game equipment, however, this Rare-grade Desert Eagle was almost perfect. This was because, for a player, the overall weight and rate of deterioration were simple problems, and the recoil was a problem that could be remedied by putting more points into the Strength attribute.
When compared to its high attack of 410 and its Rare grade, those weaknesses were negligible. The attack power was comparable to some of the game’s main weapons and would have enough to impress most players—even non-gunners. That was because the equipping limit in War was very small. As long as the attribute requirement was satisfied, players could actually use the equipment of any profession. That made this Desert Eagle just as attractive to non-gunner players.
Of course, without the profession bonus, a player wearing the equipment of another profession could not take advantage of all the attributes of that piece of equipment. Furthermore, different professions required different types of main attributes. As such, eccentric player types like “Violent Manipulators” or “Submachine Gun Warriors” could never enter the mainstream.
For Feng Luo—as opposed to other players—this Desert Eagle had one additional important use. As an expert Gun Mechanic, he could a.n.a.lyze the structure and the materials of the Desert Eagle through disa.s.sembly, and then he could try to design a new kind of weapon.
In War, life players were allowed to design their own equipment, but it was not easy to design a piece of Rare-grade equipment.
“The final price of this item will surely be over 15,000!”
Feng Luo made a quick calculation in his mind and discovered that it would be a little difficult for him to purchase this gun because his pocket was already a little bit empty.
It couldn’t be helped. War was a game that really burned through one’s money, as evidenced by the piece of virtual equipment in front of him worth over 10,000 credits.
The initial investments for Wind Mark Gun Shop had also eaten into his bank account. The remaining money had been used to purchase the Land Bullet SCV-Type One Motorcycle that he used for his hunting missions. So although he was not yet considered penniless, his Federal bank account only had around 5,000 star coins in it at the moment. With that tiny amount of money, there was no way he could win the bid for this Rare-grade Desert Eagle.
At that moment, the bunny girl on the stage announced the starting bid.
“Level 39, Rare Desert Eagle. The starting bid is 8,000 star coins. Minimum increments of 500.”
The moment she finished her sentence, the price soared and immediately went over 10,000, then 13,000… and straight to 15,000. Even then, there were still five to six people competing for it. It seemed like it was possible for it to reach 20,000 star coins.
Feng Luo tried to make a bid in the middle because he really liked this Desert Eagle. If he did not have enough money, he could get an advance from the nightclub first, and then he could sell a couple pieces of equipment he did not use in the game to pay it off. However, the moment he announced his price, he was overtaken, and before long, the price of the Desert Eagle had reached 20,000 star coins.
Beside the bar, Feng Luo shook his head, calmed down, and drank. He did not continue to bid.
In truth, the price had already overtaken the true value of this Desert Eagle. Even if it was a Rare-grade weapon, it was not a main weapon; the price would normally remain around 10,000.
The purchasing power of the Federation star coins in this world was similar to the Chinese yuan of the previous world.
Feng Luo had stopped bidding, but a young man with golden wire-rimmed gla.s.ses and a leather suit walked over. He held a wine gla.s.s containing dark red wine, and the corners of his lips were lifted upward. He sat down beside Feng Luo and looked at the Desert Eagle on the screen. “What’s wrong? Got your eye on this gun?”
“Brother Wu!” the bartender immediately greeted, his face full of respect.
This man dressed in gentlemanly attire was the manager of the nightclub—the man called Mu Wu whose creative methods drew respect even from Feng Luo.
Feng Luo picked up the mixing bottle at his side and poured more Blue Starry Sky into his gla.s.s. He sounded a little depressed as he said, “Yeah, but I don’t have the money to afford it!”
Mu Wu smiled. “Hehe! Hua, tell Xiao Yao that I bid 30,000!” he told the bartender.
The communicator that the employees of the nightclub wore on their bodies had an internal channel. At a time like this, it made it possible for Mu Wu to partic.i.p.ate in the bid as a customer so that he did not break the rules of his own auction.
Hearing the message from the bartender through her ear mic, the flushed red face of the beauty onstage became even redder. “30,000!” she shouted in a loud yet delicate voice. “A new customer bid the price of 30,000! Is there a higher bid?”
However, the price was already too high. Those few who had still been involved in the bid chose to give up after hearing this price.
Mu Wu turned around and put a palm-sized tablet in Feng Luo’s hands. Then he shook the wine gla.s.s in his hand at Feng Luo. “Enter your account ID and location. They’ll send you a parcel later when they get online.”
Although almost everyone who frequented the nightclub had an account in War, and many of them actually played together, Feng Luo was an exception. He always trained and played alone. Even Mu Wu did not know Feng Luo’s account ID.
“30,000!” said Feng Luo. “Old Wu, one who is unaccountably generous is hiding evil intentions.” He looked at Mu Wu’s face, then finished the Blue Starry Sky drink. His expression was one of genuine interest.
Mu Wu did not try to hide anything. “The company wants to complete an important mission soon in War, and we need an expert we can trust,” he said, revealing his true objective. “The boss asked me to ask you if you can give us a hand.”
“You don’t even know my account name,” said Feng Luo. “How can you be sure that I am an expert?”
Feng Luo grabbed the terminal and entered his ID in War, as well as his address in Silvermoon City before handing it back to Mu Wu. In the game, players could use the system courier service and have the equipment delivered via a flight to any city.
Mu Wu took the tablet. “If you aren’t, then you owe me 30,000 coins!”
“Get out of here!” Feng Luo scolded, but he did not decline the offer. Naturally, this meant he accepted it.
The “boss” whom Mu Wu referred to was the real owner of the nightclub, and the dynamic between them was not a normal employee/employer relations.h.i.+p. In truth, Feng Luo had been specially hired by the boss to become the a.s.sistant manager of this place in name only. As such, there was naturally no need for him to feel restrained. A salary and bonuses were considered the remuneration of being the a.s.sistant manager of the place. However, when Feng Luo was asked to do something else, it was natural to receive other forms of payment.
Getting paid to do something—this was the age-old principle of being a mercenary!
Such rules were not to be broken!