Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened-Chapter 66
Chapter 66: In the Big City, the Most Important Thing Isn’t Level, It’s... Gold Coins!
“Big Brother, we’re here!” as soon as they got close, Ning Qianjun excitedly called out, and Ning Qingyue hurried to catch up.
In their eyes, among everyone in the Novice Village, only Mystery truly resembled the NPCs they knew from past games.
Not to mention anything else, just the rewards from Mystery alone completely outclassed what other NPCs could offer!
Ye Qiu nodded at the two and asked, “When are you planning to teleport to the big city?”
Ning Qianjun was about to respond, but before he could, his sister Ning Qingyue quickly interjected, “We didn’t rush to the big city because we were waiting for you! We hoped you could guide us. When do you think it’s best for us to head over? Also, is there anything we need to watch out for once we’re there? Any taboos?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Ning Qianjun quickly sent his sister a private message with a “thumbs up.jpg,” praising her for her quick thinking.
His sister really knew how to talk!
However, Ye Qiu was no ordinary NPC.
The siblings’ little tricks didn’t fool him one bit.
Still, he went along and said, “When going to the big city, your level doesn’t matter.”
The siblings immediately straightened up and listened carefully.
Ye Qiu continued, “What matters the most is gold coins.”
“Gold coins?”
The two exchanged glances.
They weren’t exactly short on money.
In fact, compared to other players, they were actually quite wealthy!
As time passed, the gold coin exchange system had become more stable.
Currently, it was a 1:1 rate.
Of course, this was the rate for Hanxia Country. Other nations had different rates.
“That’s right,” Ye Qiu nodded. “In the big city, everything costs money — changing classes, learning skills, picking up quests, even entering and exiting the city gates. Everything requires gold!”
This wasn’t exactly a secret anymore.
Players who had already made it to the big city had started spreading the word, and soon the whole forum and gaming community would know.
“We have 140,000 gold coins right now!” Ning Qingyue said, with a bit of pride in her voice.
Ye Qiu only smiled faintly.
140,000 gold coins sounded like a lot, but… it was barely enough to cover some basic entrance costs.
They didn’t even have enough to change classes!
“More gold coins are always better,” Ye Qiu said simply.
Just as the two were still processing his words, suddenly…
[Ding! The Deputy Village Chief has issued an investment mission: Acquire 500,000 gold coins and reach Level 15 within three days. If the mission fails, twice the amount of gold coins will be deducted. Accept?]
This system prompt rang simultaneously in both of their minds.
“W-what?!”
The siblings’ eyes widened in disbelief, their faces full of shock!
500,000 gold coins!
They had been grinding diligently for half a month since the server opened, barely taking a break.
And in real life, they weren’t ordinary people either. They had a strong ability to accumulate wealth.
Yet, even after half a month, they had only managed to gather 140,000 gold coins between them.
Combined, that was it. The two of them were already considered the richest players in the Novice Village!
But now, each of them was being offered an investment mission requiring 500,000 gold coins!
And this investment mission was different from ordinary quests. Normal missions only rewarded you after completing them.
This investment mission gave you the gold coins immediately upon acceptance!
As for failing the mission?
They weren’t worried at all.
With 500,000 gold coins, they could easily invest elsewhere, like speculating in the gold market, and quickly recoup the money.
Even if they lost, at most they’d have to repay 1 million gold coins.
For them, that wasn’t a big deal!
“Accept!”
“Accept!”
The two only exchanged a glance and instantly made their decision!
In perfect sync, they accepted the investment mission.
Whoosh!
In the next second, each of their money pouches gained an extra 500,000 gold coins.
Together, they now had an additional 1 million gold coins!
It happened in just the blink of an eye.
If they hadn’t experienced it themselves, they wouldn’t have believed it, even if beaten to death!
“You can choose to keep leveling up in the Novice Village or go to the big city to level up. The mission won’t fail based on where you are,” Ye Qiu explained.
“We understand!”
The siblings were both ecstatic and incredibly nervous!
While failing the mission wouldn’t be devastating for them, if they could succeed, why would they want to fail?!
They deeply bowed to Ye Qiu in gratitude as a farewell gesture, then hurried back to the Novice Village to find Village Chief Elder Xu and use the teleportation array to head for the big city.
After they left, Ye Qiu muttered to himself, “You two better not let me down.”
Before him, a panel displaying the siblings’ status appeared.
Among the stats, there was a new one — Intimacy.
It was similar to Favorability, but fundamentally different.
Favorability showed how much someone liked you, and it was one-sided.
Intimacy, however, reflected mutual trust, relationship strength, and mutual recognition, with both sides sharing the same value.
For example, Ye Qiu’s intimacy with Ning Qianjun was 70 points, and with Ning Qingyue it was 50 points.
Also, there was a rule for issuing investment missions, you couldn’t issue them to anyone with intimacy over 90 points.
Ye Qiu fully understood why: it was to prevent “money laundering.”
The higher the intimacy, the higher the potential investment amount.
Right now, with their intimacy levels, the maximum investment he could give the siblings ranged from 0 to 5 million gold coins.
If their intimacy ever rose above 80 points, investment amounts could reach hundreds of millions, and they could even be given spirit stones, a higher-tier currency!
At this moment, Ning Qianjun and Ning Qingyue, after each paying 1,000 gold coins, stood upon a massive teleportation array.
Ancient and mysterious, the teleportation array was covered in countless intricate runes they couldn’t understand.
“Brother, leveling up 5 levels in three days... sounds pretty tough,” Ning Qingyue said, a bit regretfully.
At this moment, the two of them were carefully going over the investment task they had just accepted from Mystery. They discovered that investment tasks couldn’t be completed as a team! Of course, they could still hire other players to help kill monsters like before, but it definitely wouldn’t be as fast as recruiting NPCs.
Ning Qianjun, however, wore a bright smile and said, “Have you ever seen an investment mission before?”
Ning Qingyue shook her head firmly. “Not only have I never seen one, I’ve never even heard of it. I even searched the forums earlier, and there weren’t any posts mentioning anything like it!”
“That’s exactly it,” Ning Qianjun said. “We’re lucky. We might have stumbled onto a hidden quest!”
Ning Qingyue was stunned for a moment.
Ning Qianjun continued, “This is 500,000 gold coins we’re talking about! That’s enough to directly buy a piece of ordinary Orange Epic equipment!”
At the current exchange rate, in reality, 500,000 gold coins were equivalent to 500,000 yuan, not a small sum at all!
Buying an orange epic equipment item with average stats was entirely possible.
Ning Qingyue nodded in agreement but added hesitantly, “But... the teleportation array only cost 1,000 gold coins. And Mystery said that in the big city, gold is everything, that everything costs money. He even implied that the 140,000 gold we originally had wasn’t enough. Don’t you think he might be exaggerating a bit?”
Looking around, although half a month had passed since the game launched, there still weren’t that many players at level 10. But that didn’t stop everyone from crowding around.
Ever since yesterday, when the first level 10 player used the teleportation array to leave, this place had been bustling!
“1,000 gold coins just for teleportation?! What a rip-off!”
“Damn it, I might be stuck in the Novice Village for life!”
“I’m level 8 now, and I only have 196 gold coins...”
“I hit level 10 yesterday, but I still haven’t earned enough to teleport! So frustrating!”
“Rich people have it good. Just cash out in real life and buy gold in-game!”
“The Novice Village is pretty nice anyway. I don’t wanna leave.”
The other players were filled with envy and resentment toward the two siblings inside the teleportation array.
Across all the Novice Villages, not many players had yet been able to afford teleporting to the big city. The cost was just too high!
For rich players, 1,000 gold coins was nothing. But for the average player, it was a massive hurdle.
Flash!
A burst of dazzling light flared from the teleportation array.
In the next instant, the siblings’ figures vanished.
[Ding! Congratulations, players, for arriving at Heavenly Summer Empire — Zhouxing City.]
The light faded from their eyes, revealing an enormous, majestic plaza.
All around them were intricate stone sculptures, guarded by hundreds of NPC soldiers.
A man wearing heavy armor, towering at nearly three meters tall with an imposing aura and a friendly smile, approached them. He looked like an officer.
“Welcome, two foreign humans, to Zhouxing City!” he said warmly.
“Uh, you are?” Ning Qianjun asked politely.
Just arriving in this unfamiliar big city, the siblings were still a bit dazed. Ning Qingyue, however, had already caught sight of something shocking. Her face froze in disbelief.
Not far away, a group of players — clearly identifiable by their appearances — were shirtless, sweating under the scorching sun, hauling heavy stone slabs.
They looked miserable, like ancient laborers building the Great Wall, battered and wounded.
Some of the players spotted Ning Qianjun and Ning Qingyue and tried to wave at them.
Crack!
A nearby NPC soldier immediately whipped one of the players hard!
“Ow—!”
“F*ck!”
The player screamed in pain. The whip had salt water on it, making the wounds burn horribly. The pain felt just as real as in real life!
The siblings were left dumbfounded.
What the hell is going on here?!
Still smiling, the officer extended a hand toward them and said, “I am the Gatekeeper of Zhouxing City. If you wish to enter, you must pay a fee of 100,000 gold coins.”
“What?!” Ning Qingyue’s beautiful eyes widened in disbelief.
100,000 gold coins just to enter the city?! That is pure robbery!
“You—!” Ning Qingyue was about to lose her temper, but Ning Qianjun quickly stopped her and asked politely, “May I ask why the fee is so high?”
Remaining calm to avoid unnecessary trouble, he waited for an answer.
The gatekeeper explained, “You are foreign humans, not native to our lands. The 100,000 gold fee covers the cost of creating your identity cards. Furthermore, once you become official residents of Zhouxing City, you’ll enjoy absolute safety within the city. There’s no need to fear monsters or raiders from the outside.”
Ning Qingyue frowned. “What if we don’t have enough money?”
The gatekeeper’s smile faded slightly. “Then you must surrender all your equipment and stay at least 10 li away from the city. You are not permitted to approach.”
What the hell?!
This is outright banditry!
Ning Qingyue was so angry she almost started cursing.
“We probably can’t win against them,” Ning Qianjun quickly whispered to her in private chat. “These soldiers must be way higher level than us. And that officer, don’t even think about it. If we provoke them and get killed, we’ll lose our gear, experience, and even reputation with NPCs. It’ll ruin our chances in the game!”
“But what are we supposed to do? Just fork over 100,000 gold?!” Ning Qingyue replied angrily.
Ning Qianjun thought for a moment, then asked the officer, “What about those players over there?”
He pointed to the exhausted players laboring away like ancient slaves.
One of them was actually a famous player from their own Novice Village — No. 0001 — who had left for the big city just yesterday.
And now he was here, hauling bricks?!
