The gap between players has never been determined solely by individual skill and luck; financial resources are also a crucial factor.
Because the equipment dropped by every player is not necessarily something they can use themselves or find desirable, selling off the equipment they don't need to exchange for greater benefits is a very common practice.
And some players who are financially well-off in real life can use this method to obtain more and better equipment, quickly surpassing most average players.
Currently, the source of various player equipment on the market in Xia Country comes from a large number of individual players selling them. Of course, this is just the main part; there are also some pieces of equipment that flow into the market through unofficial transactions.
Wang Zhifan sighed inwardly at the advantages of rich players, then followed the receptionist into a room upstairs to discuss selling Fine Layer-grade ammunition.
Because what he was selling was only Fine Layer-grade items, and not the rare-grade high-end stuff, this negotiation was not taken seriously by the other party. The shop casually arranged for a buyer to start haggling with him.
At first, the other party even belittled the items he wanted to sell, saying that his ammunition was merely Fine Layer-grade, not considered high-grade goods, and they couldn't offer much money. He could sell it or not, it was up to him.
But Wang Zhifan was not unfamiliar with the player circle. He knew well that his Fine Layer-grade bullets had considerable value. Indeed, they were not high-grade, but they were certainly a hot item.
So, in the time that followed, Wang Zhifan also adopted the stance of an insider, indicating that these merchants shouldn't try to deceive him. He wouldn't sell for too low a price; at worst, he would find another place to sell, believing others would offer a more reasonable price.
When Wang Zhifan finally acted as if he was ending the negotiation and prepared to leave, the buyer at the player mall finally relented, realizing that the young man in front wasn't just any newbie and wasn't easily swindled. Thus, he raised his purchase price slightly to prevent such a desirable item from really ending up with other merchants.
After this slight twist, Wang Zhifan soon left the player mall and returned to Tianhua Avenue.
At the same time, most of the Fine Layer-grade pistol bullets in his personal space had disappeared, leaving only a few as his reserve. Likewise, he also casually sold two defective pieces of his original starter equipment—an ordinary grade dull short sword and a tattered ordinary grade cloth armor—to the player mall for some money, leaving him with forty-five thousand national currency, enough for his living expenses for the next few months.
Having achieved his goal, Wang Zhifan didn't continue wandering aimlessly on Tianhua Street to avoid running into acquaintances like Qiang and getting dragged into time-wasting chatter.
He quickly left this famous pedestrian street of Dongjiang City and took a bus back to his rental apartment.
"Every player can enter a dungeon once a day, without a mandatory requirement, but they must enter at least once a week, or else they'll be forcibly pulled in. But to me, entering the dungeon once a day seems a bit too little."
On the bus, Wang Zhifan contemplated his future plans. Unlike many ordinary players, he really hoped to be able to clear multiple dungeons daily, as this would allow him to grow faster.
However, many other players, the majority of the average player group, do not have such a need, and some people quickly grow very resistant to entering dungeons.
The reason for this is simple: playing dungeons actually carries a significant risk to life!
Never mind that players can return to the real world perfectly restored as long as they still have a breath left after clearing a dungeon, but this all depends on their ability to beat the dungeon. If players die in the dungeon before clearing it, they truly die, and in the real world, it would be a missing persons case.
The feedback mechanism of playing dungeons and getting equipment drops is indeed quite addictive, but if players risk sudden death every time, not many would be excited about it.
However, this line of thinking didn't include Wang Zhifan. He was quite confident in clearing the dungeons, at least the low-level ones, which he didn't find particularly difficult. The reason being that after just two dungeon runs, he had acquired two rare-grade items, putting his strength way above most novice players. As long as he continued to accumulate like this, his strength would eventually overwhelm low-level dungeons and he would find things increasingly easier as he progressed.
Just as Wang Zhifan was contemplating how to further improve his growth speed on the bus, he suddenly noticed that the bus he was on had become quiet.
The bus, which should have been quite noisy, suddenly turned silent, and not only was there no sound inside the bus, but the bustling streets outside also seemed suddenly veiled in a layer of mist, causing the noise to quickly subside and the view to blur.
"What's going on?!"
It was the first time Wang Zhifan had encountered such a strange situation, something he had never experienced in the original owner's memory he had fused with.
In confusion and alertness, he quickly shifted his gaze from the window back to the inside of the bus, and only then did he notice the cause of the silence inside the bus:
The passengers were all sitting there with their eyes closed as if turned to wooden statues, sitting rigidly in their seats or standing in the aisle, all motionless, looking very eerie!
"This is..."
Wang Zhifan's mind suddenly flashed some information, feeling as though he had some insight into the current situation.
"Is this the Gray Realm? Did this bus just enter the Gray Realm?"
He quickly recalled, swiftly standing up from his seat, and soon a long silver shiny horizontal blade appeared in his hand, and a silver-gray leather armor adorned him.
The Gray Realm is named for appearing as a gray area when observed from the outside world in the real world, but according to some players who have entered the Gray Realm, the scenery inside varies, some are indistinguishable from the original area's real-world appearance, and some completely transform into another place entirely.
There is one thing common to all Gray Realms, which is that non-player humans lose all ability to move and become like stone statues, and if this state lasts long, these people may even be at risk of dying completely.
Of course, what is really terrifying about the Gray Realm is not these points; the real problem is that when it appears, it signifies some Gray Realm monsters are descending from unknown places. If these monsters are not quickly and thoroughly cleared, the Gray Realm will gradually expand and could eventually freeze over in the real world, forming a Desperate Realm!