War requires three things: Soldiers, Weapons, and Gold.
Sebastian had the power of a one-man army. He had the skills to forge weapons. Now, he needed the capital.
In the apocalypse, paper money would burn. Cryptocurrency would vanish with the servers. But Sanctuary Credits—the currency of the safe zones established after the Merge—would be the only thing that mattered. And in the early days of the Merge, Gold Coins from The Ethereal Plane converted directly into Credits.
He stood in the bustling market square of Novice Village #109.
Players were shouting, selling wolf pelts for copper and buying overpriced bread. They were scraping by.
Sebastian walked to the Alchemy Stall.
"I need herbs," he told the NPC herbalist. "Silverleaf. Peacebloom. Earthroot. All of it."
"All of it?" The herbalist blinked. "That's... 200 units. That will cost you 5 Silver Coins."
Sebastian checked his funds. He had the 100 copper from the wolf fang sale, plus the "blackmail money" he had looted from the Mayor's safe (a nice bonus of 10 Gold Coins found in a small pouch next to the ring).
He slammed 5 Gold on the counter.
"I'll take the vials too. And the portable cauldron."
The herbalist's eyes turned into dollar signs. "Right away, sir! A pleasure doing business!"
Minutes later, Sebastian was set up in a quiet corner of the village square. He placed the small iron cauldron on the ground.
[Profession: Alchemy (Unlearned)]
He opened his interface.
[Learn Alchemy.]
[Upgrade.]
[Ding! Alchemy Lv 1... Lv 50... Lv 100... Lv 300 (Grandmaster).]
He didn't stop there. He pushed it until the system refused to let him go further without a class advancement quest.
[Current Skill: Alchemy (Grandmaster)]
[Effect: 50% chance to create Double Batches. 20% chance to increase Potion Quality.]
But that was just the base skill. The real magic was his Talent.
[Forbidden Alchemy (Chaos Rank)]
[Effect: Combine any items. Results vary based on Chaos.]
Sebastian picked up a bundle of Silverleaf (a healing herb) and a bundle of Earthroot (a defense herb).
A normal alchemist would make a Minor Healing Potion.
Sebastian held them in his hands and activated his Talent.
"Combine."
His mana drained. The herbs didn't just mix; they liquefied and swirled into a glowing green vortex in his palms. The air smelled of ozone and crushed mint.
[Ding! Chaos Result: Success.]
[Item Created: Potion of Knitting]
He examined the vial. It glowed with a neon green light.
══════════════════════════════════════
[Potion of Knitting]
Grade: Epic
Effect: Instantly restores 500 HP. Cures [Trauma], [Bleeding], and [Broken Bone] status effects immediately.
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
══════════════════════════════════════
"Jackpot," Sebastian grinned.
In the early game, there was no magical healing for broken bones. If a Warrior got his leg smashed by a boss, he had to limp back to town and pay a healer to fix it over an hour. This potion was an instant fix.
It was game-breaking for hardcore raiders.
He spent the next hour churning them out. With his Infinite SP, he had upgraded his [Mana Regeneration] so high that he could spam the Forbidden Alchemy talent without pause.
Fizz. Flash. Ding.
Fizz. Flash. Ding.
He created 50 vials.
He walked over to the Auction House terminal.
Most listings were garbage.
[Rusty Sword - 50 Copper]
[Wolf Meat - 2 Copper]
Sebastian listed his batch.
[Seller: Anonymous]
[Item: Potion of Knitting (Epic)]
[Bid: 1 Gold]
[Buyout: 5 Gold]
[Quantity: 50]
He posted them.
Almost instantly, the World Chat exploded.
[World] xX_Slayer_Xx: "WTF? Did you see the Auction House? Epic potions in a starter village?!"
[World] RichBoi99: "5 Gold? That's insane! Who has 5 Gold?"
[World] ProRaider_V: "It cures Broken Bones? My tank just got his arm snapped by a bear. I need that! Buying it now!"
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The notifications rolled in. The 'Whales'—rich players who had converted real-world cash into game gold via black market sites—were snatching them up.
[System: Auction Successful. You have gained 250 Gold Coins.]
250 Gold. In the current economy, that was enough to buy the entire village.
"Phase 1 complete," Sebastian noted.
He looked at the logout button. His physical body needed attention.
"Logout."
The world of magic dissolved into pixels.
Sebastian gasped, pulling the VR helmet off his head.
The smell of mildew and rain returned. His apartment was dark, cold, and lonely.
He checked the time. 2:00 PM. He had been playing for six hours.
His stomach growled violently.
He grabbed his wrist-phone. He checked his bank account. It was overdrawn.
"Doesn't matter," he muttered.
He navigated to a 'Pay Later' credit site—one of those predatory lenders that charged 500% interest. He took out a maximum loan of 50,000 Credits.
"Come collect in a year," Sebastian sneered at the screen. "If you're still alive."
He opened a bulk delivery app.
"Order: Military-grade MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat). 50 cases. Water purification tablets. 500 gallons of distilled water. Portable solar generators. High-capacity batteries."
He spent every single credit.
The delivery drone would arrive in two hours.
He walked to the window and looked out at the neon-lit city. People were walking below, glued to their phones, worrying about jobs, dates, and trivial drama.
"Enjoy the peace," Sebastian whispered, pressing his hand against the cold glass. "The storm is coming."
He could feel it. A subtle vibration in the air. The mana from the game was already starting to bleed through, microscopic amounts that only a Tier-9 soul could detect.
He turned back to the helmet.
"Time to get back to work. I have a guild to slaughter."
He put the helmet back on.
"Link Start."