"Come quick, come quick! The devs just dropped a welfare event!"
"I heard there's a chance to pull god-tier gear!"
"For real?"
"Damn, the servers are shutting down soon and I've got a pile of gold coins just sitting there. Perfect chance to score some top-tier gear!"
"Count me in, let's go!"
News of "Cassius's Secret Trove" spread like wildfire throughout the city. Eventually, over a thousand closed-beta players gathered outside, a massive, jostling throng packed dozens of layers deep both inside and outside the shop.
Little did they know that dozens of miles away in the royal palace, Cassius was sprawled out, watching the players' reactions through a magic mirror with a wicked grin.
"The beauty of a lottery lies in its simplicity and uncertainty. Buying a mystery box, waiting for the reveal, hoping against unpredictable odds to change one's fate overnight."
"Tsk, tsk. This trick for fleecing chumps has been around for centuries, and it never fails."
"Either way, I'm never the one taking a loss."
"Awoo?"
Tinia tilted her head, letting out a confused howl. She didn't understand, and she simply thought these humans were idiots.
The total value of the gear Cassius had stuffed into the chests was around three thousand gold coins—mostly junk scavenged from the Kingdom of Lakeman's storehouses, along with loot left behind by penniless adventurers. By dividing them across one thousand two hundred chests at five gold coins apiece, he stood to pocket a clean one hundred percent profit.
Over a thousand burning gazes were fixed on the exquisitely decorated metal chests. Each bore the majestic crest of a red dragon, engraved to ward off any magical scrying.
In the crowd, Heiye Shipian stared at the chests as if looking at piles of gold coins, unable to resist licking his lips. "If I could steal some god-tier gear, wouldn't I be set for life?"
But when he looked up at the wyverns patrolling overhead and the tiefling city garrison armed to the teeth, he immediately snuffed out the reckless thought.
"What a shame."
Acting on his rogue instincts, Heiye Shipian subconsciously slipped his hand toward the pocket of the player next to him. But he had forgotten this was the central district of Northwind Keep—a zone where theft was strictly forbidden.
*Bang!*
"Holy crap! Who just blew up?!"
"Wait, isn't that my coin pouch? Serves him right!"
"It's that bastard Heiye! Hahahaha! He thought he was still out in the wild! Guy's lost his damn mind!"
A long chime resonated through the air. The yuan-ti lady, whose figure was exquisitely curved, clapped her hands with a radiant smile.
"We're starting now! Please line up in an orderly fashion to make your purchases~"
"Gimme one!"
"Me first! A single pull can work miracles!"
"Stop pushing, I got here first!"
The players surged forward in a frenzy, packing the shop so tightly that not even water could trickle through.
In the end, it was Tiansheng Zhankuang who relied on his sheer brawn to muscle his way to the front, slapping down five gold coins.
*Whoosh—*
A green glow seeped from the seam of the chest.
"He pulled something! It's a hit!" the players shouted in excitement.
With a crisp chime, a pair of rough leather boots appeared before everyone's eyes.
[Boots of Striding and Springing]
Quality: Uncommon
Description: Boots crafted from pegasus hide. When worn, your running speed is increased by 15%, and you can jump up to three times your normal distance.
"Listen here, boy, a giant leap is a man's true romance!" — Galaga, Chief of the Spiked Club Orc Tribe.
"Whoa—"
"That's legit!"
"Are the drop rates really this high? A hit on the very first try, that's surprisingly generous of the devs!"
"I want one too, hurry up and let me try!"
The onlookers were green with envy and eager to try their luck. Although the boots were only green-tier gear, for melee classes they were just as good as some blue-tier items. What was more, even as green gear, their value far exceeded a measly five gold coins.
"Sir, would you like to buy another?"
"Nah, I'm good, I'm good."
Tiansheng Zhankuang rubbed his polished, shiny bald head, grinning as he shook it.
As a barbarian, he didn't need much gear to begin with. On top of that, he had just scored an item with great synergy for his build; he'd already made a killing.
The players began buying enthusiastically. As item after item was revealed, shimmering chime-effects of magical light sounded repeatedly.
This was another deliberate touch Cassius had implemented, borrowed from the playbooks of certain game developers in his past life. It gave players the ultimate rush when pulling a prize, hooking them on opening boxes.
The chests could even be reused, cutting costs down to the absolute bone.
In just a dozen minutes or so, the players had already bought over a hundred chests. They pulled out all the stops: some washed their faces on the spot to cleanse their bad luck, some prayed to gods and buddhas, and some even resorted to esoteric rituals of sacrifice.
"One more!"
"It's my turn—draw!"
"Amitabha, Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, Amen! Whoever you are, just give me a hit! The power of faith—my faith is burning!"
"I'm willing to trade ten years of my bro being single for a good pull!"
"I offer ten years of Heiye's lifespan as tribute!"
Yet this batch of players didn't seem to have much luck. Most opened common-quality garbage; even uncommon green gear only popped up a dozen times, to say nothing of rare items.
For a time, curses and complaints filled the air, mingled with the insufferable flexing of lucky gacha-braggarts.
"Damn dog planners! I busted my ass doing odd jobs to save up these gold coins, and all I get is a crude iron dagger?!"
"You got off easy! I pulled an adventurer's underpants..."
"Refund! Give us our money back!"
"I sold all my gear just to open chests, and I ended up getting the exact same helmet I just sold! Who knows my pain?!"
"What kind of bullcrap drop rate is this?!"
"Sigh, I only pulled an uncommon-grade staff. Rare gear is way too hard to get."
"Eat my spear, you lucky bastard! Still rubbing it in our faces?! The boys are losing their shirts here—if you hit, just shut up and count your blessings!"
With so few people hitting anything good, the spectating players grew hesitant, wavering over whether to dump months of hard-earned savings into this massive gamble.
Watching quietly from his palace, Cassius thought to himself that things were looking bad:
*These guys are way too unlucky. I didn't even rig the odds! If they don't sell out, I'm going to take a huge hit. Should I pull some strings behind the scenes?*
*Wait, no... looks like the next chest has a rare item. I'll just wait patiently and enjoy the show.*
"Oh? Him of all people?"
The ID of the next player stepping up to open chests looked remarkably familiar to Cassius—it was none other than "Charlotte."
The guild leader of Magic Coin, director of the Magic Agency, and Northwind Keep's most legendary sucker. Players had dubbed him "Charlotte the Price-Hiker," for whenever he made a move, he shook the entire market, prompting sellers to jack up their prices across the board—even achieving the miracle of raising the market's average price by thirty percent in a single day.
"Give me ten chests!"
The moment Charlotte made his move, he showed his staggering extravagance, leaving the throngs of broke players clicking their tongues in awe.
"Damn, that's Charlotte the Price-Hiker for you. Such big bucks."
"That's the first time I've seen someone do a ten-pull."
"Can't blame the guy. After all, this might be the first time in a month he's managed to buy anything at market price."
Chapter 222