The fog in Gryphon Woodlands was too dense. Without a Dispel Fog Scroll, advancing forward was practically impossible. If a Thief couldn't scout the path ahead, the likelihood of encountering monsters unexpectedly was too great, leading to the team potentially wiping. So, when players ran Gryphon Woodlands, they would use up at least one Dispel Fog Scroll, sometimes two or more even.
It would generally take at least 50 Dispel Fog Scrolls for a guild's team to fully map out and familiarize themselves with Gryphon Woodlands. Only then would their gains from each run be more stable.
Gryphon Woodlands in the previous timeline was quite bustling. Guilds would frequently butt heads there.
Nie Yan contacted Guo Huai,「Have some Mages visit Calore's Magic Association. Look for an NPC called Izette and see if he's selling any Dispel Fog Scrolls.」
「Dispel Fog Scrolls? Are they useful?」Guo Huai asked.
「You'll know when the time comes. Remember, these Mages have to be trustworthy. This information can't be leaked under any circumstances,」Nie Yan said If the Magic Association was selling Dispel Fog Scrolls now, he would immediately start hoarding them without question.
「Understood, I'll arrange everything right away,」Guo Huai said. He realized from Nie Yan's voice that this matter was important, so he didn't dare to dally.
After a while, Guo Huai reported back with his findings. 「Sure enough, the Magic Association has Dispel Fog Scrolls up for sale. However, they're way overpriced, 500 gold a scroll.」He couldn't imagine why Nie Yan would be so interested in such a seemingly worthless item.
「Good! Buy all of them and mail them to my personal storage,」Nie Yan said.
「They have five for sale, that's 2,500 gold in total!」Guai Huai said. He felt his heart ache. Even if they did have the gold, they shouldn't spend it so frivolously!
「Hmmm? I didn't mean just in Calore. I want you to have people go to the Magic Associations of every city and buy up all the Dispel Fog Scrolls. This includes the Satreen Empire too! We can't miss a single one!」Nie Yan said. He wanted to create a network specifically dedicated to purchasing Dispel Fog Scrolls. Since these scrolls refreshed every five days at a set time, they could all be purchased in one go. He didn't want other players to notice their existence. If this secret was well kept, the Dispel Fog Scrolls would become an exclusive item of Asskickers United!
Of course, Asskickers United couldn't use up all these Dispel Fog Scrolls themselves, nor did Nie Yan have the gold to support this kind of spending for long. To satisfy his own needs, he naturally planned on selling them for a marked up price in the marketplace.
In the previous timeline, many players crowded inside the Magic Associations to fight over these scrolls. When a player got one, they could sell it for more than 3,000 gold. This was a trade where one could only profit, making back several times the initial investment. Many players went crazy over it!
If Asskickers United monopolized this market, aside from the enormous profits, Nie Yan would also have something to torment Angel Corps, Alliance of Mages, and Divine Protectors with.
The most important issue right now was to keep this secret well hidden. Then Asskickers United would rake in the profits later.
「Are you sure there'll be a market for these scrolls?」Guo Huai asked. The Viridian Empire had close to 30 Cities and 60 towns. As more and more players entered the game, many towns would rapidly expand and establish Magic Associations of their own. Including the Satreen Empire, there were at least 100 cities between the two nations. To buy every Dispel Fog Scroll out there would cost at least 250,000 gold. According to Nie Yan, these scrolls refreshed every five days. That was to say, they would be spending 250,000 gold every five days. This wasn't even including the transportation fees. If they didn't make their money back, Nie Yan would have to do much more than making a few trips to the Underworld.
「Trust me, you'll be in for a nice surprise when the time comes,」Nie Yan laughed.
「Alright, if you say so.」Guo Huai nodded. Fortunately, Asskickers United had grown quite a bit. They had close to 10,000,000 gold in assets and more than 2,000,000 gold on hand. Otherwise, he would never agree to spending so much money. After all, with so many people in the guild, they had to pay an enormous amount of gold every second. It truly wasn't easy to keep up with all the costs.
Under Nie Yan's orders, Guo Huai got to work. Many of the Mages in Asskickers United hid their identities by removing their guild emblems and set out to the various cities in the Viridian and Satreen Empires. These Mages were all vetted, so there was no need to question their loyalty.
A few hours later, the net was fully spread. As for what kind of effect it would have, that remained to be seen. After sinking so much money in it, getting it all back would prove to be pretty easy. Of course, Nie Yan's goal wasn't only to simply recoup his investment. He also wanted to bolster the might of Asskickers United.
When the guild's matters settled down, Nie Yan planned to visit the Temple of Light and undertake his Luminous Dancer class advancement quest. More recently, Alliance of Mages, Divine Protectors, and Angel Corps had been stirring trouble nonstop. Asskickers United had no way to deal with all of them at once, so they could only bear with it and remain on the defensive. An ordinary guild in a similar situation would probably be brought to the brink of financial collapse. However, Asskickers United, with the frightening amount of money they had, remained virtually unaffected.
Aside from the threat of Alliance of Mages, Divine Protectors, and Angel Corps, as more and more players entered the game, more guilds backed by large financial groups were also starting to appear. God Executioner Sword and Penumbra Empire were two such examples. Every day new ones popped up, like Blood Moon, Hidden Dragon, Kings Landing, and many more. Conviction also started to gain a market share of the international gaming market thanks to their language translation system. An increasingly large number of foreign players, most of them backed by powerful organizations, started playing the game. Many of them belonged to professional gaming organizations. They were still developing for now. But when they organized into guilds, their strength couldn't be looked down on either.
Most of these newly established guilds would choose to set up base in small cities or towns. Away from the influence of large guilds, they could safely grow. At this stage of the game, a transfer fee of 1 gold was no longer too much for players. Due to there being too many people in the large cities like Calore, few were lucky enough to find an empty levelling spot. A portion of these players would start migrating to more remote places. This was also a growth opportunity for the smaller guilds.
The fourth month of Conviction's release was the golden period of growth for large guilds. Nie Yan didn't dare to be absent during this time. He would make sure the situation was under control before going off to deal with his own affairs.
The Viridian Empire of the previous timeline was a nation where countless powers warred. Even though Cao Xu had acquired five large guilds, their troubles never ceased to end. One guild after another rose to power, challenging their reign. For them to keep their position as the overlord of the Viridian Empire wasn't easy. Several times it had nearly crumbled.
Like rowing a boat upstream, if you stopped moving forward, you'd eventually fall back. Nie Yan understood the only way Asskickers United could preserve their position was to keep developing without pause. Else one day another guild would rise up and overthrow them.
If Asskickers United wanted to achieve hegemony, they would need to prepare to be assaulted from all sides.
Nie Yan learned from Guo Huai that players from all over were coming to Calore in a bid to join Asskickers United. As long as they were Level 50 or higher and were willing to join the guild, their travel expenses could be reimbursed. Those formers members from guilds like Victorious Return and Unhindered had all but departed Calore. As for where they went, only they knew.
Aside from the guild's affairs, Nie Yan's main goal right now was to reach Level 100 and become a Shadow Dancer. As he racked his brain trying to think of quick ways to level up, he suddenly recalled the Gem of Darkness in his bag. It had stayed with him ever since he exited the Illusory Realm of the Dullahans. He had never found a suitable piece of equipment to socket it with.
Gem of Darkness (9): Socketable Item
Properties: Convert 10% of Attack to Piercing Dark Damage, 1% Defense Ignore, −10% Equipment Requirements
In the near future, Nie Yan planned to put this Gem of Darkness to full use, then charge toward Level 100.
Even the most miniscule of things could bring about shocking results if put to full use.
Looking at the time, the servers would soon close. Nie Yan logged off the game and exited his game capsule. He remembered today was graduation day. As he looked at the game capsule beside him, Xie Yao just happened to exit at this moment.
It was probably the effects of the nutrient fluid. Nie Yan felt like Xie Yao's skin was even whiter, resembling a glistening pearl. She was wearing pink laced pajamas. She was so alluring he felt his mouth salivate.
"Nie Yan, today's graduation day. I heard there's also a performance going on. Let's go together," Xie Yao said in anticipation.
"I'm not sure if it's safe for you to go outside." Nie Yan knitted his brows.
"Don't worry. It's fine if we wear a disguise. I've already asked my parents," Xie Yao said with a coy smile. High school graduation was something that only happened once in a person's life. She didn't want to miss it for the world.
Nie Yan thought for a moment. Since Xie Jun had agreed to it, it meant the Glory and Dragon Soar Financial Groups would send people over. If he also called over Bayonet, there should be no problem. "Alright, sure. Let's go."
Nie Yan and Xie Yao washed up and got dressed. After getting into Nie Yan's car, they drove off.
Huahai High was especially bustling today. Many people were entering and leaving. There also seemed to be some sort of performance going on.
"Nie Yan, didn't you say you were having a friend protect us? Where is he?" Xie Yao asked.
"Don't worry, he's around," Nie Yan smiled.
Xie Yao was a bit confused. She looked around but only saw students walking by, many of whom she was somewhat familiar with. This friend Nie Yan spoke of was nowhere to be seen.
"Let's head in," Nie Yan chuckled. If Bayonet were to be discovered so easily, his days as a mercenary would be a joke.