Chapter Fourteen: Encountering a Swindler

Chapter Fourteen: Encounter with a Swindler

Shi Bai found himself plunged into deep thought. In his previous life, he had never encountered something like this in the game. Could it be that his rebirth had triggered some unknown shift in the fabric of space and time? He hurriedly called upon the system, asking, “Is this world not the same as before? Why are so many things different now?”

“Apologies, I forgot to mention—a small issue occurred during your rebirth. This world is no longer the Earth you once knew. You can think of it as a parallel universe.”

“What?!”

“However, many things remain unchanged. Your daily life shouldn’t be affected.”

Shi Bai was utterly baffled. No wonder there was talk of martial arts worlds and underworld societies—he had actually arrived in a different universe altogether.

But now that things had come to this, he had no time to dwell on it. He quickly maneuvered his little swordsman to charge at the Mutant Zombie King.

One slash. Two slashes. Three slashes…

There was no denying the Mutant Zombie King was now much stronger. Its attack power and movement speed both far surpassed those of the previous Zombie King. Even with Shi Bai’s near-superhuman control skills, he was still repeatedly caught, losing half a health bar with each hit.

Helpless, Shi Bai had to use three resurrection coins before, with a final agonized cry, the Mutant Zombie King’s health was finally depleted.

Both Shi Bai’s and Gao Yang’s eyes widened. “What kind of loot will it drop?”

But something strange happened again. Even though the Mutant Zombie King’s health had hit zero, it still didn’t fall.

Shi Bai’s heart skipped a beat. “Don’t tell me…”

Sure enough, a wave of distorted light burst forth—a spray of golden radiance shot from the Mutant Zombie King, and a zombie clad in golden armor with a crown atop its head appeared before them.

[Second Mutation: Zombie Emperor]

“What?!”

Chapter Six: Encounter with a Swindler

“Second mutation!” both shouted in unison.

“Damn! There’s actually something like this?!” Gao Yang yelled.

Shi Bai was completely stunned. The odds of a single mutation were already slim—how had he run into two? Could it be related to the tenfold drop rate he had activated?

But now was no time to ponder. The Zombie Emperor had already raised its iron sword, charging at Shi Bai.

Shi Bai quickly maneuvered his little swordsman to dodge, instinctively licking his lips. “A second mutation—what kind of top-tier gear will this one drop?”

Gao Yang’s heart was pounding in his throat. “Gear? Do you even think we can beat it?”

Shi Bai considered for a moment, then quickly handed Gao Yang a hundred-yuan bill. “Hurry, top up my account with 100 Q-coins!”

Gao Yang was taken aback. “Damn, you still have money?!”

“Cut the nonsense! Go!” Shi Bai snapped.

“Got it!” Gao Yang understood the urgency and immediately rushed to the counter.

Shi Bai executed every maneuver to its limit, circling behind the Zombie Emperor and striking relentlessly, but its stats were simply too high. Shi Bai died on the spot several times.

A while later, Gao Yang returned. “All topped up!”

“Alright! This should do it now.”

With 100 Q-coins, Shi Bai no longer feared death—he could brute-force the boss with 100 resurrection coins if needed.

After about twenty minutes of grueling combat, the little Ghost Swordsman finished the Zombie Emperor with a Mountain Collapse Strike. The Emperor’s health bar finally emptied, and it let out an anguished wail.

The screen zoomed in abruptly. The Zombie Emperor exploded in a shower of fragments, and a trove of equipment scattered across the screen like blossoms in the wind.

Both Shi Bai and Gao Yang gaped in astonishment.

“Windburn Robe!”

Shi Bai’s mind buzzed. This was the most valuable upper-body armor at level 60; in that resource-strapped version, it could fetch thirty million gold!

Who would have thought the twice-mutated Zombie Emperor would drop an item that normally only appeared in the Abyss?

Gao Yang hastily moved his little gunner over to snatch it, but Shi Bai got there first and secured it in his inventory.

“Quick! Check the stats!” Gao Yang didn’t even sound upset.

Shi Bai opened his backpack and hovered the mouse over it—a level 13 pink-quality armor appeared on the screen.

“It’s actually pink!” Gao Yang frowned. “Is that better than purple gear?”

Shi Bai was momentarily stunned—Gao Yang didn’t recognize its value.

But it made sense; they were both new players. Shi Bai recalled that back in the day, he too had thought purple was the best, not knowing pink gear existed, let alone legendary items.

“Pink is definitely better than purple,” Shi Bai explained patiently. “Look at its stats—increased attack speed, movement speed, and jump. It’s top tier!”

“So what? It doesn’t even boost attack power,” Gao Yang replied dismissively.

Shi Bai almost burst out laughing. It was exactly the kind of naïve thinking he’d had as a newbie, always chasing after attack power.

He didn’t bother explaining further. After leaving the dungeon, they arrived at Hedonmar’s main street, where Shi Bai announced in chat, “Windburn Robe! Who wants it?”

As soon as the words were out, three or four chat windows popped up.

“How much?”

“How much is it?”

“What’s your price?”

…

Shi Bai found the questions tedious and ignored them, calling out again, “Windburn Robe, thirty million!”

This time, all inquiries vanished.

Gao Yang, however, was shocked. “You’re actually asking for thirty million? Are you insane?”

Shi Bai just smiled calmly. “You don’t understand. That’s what it’s worth.”

Gao Yang rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. Like you’ll ever sell it,” he muttered, heading off to grind more dungeons.

Shi Bai ignored him and continued advertising. Finally, someone messaged him.

“Hey man, could you go a little lower? I’ll offer twenty-five million.”

Shi Bai saw that the price was fair and, without fuss, invited the buyer to trade, placing the Windburn Robe in the trade window.

Then the buyer said, “You click trade first.”

Shi Bai didn’t think much of it and clicked, knowing that you still had to confirm once more to finalize.

But just then, the buyer suddenly sent a party invite.

Shi Bai paused, puzzled—why would a trade require a party? Was the guy trying to send him a virus? He reflexively declined and messaged, “No need.”

But the buyer was persistent, sending another party invite.

Shi Bai was growing impatient, cancelling it again and sending a question mark.

The buyer neither replied nor gave up, just kept sending party invites.

So Shi Bai would click cancel, and the buyer would send another invite. This went on for seven or eight rounds.

Finally, just as Shi Bai’s impatience peaked, the buyer suddenly sent a confirm-trade prompt.

After cancelling so many times, Shi Bai’s fingers had developed a reflex, and when the confirmation window popped up, he clicked it automatically before his brain could react.

In those days, the trade confirmation window in Dungeon Fighter would position the cursor directly over the confirm button.

So, just like that, the deal went through—Shi Bai received nothing, and the buyer got the Windburn Robe for free.

Shi Bai was stunned. “What just happened?” He hurriedly checked his backpack—his gold was unchanged, but the Windburn Robe was gone.

“Damn! I just got scammed!”

Gao Yang, who was fighting monsters, immediately looked over and asked, “What happened?”

Shi Bai was devastated, his heart sinking into a pit of despair, as though he’d plummeted from heaven straight into hell. He no longer wanted to play at all.

“My heart,” he lamented, “feels cold as ice…”