Chapter 5.2: Black Market Challenge
At this moment, several players were standing on the challenge platform, accepting the goblin’s challenge.
“Come on! you can do it this time!”
“Come on! beat those goblins!”
Several players cheered and shouted for a rogue player on the field, their eyes gleaming red, like crazy gamblers.
The challenge was a test of player skills. In a 30-yard long and 10-yard wide area, after entering the arena, all player attributes would become 10 points. Skills couldn’t be used, and equipment was ineffective. Players could only evade or block the shots from goblin rifles. To win, they had to reach the finish line.
The goblins offered three levels of challenges: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each challenge could be attempted once every three days. The cost for participation was 5 Copper Coins for bronze, 5 Silver Coins for silver, and 5 gold coins for gold. The higher the challenge, the better the rewards, and sometimes even [Onyx] Tier equipment might appear.
For players who passed the challenge for the first time in [Red Leaf Town], even the bronze reward was almost equivalent to the silver reward.
Shi Feng remembered that in the previous life, a [Swordsman] named Kuang Feng successfully passed the bronze challenge in [Red Leaf Town] for the first time and obtained a rare [Swordsman] skill book.
After a while, the rogue player on the field was hit and fell 20 yards away, with only 10 yards left to the finish line.
“Darn it, so close. Do any of you have money? I’ll definitely make it next time,” the male rogue said repeatedly after resurrecting outside the field.
A male priest shook his head and said, “Boss Kuang, we’ve given you all our money. We really don’t have any left.”
Shi Feng, on the side, heard the name “Boss Kuang” and was surprised. He shifted his gaze to the rogue player.
Clad in black nocturnal gear, not very tall, and quite slender, resembling a monkey, Shi Feng found it hard to imagine that the 10th-ranked assassin on the Star Moon Kingdom’s assassin leaderboard, Kuang Feng, was the ‘monkey’ in front of him.
The assassin named Kuang Feng shifted his gaze to Shi Feng, appraising him with a look that seemed to have found prey. He approached Shi Feng and smiled, “Hello, friend. I’m Kuang Feng, the captain of the Assassin Alliance. Could you lend me 5 Copper Coins? I’ll pay you back 20 Copper Coins tomorrow, alright?”
Kuang Feng was quite resentful of his failure this time. With only 10 yards left to the finish line, he had already found some patterns. Given another chance, he was sure he could make it. Therefore, he wanted to use the name of his guild to intimidate Shi Feng and borrow 5 Copper Coins from him.
“5 Copper Coins?” Shi Feng pondered for a moment before replying, “Borrowing 5 Copper Coins is fine. But you would need to pay me back 50 Copper Coins tomorrow.”
This response surprised Kuang Feng. It was different from what he had expected. After all, he was a rather famous member of the [Assassin Alliance], a rather famous Guild that also played in many other Virtual Reality games, Kuang Feng. He didn’t bother with any pleasantries and assumed Shi Feng was a gaming novice and would just cave in.
Seeing Kuang Feng’s silence, Shi Feng asked again, “Will you borrow it?”
“Sure,” Kuang Feng said with tears in his eyes. Other players treated him like a deity, but Shi Feng didn’t react in the same way. But considering the generous reward, 50 copper coins are nothing.
“Here’s the 5 Copper Coins. Let’s add each other as friends, and don’t forget to return my 50 Copper Coins tomorrow,” Shi Feng said, handing over 5 Copper Coins to Kuang Feng from the 60 Copper Coins he earned from selling the necklace. He also reminded Kuang Feng about returning the 50 Copper Coins.
Kuang Feng, upon receiving the 5 Copper Coins, was tearful as he said, “Okay, I won’t forget.”
Unaware of Kuang Feng’s thoughts, Shi Feng walked towards the green-skinned goblin administrator after completing the transaction.
“Sir, time is money. What can I do for you?” the goblin administrator said arrogantly.
“I want to participate in the bronze challenge,” Shi Feng said, handing over 5 Copper Coins.
The goblin administrator nodded in satisfaction after checking the coins, then opened the wooden door to the challenge and let Shi Feng in.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new challenger for the bronze challenge. Let’s welcome this brave [Swordsman],” the goblin announced loudly.
“Boss Kuang, that kid who lent you the money is also participating in the challenge,” the male priest reminded.
Kuang Feng, still recuperating, smiled and said, “That kid is just a complete newbie. He probably thinks this challenge is easy since it’s just sprinting and dodging. Although the range that he need to run for is only a 30-yard , once you reach 15 yards, the goblins’ attack pattern changes, their attack speed also increased a lot, to the point where even I find it too much to handle.”
“Of course, Boss Kuang. If someone as amazing as you can only reach 20 yards. I guess that kid will probably only make it to 5 yards at most,” the male priest nodded and chuckled.
In the challenge arena, the three goblins at the finish line were already prepared, aiming their rifles at Shi Feng on the starting line.
The countdown in the challenge arena began.
3-
2-
1-
The challenge began!