This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 435 Friendship

Chapter 435: Chapter 435 Friendship

Although he had been delayed for a while last night before logging off, when the morning sun rose, the White Bear Knights still appeared as promised at the entrance to the Petra Fortress market and met Old Buma who had been waiting there for a while.

The old man, now in a change of clothing, no longer looked disheveled; he not only seemed more spirited but finally resembled a merchant.

"Do you intend to exchange the goods for money, or do you plan to barter?" he respectfully asked the benefactors who approached him, "I recommend the latter, after all, you’ve seen... it’s not very peaceful in the desert right now, and holding onto money is not a wise decision."

Si Si had already discussed this with her teammates beforehand.

"We need to stay here for a while, so let’s exchange it for money."

Old Buma nodded, not saying anything superfluous, and began to help look for buyers in the market who were capable of purchasing their stock of goods.

Without the need for any emphatic promotion, hearing of the Devil cloth originating from the Eastern Provinces soon attracted a group of merchants.

Unable to stay idle, Tail and Meat Meat curiously followed and watched the busy scene.

Sesame Paste had planned to take a look too, but got bumped by a black and white cat, and ended up squatting on the ground, unable to help but smile as he petted it lying on its back.

Si Si entrusted the task of scouting for buyers to Buma and found a quieter place to sit nearby. She opened the newly purchased "Silver Moon Holy Words" on her lap and began reading in silence.

This book probably held a status similar to the "Bible" in Camel Hump Kingdom; its content roughly constitutes the local believers’ "interpretation" of teachings from the Spirit of the Sand Sea.

If "Oasis under Tobal Mountain Range" explains the local cultural landscape from a scholar’s perspective, then this "Holy Words," recommended by academy researchers, analyzed the spiritual core of the locals from a believer’s point of view.

Under the protection of the Jubar Mountains, the geographical advantage of Camel Hump Kingdom almost completely shielded it from Variant disturbances.

The main threats mainly came from the sea.

Producing salt, camels, large-horned cattle imported from Poluo Province, and a variety of fruits and grains, the local area’s blend of backwardness and prosperity coexisted; craftsmanship and commerce thrived, and the citizen class was relatively wealthy. Some city-states even had merchants who did not pledge fealty to feudal lords and mayors elected by the citizens.

For this reason, the local attitude towards religion and the royal family was not as respectful as that of the populace in the other four kingdoms.

If it’s said Falcon Kingdom stands for classical militarism, the now-fallen Honey Badger Kingdom was a constitutional monarchy, the unvisited Golden Lizard Kingdom follows a mystic feudal monarchy, and the war-engulfed Lion Kingdom adheres to a sage inner path feudal monarchy, then this place was more akin to a classical republic.

The twelve city-states were highly autonomous, and the local residents not only had more secularized habits of life but even established a secularized "new religion" —

The "Silver Moon Sect."

This sect intertwined the faith in the Spirit of the Sand Sea with the animism theories from the Southern Islands, fabricating a "lover" named the Silver Moon Goddess for the genderless, wifeless Spirit of the Sand Sea, and adding a touch of humanity to its divinity.

According to "Silver Moon Holy Words," the Spirit of the Sand Sea rules over Sunset Province as the lord of the deserts and is destined to govern the universe.

But south of the Tobal Mountains, irrigated jointly by the river and "levees," Silver Moon Bay is the territory of the Silver Moon Goddess, governed by the two deities together.

Locals accepted the mainstream sect’s interpretation of doctrines, including eschatological views such as "the world will eventually be swallowed by sands," but they also proposed new views.

For instance, "If the world is to burn out one day, cherish this last twilight," and "A candle can dispel darkness, lighting one at dawn can delay the coming of the apocalypse."

The former corresponds to the secular concept of enjoying the moment, while the latter has evolved into a worship culture.

At the beginning of each month, believers in Camel Hump Kingdom light a candle at home, face Tobal Mountains to worship and recite scriptures in prayer; they could even hire three unconverted infidels to do this for them, unlike the mainstream sect’s followers who pray daily.

"...It seems Sunset Province is really vast, somehow evolving into five distinct cultural ideologies on a single desert."

While flipping through the book, Si Si muttered softly, simultaneously making up her mind to collect more works written during the Wasteland Era, translating and compiling their content for posting on the forum.

After all, it would be such a waste if no one discovered these meticulously crafted settings by Dog Plan.

Besides, she had a certain feeling.

The work she was doing might reconnect the severed cultural lineage of this world torn by war and radiation dust.

Although this wouldn’t bring any silver coins or Contribution Points, being a dispassionate Task Master in such a highly immersive open-world game would be too disappointing.

Might as well consider it a hobby.

Despite the noisy market, it didn’t interfere with her reading.

The haggling likely lasted until midday; there were too few traveling merchants who could afford such a large amount of money at once, and the White Bear Knights were not willing to barter.

Old Buma, speaking under the canopy until he was hoarse, finally encountered a buyer powerful enough to take over the stock.

This merchant wasn’t very tall and had a slightly dark skin tone; from his almost distorted accent, it was clear he came from Poluo Province in the southwest.

He planned to take these fine silks and the assortment of odd commodities back to his homeland,

Including those items of black and white silk.

The magical chemical products greatly interested him; the only drawback was one thing—

"Why are there only black and white?" he asked, puzzled.

Tail was taken aback.

"Eh? Don’t they look good?"

"It’s not that they don’t look good," the merchant pondered, stroking his chin, "Don’t you have dyes there? Why not consider dyeing them in myriad colors..."

Closing the book in her hands and rising from the carpet, Si Si’s expression was slightly peculiar.

"That would be pretty ugly."

All those colors and whatnot...

Whether in reality or in the Game, she wasn’t too keen on trying them, but beside her, Tail seemed lost in thought.

Hope she wasn’t seriously considering this.

The Merchant awkwardly laughed.

"Well, that works too, I’m quite satisfied with your commodities... let me think, how about ten million Golden Camel Coins?"

Upon hearing the number ten million, Tail gasped and quickly whispered to Meat Meat beside her.

"Ten million... what does that even mean?"

Meat Meat whispered back.

"I don’t know! But a cow here costs just three to four thousand..."

Tail was instantly shocked, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh my giao! Over a thousand cows! Meat Meat, let’s become cowherds from now on!"

Meat Meat flatly refused.

"Not a chance! We are the White Bear Knights; herding cows would be so embarrassing! Plus, didn’t you dream of becoming the head of the Mercenary Guild, Ah Wei? Have you forgotten your dream?"

Tail scratched the back of his head.

"Umm... It’s a tough decision."

Sesame Paste, holding a kitten, shyly smiled.

"Haha..."

Haggling was Si Si’s job, among everyone her language skills in United Human were the best, not only for basic communication but also for understanding some of the more obscure terms.

Although she couldn’t match Crow and Teng Teng, who have been in the Game since the "ancient times", at least in terms of language capabilities she had reached level T1, quickly catching up to some big shot who was nearly married off to a cardboard cutout.

After some tough bargaining, the goods were finally sold for ten million Golden Camel Coins.

Although that guy looked like his wallet was wrung dry, Si Si always felt the downcast expression hid a mischievous smirk.

As for the other members of the White Bear Knights, they were now immersed in

Especially hearing that merchandise worth hundreds of thousands of silver coins was exchanged for Golden Camel Coins that could buy over three thousand cows, Tail and Meat Meat’s eyes nearly turned the color of silver coins.

Taking the average price of five thousand silver coins per cow...

Fifteen million silver coins?!

Tail excitedly clenched his fists.

"Giao! Si! We struck it rich!"

Meat Meat also excitedly said.

"Oh oh oh! I’ll ask the Manager to make me an exoskeleton just like Trash King’s!"

"That’s... unbelievable," Sesame Paste was utterly stunned, almost dropping the kitten in his arms.

Si Si looked at her friends and curved her lips.

"We didn’t strike it rich, but we did make a little profit... By the way, Ah Wei, and Meat Meat, remember not to brag on the Forum."

Both Tail and Meat Meat nodded at the same time.

"Mmmhm!"

"Don’t worry! I’ll keep an eye on this Tail!"

Seeing how easily these two agreed, Si Si was somewhat concerned.

But honestly, the profit wasn’t all that exaggerated; the hardest part about trading in the Wasteland wasn’t the bargaining, but safely transporting the goods back.

Even if the over a thousand cows made it back to Frost Pike Ranch without a scratch, subtracting the expenses for fodder, fresh water, hiring help, natural thinning of the livestock, and market supply and demand changes. If they bought cows and transported them back, making half of fifteen million actual profit would be no easy feat.

Plus, considering the capacity limit of the ranch and the risks hidden within the transportation cycle, this method was hard to keep making stable money.

Those factories selling bricks, cement, steel, airplanes, tanks, and big artillery, albeit with a low ROE, faced nearly limitless demand from the Alliance.

These were the real money printing machines.

Many T0 and T1 players had stopped openly sharing their earnings on the Forum.

There was no direct evidence, but conservatively, Si Si estimated their assets were worth no less than a billion, perhaps even more.

They just didn’t cash out the profits through dividends...

...

Both parties rented a warehouse, completed the delivery of the goods, and the counting of the coins.

Looking at the boxes of gold coins on the ground, the merchant dusted off his hands with a sense of accomplishment and, smiling at Si Si and her companions, said,

"Considering you’ve enabled me to make a good profit, I’ll offer you a piece of advice. Whatever business you’re here for, I advise you to quickly exchange your Golden Camel Coins for Dinar or other things of value."

Tail slightly tipped his head.

"Why?"

"Once the army arrives, this money will become worthless... Just look at the people in the refugee camps and slums; their pockets are stuffed with Golden Lion Coins and Gold Badger Coins, yet they can’t even buy a loaf of bread. I’ve heard that in Silver Moon Bay, many wealthy merchants are exchanging Golden Camel Coins for Dinar or boats to go overseas."

Being on someone else’s territory, the merchant did not make his point too directly but hinted enough and then stopped.

Within a week, the Honey Badger Kingdom had completely fallen, and the Lion Kingdom had lost half of its territory. These ancient kingdoms were no match for the Falcon Kingdom, which was supported by the army, in terms of equipment or military theory.

To him, the situation in Falling Leaves Province was as good as doomed.

Camel Hump Kingdom’s ultimate fate would probably be similar to the Falcon’s, bowing down to the army and circulating Dinar as the legal tender.

"Then...what about exchanging them for gold?" Sesame Paste asked softly.

"Gold..." The merchant shook his head, "I wouldn’t recommend it."

Despite several regional forces in the Wasteland minting gold, gold itself wasn’t considered very valuable, and this was due to many deep reasons. These included the large amounts of gold mined in space left over from the Prosperity Epoch, the total value of precious metals stored being far more than the gross social product, and the cultural forms of the Wasteland Era lacking anticipation for a better tomorrow and desire for a better life, among others...

The biggest difference between a chaotic world and the Wasteland was that people in chaos didn’t doubt that it was only temporary and would end someday, while for those in the Wasteland, very few hoped that their fallen civilization could be revived.

Therefore, what was truly valuable in the Wasteland was never the precious metals but rather the even more expensive confidence.

Currencies lacking confidence would soon become worthless.

While other factors like military strength, productivity, technology, and culture that could provide additional value did determine the value of money, they were merely superficial.

The merchant turned his gaze back to Si Si; he felt she should understand the implication of his words, removed his hat as a farewell gesture,

"Thank you again, generous and beautiful lady, your cargo has put a perfect end to my journey east, and I sincerely advise you to leave this place of conflict before it’s too late."

"Thank you for the advice; I’ll pay attention," Si Si replied without giving any judgment on his words, waving goodbye to the merchant.

Old Buma finally couldn’t hold back and cursed once the guest had left,

"Petra Fortress will never surrender to the army; we’re not cowards like them!"

Tail enthusiastically said,

"Oh! Of course, as long as we build Petra Fortress, everything will get better!"

Even though Old Buma didn’t quite understand what she said, he felt it was praise for his hometown, and his indignantly filled face suddenly beamed with joy.

Meat Meat couldn’t help but make a snide remark,

"Ah Wei, you’re playing the wrong game."

As Si Si watched the jolly figure disappearing around the corner, she glanced at the coin bearing a camel in her hand, then turned her gaze back to the crate behind her stuffed full of coins. After a moment of thought, she looked towards Old Buma,

"I’m considering opening a bank where people fleeing from the Lion Kingdom can exchange Golden Lion Coins for Golden Camel Coins... Is private banking permitted here?"

This was not a spur-of-the-moment idea.

It was just that the merchant’s words had shown her a new business opportunity.

"Well... there’s no rule against it," Old Buma, still grinning, suddenly became serious and advised, "Exchange these coins for Golden Lion Coins? What do you need Golden Lion Coins for?"

Si Si: "Is it not allowed?"

Old Buma said with an exasperated laugh.

"It’s not about whether it’s allowed or not... it’s that the Lion Kingdom is about to fall apart, their currency will soon be worthless."

Although he emotionally believed that Petra Fortress would never fall, the neighboring Lion Kingdom was a different story.

Once the City of Abundance falls,

the downfall of the kingdom is just a matter of time.

Si Si nodded thoughtfully and then said,

"Then... let’s set the exchange rate at 6:1."

Six Golden Lion Coins for one Golden Camel Coin.

Though not enough to ensure these unfortunate people could live as comfortably as in their homeland, it would at least prevent them from starving.

Upon hearing that rate, Old Buma wryly smiled.

Six to one...

Even if it was six hundred to one, it would only be exchanging for a pile of trash...

Tail tilted his head and looked at Si Si.

"But aren’t we supposed to buy cows and take them back?" Si Si inquired.

"Well, that’s true, but as long as we win this war and drive the army out of Falling Leaves Province, we’ll be able to buy even more cows..." Si Si, her eyes sparkling with excitement, was halfway through her sentence when something suddenly occurred to her, and she stopped abruptly.

"Ah, right, why don’t we distribute the profits first?"

"Share profits?" Meat Meat cocked her head, "Why here?"

Si Si pondered for a moment and then spoke calmly.

"Well... it’s just as a precaution. After all, investment comes with risks, and I can’t guarantee that my judgment will be absolutely correct."

Even the most carefully laid plans can face unexpected risks.

If successful, the rewards would be gratifying, but failure could mean not only losing money but also risking something even more valuable than money—our friendship.

These boxes full of Golden Camel Coins were almost everyone’s total fortune saved up since the game began, including most of the earnings from the last dungeon.

If it turned into a loss.

That would be half a year of hard work down the drain.

She believed her companions were not the type to prioritize profit over everything else, and that was why she enjoyed being with them.

But she was ultimately realistic.

Realistic people find it hard to convince themselves to trust in the odds of human nature.

What’s more, even if her companions could forgive her mistake, she would have a hard time forgiving herself for letting everyone’s efforts go to waste.

She admitted to herself that she was not as brave as others might think she was.

She was not afraid of many things.

But if there was one thing she truly feared, it was taking the blame...

"If that nuclear bomb really blows up the riverbank, we might still lose money even if we win. If you’re worried about losing the principal—"

"Don’t say things that make you seem like an outsider."

Suddenly, she felt a warm sensation enveloping her shoulders.

Si Si, who a second ago had been analyzing the situation calmly, suddenly felt her cheeks flush with an unexpected red, and she found herself at a loss for words.

Sesame Paste, who was behind her, had embraced her shoulders and was shaking her cat ears as she leaned in close to Si Si’s face with a cheerful voice.

"I actually know that, Si Si. You always think things through and you’re super dependable when it comes to analyzing problems. Although I’m just an ordinary citizen and a school teacher in real life, and my gaming skills are average, not as great as you guys, we are partners... Please trust us a bit more!"

"If you have any plans just let us know, don’t carry such a heavy psychological burden, just go for it with confidence!"

"That’s right!" Meat Meat, whose eyes had been shining from the start, raised her paw excitedly and said, "I may not understand much, but it sounds so impressive!"

She wasn’t one of the strong high-level players either; in games, she instinctively chose support roles, preferred to hide behind the ADC even after beefing up, and although timid, she got more addicted when losing, even resorting to criticizing teammates in public because it was better than failing people she knew.

She still didn’t understand why the operators chose her, let alone how she had gotten lucky enough to draw a "Variant character with exceptional initial attributes."

However, that wasn’t the luckiest thing to her.

In her eyes, the luckiest thing was meeting a group of friends who never ridiculed her clumsiness and were willing to grow together with her.

Even when things like "the MT getting scared and fleeing causing the squad to lose its front line" happened, her friends wouldn’t criticize her for being bad, but rather patiently encourage her and help her adjust her equipment and explore new tactics...

She was so grateful to have met them.

Tail, equally enthusiastic, raised her hand.

"Wow! If no one objects, and Tail agrees too! But we have to set aside some funds for treasure hunting, right? We’ve agreed to go on an expedition to the ruins, so let’s not spend all our living expenses!"

Meat Meat gave her a side glance and retorted.

"No one else would ever do that, okay?"

"Giao!!"

Tail showed an expression of being deeply struck, but it was obviously just a playful jest among friends.

Seeing her supportive friends, Si Si’s eyes moistened with gratitude, and the excuses that had risen to her lips finally condensed into two words.

"Thank you..."

"I’ve told you, there’s no need to be so formal."

Releasing Si Si’s shoulders, Sesame Paste picked up the cat that had been placed on the ground, and said with an embarrassed smile.

"Speaking of which, do we have a plan for the ruins in Lost Valley?"

Back to wearing a confident smile, Si Si replied seriously.

"I was just about to talk about that."