Chapter 25 – Slime Poison
On the official forums, Chen Mo’s pay-to-view post has copyright protection. If other players pay, then copy it and re-distribute it for free afterwards, they will be subjected to punishment.
However, in the case of Jiu Ge, he had already unlocked the Free-skill system before Chen Mo posted the video so he had the right to post a video of his own.
“I, as a member of the Richie Rich Club, find it imperative to stand in opposition to unscrupulous actions such as profiting from the reveal of the Free-skill system. I stand in opposition – otherwise the forum will become a place that demands money for every such post in the future. This information is crucial to the growth of the Chinese region players and withholding it will have disastrous consequences for our might! I, Jiu Ge, spent over a day researching the Free-skill system. My ranking has lagged as a result but it was worth it. Now, I will tell you all that I know…”
“Well said! The Richie Rich Club is right! We have to stop these money-making actions!”
“Agree! Upvote Jiu Ge!”
“Jiu Ge! I want to join the Richie Rich Club!”
“Jiu Ge! Be my boyfriend!”
… … …
As Chen Mo read Jiu Ge’s post, thunderous clouds roiled about him.
Son of a bitch! This Richie Rich Club asshole is gaining a following by stepping on him!
Jiu Ge revealed the Free-skill system only a little bit later than he did. If he did want to reveal it for everyone’s sake, then he should have revealed it sooner.
However, the Richie Rich Club had held the information back too. Though they could gain a bit of recognition and admiration by revealing it right away, they knew that freely given information would not be long-remembered by the forgetful masses.
Now, with someone posting a pay-to-view and them countering with a free post, coupled with niceties about the growth of all players on the Chinese servers, the situation has become very much different.
Chen Mo, the person who posted and asked for a fee has become the scrooge and the Richie Rich Club the benefactor of all!
The Richie Rich Club, huh?
Just you wait – once I get my hands on you, you’ll know why flowers are so red!
Chen Mo’s gaze grew icy cold. The Richie Rich Club shall be his first enemy in GENESIS.
He had not expected a windfall from his post but he still needed capital for his plans.
If the Richie Rich Club had truly posted it freely for the betterment of all Chinese players, then he, Chen Mo, would applaud.
But this Richie Rich Club was obviously using his as a ladder to climb towards fame. How else could that Jiu Ge have an essay of thousands of words in his post explaining the process and an accompanying video in the short span of a few minutes?
Chen Mo added the Richie Rich Club to his little black book and returned to the game to acquire the items.
“Hey buddy, will you sell me a piece of Braised Dolphin Fish for 1 silver?”
“Hi there, pretty miss! I’ll buy Corrosive Apple for 1 silver!”
“Yo! Bro…”
… … …
The beginner village had no official market and the entrance was where most players traded but Chen Mo did not go there.
The items he wanted were uncommon. There might be a large group of players at the village entrance but it would still not be easy to buy them.
That was why Chen Mo went to the quest NPCs – all the players who went there were on their quests.
A silver per item was definitely not a bad price. Many players only manage to get just over two silvers at Level 10. Players traded without hesitation after seeing his offer and equipment.
In under half an hour, Chen Mo acquired all five items.
There was still the issue of the shoes but it was not easy. Chen Mo took a look around the village entrance before heading off to the Slime Plains without finding anything.
He needed to determine the mutation condition first or buying the shoes would be for naught.
Ten minutes later, Chen Mo arrived at the Slime King’s territory.
Chen Mo did not aggro it and used his camouflage skill right away. He crept closer to the Slime King.
“Braised Dolphin Fish!”
System prompt: You have used item “Braised Dolphin Fish”. Strength, Stamina, Agility, Intelligence, Spirit increased by 10 points for 10 minutes. -5HP per second for 10 minutes!
Chen Mo used the Braised Dolphin Fish but the Slime King did not budge. There was no reaction at all. It stayed still, looking dumbly at its surroundings.
“Corrosive Apple…”
System prompt: You have used item “Corrosive Apple”. HP, MP recovered by 200. Strength, Intelligence decreased by 10 points. HP and MP recovery of 20 points per second. Effects last for 20 seconds.
Next was Corrosive Apple but the Slime King did not react either.
“Expired Spirit… Enticing**… Abandoned Dogfood…”
Chen Mo used the five items one by one.
“Not so simple after all.”
Chen Mo looked at the un-mutated Slime King and sighed. He wasn’t surprised.
His reasoning and methods were not wrong. The problem was that the searchable items on the forums were not all there was. There were still undiscovered and uncompleted quests.
Chen Mo did not give up. He went back to the game forums and started to look through quests that people have posted about but not completed, and quests where people did not reveal the rewards for completion.
Half an hour later, Chen Mo decided on two quests.
The first quest was from a beggar in Ayer Town. Players have to collect 10 Wolf Meat, which was only obtainable from Wild Wolf Valley. However, it was currently occupied by the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf. Furthermore, a player would need the harvesting skill to obtain Wolf Meat so nobody on the forums had completed it. There was no information on what the reward item was either but gathering-type quests normally don’t give good items so many people were, naturally, not that bothered about the quest.
The second quest was from an old man in the northern area of the Slime Plains. The quest was to collect 20 Green Poison Slime and a Shabby Green Slime Poison Bottle.
There is a chance of Green Poison Slime dropping when a Green Slime dies. Chen Mo had killed dozens of Green Slimes and he currently had 7 of these.
The drop rate wasn’t high but it wasn’t as bad as some other items. He could easily get 50 if he spent some cash and bought it from other players.
The problem was the Shabby Green Slime Poison Bottle. Nobody on the forums knew where to get it. It was not available in the General Shop either.
That was why there was yet anyone to complete the quest though so many had taken it up. The reward was a complete mystery.
Chen Mo looked at the two quests. There was something strange about them…
These two quests were mixed in with a whole host of other quests so it was not obvious at first, but when Chen Mo put them together, he found a vague link between the two!
Now, to put it to the test!
Chen Mo accepted the quest from the beggar and went back to Wild Wolf Valley. This time, he made it easily to the deeper part of the map thanks to his Camouflage Skill and the foolhardy charge of players sacrificing themselves to the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf.
Chen Mo returned to Ayr Town immediately after harvesting 10 pieces of Wolf Meat.
“I am thankful, kind adventurer. I am just a beggar and I do not have anything of value to give. Perhaps this glass bottle will be of use to you.”
Chen Mo handed the quest in to the beggar, who gratefully bestowed him a glass bottle.
System prompt: You have received the item “Shabby Green Slime Poison Bottle”!
“I knew it!”
Chen Mo felt a little excited. He might just be on the right track!
Next, get 50 Green Poison Slime and he’ll know what that other quest gives!
Chen Mo was penniless now so he had to do the dirty work himself.
“Heh heh! I can harvest it!”
Back on the Slime Plains, Chen Mo killed a Green Slime. It did not drop any Green Poison Slime but when he used the Dubious Harvesting Skill on its corpse, his hand reached in and emerged from the corpse with a Green Poison Slime!
Once he knew that it could be harvested, Chen Mo simply stopped killing. He made his way towards the NPC, harvesting from Green Slime corpses as he went.
And just like that, he got 50 Green Poison Slime halfway through his walk to the NPC!
“Not bad. This drug is your reward. Use it wisely – you’ll find that these Slimes aren’t as they seem!”
Several minutes later, Chen Mo found the quest NPC and handed the quest in. The old man nodded in approval and handed a bottle to Chen Mo.
System prompt: You have gained the drug “Slime Poison”!