Chapter 224 - 160: Daylight Bubble? Flashbang
Envy was one thing, but most players were pretty clear-headed about it.
Take this piece of equipment priced at 8,500 Wax Oil. While its Attributes and function weren’t bad, it was definitely overpriced.
It was mostly selling an aesthetic. The target audience certainly wasn’t the vast majority of ordinary players, who wouldn’t even consider it. It just wasn’t cost-effective; they were better off grinding dungeons and hoping for a monster drop.
After all, many ordinary players and newbies were still scraping together money to unlock functions and upgrade their Weapons, equipment, and Talents. Of course, they wouldn’t be crazy enough to buy such an out-of-reach item.
Only players with a surplus of Wax Oil who had already unlocked most of the functions would even consider it.
Of course, Luo Ge’s goal wasn’t to squeeze every last drop of Wax Oil from the players.
On one hand, he needed to reclaim some of the Wax Oil for his own use to cover the Resurrection costs for some new players and to fund the upgrades and construction of Spirit Candle’s various buildings.
On the other hand, it was also to create demand and give these players the motivation to grind monsters.
After all, money is precious because it has value, and value is created by demand.
If Luo Ge didn’t create demand for these players, they probably wouldn’t have any motivation to grind at all.
"Whoa, stop looking at the equipment, guys! Hurry up and check out the stuff in the Special Items category!"
"It’s all good stuff!"
A player’s eyes lit up when they noticed the goods in another category, and they quickly urged the other players to take a look.
This category was, of course, [Special Items].
In this category, there were many practical and affordable items. While most weren’t for combat, they were a great help for exploration and other purposes.
Furthermore, these Special Items, just like Weapons and equipment, were marked with a corresponding Quality, indicating different levels of effectiveness.
[Disguised Leaves (Ordinary)]
[Type: Special Item · Consumable]
[Effect: Place the leaf on your forehead to transform into an ordinary tree for a period of time. This crude disguise can fool some dim-witted creatures, but it cannot deceive creatures with strong Firelight.]
[Explanation: Protecting yourself with a disguise is a good thing, but you must be aware of the situation. A tree in the desert might be more conspicuous than a person.]
[Price: 5 Wax Oil]
[Pathfinding Stone (Crude)]
[Type: Special Item · Consumable]
[Effect: Throw the stone to scout the path ahead. Upon taking a Heavy Strike, it will undergo Shattering into a luminous powder, providing some feedback.]
[Explanation: It’s a crude Pathfinding Stone, so there’s no need to feel bad even if it shatters and disappears.]
[Price: 1 Wax Oil]
There were many other functional items like the Disguised Leaves and the Pathfinding Stone. Some could be used multiple times, but they were slightly more expensive and could also break.
For example, there were dolls that could make a loud noise and use a special power to forcibly draw aggro. Their effect was excellent, and the price wasn’t too high.
After all, unlike equipment, players lacked ways to obtain these kinds of items. Even if they found some through exploration, they weren’t necessarily what the players needed.
Therefore, Luo Ge wasn’t trying to compete with the players for profit in this area; he just needed to not take a loss.
Besides those, there were of course Special Items that could be used in combat.
[Daylight Bubble (Fine)]
𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
[Type: Special Item · Consumable]
[Effect: Ignite it with Warfire and throw it. It will burst with a dazzling, blinding white light, temporarily robbing some creatures of their sight and allowing you to seize the initiative in battle.]
[Explanation: Despicable? This is tactics! However... it’s best used on creatures that have eyes. You should also stay far away from it yourself.]
[Price: 12 Wax Oil]
"What Daylight Bubble? This is clearly a flashbang! I love it!"
"I was wondering why some of the items in my inventory suddenly had Quality ratings today. Looks like it’s because of this shop update."
"Damn, the Special Items shop has a completely different vibe from the Weapon and equipment shop. It’s cheap and practical."
"Honestly, when I was looking at the Weapon and equipment shop just now, I thought I’d walked into some pay-to-win cash shop."
"Don’t be a hater. Spirit Candle isn’t that bad. The Weapon and equipment shop has some really practical stuff, okay?"
"12 Wax Oil for a single consumable... so expensive!"
"You must be a newbie. Don’t worry, after a couple of tough days, just follow a guide and become a Prison Guard. After a while, you’ll have everything. The even tougher days are still ahead!"
"Brothers, seeing this flashbang gives me a bold idea..."
"Don’t you get any bold ideas! You’d better not use that thing on the Candlekeepers!"
"..."
The players were quite happy with the goods in the Special Items category.
After all, their dungeon runs involved more than just simple combat; they also had to explore the map.
As the current map grew larger and there were more and more areas to explore, the importance of these items gradually became apparent.
But there were still some players who scoffed at them or were completely indifferent.
"Nothing but ingenious perversions! Real combat players don’t need this stuff!" Brother Mangzi sneered after looking through them.
"What ingenious perversions?" Bu Long was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood. "Brother Mangzi, I think you mean to say ’ingenious *inventions*,’ right?"
"Same difference." Brother Mangzi, after a brief moment of embarrassment, quickly recovered. "Anyway, I won’t use this stuff."
"Just the two of us, my brother, one Shield and one blade—we can steamroll all the dungeons!"
Brother Mangzi said excitedly, clenching his fist.
Bu Long was speechless.
’How does that sound so unreliable?’
...
「In the blink of an eye, night had fallen once again.」
A large number of players came online again, and the Prison Players streamed one after another into the Skeleton Forest.