Chapter 157 – Vanilla Forest (Part 5)

The sudden appearance of the Purple-tier Pet stirred the hearts of everyone in Vanilla Forest.

Aside from a few rare pets, most pets were born without any color. Only through repeated refining by Demon Refiners could they gradually gain hues symbolizing their quality. Just like gear, purple represented the highest tier for pets. However, for a long time after the game’s update, this color existed only in theory—until the Demon Refiner [Today’s Demon King] from Silent Fortress somehow used some legendary materials to refine his ordinary Cabbage Pet into a Purple Cabbage Pet.

When photos of the Purple Cabbage Pet were first posted on the forum, they were widely mocked. Eighty percent of players believed Today’s Demon King had used dye, while twenty percent thought he’d simply fed the pet purple eggplants. However, screenshots of the pet’s stats soon silenced everyone. It was a genuine Purple-tier Pet, despite its chubby, goofy appearance being completely at odds with its terrifying stats. ╮(╯_╰)╭

Among 438’s pets, the most powerful was the orange-tier Bell Maiden 502. The recently captured Nine-Tailed Fox was also naturally orange-tier. Though it had lost a tail and a skill under 438’s torment, fortunately, its color hadn’t changed, which further hinted at the fox’s potential—if refined well, it could surpass the colorless 502 in awesomeness.

But none of that compared to a Golden Phoenix born as a Purple-tier Pet!

And it had been summoned through a high-end item trigger, instantly marking it as noble-blooded!

438’s excitement mirrored that of the entire Vanilla Forest. Spirit Valley had turned into a massive pit—if a helicopter were to take an aerial shot right now, it would capture a scene of countless ants swarming the area.

Of course, five players were exceptions.

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: The moment there’s meat, the wolves come running.

[Party] Fair and Square: Be careful, PvP is allowed here.

[Party] No. 4 Coffin Shop: Do players drop loot when they die?

[Party] Self-Made Man: Dunno, probably…

[Party] Iron Abacus: Coffin Shop, stay calm and remember your identity. Have you ever seen a merchant alt ganking players?

[Party] No. 4 Coffin Shop: Abacus, do you know when money is easiest to make?

[Party] No. 4 Coffin Shop: In chaos.

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: It is pretty chaotic. 715 just bit the dust.

The group was stunned. Turning around, sure enough—their employer, 715, lay lifeless on the ground. As for the killer? Not a trace. Since dead players couldn’t speak, they had no way to guess their employer’s thoughts…

[Megaphone] Refined Into a Demon 715: Are you here to catch pets or flirt?! Quit whispering and just invite me back to the party already!!! [crying][crying][crying]

Their understanding employer, knowing they couldn’t read his mind, simply blasted his thoughts through a megaphone.

The hired hands didn’t dare delay. The sole healer, Iron Abacus, quickly revived the employer, while party leader Silk Road Merchant unhesitatingly kicked Coffin Shop out to make room for 715.

Coffin Shop frowned, about to rage—

[Whisper] Refined Into a Demon 715: Sorry for taking your spot! I’m slow to react and bad at PvP, so please humor me. Mwah!

The world fell silent. His initial anger had already dissipated into some unknown corner. In the deathly stillness, only one sound remained clear—

Whoosh—

Coffin Shop knew it was the sound of his HP bar emptying.

No one knew how vast Spirit Valley truly was without coordinates, but the number of players in Vanilla Forest far exceeded expectations. Within just half an hour, the six-man squad had already encountered over a dozen pet-hunting teams—some familiar, some strangers, some friendly, and others who attacked on sight.

To 438’s surprise, this merchant squad wasn’t as weak as he’d imagined. Especially Coffin Shop and Silk Road Merchant—one a Zombie, the other a Blood Warrior—their skills weren’t just decent but downright impressive!

Unfortunately, by dawn, the squad still hadn’t spotted the Golden Phoenix, let alone captured it. The silent World Chat indicated that no other teams had succeeded either. The Purple-tier Pet was like a leaf falling into Spirit Valley, vanishing without a trace.

[Team] Refined Into a Demon 715: Um, I can’t keep going. If my mom wakes up and sees me gaming, I won’t live to see tonight’s moon >_<

[Team] Iron Abacus: The hell?! You’re logging off?!

[Team] Iron Abacus: We pulled an all-nighter hunting for you like damn falconers and got NOTHING, and now you’re telling me you’re leaving?! Are you kidding me?!

[Party] Refined Into a Demon 715: I’m sorry, I know you guys worked hard, really! But I genuinely can’t play during the day. I have to wait until 8 PM when my mom’s asleep…

[Party] Iron Abacus: 8 PM?! It’s 6 AM right now! Do you know what fourteen hours means?! That’s enough time for a hundred phoenixes to get snatched from Spirit Valley without a single feather left!!

[Party] Refined Into a Demon 715: I know. So I’ve accepted it. What’s meant to be will be, what’s not meant to be won’t come no matter how hard you try TAT

[Team] Iron Abacus: ……

[Team] Self-Made Man: Alright, if he’s putting it like that, there’s no point arguing. Let’s call it.

[System] Silk Road Merchant has disbanded the team.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: Hey, Silky, why’d you disband? Aren’t you guys coming back to town with me?

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: The city’s empty right now. Everyone’s in Spirit Valley. Why would we go back? Besides, we’re not logging off.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: No, I mean, I only brought limited materials—some of which I can’t sell to you—so I need to grab more from my warehouse. If you don’t come back with me, I won’t be able to find you guys afterward. Spirit Valley has no coords, after all >_<

[Local] Fair and Square: You’re willing to sell us materials now?

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: Didn’t we agree on that?

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: Wait, let me get this straight. We wanted to buy your materials, you wanted the Golden Phoenix, so we helped you hunt for it. Now that we didn’t catch it, you’re still selling us materials.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: You summarized that perfectly…

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: Thanks, my thinking’s always this sharp and logical… That’s not the point!

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: The point is we didn’t catch the phoenix.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: But you guys really put in the effort all night. You wanted to help me—whether you succeeded or not is just the result. My bad luck doesn’t erase your hard work. If you hadn’t been helping me, you might’ve made a ton of sales, raking in profits and living the high life!

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: Hand over what you’ve got on you first. If it’s not enough, we’ll go to your warehouse for the rest.

[Whisper] Silk Road Merchant: Seriously? You’re actually buying?

[Whisper] No. 4 Coffin Shop: Let’s see if he’s really selling first.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: [Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot] These are the ones I can sell.

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: Name your price.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: Whatever you think is fair. Silky earlier offered 30,000 Huaxia Coins for Golden Snake Grass and Cat’s Eye, which I thought was really generous. You guys are honest folks.

[Party] Fair and Square: Damn, even if I were a lump of coal, this guy would polish me into a crystal ball…

[Party] Iron Abacus: Why are we in a party again…

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: In his past life, he must’ve been the grass inside Guanyin’s holy water bottle…

[Party] Self-Made Man: I refuse to believe he’s never been scammed before!

[Party] No. 4 Coffin Shop: You wanna scam him?

[Party] Self-Made Man: Don’t you?! He might as well have a sign on his forehead saying, “Scam me, cheat me, trample me!”

[Party] Iron Abacus: Go for it. I’ll root for you.

[Party] Self-Made Man: …Damn it, I can’t do it! TAT

[Party] Fair and Square: So are we buying his stuff or not?

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: If we do, it feels like taking advantage. If we don’t, those items are just too tempting…

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: [Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot][Screenshot] I’ll take these, along with all your low-tier materials soaked in sweat, for 95,000.

[Party] Entire Team: Holy shit!!!

With only a few dumplings in a bowl, once someone started eating, the rest couldn’t hold back. In no time, they’d bought up everything 438 was willing to sell. Still unsatisfied, they followed him back to the main city’s warehouse for a second round of plundering.

The merchants were thrilled with their haul, and 438 was pleasantly surprised by the sales. He knew his materials were rare, but he hadn’t realized just how valuable they were. Since he usually gathered materials himself, he’d never paid attention to market prices. Seeing the string of zeros added to his Huaxia Coins, he suddenly envisioned a glorious future in the game—dump money into refining pets, make a name for himself at Huaxia Summit, and win himself a rich, beautiful wife!!! ~~\(≧▽≦)/~

At 6:40 AM Beijing time, 438 logged off decisively, collapsed into bed, and was instantly woken up by his mother. He pretended to be exhausted—well, okay, he was exhausted—hoping to evoke her sympathy, but it didn’t work. For the rest of the day, his eyelids stayed at a dismal 30%-40% open rate.

He muddled through until 8 PM. His mother had gone to sleep, but 438 couldn’t stay awake either. He napped for two hours before dragging himself up at 10 PM with the help of an alarm and logging back into the game.

438 had logged off in front of the main city’s warehouse the night before, so that’s where he reappeared. Unlike the previous night’s emptiness, the warehouse entrance was bustling tonight, with multiple vending stalls set up. Their shop labels were especially amusing:

“Rare Materials Showcase—Look But Don’t Buy Unless You’re a Whale. PS: You Know I’m Waiting for You, Right?”

“Established Merchant, Reputation Guaranteed. PS: Screw 8 PM =_=”

“Buying Huaxia Coins, You Motherf—”

Wait a minute.

Why did these stall owners look so familiar…?

438 found them familiar, but the stall owners nearly popped a blood vessel seeing him—

[Local] Self-Made Man: Holy shit, you’re finally online! Do you live on Japan time or what?!

[Local] Iron Abacus: Even that wouldn’t be two hours off…

[Local] Fair and Square: Even that wouldn’t be two hours off! Damn, I’ve never waited this long even for a date!

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: Enough talk. Hurry up.

[System] Silk Road Merchant has invited you to join the party.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: N-no, wait, hold on—what are you guys planning?

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: I sold you everything I could last night. I really don’t have anything left TAT

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: Could you occasionally assume the best of us for once? =_=

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: You’re lucky. The Golden Phoenix still hasn’t been caught.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: So… you guys are regrouping to help me catch it?!

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: What else? Group dating you?

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: You… you shouldn’t be this nice to me [crying][crying][crying]

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: Keep spamming emotes, and the phoenix will belong to someone else.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: How can I say this when you’re being so kind… I have to farm for points tonight and can’t go phoenix hunting [crying][crying][crying][crying]

[Local] Self-Made Man: ……

[Local] Iron Abacus: ……

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: ……

[Local] No. 4 Coffin Shop: The weather’s chilly. Let’s kill him.

[Local] Fair and Square: Coffin Shop, calm down!! CALM DOWN!!!

Silk Road Merchant, clinging to one last shred of hope, tried reasoning—

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: Even if you get 500 or 1,000 points, what’s the point? Nobody knows what the rewards will be. Can you guarantee they’ll be better than a Purple-tier Phoenix? If they were, Purple-tier Pets would be flooding the streets. The devs wouldn’t do that.

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: I’m not farming points for the rewards.

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: ?

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: If my score’s too low, my guildmates will laugh at me. Plus, the base score affects future points in Lover’s Constellation. Even though we don’t know what the rewards will be, I can’t drag the whole guild down. Our Commander has no airs, never loses his temper, and treats us so well—when he sees me get awesome materials or my pets turn out amazing, he’s happier than I am. Back in the ghost server, if it weren’t for him, I might’ve quit the game. So I absolutely can’t let him down!

[Local] Silk Road Merchant: ……

[Party] Iron Abacus: That’s not his Commander, that’s his god…

[Party] Fair and Square: I really want to see what kind of leader, what kind of guild, could raise such an idealistic, principled, responsible member…

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: I’m sorry. You waited for me, and now I’m bailing. It’s just that time’s tight—I only have tonight and four hours tomorrow night left. By midnight, whether I hit 500 points or not, I’ll enter Lover’s Constellation. I have to hurry…

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: The mountains stand tall, the rivers flow long. Brothers, till we meet again! [salute]

[Local] Refined Into a Demon 715: Mwah!

438 dashed out of the city, heading straight for Vanillaland, leaving the five merchants standing dumbfounded in the wind.

[Party] Self-Made Man: He mwah’d us…

[Party] Iron Abacus: I need to wash my face…

[Party] Fair and Square: So… are we still going to Spirit Valley?

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: He’s gone. What’s the point?

[Party] No. 4 Coffin Shop: He’s gone, but the bird’s still there. We can keep going.

[Party] Iron Abacus: Seriously, can you two just call it a phoenix? “Bird” sounds so damn weird =_=

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: Coffin, you mean we hunt it ourselves and give it to him if we catch it?

[Party] Fair and Square: Exactly. Self-Made’s a Demon Refiner—he can capture it too.

[Party] Self-Made Man: Sigh. We’re practically a “Learn from Lei Feng” squad now.

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: It’s just one night. Consider it a freebie for 715. Whether we catch it or not depends on his RNG luck.

[Party] Self-Made Man: His RNG’s definitely fine. The problem is we’re dragging the average down…

[Party] Fair and Square: Speak for yourself. Don’t rope us in. I feel like my moral character’s shining bright right now…

[Party] Silk Road Merchant: Let’s hurry. Quick in, quick out. The longer we’re tangled up with 715, the more I feel like we’re all losing it.

[Party] Iron Abacus: Too late. I just looked in the mirror after washing my face and realized I’m adorable!

[Party] No. 4 Coffin Shop: ……