Money and weak men never go well together.
From gambling away their earnings to being exploited out of them, money needs to be handled responsibly.
First things first: never carry obscene amounts of money on your person at any time.
At the current stage of the game, one gold coin was an absurd amount, let alone 9,999.
Luckily for everyone, there were banks to help with that exact reason.
After asking an NPC for directions, he arrived at the scene of a crowded group of players gathering around the front entrance.
"Ladies and gentlemen, are we all ready for the scene of a lifetime!" a player shouted.
"Our humble guild leader has decided to showcase the first-ever bank card in the town of Limillion."
Most people at the scene found the charade wildly obnoxious, but they couldn't deny their curiosity.
To unlock the lowest-tier card at this bank, you had to have at least 10 gold coins, something unattainable for most at this time.
It was clear that this player had used real money to buy coins off the player market.
The current going rate for a single silver coin was 120 USD.
Since 100 silver coins converted to one gold, that meant he had spent 120,000 USD just for this single event.
It was a gross use of money, but clearly, the guy had no issue splurging it all just for some clout.
The crowd followed the announcer's hand as a young man wearing sleek leather armor split the crowd to arrive at the front.
Before heading inside, he looked back at the crowd with a gentle smile.
"I know you may find this obnoxious, but please, for this momentous occasion, let me compensate you with 5 bronze coins each!" he yelled.
Now the crowd was no longer annoyed, as the event evolved from a public nuisance to a money giveaway.
"Not only that, but I'll be sure to share the effects of the card on my personal forum. So stay tuned for that as well."
With free money and something to look forward to, the crowd no longer held faces of curiosity or annoyance but rather ones of excitement and awe.
But before the player 'Mideous' turned back to the bank's door, a masked player walked past, aiming for the same.
"Woah, woah. Come on, you can't just interrupt the whole thing I'm working on, man," Mideous pleaded.
"Look, I'll be done in like 5 minutes. I set up all this stuff, and like, come on. I'll even give you a silver coin on top for wasting your time. How about it?" He winked.
The masked individual, though, didn't relent, continuing his slow pace toward the door.
At that moment, Mideous received a message from his guild's group chat.
[Exodus: Boss, do you want us to deal with him?]
Mideous looked at his guildmates and just shook his head.
It wasn't worth it to cause trouble over such a small matter.
Instead, he walked beside the man and shouted to the crowd, "You all will get your 5 bronze coins and learn the card's effects; don't worry!"
The crowd cheered with excitement as the slight disturbance hadn't derailed the event.
However, Mideous sighed, as the intended impact of the event hadn't been as strong as he had hoped.
The player Mideous was indeed the son of a wealthy man, but not of the traditional kind.
His father had earned his wealth through pro gaming, and because of that, he expected his son to carry on the legacy.
However, Mideous wasn't like his father in that regard; he was a more casual player.
He enjoyed going on raids and exploring with his friends, not min-maxing his stats or grinding levels.
But as the pious son he was, he wanted to at least show his father that he tried.
It was for that reason that he and his group of friends decided to create the small guild 'Golden Light.'
With a large sum of money borrowed from his dad and friends, they had planned this event weeks before Alpha's launch.
The goal was to garner not only goodwill and some fame but also enough advertisement to gain new members.
Although the masked individual had thrown a small wrench in the plan, everything was still going seemingly well.
However, when Mideous followed the man into the bank, he paused at the sight of another player coming down the stairs.
The main area of the bank was a reception station and a simple lounge with a few chairs and cushions.
For the majority of players, this would be all they had access to.
However, behind the reception area were stairs that led up to a more private, luxurious area for the wealthier guests.
And that was exactly where Julian was stepping down from.
After seeing the crowd that had formed at the front, he chose not to wait out or interrupt the event but to find another entrance.
At the rear end of the bank was an entrance concealed to anyone with less than 1,000 gold.
At this point in the game, this door was mainly reserved for high-class NPCs who didn't want to attract attention.
But since Julian had fulfilled the condition, he too had been able to see and use the hidden entrance.
It was a shocking sight to Mideous, but a world-shattering one for the masked figure.
In his previous life, he had seen the post by Mideous.
It was quite famous due to the discounts and effects he received from a bronze-tier card being double that of a regular one.
Not only that, but as he continued to upgrade the card, the discounts from it remained double those of the regular card.
With such an astounding treasure, it allowed his guild to reach a world-class status.
As for why his card was so special, the most common theory was that it was due to being the first player to receive a card.
While other larger guilds and organizations had invested similar to even larger amounts of money into the game, instead of putting it into a bank, they preferred to invest in equipment and resources for their members to gain a head start in the leveling process.
Oblivion had counted on obtaining the card to drastically lower the operating costs of his future guild.
However, seeing how the person he despised most had taken away that opportunity, he was truly shocked to the core.
Even then, he didn't lose his cool, since while the card was incredibly useful, he knew of multiple other ways to obtain discounts and gold.
It was simply that acquiring this card was the most convenient.
For the time being, even without the OP card, he continued his registration into the Imperium Bank.
But one question weighed heavily on his mind: was this Julian the same as the one from his previous timeline?