Miguel leaned against a tree in the quiet depths of the forest, his thoughts turning from monsters and loot to his next big opportunity. After a moment of consideration, he opened his friend list. As expected, it was nearly empty. There was only one lonely ID glowing there: Thunderblade.
He grinned and typed out a message.
"Yo, Thunderblade, you looking to buy gear? Just got my hands on something amazing. "
Miles away, outside the starter village, Thunderblade was mid-swing, his heavy cleaver whistling through the air as it crashed down on a nearly dead wild chicken. A CRIT! popped up over the creature's head as it fell lifeless to the ground.
"Hah! This cleaver's a game-changer," Thunderblade laughed, wiping imaginary sweat off his brow. "My grinding speed's gone through the roof, and with this kind of damage, no one's daring to steal my kills anymore!"
Two party members beside him glanced enviously at the oversized weapon in his hands. They didn't even try to hide it. At that moment, a notification pinged in Thunderblade's vision. A message from his friend, Stellar Mist.
"Top-tier gear?" he muttered, brows rising. Without hesitation, he typed back.
"Stellar, mind sending me the stats on that weapon first? Don't worry about the price—I'll pay whatever it's worth if I like what I see."
Miguel chuckled at the response.
"Haha, that's what I like to hear, brother. Give me a sec—I'll send you the details."
A second later, an image popped up on Thunderblade's interface.
[Steel Sword]
Tier: None
Requirement: None
Base Attribute: +25 Strength
Bonus Attribute: +10 Physical Penetration
Description: A sword forged entirely of steel. Its defining feature? Its terrifying sharpness.
Thunderblade's breath hitched as he stared at the stats. This was no ordinary weapon—it was a newbie's dream come true.
"Well? What do you think?" Miguel's next message came through almost teasingly.
Thunderblade snapped back to his senses and typed fast, his fingers flying over the holographic keyboard.
"Think? Bro, this thing's a damn god-tier starter weapon! Are you sure you wanna sell this instead of keeping it for yourself?"
Miguel replied almost instantly.
"I'm sure. Truth is… I'm broke. As much as I'd love to keep it, I need the cash more than the sword."
Thunderblade grinned knowingly. Yeah right, he thought, convinced Miguel was just trying to build goodwill. After all, no one who could afford a game pod worth over a hundred thousand credits was truly broke. To Thunderblade, this was simply a generous gesture, a way of saying "let's be brothers."
But the reality was far different. Miguel really was flat-out broke. He'd scraped through rent this month and had no clue how to cover next month. As for a gaming pod? He didn't need one. His access to Godmaking Online was through something far superior, something no one else in this world had.
Thunderblade felt a warmth in his chest and fired off a message, determined to show his gratitude.
"Stellar, say no more. From today, you and I? Brothers for life. If you ever come down to Xiamen, hit this number—188**06. Your food, your lodging, your transport—I'll handle everything. Hell, I'll even throw in the full VIP treatment!"*
Miguel stared at the message blinking in front of him, utterly baffled.
What the hell just happened?
A row of question marks practically danced above his head.
"All I did was tell the truth about being broke… and suddenly, I've got a sworn brother for life?" He let out a low whistle. "No wonder those webnovel authors love writing sob stories. Apparently, it really does work to win sympathy."
The misunderstanding was almost comical. Both men thought they were reading each other perfectly—and both were dead wrong.
Moments later, another message came in from Thunderblade.
"Stellar, I'll give you 100,000 credits for the sword."
He paused, frowned, and immediately added:
"Honestly, that's all the cash I've got on me right now. If you think that's not enough, give me three hours and I'll scrape together another hundred thousand. Two hundred grand total, no questions asked."
Miguel's eyes went wide, his breath quickening.
Wait… what?! I just played the poor card and made a hundred thousand credits? Maybe even two?
He almost laughed out loud. This guy was golden.
"Cough… no need for two hundred. The sword's not worth that much. Let's stick to a hundred thousand," Miguel typed back, trying to sound composed while grinning like an idiot.
He sent the Steel Sword via the in-game mail system.
Ding! Your friend [Stellar Mist] has gifted you: Steel Sword x1.
Thunderblade accepted it instantly, no hesitation. A few quick transactions later, Miguel's bank app chimed on his phone outside the pod.
"Your debit account 6292 has received 100,000.00 KNY. Balance: 105,717.67 ."
Miguel stared at the text notification, a grin spreading wider across his face. In his past life, sure, he'd made money selling in-game loot early on, but never this kind of haul—not on day one. Back then, his first big sale had barely scraped together a thousand credits. Now, he'd just pulled in a hundred times that amount with a single message and a little misunderstanding.
The two continued chatting for a while, Miguel's mood buoyed by his unexpected windfall. They bantered back and forth until Thunderblade excused himself to get back to grinding.
Closing the chat panel, Miguel focused on his next objective: hunting the Wild Boar King. He visualized the map from memory, charting his route, and set off again. Half an hour later, he arrived.
The clearing ahead was dotted with wild boars, but his eyes went straight to the massive figure in the center—a hulking brute of a boar, standing nearly three meters tall, its body like a living bulldozer.
"That's the one," Miguel muttered, his eyes sharpening.
He approached slowly, sword in hand. One of the smaller boars nearby stirred first, opening its beady eyes and letting out a low, guttural grunt.
"Grrooouuughh!"
It rose, glaring at him, trying to scare him off. Miguel didn't even blink, closing the distance step by step. When he was within ten meters, the boar's patience snapped.
"GROOOHHH!"
The creature lunged, its huge body thundering across the grass like a runaway car.
But no matter how fast it was, it was nothing compared to Miguel's over a hundred points in agility. With a light hop sideways, he baited the boar into following his feint. The beast's bulk worked against it, throwing off its balance completely. It missed its target and went tumbling, skidding several meters across the dirt in a cloud of dust.
Miguel smirked, eyes glinting. "Your move just sealed your fate."
He dashed forward, Thunderblade singing in his hands, and in one fluid motion, brought it down on the creature before it could recover.
SWOOSH!