Chapter 9: Successful Job Change: The Great Merchant, Headed to the Big Map
1582 Words
The Jiangnan Swordsman, puzzled, asked, “Brother Shang, how come you're so familiar with this dungeon?”
“I’ve been here before!” Aurélien casually replied.
“You’ve been here once and already know it so well? That’s impressive!”
“Yeah, the money’s worth it. One hundred bucks for two hours.”
“I have this feeling that this dungeon is really easy!”
That was indeed a misconception.
Aurélien knew well that these monsters were much stronger than the level 10 monsters outside. If the players’ actions weren’t coordinated, they’d get overwhelmed and wiped out by too many enemies.
Fortunately, everyone had decent gear, so they managed to clear all the monsters along the cave's edge.
Finally, they reached the cavern where the boss resided.
The boss was a tree monster, rooted to the ground.
A level 10 boss.
On its thick trunk were hollow eyes, and countless vines resembled tentacles.
**[Tree Demon!]**
**[BOSS (Uncontrollable)]**
**[Level: 10]**
“The hardest part of this dungeon is those little monsters at the beginning, easy to get wiped out by them. The boss is not too tough though. We can grind him down slowly. When the tank’s health is half, stop attacking, let go of the aggro, and use healing potions. Got it?”
“Got it!”
“Oh, and one more thing: when he dies, he’ll scream. Remember, jump the moment you hear it!”
“Understood!”
“Let’s begin!”
Under Aurélien’s command, the group took turns attacking the Tree Demon.
No one had the class to tank or pull aggro.
So they took turns, with the tank switching out each time their health reached half. Aurélien would remind them to step back and drink potions.
At the same time, he controlled the Hundred-Year Zombie to attack.
Unfortunately, the zombie’s poison effect didn’t work on the boss, which would’ve been OP if it did.
-78, -65, -72.
The boss's health kept depleting.
Before long, the health bar hit zero.
The Tree Demon’s massive body crashed to the ground.
“We did it, haha, that was quick!”
“Yeah, definitely worth the hundred bucks!”
The group basked in the joy of clearing the dungeon.
But Aurélien suddenly shouted, “Watch out, jump!”
Sure enough, at the moment the Tree Demon died, it let out a tragic scream.
Spikes shot up from the ground in a flurry.
But the spikes appeared quickly and vanished just as fast, disappearing with the Tree Demon’s death.
Then the system notification rang out:
**[Congratulations! You have killed the Tree Demon and completed your job change quest.]**
Everyone couldn’t help but feel a bit of post-dungeon anxiety. If they hadn’t jumped at the right moment, they would have all been wiped out.
After the Tree Demon died, a pile of golden items appeared.
“Whoa, even equipment? This is a nice surprise!”
There were over a hundred gold coins, and, more importantly, a yellow-tier piece of equipment.
**[Spirit of the Tree Demon (Accessory)]**
**[Grade: Yellow]**
**[Level Requirement: 10]**
**[Magic Attack +110]**
**[Mana Regeneration +1]**
**[Item Score: 746]**
“Wow, this is amazing! A 746-point yellow-tier item.”
“Now, how should we divide this?”
Aurélien hadn’t expected the Spirit of the Tree Demon to be yellow-tier, especially one with mana regeneration. What luck.
The Jiangnan Swordsman said, “I think it should go to the team leader. We wouldn’t have finished so quickly without him!”
“That’s true, the captain is impressive, but we paid him, right? This equipment is ranked fifth on the leaderboard!”
Right now, the top 10 items on the leaderboard were all yellow-tier.
With a score of 746, the Spirit of the Tree Demon ranked fifth, making it quite valuable.
“Why should the captain get it when we all did the dungeon together?”
No one, except for Jiangnan Swordsman, agreed to give it to Aurélien.
Aurélien was also frustrated. He’d forgotten to change the loot settings when forming the party.
Now, the loot was set to random, and he had no control over it.
Aurélien didn’t want to waste time, so he said directly, “Let’s split it.”
“Hey, I like that suggestion, Captain! We don’t know each other, money’s the most straightforward.”
“Okay, so who wants the equipment?”
“I don’t want it! It’s too much for me!”
The group looked at each other, no one saying anything.
Jiangnan Swordsman took the lead, “I’ll buy it. 100,000 gold coins, is that okay with everyone?”
“100,000? Isn’t that a bit low?”
“It’s not too little. After all, it’s just a level 10 item. It won’t be worth much in a day or two!”
“Heh, if you think it’s too little, why don’t you offer more?”
Aurélien knew 100,000 was more than enough, and it was actually a bit high. The item’s main selling point was the high score, but the other attributes were average.
“Alright, 100,000 then.”
The loot mode was changed to auction after everyone agreed, and Jiangnan Swordsman immediately purchased the Spirit of the Tree Demon for 100,000 gold.
“Haha, that was so smooth!”
“I earned 2,000 RMB, that feels good. Captain, let’s team up again next time!”
“Let’s go, let’s go! Job change successful. See you in the new map.”
The others happily left the team.
Once everyone had left, only Jiangnan Swordsman and Aurélien remained in the cave.
Jiangnan Swordsman then initiated a trade with Aurélien.
Puzzled, Aurélien saw that Jiangnan Swordsman was trading him the Spirit of the Tree Demon.
“Uh? What’s this for?”
Jiangnan Swordsman smiled and said, “Brother Shang, I know you’re a merchant. Help me sell this! I’ve switched to a swordsman class, and this gear is useless to me!”
Aurélien squinted, “Aren’t you worried I’ll just keep it?”
“This is nothing, bro. I’m planning to create a guild and I’d like to sincerely invite you to join!”
Jiangnan Swordsman’s eyes sparkled with sincerity.
“You’ve got leadership skills, you act decisively, and you have a unique understanding of the game. I like you. Rest assured, I’ll make you a high-ranking member in my guild.”
Being a high-ranking member of the Jiangnan Guild was a great opportunity. Aurélien had heard that, in the previous life, high-ranking members made 50,000 a year.
However, Aurélien shook his head.
“Sorry, Brother Jiang, I’m a merchant. I plan to focus on business, not get involved in guild politics. As for the item, I’m not interested!”
He was about to return the Spirit of the Tree Demon, but Jiangnan Swordsman rejected the trade.
“It’s fine, just sell it for me. I don’t need it right now, but you can sell it and keep half the profits.”
Aurélien realized that for once, he had luck on his side.
He accepted the offer calmly, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you. I’m a crafty merchant, but not a scammer!”
“Haha, you’re funny, bro. Alright, I’m off!”
“See you in the big map!”
“Oh, one more thing, I’ve always wanted to ask you…”
“What’s that?”
Jiangnan Swordsman looked confused.
“Why do you always have your pet attacking, but you don’t attack yourself? You just stand there watching?”
Aurélien laughed, “It’s not worth it for me to fight.”
“Ha! This guy, 10/10, I’m outta here!!”
After the two of them left the team, they were teleported out of the dungeon.
Outside the dungeon, more and more players gathered, many of whom had failed previously and were now trying again.
They were being more cautious, and everyone required proof of weapons.
The majority of the group was stuck in the job change dungeon, but Aurélien, thanks to his prior knowledge of the dungeon, was ahead of the crowd, making up for the time he lost earlier when setting up his stall.
He finally reached a merchant NPC in the far corner among a group of job-changing NPCs.
“Crafty merchant, you’ve earned the recognition of all the masters. Remember, you are a merchant. A merchant can be crafty, but never dishonest or it will ruin your future.”
The merchant NPC lectured Aurélien before granting his job change.
**[Ding! Congratulations, Player Empereur des affaires has successfully changed jobs to Great Merchant!]**
**[Great Merchant: The system will directly grant you a level 3 shop in the main city.]**
**[Shop: Cannot be traded, cannot be transferred.]**
**[Obtained Active Skill: Revive Henchman]**
**[Revive Henchman: Revives a dead henchman, cooldown: 10 minutes.]**
**[Ding! Congratulations, Henchman Evolution Complete: Thousand-Year Zombie! Attributes increased, all skills level up by 1!]**
After the job change, Aurélien’s attributes increased significantly.
He opened his character panel:
**[Player: Empereur des affaires]**
**[Level: 10]**
**[Experience required for next level: 100,000]**
**[Health: 1150]**
**[Mana: 690]**
**[Attack: 0]**
**[Defense: 139]**
**[Movement Speed: 18]**
**[Skills: Summon Henchman, Revive Henchman]**
Aurélien’s attributes were much higher, but the Thousand-Year Zombie’s attributes were even more impressive.
**[Henchman: Thousand-Year Zombie]**
**[Health: 2000]**
**[Mana: 0]**
**[Attack: 840]**
**[Defense: 1390]**
**[Movement Speed: 18]**
The defense stat was so high that it completely shocked Aurélien.
“At this point in the game, you’ve got to be the strongest tank around!!”
**[Ding! Congratulations on your job change. Please use the teleportation array to head to the main city!]**
- Writer
