Rivalry: Infinite Buff

Chapter 17- Gold Coin

Ivan was so pissed off after finding out that even a newbie like Claire got $3,000 per month. He knew that life could be unfair to everyone, but he had no idea that it would be that unfair. He had to see Leo right away and let him know how frustrated he was. 

"Or maybe I should eat first?” Ivan mumbled as he followed the scorched smell coming from the kitchen. He began to feel a little uneasy as he walked into the kitchen and saw something black on a plate with a glass of milk next to it. 

Claire followed him into the kitchen and proudly announced her hard work, "Ivan, see? I fried eggs for you! Come on! Eat it before it gets cold."

Thousands of reasons he could give Claire so that he wouldn’t need to eat flashed through Ivan’s mind. His stomach was turning but he wasn’t sure if it was because he was hungry or because of the smell and look of the eggs.

Seeing how happy Claire was to make him breakfast, Ivan told himself, “Maybe just because it doesn’t look good, doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good?”

He picked up his fork and took a bite. He had underestimated the power of the fried black egg, with tears in his eyes he chewed. The only thing he thought as he choked down the food was that Claire was a spy sent by the Sovereign Guild to t*****e him. 

After breakfast, Ivan, Leo, and Claire sat on the sofa.

Ivan could tell from the look in Leo’s eyes that he also had the pleasure to taste Claire’s black egg.

Leo swallowed a huge sip of Coke, and then turned to Claire, "Claire, promise me, that was the first and last time you will prepare a meal for us. I am assuming you didn’t try it before you served it to us?” 

Claire replied happily, "No, that was for you! I had some bread before!”

Ivan, "Em..."

Leo, "Um..."

The two were speechless about Claire’s breakfast so Leo brought up the top of the big boss. After hearing the whole story, Leo and Claire couldn’t help repeating how lucky Ivan was.

"An Epic-level weapon? And 2000 gold coins? I know you’ll make your career in the game!” Leo sighed.

Claire adjusted her hair and exclaimed, "Ivan, do you know how amazing the Epic equipment is? As far as I know, they're at least six levels of equipment in Rivalry: Common, Special, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Holy. Of course, people said there are higher levels on the top of Holy. I happened to get a piece of Special equipment last night. It’s in a faint green light! Ivan, come on, show me your staff! What does your staff look like?”

Ivan listened to Claire and began to think that maybe he had underestimated this young girl. At least from point of view from the game’s background, she was a literal expert.

Ivan lit a cigarette, after taking a drag of it, he said, "Yeah, Epic weapon, you know, there’s nothing special.  Yours is in green? Mine is purple. Low-key people like me always hate to show off, so I turned off the light effect."

Leo kicked Ivan, “Nothing special? Low-key? Do you think you could fool me? I know you hid the light effect because you are afraid of becoming the enemy of all players? Haha!"

It had occurred to Ivan that Leo would catch on to his theory and so he quickly tried to change the subject, “Leo, you know, about my 2000 gold coins. Well, we all know how precious those gold coins at the beginning phase of the game can be, so I plan to sell some coins. I can get real money for living expenses.”

Leo nodded, "Well, I think you’re making the right decision. I've checked, the rate is 1:20. Of course, this is only the current exchange ratio. I believe the ratio will fall very quickly, after all, there are so many players starting to play Rivalry every day. We better exchange them when they are at the highest point. There is a shop called, Good-deal Exchange, on the official website. I think we should post them there now. It’s very convenient and then we can post other things there is we gain anything else of value.”

Leo then laughed loudly, "Let me think about it! 2000 gold coins…which means we can sell at $40,000! Ivan, you still owe me $100,000. Come on! I’m waiting for your money!"

Ivan was furious, "How dare you? I was about to ask you! Claire just told me she has a salary every month, but why did you never talk to me about one? I want my salary too! Besides, I'm not going to sell all those gold coins. I plan to sell half of them then save the other half. I will get $20,000 this time so how about 50/50?” 

Leo was in a good mood, "Sure, sure, I trust you, Ivan! For the salary, you see, Claire is just a newbie. I’m afraid she’s not even able to afford her living without a salary. But you? You’re different! Earning $40,000 in a night! What do you need a salary for?" Leo then covered his mouth, “It’s been a long night, I guess we all should get some sleep. Sweet dreams!”

Claire also waved to Ivan and then walked to another bedroom for a rest. She turned back again before turning off the door, “Hey, Ivan! don’t forget what you promised me before! See you in the game!”

Ivan couldn’t believe what he just heard, "You are a bully! Bully! I’ll call the police!”

......

Lying on the sofa, Ivan took out his phone and accessed the Rivalry website. He opened Good-deal Exchange but only found a few posts there. Some players had posted about their gold coins but none had exceeded five so Ivan and Leo were right. Gold coins were quite precious at the moment since players hadn’t explored enough areas.

After reading the instructions in the Good-deal Exchange carefully, Ivan praised the designer of the game.  All transactions were done in a quite encrypted secure system. Players would fill in all mandatory information, including helmet code, game character information, ID card, and bank card, before getting approval to post any commodity on the platform.

Once the post was sent out, the commodity would be transferred back to the Rivalry system, which meant once the buyer completed the payment, the money would show directly in the seller's bank card, while the commodity would appear instantly in the buyer's bag.

Rivalry's Good-deal Exchange platform would be the best security system for both sellers and buyers. Of course, users had to pay for such a convenient service, a 1% tax would be charged for each transaction that took place that the seller was always expected to cover. 

Of course, there were many ways to trade in the game. One of the most popular ways was to have a market stall. Another option was that players could buy and sell through a third party if they like, but that way was not highly encouraged considering the risk.

Ivan posted 1000 gold coins for sale on the platform then turned off his phone. He rolled over on the sofa to get some rest and hoped to have real money in his bank account when he woke up.