Evolution Online: Building a Kingdom with 100\% drop rate-Chapter 34: Ch-: Mysterious NPC

As soon as Victor logged into the game, the first thing he did was head toward Moonlight City, where he was supposed to encounter a dungeon.

After half an hour of running, Victor could finally see the city walls.

"Where the hell am I going to find the hidden dungeon?" Victor frowned as he walked toward the guards, lost in his thoughts.

"Entrance fee is 1 silver for each individual," said the guard once they got close enough.

Victor nodded while scanning the crowd with his Eyes of Truth and Fate, looking for clues, as it was the most reliable method. He was about to bring out a coin from his inventory when—

He was surprised when he saw a golden thread above his head and clicked on it.

[Fate: Host will encounter the map in an auction which will take place in two days]

Victor’s eyes narrowed when he saw the sudden information.

"What the hell? Do you want to enter this place without money? Where did such beggars come from?" The guards sneered inwardly when they saw Victor suddenly turn stiff and assumed he had no money, as they were used to dealing with penniless people who reacted the same way when they heard the fee.

"If you have no money, then I cannot allow you inside," said one of the guards. "Get out of the way already! There are people behind waiting for you!"

Victor frowned upon hearing their words and said, "Who said I don’t have money?"

Then Victor swiped his hand, and two gold coins appeared. He tossed the coins to the guards and walked inside without looking back.

As soon as he entered the place, he was met with a large number of people with indicators above their heads, which signaled they were players and could only be seen by other players. Victor was the only one who could make the indicator appear and disappear above his head.

Moonlight City was one of the largest beginner cities a player could access in the kingdom, and most players stayed within this city and leveled up before moving on to the next area.

"I still have time, let me farm some experience points from the players," Victor thought as he left the crowded area and went to a secluded place and donned the Mask of Loki.

As soon as the mask covered his face, his entire facial structure and body began to change, and within a couple of minutes, he transformed into a middle-aged, handsome man. This was a random NPC Victor had killed. He then set his name to "Frost Eye."

After that, he walked toward a nearby merchant who was renting out shops.

"Excuse me, I would like to rent the most prominent shop you have available," Victor said, which caused the indifferent merchant NPC to look at him.

"Do you even have money?" the merchant raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

Victor did not reply but instead brought out a pouch from his inventory and placed it on the table, which caused the merchant to raise an eyebrow. However, his expression changed when he saw it was filled with gold coins.

Immediately, the merchant’s attitude did a 180-degree turn, and he looked at Victor with a fawning smile. "Of course, I have shops for rent. They are in the best locations, filled with pedestrians. Would you like an indoor or outdoor shop?"

"Outdoor," Victor said without hesitation, as being outdoors would attract more attention.

"Of course, this way," the merchant said as he led Victor to the business area and stopped in front of a large open field which had a humongous signboard.

"It will be 200 gold coins," the merchant said, and Victor tossed him the coins without saying a word.

"Damn, the monsters here are way stronger than in the starting village," Peak Sword, a pro gamer, said while kicking a rock in frustration. He was one of the top gamers and highly respected in the gaming community, and he was among the first batch of players to try the game. He was ranked among the top 20 when they got stuck in the game, and even in the Awakeners Association, he was sure he would get a high ranking.

Peak Sword’s face grimaced as the monsters here in the city were far stronger compared to the starting village they had ended up in after escaping the Black Church. He was one of the people who had bought items from Faceless at the start and dominated the starting area, killing monsters with ease, but here the weapons seemed to have lost their overwhelming edge. It’s not like there weren’t better weapons being sold here, but those were expensive, which he could not afford.

"Huh, what’s that?" Peak Sword’s eyes drifted toward a huge signboard that said Frost Eye’s Shop. This was not here a few days ago. Is it a new shop?

Being curious, he walked toward the middle-aged man and checked his details.

-----

Name: Frost Eye

Level: 40

Danger: High

----

Victor could feel that he was checking his details. He had purposely hidden his real strength; otherwise, the danger indicator would be "Fatal" instead of "High." He had recognized the player—Peak Sword was a top player in Evolution Online in his past life.

"High danger‽"

Peak Sword gulped. Even the armored security guard just now only had a "Medium" danger level. This was his most dangerous encounter yet. Who exactly was this NPC whose information was full of question marks?

"Shouldn’t it be safe in the city? Will today be the first time that I die?"

Suddenly, the man spoke.

"Examining someone you just met? That’s not very polite," Victor said with a chuckle.

"Sorry," Peak Sword said nervously. He was wary of NPCs, as he had read on social media that when you die, you feel mild pain in the real world, and headaches linger for a week. Someone had foolishly provoked an NPC and got killed.

Peak Sword gave a startled jump.

Victor chuckled to himself, seeing his reaction.

"Brave adventurer, do you want to check some items in my store?" His words made Peak Sword look at the items, especially the weapons displayed, with greed and envy.

"Sorry, I don’t have gold coins to pay," Peak Sword said bitterly as he looked at the NPC.

"Who said I need gold coins?" Victor said with a mysterious smile. "You can pay for the items in my shop with experience points."

"What?!" Hearing his words, Peak Sword’s pupils contracted as he looked at the shopkeeper in disbelief, unable to believe what he was hearing.