Lucky Day (3)
Rubbing his eyes and checking again, his inventory held not just a jackpot, but a super jackpot.
"W-wait, the Montena potion! J-jackpot!!"
* A potion with special efficacy against serious illnesses and above.
* Take it to Raymond(!), Captain of the Golden Lion Knights of Bernstein Castle.
In Taitonic, items that popped up on the exchange for even a second sold out instantly—you could barely get a glimpse. Unlike weapons and armor, which came in endless varieties, there was one category that monopolized demand across all classes: accessories.
This healing potion was a quest item from that hot category of accessories, one that guaranteed a Unique-grade drop.
"That's right! This quest item drops from Montena's pouch too? The drop rate's so brutally low I totally forgot about it!"
The knight captains of Bernstein Castle had bad blood between them. The Golden Lion captain was scouring everywhere for a cure for his sick wife, but Montena—out on distant dispatch—hadn't handed over his family's healing potion. A backstory users had pieced together from tips and know-how posts floated into his mind, but it was irrelevant right now.
What mattered was that delivering this potion earned you one random Unique accessory from the Golden Lion captain.
Rich players didn't blink at dropping tens of millions—not even hundreds of millions—if it meant even a sliver more power. That was why accessories, with their modest spec boosts, sold for multiples of weapons or armor prices.
Life really favors the lucky ones! No wonder gacha pulls I'd never normally touch felt so tempting... But what'll I get if I turn this in?
No, wait. I could just sell the quest item as-is? How much would it fetch? It's a total lottery, but gotta be at least ten million... I have no clue on the market price since they never drop.
He'd only tried the gacha out of exhaustion from endless grinding—he was notoriously unlucky. So the idea of cashing out this special potion popped up immediately...
No way. Will I ever get a shot at a gacha this pricey again in my gaming life? Even junk would net a few million. But if it's a super hit, it could be multiples of that. Yeah, go big or go home! Worst case, I break even at one or two hundred—no loss.
He'd planned to leave the village anyway, but with this linked gacha run, there was no reason to linger. He started toward the exit, then doubled back to the square.
Not for Montena, of course.
"Hey, InfiniteCorp! What'd you say to me earlier? Something about potion parties?"
"What? Didn't you log out? Why're you back? Oh! More pouches to open? Welcome back, customer! How many? Plenty in stock."
"This punk... Came to say thanks, you jerk! Your blessing hooked me a jackpot I never dreamed of. Ever heard of Montena's healing potion? Haha!"
"Huh? Delusional much? Figures you went broke and lost it."
"Bull or real, judge for yourself!"
With that, he dropped the potion a short distance from the guy and scooped it up quick.
Swoosh, clink!
This was risky play even in a safe village zone—thanks to stealth and invis in the game. But in this quiet square at off-peak hours with few players, getting looted was unlikely. The system prevented instant pickups from stealth/invis to block that abuse.
Instead of trading window proof, dropping it on the ground was bolder—and years in Taitonic told him it pissed people off way more.
"Haha! See that? Special healing potion! You're a merchant—you know the price tag off the bat, right?"
"Wh-what? Too fast, missed it. Drop it again!"
"Tsk tsk tsk! Then why'd you suddenly pack up your stall? Hoping I'd drop it so you could snag it? Saw that trick before. Playing blind to haggle? More potion peddler than pouch seller?"
"N-no, just closing my browser by accident..."
"Yeah yeah, quit the sales pitch and stick to pouches. Bet you make one sheet flipping that one? You'd need thousands of flips to keep up with me. Busy bee, huh? Hahaha!"
A month's grinding stress melted away. The world never let hard workers beat the lucky ones—reinforced once more.
"Thief dude! Sell it to me? You said it was my luck, right? Gimme it—100 pouches! No, 110!"
"Whoa, look at this guy switch modes. Born merchant. Hmm... Could just sell it without pulling, like you said?"
"Yes! Yes! Back-to-back jackpots are rare! I'd cash it! Three more pouches!"
The guy's attitude flipped; seeing him waver, he lunged in, eyes bulging with excitement.
"Kukuku. Look at him salivating. Nah, punk—joke's on you! Why sell a potential super jackpot to you? Never planned to, but especially not to you!"
"Ughhh, why'd a loser like you hit that?! Argh, pisses me off!"
Sticking around to troll first was the right call. He'd started it—time to pay back tenfold. Favors got repaid double; grudges, ten times over. That was his math.
Business done, he approached the knight gear trader nearby.
"Yo, you there? Got a weapon from earlier."
"Oh, congrats, thief dude! That's notoriously rare... Felt like you'd hit big, but a super jackpot? No way I saw that coming."
She'd watched it all—new face here lately, female user he'd seen a few times.
"Hehe, thanks. Not super though—Taitonic's full of pricier stuff. Anyway, selling a Rare longsword. Buy price 1400 gold, right?"
"Yes, but... Gacha jackpot and all, could you knock off a bit? 1300 to celebrate? Pleeease?"
"Ah, sorry. On second thought, no rush—I'll list it at Bernstein exchange myself! Happy hunting!"
"...Fine, 1400 buyout. Send trade."
Unlike InfiniteCorp, she was a true merchant. Sneaky haggling when he was hyped? Useless against his cheapskate, value-obsessed, three-year-unemployed ass.
"How many pouches did you open? Just one sword means not many, huh. Most sellers dump multiples at once..."
"Ten total. One Rare longsword from weapons/armor combined."
"Whoa! Brutal luck. Ten usually nets three or four... Ah! No, jackpot makes you lucky overall. Thanks for the sword anyway. Trade confirmed. Come again!"
"Thanks. Get rich!"
No haggling, one item, yet manners to the end. Rare breed.
Hard to find merchants like her... Pink Rabbit, was it? Might cross paths again—better remember.
Peak Korean server had over a million concurrent—slim odds of reruns in the vastness. But overlapping routes often meant similar levels; surprisingly common.
As he turned to leave, he dropped an Advanced HP Potion as tip. Couldn't haggle price, but with fresh stock, he could spare one.
Leaving Pink Rabbit scrambling to pack and grab it, he headed out.
Teleport to Bernstein was quick via space mage, but pricey—most walked unless urgent.
Hmm... Saving teleports but tipping Advanced Potion? Too flashy?
Nah. Save to thrive, but spend to attract fortune—that was his motto. Though he'd rarely earned enough to test it.
* * *
An hour since hitting the field and summoning his mount. The maps were absurdly vast—AI wizardry. One castle's turf this huge made the five-castle kingdom mechanic feel natural.
No way humans handcrafted this. Serazad's AI is nuts. Basically a new world created.
Still blew his mind; launch shock was unimaginable. Near-real fidelity, unprecedented freedom and scale—unannounced VR perfection dropped from nowhere.
Can't go back to a Taitonic-less life. This is my life game, last game.
Beyond green fields loomed snowy peaks like the Alps. Never been, but this view killed any urge—nothing real could top it.
The game hooked him hard. Reality: aging NEET. Here: top-tier respect.
And reversal potential overflows! Cash out jackpots like today's!
Byte Coin. Decades-old virtual currency got a boost at Taitonic launch.
-Through the in-game gold exchange, players can swap or buy gold for Byte Coins anytime.
-Those Byte Coins cash out freely IRL!
-This cash system legitimizes trading, fostering healthy culture!
Director Jang Hyun-soo's bold vision shocked the world—now reality after three years. Like delivery apps sparking a boom, easy cashing exploded the industry.
Streams and vids pivoted to Taitonic; capsule demand boomed manufacturing. Corps founded guilds, sponsored pros, poured billions. Post-Nutube gold rush? All in here. World revolved around it.
For a launch-day Korean server vet, picking it early felt lucky.
Pfft.
"Lucky my ass! Kings already crowned while solo scrub me scrapes by selling grind loot for rent? Damn, if I'd sold gold as earned instead of reinvesting, I'd be way ahead!"
Long ride bred rambling gripes. Experience said: zone out, swing steel.
Shadow Step!
Continuous Slash!
A lone orc warrior in the fields. Shadow Step closed in; Continuous Slash shredded it.
"Kwek!"
His +6 Kelkara Thieves' Useful Dagger's vital hit proc meant no counter—just death.
Acquired 11 gold.
"Oh, sweet! Nice haul. Better than brooding—keep swinging!"
No junk drop, but gold from a stingy orc? Grateful.
"Yeah, quit envying big shots. Savor the small wins. Good days'll come, right Jihwan?"
Repeating hunts, he noticed the field crowded.
Huh? Not hunters... Ah, all heading to Bernstein for the coronation!
Throngs outside already? Inner ceremony: tens of thousands easy.
"Man, jealous life. Wins in reality and game? Insane cash, power, fame!"
God was unfair. Spare a crumb for losers like him instead of all-in on one guy?
"Again, Kang Jihwan? Gripe-fest already? Fix this negativity! Ugh, mount up—Feed!"
Outer gates neared; he spurred his summon mount Feed. Game logic—no speed boost, but habit.