Infinity, The Arcade Age

A radiant light filled the room, and once it dissipated, the ordinary silver halberd and silver potion had disappeared. In their place were two brand-new items.

Item Name: Triceraton's Wife (Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Chapter One)

Category: Weapon (Radiant-level Silver Plot Equipment)

Requirements: None

Effects:

Fixed Damage: 40-50Ammo Capacity: 6/6

Skill: Boss's Authority (Fire a shot into the air to summon three poacher minions for assistance. One is guaranteed to be an elite, while the other two have a chance of being elites. This skill can only be used once per world.)

Description: Triceraton loved this gun more than he loved his wife… but now, in someone else's hands, this "wife" has become even better than the original!

Item Name: Certificate of Honor from Parsy Village (Round Table Knights, Chapter One)

Category: Consumable (Radiant-level Silver Item)

Effects: Increases favorability with a plot character by 300 points (maximum increase up to 600).

Description: This certificate is Parsy Village's proof of your heroism. But wait, it seems someone forged some details: "Look! I single-handedly defended the entire village, killed Sir Scorn, and his 300 henchmen! What? You don't believe me? Here's my certificate as proof!"

The upgraded radiant silver items were astounding, especially the second one—the Certificate of Honor. It could instantly increase favorability by 300 points, with the maximum cap raised to 600.

What does this mean? Qin Ming thought. If I ever return to the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs world, I could use this certificate to steal Hannah right from under that annoying Jack's nose! After all, gaining favorability becomes harder the higher it goes, but with this consumable, Qin Ming could rapidly skyrocket someone's favorability to terrifying levels just by behaving well around them before using it.

This is practically a one-time cheat code!

As he fiddled with the parchment in his hands, Qin Ming grew more and more astonished. Another thought began forming in his mind: If radiant-level silver items are already this powerful, what would happen if I somehow upgraded this thing to gold-level? Could I just give someone a gift and instantly turn them from a friend into a lover?!

Brrr!

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Qin Ming carefully stowed the item away. He decided to save it for later, hoping to further enhance it first to see what other effects might unfold.

Strapping his upgraded revolver to his waist, Qin Ming grabbed the heavy swordsman armor that he couldn't use and headed to the Adventurer Market to sell it for points.

After spending some points to rent a stall and place the armor up for auction, Qin Ming sat on the ground and began assigning his attribute points.

This time, he had earned a decent number of attribute points—6 in total. After a moment of deliberation, he decided to primarily invest in Constitution.

As the saying goes, Your body is the capital of revolution. In this world, the harder your body is, the longer you survive. If you can take more hits, you'll have countless opportunities to make mistakes. Constitution was the most cost-effective attribute early on.

It's not that other stats weren't important, but the Constitution gave the best returns. Besides, Qin Ming's current Strength was already more than enough for now.

With his attributes assigned, Qin Ming's base Constitution reached the milestone of 20, and he added one point to Strength, bringing it up to 8.

Thanks to his high-quality gear and his newly acquired green title, Qin Ming's overall stats had reached a terrifying level:

Strength: 30

Constitution: 27

Agility: 10

Spirit: 5

With these stats, Qin Ming could rival small bosses and could easily hold his ground against other low-level adventurers. The only downside was that, even after clearing two worlds, Qin Ming still hadn't learned a single skill. He was just a plain stat machine.

As Qin Ming pondered his next move, footsteps suddenly approached. A figure came closer, eyeing the armor displayed at his stall before speaking.

"Hey, brother, how much for this piece of gear?"

Hearing this, Qin Ming didn't bother to raise his head. He simply pointed to the listed price on the stall.

Seeing Qin Ming's nonchalant response, the visitor asked, "Can I trade items for it?"

At these words, Qin Ming finally looked up and glanced at the person in front of him.

The man was also shrouded in the familiar black mist, but a crest on his shoulder caught Qin Ming's eye, causing his brow to twitch.

Oh? A member of a team?

In this low-level adventurer area, it wasn't common to see someone who had already joined a team. This guy was clearly no ordinary adventurer.

Teams, essentially, were small organizations formed by adventurers. They would band together to share items and information, aiding each other in their growth.

Higher-level adventurers might even invest their points or gear to help fledgling adventurers survive the initial harsh stages.

With someone backing them, these low-level adventurers had a much higher survival rate compared to solo players. Over time, they would snowball their resources, growing stronger and eventually outpacing other adventurers.

Having a green-grade firearm when you first enter the Nightmare Space versus having nothing? The difference was night and day.

What's more, team members shared hidden quest information, accelerating their growth by not fumbling around blindly.

That's why teams were a powerful force within the Nightmare Space, commanding great respect.

However, none of this mattered much to Qin Ming. No matter how strong this guy's team was, they couldn't just beat him up in the trade zone.

With that in mind, Qin Ming's expression returned to its usual indifferent calm as he replied, "Sure, but I'll need to inspect the goods first."

"What do you need?"

"Oh? You've got quite a bit to offer, huh?"

"I've got enough. Just tell me what you're looking for."

Faced with the man's confident tone, Qin Ming thought for a moment before replying, "I want a skill book."

"Skill books? That's easy. How about a one-for-one trade? Take your pick."

As he spoke, the man standing before Qin Ming opened his inventory and placed four items on the stall.

Each of them was a skill book.

(End of Chapter)