There was a secret to Sigma, that nobody but Max knew at this point in time.
While the general consensus was that nobody could bring any items outside of the tutorial game 'Omega' into the real world, this rule actually did not apply to divine items that were bound to individuals.
Such items were actually considered as one's personal merit by the universal queen and allowed to be carried into the real world with a debuff as seen fit by the queen to not affect the balance of the universe.
In his past timeline only a handful of top players like his brother were able to bring out items outside of Omega into the real world and it was only because of sheer luck that they were able to do it because they were already in possession of the said items when the game ended.
However knowing this secret in-advance Max now had the opportunity of a lifetime!
Since it was the last day in Omega, players were selling incredibly prized possessions at incredibly cheap prices because they thought they were never going to be able to see it again.
Max's goal was to obtain either a divine grade weapon or a divine grade potion.
The universal queen was sure to give it a debuff and reduce its quality to advance or high grade when being brought into the real world, however even a high grade potion sold for at least 500,000 gold coins whereas an advanced potion sold for 1 million gold!
If Max could successfully flip these items around, he could come up with the money to enrol into the university with ease.
After logging into the familiar Purple Haze City, Max felt nostalgic for a moment since it had been over a decade since he freely moved across this city.
If this was under any other circumstance, Max would have loved to just soak in the scenery and refresh old memories, however, he had no luxury to do so at the moment.
Max ran towards the auction house at once, as only at the auction house did he have the chance to buy a divine item.
As he reached the auction house, he was shocked to see an elven receptionist at the counter.
' She's an NPC Max, this is still a game', Max needed to remind himself so as to not get startled as swallowing a mouthful of saliva he said " Hello, may I please look at the list of all the divine items you have?".
The elven receptionist smiled as she said " Certainly sir, however the items above the grade 'epic' are only sold to VIP customers of the auction house, hence i must insist on seeing your VIP card or you may need to choose from the long list of epic items we have".
Max tapped his forehead, he had forgotten about this custom as he quickly looked into his inventory and produced his ' True Elite ' guild token.
The True Elites guild was his brother's guild and it was the owner of this kingdom and this city.
They basically ran not only this city and filled all the management and high ranking army spots, but also ran establishments such as the auction house hence when Max showed his guild token the elven receptionist immediately became much more respectful and immediately provided the list of all divine items available.
Foie Gras ( Divine ) - collected from the liver of the rovamarian duck, it is a delicacy that can be used for cooking divine delicacies that provide abundant medicinal and health benefits.
Bluespot flower ( Divine ) - an essential component for brewing high quality stamina potions.
Redspot flower ( Divine ) - an essential component for brewing high grade mana potions.
Max looked at the list of all the divine items available and frowned, there were no potions or weapons available and only raw materials were present.
Max had overestimated the last day's sell-off for divine items.
Although items below the legendary grade were being sold as common fodder, items above the legendary grade were usually obtained by players through a lot of hard work and difficulty, which is why they would not part with it even for the highest amounts of money, let alone small ones.
Max looked at the in-game time display and realised Omega would be shut-down in only 50 minutes now.
If he truly rushed, he could make a gamble and run to the teleportation centre and teleport to ' Vanaheim ' the city of the elves to try his luck at their auction house.
However, should it fail too Max would not be able to come back and buy these items here again.
'Fuck, what am i to do? Do I risk it all or do I buy these raw items and play it safe? '
Max grit his teeth and then decided that a bird in hand was worth two in the bush, which is why he decided to stick with the options he had and buy the raw components from this auction house.
"I would like to buy 3 Bluespot flowers, 3 Redspot flowers and 1 foie gras". Max declared after doing some mental math as to how much money he had.
Quickly transferring the money, Max bought them all.
" Certainly sir, thankyou for the patronage". The elven lady said with a smile.
" By chance do you have item bindings?" Max asked.
The elven lady nodded.
" Give me 7 of them please ".
The lady proceeded to give Max seven item bindings, however Max was embarrassingly short of money to buy them all having enough money for only 3.
Max had to end up selling all the items in his inventory to make up the deficit but in the end he managed to get the seven item bindings.
Unlike weapons that could be naturally bound to the wielder, item bindings needed to be done on raw materials if one did not want to risk dropping them upon death in Omega.
Max needed to do it too if he wanted to carry them into the real world.
Quickly binding them all Max looked at the in-game clock to see that only 5 minutes were left before Omega ended.
Sitting down in the empty street, Max looked at the clear skies of PurpleHaze city and exhaled sharply.
In the short timeframe of 5 minutes everything was going to change.
Over 6 billion humans were going to die and Earth would never be the same place again.
The first awakening was about to start and the history of mankind was about to be altered forever.
Last time around Max was excited for this day, it was going to be the start of an endless life of adventure for him.
This time there was only a cold smile on his face. He was no longer the trembling 17 year old teenager he was a decade ago, although he was in the body of one.
Having experienced the horrors of the universe Max could no longer feel excited for it. However there was still a feeling of anticipation inside him, because somewhere, somehow, his heart still craved for the thrill of an adventure.
System Notification : Dearest players, this is your AI 'Gaia' speaking. Thankyou for participating in the tutorial game Omega.
We hope you had a pleasant gaming experience and have cultivated fond memories.
The tutorial is now coming to an end and the ownership of your planet and me, has been decided to be awarded to the number one player ' Shakuni Won Knight ' by the universal queen.
All players will now be logged out of the tutorial forever, however we hope to see you all again in Sigma!