Chapter 335: Cheap Bait
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The daily missions were the low-level missions. Once a faction’s credibility rating had reached a certain level, daily hiring missions could no longer be used to gain credibility points. This ensured that faction’s credibility rating reflected their actual capability.
120 points happened to be the first cutoff. This was the minimum to become an ‘official’ mercenary group, one that would actually attract potential clients.
The pro players had great efficiency. Their faction was able to gain 120 credibility points in two short days. Han Xiao then released the faction mission reward, with King Admiral, Hao Tian, and the Berserkers team captain, Yan Ran, being the top three contributors. The players whom Han Xiao had recruited were not just limited to the four big guilds, and he had also made sure to get people from the top-ranking gaming clubs and teams from the tournament, such as Thunder Storm and the Berserkers. Thunder Storm was alright. They even had the beauty, Rainy Kim, and was thus getting a decent amount of attention. The Berserkers, on the other hand, despite being a top-class battle team, did not have much of a presence. To be honest, Han Xiao would have completely forgotten about them had Yan Ran not made it to the top three this time.
Han Xiao gave those three additional rewards and also re-emphasized to the players that contributing to the faction would net them a lot of benefits. The additional reward was his newly produced [SIN – Type-A Carbon Life Form Radar (Helmet)]. It was something that could only be exchanged with 800 faction points and immediately invited the other players’ envy.
Then, Han Xiao announced, “This helmet can greatly enhance your sight and function in many extreme environments...”
He explained the helmet’s functions in a way that implied the necessity of this helmet for the future outbound missions.
The three winners quickly put on the helmet to test its features for themselves. The internal screen displayed all kinds of analyzed information of their surroundings such as energy density. They could even adjust the display themselves. The function of this item was clear to see, and it also gave decent protection for the head. It was an item that suited all player classes.
Frenzied Sword was close to Hao Tian, and he was able to borrow the helmet to test it out himself. After putting it on, he could not help but say, “It really is a good item.”
After the others saw this, they also took turns putting on the helmet to see for themselves. They were then convinced that they had to earn this item in the future.
With the reward given for being the first batch of recruits along with the previous faction mission reward, all... most of the players had already accumulated 600 contributions points and were only 200 short of the helmet.
Han Xiao had set the price of the helmet to 800 points on purpose to bait the players’ frustrated feelings. Being just short of being able to obtain the item would make them want to either do more missions or even give up their own items or even money in exchange for it.
Although it seemed like the players had been able to easily gain 600 contribution points, it was all just a strategy that Han Xiao had long been implementing whenever he dealt with the players. He converted the players’ desire for an item into something of a physical value. The items that were available in his shop were cheap and reliable, and in combination with the allure of faction points, it meant that Han Xiao would be the go-to place whenever players wanted to spend their money.
The exchange rate of Enas to Faction contribution points that he had decided on for now was 50:100 for those with a Neutral status—which was 0 – 1,000 contribution points. So, in the players’ mind, the helmet’s value was 400 Enas. Now that they could buy it at twenty-five percent of the original price after using their contribution points to pay the rest, they felt like they were getting a huge bargain.
Half of the players had earned 1,500 Enas from the Short Horn Star raid and were itching to spend their money on something. The other half did not have a lot as they had only been doing some daily jobs. However, most of them decided to borrow from the other half out of desperation.
“We’re all in the same line of work here. It’s just a hundred. Are you actually not going to lend me that little money?”
“You’re not gonna? Are you looking down on me‽”
“Ayyy c’mon, we’re all buddies here. We will definitely make more money in the future. You don’t have to worry about me not paying you back. Where could I even run off to here? I will owe you a favor if you lend me some money.”
After a chaotic scene, the last group of players was able to obtain their own helmets after getting into debt.
Of course, the Temple of God players were the most in debt, making Li Ge feel very bad.
With fifty or so customers, Han Xiao was able to make over 6,000 Enas in one go for all the helmets that he had made, so he was feeling very pleased with himself.
These helmets had been made with materials from Planet Aquamarine and actually cost next to nothing. The profit margin here was practically insane.
...
After their group of people arrived at the lobby of the Mercenary Alliance, Han Xiao got ready to open the interface to accept the jobs offered by the Sunil tribe. However, he realized that the lobby was a little odd today. A crowd of mercenaries was making a ruckus at one corner of the lobby.
Han Xiao was a curious person, so he walked over, only to see a short blue-skinned person get surrounded by the group of people. The person was wearing a fancy loose-fitting dress and had hard nail like hair, pointy ears, and no nose. The two eyes were shaped into a tight slit while the mouth was curved upside down with a naturally upset expression. This person was a Blue-Ni, and his appearance was akin to an emoji.
The impression that the other species had of the Blue-Nis was that they were very selfish, an opportunistic people. This particular Blue-Ni was some financial group’s materials investigation member. He was there in person to hire mercenaries in order to save on the tiny processing fee that he would have had to pay if he had gone through the proper hiring channels.
This Blue-Ni was called Martin, and he was in the middle of introducing his job offer. “I am from a Materials Investigation team that is on its way to Planet Garton-791 for a three-day on-site investigation. We’re looking to hire bodyguards. Each person will be paid 400 Enas, and you will be responsible of protecting our team members. You will have to clear out the investigation grounds of any beasts as well as perform reconnaissance in any dangerous areas. We’re looking for groups with a credibility rating of at least 120...”
The surrounding mercenaries only showed cold faces at that. 400 Enas was not a very attractive reward. Moreover, this deal would be made in private instead of going through the official Mercenary Alliance channel. This meant that no records would be made in the system, and they would not be able to gain credibility points for completed the job. None of the surrounding mercenaries were bothered enough to take on the job.
Han Xiao’s eyes flashed, and he checked his star map. Garton-791 is close to the Sunil’s home base. We could earn some cash on the way. Although the reward is only 400 Enas, if each of our fifty people can get it, it’s still not too bad.
It was only a lifeless planet, hence the name with the code. It was basically a planet exclusively for resource excavation.
Han Xiao pushed through the crowd, walked up to the Blue-Ni, and said, “Black Star Mercenary Group. Fifty people. Only group assignments for now.”
“Let me check your credibility rating.” Martin gave Han Xiao a quick scan with his eyes and was quite happy. He had finally found someone who would take up his offer after shouting there for half the day.
Han Xiao pulled up his mercenary information page and passed it to Martin.
When Martin saw that this mercenary group had reached the credibility rating requirement, he was overjoyed. However, his expression changed immediately when he scrolled further down the page. “You’ve never accepted any combat assignments?”
Black Star Mercenary Group’s resume was filled with the daily jobs that could be completed in the hub. Many were cleaning missions. Normally, mercenaries would not even bother themselves with such jobs.
This resume gave Martin quite a shock. He had never seen such a noob ‘mercenary group’.