Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (english reading book TXT) 📗

tried exerting strict control over the exchange rate. All of that resulted in one thing: the black market blossomed, giving rise to gold sellers like COSMOGOLD and dealers like myself.

Upon its launch, Sphere of Worlds had proposed a new scheme. Its accountants made an unprecedented move, securing their entire virtual stock fund with a bank deposit. Sphere had only one issuer—the Golden Hamster bank—the amount of money circulating in it was finite, and any issuance was supported by a deposit made in the government’s golden exchange standard. That’s what made the exchange rate steady and the currency stable. After that, they created a generic auction where players made bids, buying and selling currency from each other, and the admins received a fee for processing and matching the applications. However, as I found out, large amounts were a different story.

I wasn’t going to give up, of course. Officially, there was no withdrawal limit, so I decided to act. Anyone could get an ID scan, a police retinal code, and tax ID online—they were stored in each citizen’s personal communicator, which could be used to provide a digital signature as well. The only thing that bothered me was visiting the Golden Hamster, but it seemed inevitable. The closest to me was in Eyre, and that’s where I headed.

Trouble found me as soon as I reached the Trade Quarter. It was getting dark, and multitudes of lanterns above the street stalls, lit windows, and torches carried by passing sentries illuminated the busy market square.

I was walking with my hood pulled over my head, faceless and anonymous. Neither my status nor nickname were shown; identifying me was impossible. Yeah, right. The signature logo on the sign—a coin with a hamster emblazoned on its head side—was already close when two grey figures separated from the shadows beneath the herald stone. On some level, I had expected something like that, which is why I kept my hand right on Aelmaris’ grip. So the hunt for me had already started? Only a few hours had passed!

They were wearing grey hoods of disguise. Blades flashed in the dim light of the torches, and the combat log sprang to life. Aggression in the peace zone? They had very little time to kill me before the guards’ arrival. The enemies skillfully circled around me, attacking from two directions. If one missed, another would hit his target.

But I wasn’t the newbie easily killed by PKers at the resp point anymore. We were taught how to act in such situations and how to fight two or more opponents and emerge victorious. The main rule was to attack rather than defend; act rather than react. To impose your will upon your enemy and catch them unaware!

I parried the blow from the man on the right with a brief swing of Aelmaris, stripping him of his weapon, and immediately stepped between them, slashing at the place where the second opponent was supposed to be. I almost managed to hit him, too, but a ring of flame swept over us, roaring. The third PKer had used a scroll or a spell of Grand Fire, deciding to take me down for good, even if at the cost of the others’ lives.

Grand Fire was almost an instant kill. The resistance stats of my gear allowed me to hold out for around five seconds, but even a high-level character couldn’t survive in the epicenter of that spell. A wave of fiery DoTs emptied my health bar, as enemies and probably a few random passers-by collapsed around me. Were they really prepared to lose karma for one measly kill?

I chuckled. Those guys were out of luck. The Soul Forge Gem once again procced, and I could respawn any time. As a ghost, I watched a guard patrol burst into the square and butcher the remaining wannabe assassin. None of them were from Pandorum but rather belonged to a small PK clan, the Vipers. Curious. Apparently, my bounty was large indeed if someone was throwing Grand Fires around the city streets. I would have to run a check on that.

I rose from the dead, looted the failed assassins (although they didn’t have any valuables on them), and finally entered the office of the Golden Hamster.

As usual for Sphere, the decor was on point. Respectable-looking gnomes busy pouring over piles of papers filled with scribbles; massive candlesticks, seals, inkwells, quills... Upon hearing my request, the NPC teller paused for a bit but eventually escorted me into the manager’s office. He was a player, or rather a Golden Hamster employee in the shape of a big-bellied, black-bearded zwerg, at least judging by the gold color of his nickname. From the looks of it, he had just been summoned, as the office had clearly been empty until several minutes before.

He spent a while inspecting my application and my e-documents and suddenly asked, “You’ve stated ‘commerce’ as the source of your funds. Could you elaborate?”

“Is this necessary?”

“It’s in your interest. You see, I know that this amount was paid to you in one installment by the player called Phantom, Euthanasia clan. Is this right? Please explain in writing what it was paid for.”

Whoa, now that was a demand. Weren’t they overstepping?

“I don’t get it. Must I tell you the details? What if this is a confidential trade secret?” I decided to show my indignation and added a bit of steel to my voice.

“I repeat, this is in your interest. Phantom has created a ticket asking for a refund. This is a large sum, and we have an obligation to investigate this situation. Until it is resolved, the money in your account will be blocked.”

“Seriously? And what reason did he name? It was all purely game-related, anyway.”

“We cannot give you this information. Please write down your own version of the circumstances in which you received the money.”

The floor started shaking beneath my feet. So that’s