Worlds’ Apocalypse Online

As soon as he came into town, an old, tattered book appeared in front of Gu Qing Shan.

It observed Gu Qing Shan and spoke with a hoarse voice: [All esteemed guests can directly enter the black market, but newbies like yourself will need to hear an explanation and tutorial from this old man]

"Then I'll have to trouble you" Gu Qing Shan spoke.

The old book lightly waved back and forth before speaking: [It's my job, no need to thank me-------- now, let us begin]

It cleared its voice before asking: [Which organization are you from?]

"…I don't follow anyone"

[I already know about what happened at the gate] the book nodded, [which means, not only do you have no backing, you're also a hapless fellow------- how pitiful]

"…"

[Then, as a person going into the black market alone, which numbered coin do you use?]

"I------"

Gu Qing Shan stopped.

I don't have a single coin on me.

The chest of #7 coins from before were already used to pay for using the ship.

So I'm now completely poor.

At the time, I tossed the chest of coins so casually, but now it became awkward.

From how this book seems, if I said I don't have any money, I'll probably be kicked out on the spot.

So Gu Qing Shan lied: "I use #7 coins, erm, I have about a chest full of them"

The old book sighed and scoffed: [#7 coins? A grown-up using such low-valued coins, really pitiful]

"I can't help it, I'm here at the black market to make some more" Gu Qing Shan followed up his words.

The old book spoke: [I have two suggestions for you. Firstly, you can take a stroll around this town and spend all of your money on any one random item]

[Or secondly, go left, about 600 meters from here is our black market's labor center, you can find a few jobs there to make money------ but we won't accept a soloist, because of how big this world is, a lot of things takes a long time to complete, so we hope that those who accept our jobs will complete them as efficiently as possible]

[Which is why if you're willing to work for money, you had better get a few people, form a party and accept a job together]

Gu Qing Shan doubtfully asked: "Why won't you accept soloists? Wouldn't a particularly powerful Professionist be able to accomplish a lot on their own?"

The old book asked him in return: [Will those powerful Professionists you speak of still need to make what is essentially spare change from these simple jobs?]

"…"

Gu Qing Shan was driven to become speechless at once.

[There isn't anybody powerful to that degree in this little town] the old book continued to explain: [Of course, you can get into the black market if you make enough money, or complete an appropriately big job------- there are quite a few jobs in there reserved specifically for soloists, but their requirements are also extremely steep]

Gu Qing Shan sighed and spoke: "Alright, thank you very much, I'll go take a look"

[Go, seeing how you read so many books on the way in, I'll give you a piece of advice]

"Please"

[Don't trust anyone]

"Understood, thank you"

Gu Qing Shan turned around and headed into the black market's work center.

He was currently very worried.

Yun Ji's life will be sustained for now thanks to the power of the crystal.

But I don't know how long it'll actually last.

So I need to enter the black market as soon as possible and look for a method to heal her.

But I'm currently penniless.

According to Wang Cheng's memories, only widely recognized treasures and resources can be exchanged for money.

The spirit stones I have on me aren't even qualified to exchange for a #1 coin.

If I really wanted to earn money, that black tree branch can probably be sold, but I don't have money to appraise it.

Since the tree branch was something that came from his karmic adversity, Gu Qing Shan didn't really want to touch it himself, otherwise, he won't even be able to regret it when something unexpected occurs.

If he won't touch it, he won't be able to use the War God UI to appraise it.

So in the end I'm still penniless.

Gu Qing Shan couldn't help but sigh again.

How did I fall to be this miserable?

While thinking that, he had already reached the work center.

Everything was quite clear here------- the rules were literally written on the walls outside of the work center.

Gu Qing Shan seriously read everything over.

It was essentially the same as what the old book informed him, but a lot more detailed.

There were no solo jobs.

A temporary party would allow him to take a few simple jobs.

A permanent party would be able to take higher-ranked jobs that paid better as well.

But as a newcomer, he had to complete at least one job with a temporary party before qualifying to join a permanent party.

This was a kind of test aimed at newcomers.

------if you can't even complete a simple job with a temporary party, then just give up and go home.

While Gu Qing Shan was reading, a voice called out to him.

"Hi, can I ask if you are a newcomer here?"

He turned to look.

And saw that it was a handsome boy smiling as he asked him.

"How do you know that?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"Because other than newcomers, no one would be reading the work center rules like this" the boy answered.

"And so?"

"And so, since we're also looking for members for a temporary party to complete a job for some money, we want to invite you"

"How many people do you have?"

"Three"

"Three should be enough, three people can already form a party"

"We're hoping to complete jobs more efficiently, so we wanted to invite more people"

"What job are you thinking about?"

"A terrain surveying job"

Gu Qing Shan glanced at another wall.

That wall was currently full of people, staring intensely at the various jobs that constantly appeared.

Gu Qing Shan's gaze went past those people and searched on the wall.

He quickly found the job for surveying terrain.

This was a particularly simple job even among those provided for temporary parties.

It doesn't involve any danger, only taking a bit of effort.

And doesn't pay very well either.

Because of this, even temporary parties rarely accept such a job.

After some brief thinking, Gu Qing Shan made his decision.

…alright, the first job might as well be simple.

A temporary party will let me quickly get used to the process of doing a job.

This job should be quick and not have any conflict with other parties.

After finishing this job, I'll be qualified to enter a permanent party. With my capabilities, I should be able to join a decent permanent party to take on a few high-difficulty jobs to earn more decent money.

More money means I'll be able to enter the black market quicker.

"Where are your teammates?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

The young boy then signaled towards the crowd.

Very quickly, a pretty young girl and a young boy with an imposing aura came out.

They stood in front of Gu Qing Shan.

As Gu Qing Shan looked at them, he couldn't help but took a deep breath.

These guys are too young, they look to only be about 18-19 years old----- and they probably are.

They probably aren't very strong either, otherwise, they wouldn't choose to accept the simplest job.

"You guys are too young" Gu Qing Shan hesitantly spoke.

As they heard him, the three young people gave him a strange look as if they were seeing an idiot.

"Why do you think we're too young? You don't look any older than we are"

The girl asked him doubtfully.

Gu Qing Shan face-palmed himself.

Yes, he had actually forgotten that because he went back in time, he was physically a young man that was barely twenty.

The two boys and the girl seemed to have noticed the implication in his gaze.

The other boy spoke: "Don't look down on us, we're actually very strong, but the job needed 4 people to complete quickly so we had to ask you to join"

"Alright, I'll join you" Gu Qing Shan said.

The boys and the girl exchanged a glad look.

They quickly brought Gu Qing Shan to register into a temporary party and accepted the mission.

Soon enough, the four of them made their preparations and set out.

At first, they wanted to rent a cheap flying vehicle, only giving up after Gu Qing Shan pointed out that the job rewards wouldn't even be enough to pay for it.

Then they suggested having a celebration first.

Gu Qing Shan took out the job description and showed them to make them realize------- it turns out the job they took was a time-sensitive one!

Before they set out, the girl suddenly found that her scimitar was nowhere to be found.

After taking some time to analyze and help her recall, they finally discovered that her scimitar was left propped on a tree where they stood before.

After all of that, the four of them finally set out from the town to the job destination.

At this point, Gu Qing Shan was feeling a bit regretful.

But since he already accepted the job, giving up half-way through would mark him as an untrustworthy newcomer.

He had no choice but to continue with this party until the end.

-----and then, with the imposing boy leading them, 20 minutes later, Gu Qing Shan noticed something wasn't quite right.

They stopped, carefully checked the map to see that they had gone in the opposite direction.

From then on, everyone unanimously agreed that Gu Qing Shan would lead.

And they finally reached their destination.

Fortunately, the job itself was simple.

The work center gave them four surveying cards, one for each person to survey the terrain around four separate areas.

When one of them surveys enough ground for the job, their card would give off a small chime.

After all four cards were done, the job was considered to be complete and they could return to the work center.

Gu Qing Shan took the card given to him and followed the job's instruction to travel across a wide area of the desert.

As he reached the end, the card gave off a small chime.

Gu Qing Shan turned the card around and checked it.

The originally blank card now depicted a wide sand dune.

Two lines of text appeared below the sand dune:

[Eastern hill, North Eastern 22nd position, 5th sector]

[The above area's terrain characteristics have been recorded]

A few moments later.

The others also finished.

The four of them gathered and gave the cards to Gu Qing Shan.

When Gu Qing Shan was about to lead them back, he noticed that three of the four cards were still blank.

After some questions, he found out that the other three went the short way around.

They said that this would be a lot more efficient.

Gu Qing Shan didn't express his annoyance, only patiently explained to them why they can't take a shortcut as he showed them the job description.

The three of them realized what they did wrong.

When they hurriedly went back to complete their share of the job, it was already dark.

The time limit was passed.

The job failed.

Gu Qing Shan was shocked.

He really couldn't believe such a simple job could be screwed up to this point.

Seeing them all so dejected, Gu Qing Shan regained his calm and encouraged them: "It's ok, everyone has already completed the job, we just need to learn our lesson and do better next time"

It took him encouraging them for a while more before they stopped feeling dejected.

And now it was time to return.

Gu Qing Shan silently sighed as he led the way back to town.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly noticed that it was silent behind him.

So he turned around.

The three young people stood still, silently watching him.

"What is it?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

At this point, he had already let go of the failure and smiled amiably.

Among the three of them, the one who looked the most attractive and most sheltered of the three, the girl, stepped forward.

She sneaked a glance at Gu Qing Shan with a nervous and uneasy expression.

"I…" the girl hesitated to speak.

Gu Qing Shan encouraged her: "Don't worry, if you have something to tell me, go ahead"

"Really?" the girl looked at him full of expectations.

"Um, you have to be a bit braver, in fact, if there are any problems you have to communicate it properly. If you won't say anything, I wouldn't know what you want either" Gu Qing Shan slowed his tone down and continued to speak.

A long pause later.

The girl finally mustered her courage.

She raised her scimitar at Gu Qing Shan and spoke nervously: "Th… this is a robbery!"