Chapter Five: Purchasing Currency, the Beginner’s Exclusive Set

After hearing what Yeyu said, everyone fell silent for a moment, pondering before nodding in agreement, for his words were not without merit.

"Besides, Shen Shang has already made changes in this regard. The New Era is nothing short of a complete transformation for Shen Shang—a qualitative leap," Yeyu remarked, his gaze lingering meaningfully on the computer screen, a faint smile curving his lips.

As the number of players soared, the entire Xuantian server soon reached tens of millions of concurrent users. If the developers hadn't made the newbie starting areas vast enough, the place would have been overcrowded beyond belief.

Of course, the small advantages of the newbie starting area's experience zones were gradually losing their value. When the game first launched, each player character had only a single attack skill to use.

In a blink, Yeyu had already reached level 11, and level 12 was not far off.

He operated the game with one hand as he hunted monsters in the experience zone, while with the other hand he picked up his cellphone, opened the chat app, and logged in. He navigated to his "Studio" contact list, then tapped on a friend whose profile picture was a crown. This was someone Yeyu had met as a moderator for the Shen Shang new player forum section—a professional gold farmer from a well-known gaming studio.

Pressing the voice button, Yeyu said, "I need to buy some game currency. Give me a price."

The reply came quickly: "Ran into a bit of a problem."

Yeyu frowned. Knowing the studio's reputation, it was rare for them to encounter problems, especially in a hot new server like this one.

But after hearing the explanation, Yeyu understood. The Shen Shang development team had added twenty channels per server in the New Era, and only upon reaching level 20 could players switch channels. Therefore, the studio's staff was scattered across different lines. Fortunately, five of their workers were present on Line 1.

Previously, while focused on leveling and planning their next moves, Yeyu's group hadn't paid attention to which channel they were on. After checking, they confirmed their current channel.

Xuantian Line 1.

This realization put Yeyu at ease. No wonder, with forty or fifty million players online, the server didn't feel overcrowded—those twenty lines had significantly alleviated congestion.

But the studio faced another problem: the sheer number of players. Until reaching level 30 or leaving the starting area, players couldn't use the mail system to transfer items. Thus, the studio's accumulated gold couldn't be sent out—only face-to-face trades were possible.

Yeyu calculated how much currency he and the other five—Luo Feng's team—would need, then asked, "Do you want to buy currency from the studio? This studio collaborates closely with several major gaming forums I'm involved with. As the moderator for the Shen Shang new player section, I have access to a special channel, half price."

"Half price? Not bad! I want some."

"Me too!"

"Third Bro, count me in. How much?"

"If everyone’s getting some, don’t leave me behind!"

Yeyu nodded. "I'll confirm the exact rate with you, but at current exchange rates, each of us should spend at least 200 to 300 yuan. For convenience, I suggest 300 each. With our half-price deal, that gets us 3,000 gold coins apiece."

Everyone agreed and transferred their share to Yeyu’s digital wallet.

"Send me twelve thousand gold, split up as three thousand for each of us. We’re all on Line 1, grinding in the eastern experience zone of the newbie area. Two others are in the demon race's northern experience zone."

This studio, Crown, was one of the most famous gold farming outfits on the forums and had been involved in Shen Shang since the early days. According to Yeyu’s research, their operations on the old servers were deep-rooted.

Crown Studio gave Yeyu special access in the new servers because of his unique position as the sole moderator of the new player section. They valued his practical insights; his strategy guides were even more refined than the official ones, making this a mutually beneficial relationship.

"Gold delivery might take a bit of time. When you hit level 15, change classes, then use your gold to buy suitable transition gear. That’ll make quests easier and save unnecessary expenses."

"We’ll follow your lead," the five replied in unison.

Thus, all six activated auto-combat in the experience zone, both to wait for the studio's delivery and to avoid unnecessary effort.

On the first day, the new server had a level cap: no player could exceed level 40, and experience gains would cease at that cap.

Crown Studio’s efficiency was impressive—no surprise, given their deep understanding of Shen Shang and their top-three gold farming speed in the game. Yeyu sometimes wondered how they got in, since the dev team had banned old players with duplicate IDs, but apparently, studios on the new servers focused solely on selling gold.

In Shen Shang, currency was denominated in copper, silver, gold, and diamond. The new servers mainly traded in gold and silver.

Thanks to premium newbie card codes, the six of them redeemed what was rumored to be the best starter package on the server.

After twenty minutes, once everyone reached level 15 and left the experience zones, Crown Studio delivered their gold. Each of the six now possessed 3,000 gold coins, instantly making them wealthy.

"Deposit 1,500 gold in storage for emergencies. If we spend it all too soon, we’ll have to pay out of pocket again."

"Agreed!"

Then, the six headed to Hero Town to redeem their codes. Each received a Shen Shang Level 60 Newbie Pack.

Every ten levels, they could open the pack for rewards—but the first ten-level reward required them to choose a class first.

"Let’s go change classes," Yeyu suggested. His eyes drifted to the second quest in the glowing gold list in the game window: "Report to the Magistrate of Hero Town."

Arriving before the magistrate, they saw a golden exclamation mark above his head. A left-click opened the quest window.

Quest requirement: Level 10.

Quest auto-accept.

Quest description: "Liang Ye, it seems you have cultivated to level 10. Now you may choose a martial art to specialize in. You can focus on your own strength to become a Ranger, or awaken your spiritual veins to become a Free Seeker. Once you've decided, return to me."

Quest completion: Report to the Magistrate of Hero Town.

"Third Bro, which class did you pick?"

"String Master—a type of Free Seeker."

At this, Luo Wei commented, "That class is a bit unbalanced, String Master. It's not easy to play—requires good awareness and is tricky to operate. Given our team setup, you could have chosen something else. String Master has an extra illusion stat, making it a versatile class, but its lack of a defined damage role makes the late game rough. It ignores all defenses, so its direct damage is scary, but—"

"No worries," Yeyu shook his head. He was confident in his choice and relished the challenge and high-skill gameplay of the class.

The six of them changed classes. The two from the demon side would later join up at the same spot.

After changing, they could now open their backpacks and claim the reward packs—ten pieces of gear appeared before their eyes.

In Shen Shang, characters have sixteen slots, ten for equipment: eye, head, chest, shoes, necklace, left ring, right ring, weapon, back accessory, and wings.

The other six are fashion slots: nose, mouth, head, clothes, pants, shoes.

They each received a full set of level 10 gear, marked "Newbie Exclusive Set" in the item info.

After equipping themselves, since the advanced class unlocks at level 60, they could still wear the starter gear from their previous class; Yeyu equipped a guqin for his character.

As soon as they changed into their new gear, the four of them drew the attention of the surrounding players.

"Hey friend, how did you get that Newbie Exclusive Set?" came a flood of private messages, but Yeyu and his group ignored them and headed straight out of Hero Town toward the quest monsters.

In fact, they were the only ones in Hero Town sporting a full set like this, making them instantly memorable to all around.