Infinity, The Arcade Age

With 1,000-point-worth of gold coins serving as a bargaining chip, Qin Ming's group quickly formed a partnership with the two protagonists.

This alliance unlocked the faction title missions and the exchangeable items menu for their world, as well as improved the protagonists' favorability toward them.

In the world of Dragon King Warriors, there were only four faction title missions available—three white-tier and one green-tier:

Orc Slayer: Kill 100 orcs solo.

(Reward: White Title: Orc Nemesis, +20% damage against beasts.)

Money Talks: Raise favorability with any protagonist to 400.

(Reward: White Title: Ally of Justice, +2 Charisma.)

I Am the Orc Now: Plunder an orc village.

(Reward: White Title: Fight Fire with Fire, +10 Strength.)

So, You Call Yourself an Orc Chieftain?: Kill the Orc Chieftain solo.

(Reward: Green Title: Hero, +8 to all attributes.)

Aside from these quirky titles, the items available for exchange from the protagonists were equally unique, as were the rules governing them.

Special Exchange Rules

Here's what made this system unusual: you couldn't exchange favorability points for items directly.

That's right—unlike other worlds, in Dragon King Warriors, these protagonists wouldn't hand over a single thing for free, no matter how high their favorability score was. Even at 1,000 favorability points, these "stingy misers" wouldn't part with a crumb.

Worse, asking them for items without paying could decrease your favorability with them. The unfortunate Air Cannon, who lost 10 points of favorability just for making an offhand comment, was proof of this.

In this world, favorability was only useful for discounts:

100 points: 5% discount

200 points: 10% discount

300 points: 20% discount

400 points: 30% discount

500 points: 40% discount

The maximum discount was 50%, achievable at 1,000 points, and came with the additional perk of being able to take one item for free. Beyond that, no further discounts existed.

Qin Ming, a shrewd businessman himself, suspected the 50% discount was essentially their wholesale price. These protagonists might forgo profit for good relations, but expecting them to sell at a loss? Impossible. The cost price was their bottom line.

The Exchangeable Goods

The available items ranged from 1,000-point white-tier recovery consumables to 3,000-point standard white equipment, 5,000-point green-tier items, and even a 10,000-point blue-tier piece of gear.

At the top was a 50,000-point treasure: the Wealth Orb, a dazzling silver artifact with an astonishing effect.

Wealth Orb

Effect: Targets up to ten individuals whose highest attribute is below 20, transforming them into gold coins on the spot.

Note: These coins can be exchanged for points, effectively turning enemies into wealth.

The Priest and Ranger treasured this orb so much that they had never used it, keeping it as a prized possession. Now, they displayed it for sale at an exorbitant price, tempting Qin Ming and his team.

Staring at the shimmering orb, even Qin Ming—despite his experience with high-grade items—was momentarily dumbfounded by its unique effect.

However, what truly shocked him wasn't the Wealth Orb but the lowest-tier exchangeable item: a white-tier consumable with a laughably weak effect.

Name: Medical Bandage

Type: Consumable (White-Tier)

Effect:

Restores 5% of the user's state.

Cannot be used in combat.

Description: A specialty from Priest Aludo's church. While its healing effect is poor, it's cheap and available in large quantities.

Medical Bandages?! 5% healing?! Qin Ming's eyes twitched as he recognized the item. These were the same bulk consumables he had purchased during his very first mission, thinking he'd scored a great deal.

It turned out those "bargain" bandages were originally sourced here. Worse still, the exchange price for one bandage was 250 points—less than the 300 points he had paid back then. He even remembered the seller lamenting as if selling at a huge loss, leaving Qin Ming convinced he'd gotten a steal.

Looking at the box of bandages, Qin Ming's merchant pride took a serious hit.

As he stared at the bandages, Aludo misinterpreted his interest and cheerfully picked up a bundle. "Thinking of buying? If you take ten rolls, I'll throw in an extra one for free. Hey, wait, where are you going? Don't leave—let's talk! I'll throw in two if you buy ten!"

Preparing for the Next Move

An hour later, the group had reorganized their equipment and set off once more. With the Priest and Ranger leading the way, they headed toward Blackstone Town to gather information and help defend against the orcs' attacks.

Blackstone Town, the closest large settlement to the Orc Chieftain's domain, was the first battleground. Reports indicated that the Orc Chieftain himself was stationed there, commanding his forces.

As they traveled, the group discussed their strategy. Or rather, Twin-Guns chatted with the protagonists while Qin Ming's team struggled to keep up. Thanks to her earlier generosity in gifting the duo a small fortune, Twin-Guns had earned significant favorability, leaving the others feeling resentful.

After all, everyone had contributed to the gift, but Twin-Guns had reaped most of the goodwill.

Trailing at the back of the group, Qin Ming paid no mind to these minor disputes. Instead, he was deep in thought, strategizing how to maximize his gains from this mission.

Following the protagonists might be safer, but it would also mean fewer spoils—and with so many competitors, there wouldn't be much to go around.

No, he needed to act independently again, preferably targeting additional mini-bosses.

Reaching into his pocket, he touched the spoils from his last hunt: a blue-tier key dropped by an Orc Centurion. It had been downgraded due to too many participants in the battle, but it was still a significant find.

Qin Ming's plan solidified. This time, he would carve his own path to riches.

(Chapter End)