Millennium Witch.

Chapter 20 - Buy More, Earn More
When the S-rank rating for the first item, "Rune Quality," lit up, Welding Torch no longer had much doubt about the mediocre spell name "Arcane Windblade."

But the second "stability" test that followed made him catch his breath.

[Stability calculation in progress...]

This is a probability indicator of how a spell can break down, become distorted, fail, or become abnormal due to its own problems, and it is often linked to the "method of operation" and the "casting environment".

For example, improper operation, such as exceeding the rated magic pressure, or a harsh environment, such as being in an area contaminated by elements.

Therefore, "stability" has a much higher weighting than "rune quality." After all, nobody wants their magic to suddenly break down while they're using it.

A moment later, a striking letter appeared on the screen—

"Ah!"

“A…” the welding torch murmured softly, his gaze unconsciously turning to Yvette.

Although it doesn't reach the S-level, it still scores in the top 10% in terms of "stability," a score that is far ahead!

Could she really be a top-tier rune compiler? Welding Gun couldn't help but glance at Yvette, but seeing that the mage remained expressionless and composed, he slowly withdrew his gaze and continued reading.

The third metric is the "magic-to-power ratio," which is also one of the most important performance metrics. It is the art of using internal magic to leverage external magic, and it represents how much effect each bit of magic input can have.

And in this indicator, the test result once again reached the "S" level!

At this moment, the welding torch couldn't hold back any longer and took a deep breath. This was the first time he had ever seen an S-rank mana cost ratio, especially on a medium-sized spell with nearly 5 runes. If this wasn't a god-tier player, who could be considered a god-tier player?
Even the thugs at the door, who knew nothing about runes, noticed something was amiss and began to whisper among themselves.

"Why does the boss look like he's seen a ghost?"

"You don't know anything! This is definitely a masterpiece!"

The only one who remained remarkably calm was Rosalind. She was the most confident in the "Arcane Wind Blade" spell, even more so than Yvette herself, and the result was entirely expected and not surprising at all.

—This is the teacher's technique, it would be strange if it weren't powerful!

"And I am the teacher's only student..." she added proudly in her heart.

……

Once the most crucial, skill-intensive, and attention-grabbing metric of "mana cost ratio" was surpassed, almost everyone felt that a spell with an overall performance level of "S" was about to be born before their eyes.

but……

In the final indicator, "Safety Protection," the test result dropped to "J," leaving everyone present frozen in shock, feeling a profound sense of absurdity and humor.

“Miss Mage, this is…” Welding Gun was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe that a top-level compiler who could achieve an “S” level in magic consumption ratio would be a bottom-tier performer in the field of security protection—this was a level that only he could achieve!

Damn it, the machine is malfunctioning?

Yvette, after a moment of silence, frankly said, "I'm sorry, I forgot to design the firewall or anti-hijacking measures."

"..."

For a moment, the welding torch was at a loss for words. Such a top-tier cyber mage had actually forgotten something so important; it was like forgetting to write your own name during the college entrance exam…

“I can fix it, but it will take some time,” Yvette said after thinking for a moment.

“No…this is better,” the welding torch suddenly said.

The overall score was now in, and due to the zero score in the "Safety Protection" indicator, the technique, which was originally likely to be rated "S", was suddenly rated "A-". Even so, this was still the highest-level technique ever seen in the junkyard black market—a true tyrant of the newbie village.

“Most of my clients here are local gang leaders,” the welding torch explained, with a hint of mockery in his tone. “Although they are also mages and have learned some runes, their level is only barely enough to understand spells. They will never reach the level of ‘spell hijacking’ in their entire lives, so security design is completely unnecessary.”

Then he smiled wryly and said, "To be honest, A- is too luxurious for them... If you could 'degrade' it to B-, they would be even happier." "..." Yvette opened her mouth. After studying rune set optimization for so many years, this was the first time she had heard of a request for reverse optimization.

However, in a dream, there's no need to dwell on such things. She simply said, "It's okay, I'll allow you to sell it at the price of a B-grade item."

"...Really?" The welding torch's eyes lit up instantly—S-grade performance, A-grade rating, B-grade price?

Why don't I buy a few copies myself first? Although I don't have the ability to prevent hacking, it doesn't really matter!
This is so profitable, the more you buy, the more you earn!

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. His heart burned with excitement, and his long-dormant ambition surged once more.

……

It received an overall rating of "A-", but that wasn't the whole story. There were some specialized tests later, such as the Arcane Wind Blade's penetration, coverage area, rate of fire, and range. The results were basically all marked as "numerical monster".

However, the final "encryption and encapsulation" stage proved to be a bit of a challenge. This is a massive technology in the field of rune compilation, not something an individual can develop, and Yvette had absolutely no prior experience with it.

“Use Black Tower Pharma’s remote encrypted packaging service.” Welding Gun sighed and brought up the holographic interface. “It costs 5000 credits per use, can be paid with digital currency, and can generate a procedure package with an activation code.”

"Five thousand? That's so expensive?" Yvette hesitated; she only had two thousand eight on her.

The welding torch chuckled as he explained, "Their encrypted packaging automatically binds to the user's 'spirit' upon activation, making it virtually impossible to crack. Of course, more importantly..." He lowered his voice, "This is the Black Tower's encryption; who dares to crack it? This is the Emperor of Ish Island!"

“Then… let’s start with five portions.” Yvette looked at him. “But I don’t have any money, so could you lend me some? Thank you.”

So, because the mage was short of money, the welding torch was forced to pay for it upfront, but he still bought two sealed Arcane Wind Blades on the spot—each costing 50,000, for a total of 100,000. He didn't have much liquid capital either, otherwise he would have bought them all.

After deducting the 2.5 packaging fee and transferring 7.5, plus the 0.28 in her account, Yvette now has a total of 7.78 credits in her account.

It seems much more abundant, but it's still quite a distance from the 50 yuan price tag of "Elemental Attenuation Completion Technology".

As they left, the welding torch personally escorted them through the long, dark air-raid shelter.

The bullet marks remaining on the rock wall were faintly visible under the dim light. Seeing Rosalyn looking around curiously, the welding torch smiled slightly and explained to the little girl, "This was dug out by the residents of Pixel Street with their bare hands during the 'Silent War' twenty years ago."

"Back then, the company alliance was at war with the global international community, and Ish Island became a key target for the New Eden United States." He kicked away some pebbles at his feet, gestured, and said with a look of reminiscence, "I was only this tall back then, and I spent all my time huddled here eating compressed biscuits..."

Yvette was not familiar with the historical event of the "Silent Wars," and she would not prioritize collecting such information after the apocalypse. She only knew that it was a protracted and heated war waged by eight super corporations against the global government of Origin Star.

In the end, the two sides ceased hostilities and made peace, and the matter was dropped.

It seems that "Company Alliance" and "Global International" are the names of the opposing camps.

As for the "United States of New Eden," it is a country directly under the jurisdiction of Ish Island. However, it is basically controlled by Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, and the New Eden government's presence is not very strong.

“I know Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, but what other companies are in the company’s alliance?” Rosalyn asked after listening for a while.

"And then there's Lingman Company, Tianqiong Technology, Lintui Biotechnology, Gravity Group, Jinhen Chemical, Liekong Group, and Heichao Company. Counting Black Tower, that makes eight super companies." Welding Gun held up his fingers as if listing treasures, and sneered, "Of course, since the end of that war, they may already be the eight new kings of this planet."

"How did the War of the Silent End?" Yvette asked.

Although he didn't know why the mage's historical knowledge was so lacking, the welding torch didn't think too much about it: "I don't know. Neither side made any announcements, but suddenly they announced a ceasefire. There were no victors, and what's strange is that before the ceasefire, the 'global international' advantage was actually quite obvious... After the peace was restored, there were at least tens of thousands of conspiracy theories, such as doomsday weapons, mind control, population depletion, and even alien invasion... Rumors were flying everywhere."

Yvette frowned slightly: "Apocalyptic weapon? What weapon?"

The welding torch thought for a moment and said, "I remember it was about a super bomb that could be sent to the Earth's core and destroy the world, thus threatening the government forces to cease hostilities. There were also other doomsday weapons mentioned. Anyway, in terms of the idea, I think at least the idea of ​​mutual destruction is quite reasonable."

I thought it was a mutation virus... Yvette shook her head inwardly, but still kept the incident in mind.

Hmm, while I'm still dreaming, maybe I should consider looking for information on the Silent War...

(End of this chapter)