Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

pretty good.

Once they get Yu Man's gold coins, they will continue to spend them, trying to improve their combat effectiveness so that they can go to farther, more dangerous and more profitable places to obtain resources.

That’s the money Yu Man wants to make.

She smiled and walked towards the NPC, interrupting their chatter and asking, "Where is the land trader?"

"……land?"

"This one……"

They looked at each other, one of them asked Yu Man to wait for a while, then used something unknown to call the warehouse manager.

The visitor was a capable middle-aged woman, dressed in obviously more upscale clothes.

A fur coat to keep warm, clean glasses, and a hairstyle without any messy hair.

"Guest, do you want to conduct a land transaction?"

"Yes, I want to buy land in the city."

These are advanced contents in the main city and are not written in the guides given to new players. Players need to communicate with NPCs to obtain information. However, if you know them in advance, you can ask relevant people and obtain information more easily.

The warehouse manager clearly understood the market situation: "We need to negotiate with the higher-ups. You need to have a genuine interest and the ability to buy. Otherwise, this won't work."

Oh, I want to verify my capital... So this is the process.

"I still have some strength."

After saying that, Yu Man secretly opened a small hole in his bag.

The gold coins seemed to be flowing in it, and even without light, they were still shining brightly.

The supervisor's eyes widened: "...I'll go find someone who can do this."

Just like that, Yu Man was invited into the room, treated with rare drinks and snacks, and quietly waited for what would happen next.

——Even last week, Yu Man had never bought land in the main city. For her, this was also new content.

Resources like land are often divided up by high-end commercial players, production players, and various guilds.

After acquiring the land, they would build shops, workshops, and other structures for various purposes. The equipment and items players needed to become stronger were produced here.

Crafting players must rely on them to process raw materials into finished products.

Of course, you also need to pay the necessary usage fees.

"How much should I charge..." Yu Man was already worried about this problem.

It's not a question of how much to charge, but she decides how much profit the production players can make.

But before I think about it——

"Sorry for the long wait." The person who can handle this task has arrived.

First, the servant pushed open the door, and then the female manager who used to be the agent came in.

It was obvious that she had been running for a while, and her uneven breathing turned into visible mist in the cold.

But following her footsteps, a rather tough man in expensive armor entered the room.

His movement brought with it the wind, which easily blew away the previous light mist, and then he stopped in front of Yu Man.

"Pioneer, you want to buy land?" The man went straight to the point, frowning slightly, and spoke in an extraordinary manner.

"Ah."

"That's fine. I'm the personal mercenary leader of the town's great lord, so I'll handle this. We do have some extra land to sell. It's all ruins from a battle with the rebels a long time ago."

Having said that, the mercenary leader waved his hand and refused the drinks and food offered to him.

Not only that, his eyes were filled with strong oppression, which drove away the people around him, leaving only the middleman.

The mercenary leader then continued, "We don't have the money to hire extra men to clean up the ruins, nor do we have the craftsmen to rebuild because the rebels took them away. So I'm telling you straight up, the price will be very low, but you have to make sure we can at least clean it up."

"...Can you give us a detailed description of the ruins?"

This is a bit strange.

Although Yu Man did not personally experience this part of the game content last week, she can generally understand it based on the forums and word of mouth among players.

Everyone just bought the land and built the workshops directly. I haven't heard of any clearing of the ruins...

The mercenary leader nodded and immediately took out the prepared paper. It was a simple enchantment diagram that could display some image information.

It was spread out on the table, revealing a blurry scene.

—Ruins, as they say.

The bricks were scorched and the wood was reduced to rubble.

They dump in disorder, pile up and stretch out.

Yu Man checked his map. It was southeast of the main city, quite close to the urban area, but the path was now blocked by trees. It seemed that the lord, unable to deal with the ruins, had had trees transplanted to hide the ruins.

"When the time comes, clean up the debris and you'll take care of the trees. We won't quibble with how the land is used. I can even agree to a settlement for minor violations. If you use it for business, the tax on the profits is negotiable."

The mercenary leader spoke incessantly, each sentence faster than the last.

But Yu Man's heart slowed down, and he just thought carefully.

Then--

"Magical interference." She pointed to the drawing on the table, or more precisely, to the ruins it showed.

Although its enchantment is low-level, what it displays is not so vague.

If I were to explain why, it would only be because I was disturbed by the chaotic magic of the local area while recording.

In other words-

"You can handle the ruins, but you can't handle the things in the ruins." It was that thing that exuded magic and interfered with the record.

The mercenary leader was not surprised, but remained silent for a moment—and then nodded with a hint of bitterness.

He wanted to drink something, but there was no glass for him. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword... but then he realized that this would be disrespectful to his guests, so he put his hand back on the table and continued speaking.

"I'm not capable enough... That's the remnant of a strange spell. It's neither a monster nor a passage. It's just chaos. That's how it is. I'm sorry, this isn't a proper land."

"Is it because the rebels fought with you and stayed behind?"

"Yes, there was no winner in our battle, but the magicians who participated in the battle were not of such a level as to leave behind such a spectacle. Besides that... our battle was not so exaggerated as to cause such ruins."

Yu Man folded his hands and took the matter seriously.

This was something that had never been heard of before - perhaps it was some hidden event in this main city.

or……

But no matter what, this is something that can interest Yu Man.

Rather, she would be very distressed if she couldn't buy land and build a house.

She even spent a lot of money on the trading house to place orders and purchase basic resources, just to make a fortune with the workshop, but now there is no land to buy at all? That's a bit of a sweat.

Yu Man suggested, "I'll go take a look. If it's something I can handle, I'll do it. If not, you won't lose anything, right?"

"No problem—but this matter, please, please don't reveal it to anyone."

"I know—it's about your reputation." Yu Man added, "If I become a law-abiding workshop owner in this city, I would certainly hope that this city would have a better reputation. Don't worry."

"No problem... Besides, if you need anything... we can help."

Yu Man was not polite: "Please tell me more detailed information. As you can see, I am a magician and enchanter. I may be able to grasp more from the details."

"--good."

Although the mercenary leader did not hold much hope, there was still a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He slowed down his voice and introduced the whole picture bit by bit.

……

About half an hour later, Yu Man left the warehouse area.

The main city was already as lively as last week, with players everywhere chatting and interacting with each other. There were all kinds of nationalities and voices.

But Yu Man had no time to care about anything. She just focused on her own heart and knew where she was going.

Dealing with the ruins - something is not quite right about this.

Because according to the other party's description, the class of this problem is not low.

Although it is not a task assigned to players in a systematic form, relying on experience, the difficulty of such hidden events can often be judged based on the information.

Did I trigger it too early? That's right, it's only the first day of the server opening...

Anyway, go see it and you'll know.

Yu Man arrived at her destination, where there was a patch of withered, snow-covered trees that stood out from the surroundings.

They blocked the way like a wall.

In addition, there are quite a few guards around to prevent anyone from noticing anything.

When the guards noticed Yu Man walking towards them, they immediately tried to stop him, but Yu Man took out the token of the mercenary leader.

Their frowns immediately relaxed, and their eyes became eager and expectant. If the pioneers before them could solve this problem, they would also be freed from this strange task.

Yu Man's petite body nimbly moved around the tree.

But the closer she got, the more she could smell that uneasy, dangerous burnt smell, a smell that the snowflakes couldn't cover up.

When she was close enough, she looked out towards the ruins with her sky-blue eyes, which had enhanced vision.

"——Huh...what is this?" She muttered to herself in confusion.

006·So many failures...

It's like the evening in the village during the New Year, when every household starts cooking and children play with firecrackers outside, and the whole village is filled with smoke.

That was the scenery rising above the ruins in front of Yu Man.

"Magic power... materialized into mist..." she asked herself in confusion, "But what is going on?"

The area of ​​this ruin is not small, roughly speaking, it can be considered a small square.

It can be seen that the buildings that were once built here were swept by some kind of magic with burning power and impact, and then turned into this scene.

The problem is, the place is filled with a mist of magical power - with a distinctly evil feel.

Even though she was very familiar with the game, she was still a little confused as she had never seen such a situation before.

If it was in a dungeon, or some special area, then I could understand...

But - this is the main city?

This is a public area that is sold to players and must be in every main city, right?

Just... explode like this?

If this problem can't be solved, forget about my grand plan of opening a shop and making money. All the tens of thousands of players born in this main city will have to sacrifice their entire early stage and their progress will be devastated.

"But..." Yu Man could more or less guess some of the inside story.

I want to buy land right after the server is launched, so I must meet some special conditions.

So, this special task to slow down progress was activated.

She pondered patiently: Wealth holdings, timing, and discussions about land purchases... these two should be necessary conditions. Besides... these ruins are filled with magic... an enchanter?

Considering his career as an adventurer, Yu Man was 80% sure.

This task is most likely solvable and can be advanced.

In that case, let's just give it a try.

After deciding on the direction, Yu Man began to recall dungeons, events, tasks, and rumors with similar mechanisms, hoping to get closer to the truth more clearly.

But no matter what, there is one thing that can be done first.

——Test task difficulty.

She turned back and went to the warehouse to get a few items: enchanting materials of various levels.