Chapter 170: World_Builder Doubts Life

World_Builder’s eyes widened with surprise.

He couldn’t help but rub his eyes, wondering whether he had seen it wrong.

A Class Discount Coupon?

30% off purchases of Class-related items?

"This..."

World_Builder wanted to speak but couldn’t help but cut himself off halfway through his speech.

He took a deep breath.

His thoughts instantly wandered.

’Is this because the Beta Version is drawing to an end?’

’Could it be that the game developers are ready to let ordinary Players become Awakeners too?’

’Is the era of Awakener Players coming?’

World_Builder felt that this was the only explanation that made sense.

After all, the timing was simply too coincidental.

The Beta Version was about to end, and the game suddenly released a Discount Coupon that could reduce the price of a much-needed Class.

It was difficult not to associate the two things.

World_Builder had already seen the 5 Skill Points price.

However, he didn’t show any reaction.

There were many things that Players were missing, including Experience, Relics, and Potions.

But there was one thing they had more than enough of.

That was Skill Points!

Most Beta Players had already completed dozens of Missions, with the most hard-working completing hundreds of them.

Even those who merely entered the game for entertainment had naturally gathered Skill Points during this time.

Since these Players didn’t have a Class, however, they didn’t have any skills or Talents.

Naturally, these Skill Points remained sitting in their Player Panels, being something that could be seen but not touched.

Many Players had complained about this on the game’s forums before, cursing the game company for adding a useless resource.

Others had attempted to find a use for these Skill Points, feeling that the game was impossible to trick them.

In the past, World_Builder had sneered at this.

Wasn’t the game simply letting them store them until they became Awakeners?

It was similar to Experience. Once a Player became an Awakener, they would be able to consume both to rapidly improve their strength.

Yet now, World_Builder felt as though he had been slapped in the face.

Even when Players had not become Awakeners, the Skill Points still had a use!

And that use was not simple at all.

They could directly be exchanged for a discount on something as important as a Class!

Glancing at the 15 Skill Points he had unknowingly accumulated, World_Builder did not hesitate.

He immediately used 5 Skill Points to purchase the Discount Coupon.

Watching his Skill Points decrease and a ticket-looking item appear in his hand, he couldn’t help but smile wildly.

The thin ticket felt almost unreal in his hand. Yet the description in his field of vision was clear.

He really had obtained it!

Fortunately, he knew that now was not the time to get lost in his excitement.

He finally had a chance to achieve the goal he had set at the beginning!

He was about to become a powerful Awakener!

Looking at the coupon in his hand and then at the floating interface in front of him, World_Builder raised his head and looked at Aurelius.

Then, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Brother Aurelius, I want to purchase the Sun Knight Class! Here is the Discount Coupon! Here is 700 Experience!" He spoke with barely disguised excitement.

Aurelius nodded with a faint smile.

As if in response, World_Builder saw his Experience drop.

Within moments, it had dropped from 800 to 100.

At the same time, the Discount Coupon in his hand dispersed into golden light.

The Sun Knight Class at the bottom of Aurelius’ Shop flashed. Then, another item appeared in his hand.

--

World_Builder had previously seen TheoryMaster69’s advancement to a Sun Knight.

Although she was his archenemy, World_Builder had to admit that the cinematic she had uploaded was extremely well done.

Whether it was the powerful array, the power of the sun, or the rest of the special effects, they had made him look forward to becoming an Awakener.

They had also given him a goal.

In World_Builder’s opinion, TheoryMaster69 was just lucky!

As long as he also became a Sun Knight and posted his own video, he would surely be able to overwhelm her in popularity.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as World_Builder had planned.

He lowered his head and looked at the small round token in his hand.

For a moment, he couldn’t help but doubt his life.

Although the Player Panel showed that as long as he consumed this, he would be able to become a Sun Knight, World_Builder was full of confusion.

Wasn’t there supposed to be an entire cutscene about becoming an Awakener, allowing him to bathe in the brilliance of the Sun?

Wasn’t the mysterious NPC Aurelius supposed to carve an entire array and lead them to become Sun Knights?

How come when it was his turn, he was simply thrown a token and hastily dismissed?

For a moment, World_Builder’s enthusiasm for having obtained the Sun Knight Class was dampened.

For some reason, he suddenly felt that he had been cheated.

After all, strength was only temporary.

Looking handsome, however, was eternal!

Compared to simply becoming a Sun Knight, he would rather have an opportunity to show off in front of the other Players!

"Could it be that the NPCs are showing favoritism? Is it because I’m a man?" he muttered subconsciously.

--

On the other side, Aurelius did not know what World_Builder was thinking.

If he did, he would have immediately sneered at him, telling him that he was thinking too much.

TheoryMaster69 had been his first customer, serving as the spokesperson for him to spread the Sun Knight’s glory.

Since she had already posted a cinematic, making countless Players envious and motivating them to work hard to purchase it, there was no longer any reason for him to go through the extra trouble.

After all, it couldn’t be that he, a mysterious "Epic" NPC, would personally preside over each and every Player’s advancement, right?

Aurelius shook his head.

He had no time to think about the World_Builder.

By summoning the Player Panel, he had already confirmed that the Skill Points World_Builder had paid had also been transferred into his Player Panel.

This meant that his plan was plausible!

’The number of Skill Points required to upgrade the Synthesis skill is already high. But to be certain that the resulting skill is strong enough to satisfy the requirements, I should try to upgrade the synthesized skills as well.’

’This means that the number of Skill Points I need is far more than one would expect at first glance.’

Aurelius couldn’t help but frown slightly.

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying the required amount became. However, this wasn’t a reason to give up.

If he wanted to advance to Rank 3, he couldn’t afford to be stingy at this point.

Of course, Aurelius could always choose to gamble, directly skipping over the second step.

However, given his caution and the current situation, how could he ever be willing to do something like that?

This was related to his advancement to Rank 3.

If he were to fail merely because of a momentary impulse and impatience, he wouldn’t know who to blame.

Fortunately, although the required amount of Skill Points was going to be terrifying, he had already found his next victims—ahem—his customers.

’Given World_Builder’s personality, it is only a matter of time before the news of the Discount Coupon spreads in the forums.’

’By then, hundreds of Players will rush to Blood Sun City.’

Even if only a dozen Players bought the Coupon, Aurelius would be able to gather a hundred Skill Points.

This... should be enough to support his advancement to Rank 3. At least, it would give him a good starting point.

And if it wasn’t enough, he would simply sell something else.

After all, he had many items that could drive Players crazy.

--

Although Aurelius believed that World_Builder would spread the news on his own, he wasn’t planning to put all his eggs into the same basket.

Who knew if something suddenly went wrong with this guy’s brain and he decided to keep it a secret?

If that were to happen and Aurelius did nothing but wait for him, even killing World_Builder would not make up for his loss.

Therefore, Aurelius’ figure soon left the Ernst Academy behind him.

After wandering through the city for several minutes, he unknowingly appeared in front of a small, run-down shop.

Much to Aurelius’ surprise, the expected silence was nowhere to be found. There was actually loud chatter coming from inside.

As he approached the building, he even noticed a queue, with several customers waiting patiently outside the door.

This made him raise his eyebrows.

Given the location of the shop and its reputation, it would be strange if someone were to walk past it.

Now that so many people were gathered here, Aurelius wondered what was going on.

As he stepped closer and heard a familiar sweet voice, though, he immediately had a guess.