Chapter 80: Tried to Steal a Chicken, But Lost the Rice

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Tried to Steal a Chicken, But Lost the Rice

Seraphina Sinclair had originally thought the strange waiter was also human, until she saw him turn his arm into a broom with her own eyes. He then effortlessly swept away the stones with a broom that looked completely incapable of moving them. Only then was she finally sure...

No matter what this thing was, it couldn’t possibly be human.

’He’s just wearing a human skin. If I had to categorize him, I guess he’d count as a special NPC.’

The Singer in the Mists, a monster created by the system, had damaged Seraphina Sinclair’s mobile cabin so badly, and now the waiter, another of the system’s creations, was here to clean it up for her.

’In a way, isn’t this a perfect closed loop?’

Seraphina Sinclair lifted a piece of meat to her mouth with her fork, and any guilt she had about making him work so hard instantly dissipated.

Feeling sympathy for a system’s creation was something Seraphina Sinclair couldn’t bring herself to do just yet.

An hour later, Seraphina Sinclair finished her lunch. Her timing was perfect. The waiter had just finished cleaning the mobile cabin and was unrolling the cuffs of his suit jacket.

The waiter bowed to Seraphina Sinclair, the consummate professional. "Do you require anything else?"

Seraphina Sinclair no longer had any misgivings, and now felt completely comfortable ordering the guy around.

Her gaze swept around the interior of the cabin. She had him move the stone table to the window, and only then, satisfied, did she let the laborer go.

Full and content, Seraphina Sinclair narrowed her eyes in satisfaction. Just as she was about to find something to do, more trade offers came rolling in.

It was as if they had coordinated. After a period of silence, they were suddenly swarming Seraphina Sinclair with messages all at once.

"Master, can I trade two Black Fog Crystals, one Sunshine Crystal, and one Unknown Seed for your BOSS intel?"

"Master Blacktiger! It’s an honor! For the trade regarding the BOSS intel, I’m offering two Black Fog Crystals, two crystals, and one Blood Moon Crystal. How about it?"

"Master, you’re probably still trading, right? For the BOSS intel, can I trade five Black Fog Crystals? If that’s not enough, just say the word. We can negotiate!"

...

All at once, more than twenty messages popped up...

Seraphina Sinclair raised an eyebrow, realizing things weren’t that simple.

Not only had these people all made offers at the same time, but their baseline items were even the same.

No matter how the other materials changed, everyone was using E-level crystal materials as a baseline. It was as if...

’They’d planned it!’

After a moment of silence, Seraphina Sinclair decided to pick one that looked promising and test the waters with a bluff.

[Blacktiger Ford]: Just so you know, this is a mass message. Your little act is pretty clumsy, don’t you think? You could have at least staggered your trade requests. How about this: the first one to tell me what’s going on gets the intel for free.

The confession came remarkably fast. A quick mental calculation suggested they must have started typing furiously the moment they finished reading her message.

[Bluebird]: Your perception is truly sharp, Master... We’re already fighting in our group chat over this screw-up. It’s true, we coordinated this. Right after you posted in the region channel, all of us simultaneously received an invitation to a group chat.

’A group chat?’

Seraphina Sinclair raised a slight eyebrow. ’This person is clever,’ she thought, ’they only told me half the story.’

’Of course, they’re waiting for me to confirm they get it for free before they say the rest.’

’Otherwise, what’s the point of being branded a traitor to the group chat if there’s no reward? The loss would far outweigh the gain.’

He had indeed thought it through very carefully, but Seraphina Sinclair had already achieved her goal.

She had now confirmed that these people were in it together.

’This one’s caution doesn’t matter. There are over twenty of them. Surely someone will be less careful?’

The first message hadn’t actually been sent to everyone, but this next one was.

The responses varied. Some were defiant, some played dumb, and some didn’t reply at all. But most, of course, scrambled to claim the free offer.

At the end of the day, they were all strangers who had only just gathered for the sake of profit.

Now, an even greater prize was right in front of them... You’d have to be an idiot not to sell out your new "teammates"!

[Nightingale]: Master! Dibs on the free spot!

As if that single line weren’t enough, a voice message came through the very next second, as though he feared someone else would snatch the opportunity away.

"Master! I was going to contact you right after you posted, but I immediately got a notification to join a group chat."

"The group admin’s ID is Frostleaf. She said in the chat that she used a Group Chat Proof, an item that can automatically pull people into a one-click group based on set criteria! The criterion she entered was ’the top thirty players on the current leaderboard, excluding Master Blacktiger.’ That’s how we all got gathered together."

’A Group Chat Proof?’

’Something like that exists?’

’But on second thought, it makes sense. Even if a lot of people were hesitant, it’s impossible that I wouldn’t receive a single trade offer.’

’So I’ve caught the hidden hand pulling the strings.’

’But there’s still one problem.’

’Even if they’re all gathered together, only that group should know what’s going on, right?’

’Why hasn’t anyone else tried to trade with me?’

She got her answer from someone else.

"Master, the intel you’re selling this time is too specific. The vast majority of people are automatically excluded, so they wouldn’t take the initiative to buy the info from you. And for those on the borderline, like number thirty-one on the leaderboard... well, we’re all fairly skilled players, so we tend to know the same people. The group had barely been formed when word started spreading through the region channel. We were worried you’d see it. We never expected we’d be undone by our own impatience."

Undone by our own impatience...

Muttering the phrase under her breath, Seraphina Sinclair couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

’Yes, if they had just coordinated properly—approaching me in staggered batches, in a set order—they could have gotten the BOSS intel from me for the best possible price.’

’But for a team that was thrown together at the last minute, a situation like this is probably normal, isn’t it?’

Seraphina Sinclair was very satisfied. ’Now that I understand the situation, it’s time to have a nice little chat about the price, isn’t it?’

These people were all very likely to encounter the BOSS.

In other words, Seraphina Sinclair now held all the cards!

Several people were messaging her, asking if they had won the free offer.

Seraphina Sinclair ignored their questions and simply replied, "This isn’t enough for the BOSS intel, you know."

Bluebird: "..."

Nightingale: "..."

The few other survivors who had explained everything clearly: "..."

’What? Is she going back on her word already?’

Seraphina Sinclair couldn’t care less what they were thinking. After all, they had all ganged up to try and lowball her, and she hadn’t said a word about it.

It was all a game of skill, with nothing to criticize.

Seraphina Sinclair tilted her head up slightly, feeling not a shred of guilt for getting all that information for free.

After being so thoroughly outmaneuvered by Seraphina Sinclair, they were now in a very awkward position. They didn’t want to give up their good items, but they were terrified of running into the BOSS and getting themselves killed.

And the one feeling the worst of all had to be Frostleaf.

She had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to bait it. Not only had her attempt to rally the others failed, but she had also wasted a valuable Group Chat Proof in the process.