After looting all the corpses, Ryan reaped a significant harvest.
Not only had he equipped all his backpack slots with 6-slot pouches, but he had also acquired over a dozen pieces of equipment. After a moment of thought, Ryan put on some of the gear suitable for him and prepared to give the rest to the siblings.
Five hundred dollars for information that would soon be common knowledge. Ryan couldn't shamelessly accept the money without offering something in return, even though he desperately needed it.
While the discarded equipment wasn't worth much, it would still be quite helpful to them in the starting zone.
Sky Dragon Ascendant watched his sister transfer the money directly to Ryan without a word, unsure whether to applaud her decisiveness or criticize her impulsiveness.
Fortunately, the Paladin proved to be a person of good character, revealing the location of the quest weapon.
"The location is right here. Just dig open the grave, and Harnel's buried longsword will be inside."
Ryan opened his virtual map in front of them, meticulously showing them the quest location. Then, after a moment of thought, he looked at the Priestess and said, "In the future, it's best to use system-certified contracts. Otherwise, you might get scammed by players with ill intentions."
"Are you that kind of person?"
The Priestess giggled. Her voice, free from any mechanical distortion, clearly indicated she was in the prime of her youth.
"And these are the extra gifts I'm giving you with the information. Even with the quest info, it's definitely not worth 500 dollars, but I need the money now, so I'll shamelessly accept it."
Ryan dumped all the equipment from his inventory into the Priestess's trade window, also learning her game name—Sky Dragon Iris.
Sky Dragon Family, Ryan thought, seeing her name and then recalling the Paladin's name. He instantly remembered some things about them from the future.
The Sky Dragon Family, in later years, would be a guild that experienced significant ups and downs, but ultimately rose again. They had entered Kingdom Forge as a whole at the very beginning, achieving great success. However, they later suffered a massive blow due to a betrayal within their management, almost collapsing entirely. If not for a stroke of luck and a successful all-or-nothing gamble, the Sky Dragon Family might not have existed at all.
Sky Dragon Iris was delighted to see many suitable cloth armor pieces for herself. She quickly equipped them as soon as the trade concluded. These were far better than the gear provided by the starting zone quests.
"Here are a few more small pouches. Equip them in your backpack slots to expand your inventory."
Ryan traded three more small pouches to Sky Dragon Iris. The loot from those hundreds of corpses had not only filled all of Ryan's backpack slots but had also left him with three extra pouches.
Sky Dragon Iris had paid a 5% transaction fee through the online trade, which made Ryan feel a bit awkward, prompting him to give away these pouches that he had originally intended to keep as good luck charms.
Online trading in Kingdom Forge allowed players to directly exchange cash within the game, eliminating the need for external websites. However, the game system would deduct a 5% transaction fee from every cash trade, which was how the game company generated its profits.
With the money received, Ryan wanted to log off immediately to withdraw it. His two sisters were probably awake and reading by now, and he could give them a small surprise.
"Featherlight, hello. Let me reintroduce myself. My game name is Sky Dragon Ascendant, and I'm the guild leader of Sky Dragon Family. I'd like to invite you to join our guild. We offer a guaranteed monthly salary."
Ryan saw Sky Dragon Ascendant blocking his path, realizing that Sky Dragon Iris must have told him his game name. Although the invitation was sincere, Ryan had no desire to join the Sky Dragon Family.
While Ryan didn't know the exact guaranteed salary of the Sky Dragon Family, he had a general idea of the range, as many guilds in the future offered similar rates. The guaranteed salary would be at most around 1,500 dollars, with additional commissions from activities, bringing the monthly income to about 2,000 to 3,000 dollars. While this was a substantial reward for many ordinary players, Ryan didn't care for such a small amount of money.
In the future, even though the salary he earned in Crimson Wake was considered low by his standards, it still had a guaranteed salary of 3,000 dollars plus high commissions, bringing his monthly income to around 6,000 dollars. At that time, Ryan was merely a frontline reserve in Crimson Wake, not yet having achieved the status of the First Holy Paladin.
"I'm sorry, but I don't wish to join any guild at the moment."
Ryan shook his head, declining Sky Dragon Ascendant's invitation, and turned to leave them.
"Brother, I knew you wouldn't succeed."
Sky Dragon Iris taunted her brother, her words continuously striking at him: "Even if he needs money, I noticed during our conversation that he has enough confidence. If he had actually accepted your invitation, I would have gone back to studying how to judge people."
"You little rascal!"
Sky Dragon Ascendant shook his head and sighed, even though he had received many suitable pieces of equipment from Sky Dragon Iris's treasure-like trade.
"I'm not giving you these few small pouches. I don't even have enough for myself."
Shamelessly keeping the three small pouches, Sky Dragon Iris smiled broadly, like a mischievous fox who had stolen a chicken.
"Alright, hurry up and do the quest. If you don't finish that quest, you won't have a weapon or even skills."
Sky Dragon Iris pushed Sky Dragon Ascendant away. But before leaving, Sky Dragon Iris kept looking back in the direction Ryan had gone. She had a premonition that they would meet again soon. And when that time came, perhaps that player would truly reveal his true potential.
"Don't disappoint me, Featherlight. You're the first person I've ever decided to invest in. If you truly fade into obscurity, my brother will surely mock me."
Sky Dragon Iris muttered to herself, following her brother and quickly running towards the location he had pointed out.
Returning to the starting zone, Ryan didn't rush to turn in his quest. Instead, he went directly to a safe spot and logged off.
As the command was given, Ryan's Paladin character gradually transformed, slowly disappearing.
Taking off his helmet, Ryan pulled off the hardened finger splints one by one, and as expected, saw his two sisters staring at him with wide eyes.
"I got my first income!"
Ryan carefully placed the virtual setup aside, went to his two sisters, and hugged them tightly, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Don't worry, our lives will get better and better."
Ryan secretly vowed in his heart.