20: Chapter 20 Crisis in the Beginner Village

Within half an hour of the system announcement, the entire Novice Village exploded.

The square was filled with players discussing the Siege Battle; some were anxious, some excited, and others were already packing their things, preparing to run away.

Chen Ergou did not run away.

He returned to his stall, sat down cross-legged, opened the system panel, and began to plan seriously.

The product list for the myriad worlds stall system unfolded before him, and he analyzed them one by one—

regret potion (Advanced): Rewind 10 seconds. In the Siege Battle, if a tank makes a mistake, they can rewind; if a healer heals the wrong person, they can rewind. It can save lives at critical moments. The key is that the upgraded version only has a 1-minute side effect, which is half as short as the original, making it completely acceptable.

substitute scarecrow (Enhanced Version): Attracts aggro for 60 seconds, with smarter AI. In the Siege Battle, if hundreds of Demonized Wolves charge over, one scarecrow can attract the aggro of a large group of monsters, buying time for the backline damage dealers.

shrinking cookie: Shrink to the size of a mouse for 5 minutes. This can be used to sneak behind enemy lines and ambush the Demonized Wolf King. Although the side effect is being chased by cats and chickens, there shouldn't be any chickens on the battlefield, right?

rebound wristguard: Reflects damage for 10 seconds. Let the tank wear it; while the BOSS hits the tank, it also loses health itself. It's killing two birds with one stone.

elastic shoes: Jump height x10. It can be used to quickly reposition or jump onto the city wall for defense. Although landing offset is an issue, in a chaotic battlefield, so what if it's off? It's better than having nothing.

clairaudience potion: Hear conversations within 200 meters for 10 minutes. It can be used to scout enemy intelligence and know the Demonized Wolf King's attack route in advance.

truth cookie: Make the target tell the truth. This... doesn't seem useful in the Siege Battle? Unless it can be used on the Demonized Wolf King?

The more Chen Ergou thought about it, the more excited he became.

His products were practically tailor-made for the Siege Battle!

But the problem was—he didn't have enough stock on hand.

He had 8 bottles of regret potion left, 5 substitute scarecrows, 3 shrinking cookies, 2 rebound wristguards, 10 pairs of elastic shoes, and 6 bottles of clairaudience potion.

With this little, dealing with hundreds of Demonized Wolves and a Level 30 World BOSS is just a drop in the bucket.

"I need to stock up a lot." Chen Ergou muttered to himself.

He opened the system's "Mass Production" function—

The myriad worlds stall system Lv.2 unlocked the Mass Production function; as long as he invested enough gold coins and materials, he could mass-produce items.

[Mass Production—regret potion (Advanced)]

[Cost per bottle: 5 Gold Coins + Moonshade Grass × 1]

[Production quantity: Enter desired quantity]

Chen Ergou calculated the gold coins he had—including today's turnover, he had a total of about 3000 gold coins.

He gritted his teeth and began placing orders—

[regret potion × 50: 250 Gold Coins + Moonshade Grass × 50]

[substitute scarecrow × 30: 150 Gold Coins + Iron Ore × 30]

[shrinking cookie × 20: 100 Gold Coins]

[rebound wristguard × 20: 200 Gold Coins]

[elastic shoes × 30: 150 Gold Coins]

[clairaudience potion × 20: 80 Gold Coins]

[Total cost: 930 Gold Coins.]

Chen Ergou watched the gold coin count on the system panel rapidly decrease, feeling a sharp pang of heartache.

"This is my hard-earned money from several days..."

But then he thought, during the Siege Battle, these items could sell for ten times the price.

It's an investment; there's no reward without risk.

He clicked "Confirm Production".

System prompt:

[Mass Production started! Estimated completion time: 12 hours.]

Twelve hours? That means he could get the goods tomorrow morning.

Chen Ergou breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, a private message popped up.

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: Did you see the news about the siege?

Chen Ergou was stunned and quickly replied—

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: I saw it. The Demonized Wolf King is attacking Novice Village in three days; it's quite scary.

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: I am already organizing guild members to prepare. Reinforcing the city walls, setting traps, and allocating personnel are all underway.

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: Your guild has many people and great power; it shouldn't be a problem, right?

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: It's not enough. The Demonized Wolf King is a Level 30 World BOSS with hundreds of Demonized Wolves under its command. Our guild has only two hundred people at most, and most of them are beginners between levels 10 and 15. If we try to tank it head-on, our winning chance is less than 30%.

Chen Ergou fell silent.

Less than a 30% chance of winning? That's not good.

Just as he was about to say something, Shen Ruoxi sent another message—

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: When the siege happens, bring out all your products. I'll take them all.

Chen Ergou stared at this message, stunned for several seconds.

Take them all?

He swallowed, his fingers trembling as he typed—

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: ...How much?

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: You name the price.

Chen Ergou's heart skipped a beat.

You name the price.

These four words, coming from the leader of the top guild in the entire server, carried immense weight.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He couldn't set it too high, or he'd scare her off. He also couldn't set it too low; he couldn't do business at a loss.

He thought about it and typed a line—

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: How about this, I'll give you a package price. 50 bottles of regret potion, 30 substitute scarecrows, 20 shrinking cookies, 20 rebound wristguards, 30 pairs of elastic shoes, 20 bottles of clairaudience potion. Package price—3000 Gold Coins.

After sending it, he waited nervously for a reply.

Thirty seconds later—

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: Deal.

Chen Ergou almost jumped off his chair.

3000 gold coins!

Adding the 930 gold coins he invested earlier, his net profit was 2070 gold coins!

He made more from this one order than he had from half a month of running his stall!

But he forced himself to calm down and typed another message—

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: By the way, I have another suggestion. During the siege, you can have a few high-agility players carry the shrinking cookies, sneak up to the Demonized Wolf King, and ambush its weak points. Then have the tanks carry the rebound wristguards and substitute scarecrows, standing under the city wall to attract aggro. The backline damage dealers can use the elastic shoes to quickly reposition and avoid being surrounded by the wolf pack.

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: ...When did you become so tactically minded?

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: I was forced into it. After fighting a BOSS with you once, I had an epiphany.

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: Fine, I will consider your suggestion. Come to the guild stronghold tomorrow at noon to pick up the goods.

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: Alright!

Chen Ergou closed the private message, spinning around his inn room in excitement.

A big order is here! A big order is here!

He quickly opened the system panel and doubled the production quantity again—

[regret potion × 100]

[substitute scarecrow × 60]

[shrinking cookie × 40]

[rebound wristguard × 40]

[elastic shoes × 60]

[clairaudience potion × 40]

[Total cost: 1860 Gold Coins.]

He had about 2000 gold coins left, just barely enough.

"Let's go for it!" Chen Ergou slapped the table. "If this works, I can buy a house in Novice Village!"

He clicked confirm production, closed the system panel, and lay down on the bed.

Closing his eyes, his mind was filled with images of the Siege Battle.

Hundreds of Demonized Wolves charging toward the city wall, tanks standing on the wall with substitute scarecrows hanging on them, attracting the wolf pack's aggro. The backline archers and mages outputting crazy damage, assassins shrinking to the size of mice, crawling out through the gaps in the city wall, heading straight for the Demonized Wolf King...

And he, Chen Ergou, stood at the highest point of the city wall, commanding it all.

"Hehehe..." He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Although he was just a stall owner, in this Siege Battle, his products would become the key to victory.

Early the next morning, Chen Ergou logged in.

System prompt: Mass production complete!

He opened his backpack, looked at the packed inventory, and nodded with satisfaction.

Then, carrying the goods, he headed straight for the Dawn Guild's Novice Village stronghold.

The stronghold was on the east side of Novice Village, a three-story stone building with two Dawn Guild guards standing at the entrance.

"I am Ergous Stall, here to see your guild leader." Chen Ergou said.

The guard looked him up and down, clearly recognizing his ID: "Ergous Stall? The one who cleared the Shadow Nest with our guild leader?"

"Yes, yes, that's me."

The guard's attitude changed instantly, and he respectfully invited him inside.

In the hall of the stone building, Shen Ruoxi was standing in front of a huge sand table, discussing something with several guild members.

Seeing Chen Ergou enter, she nodded: "You're here."

Chen Ergou dumped all the goods from his backpack and neatly arranged them on the table.

Shen Ruoxi picked up a bottle of regret potion, checked its attributes, and nodded slightly: "Not bad."

She turned to the vice guild leader behind her and said: "Distribute these items according to the plan. Priority for regret potion goes to tanks and healers, substitute scarecrows to front-line warriors, shrinking cookies to the assassin team, and rebound wristguards to the elite squad."

"Yes!" The vice guild leader acknowledged the order and left.

Watching Shen Ruoxi command in an orderly manner, Chen Ergou secretly admired her.

This woman truly had the ability to be a guild leader.

Shen Ruoxi turned around and looked at Chen Ergou: "There is one more thing."

"What is it?"

"During the Siege Battle, you must participate as well."

Chen Ergou was stunned: "Me? I'm just a Level 8 noob, what am I going to do up there? Become an extra meal for the wolf pack?"

Shen Ruoxi looked at him, her gaze serious: "You understand your products better than anyone else. The situation on the battlefield changes in an instant; only with you there can we flexibly allocate them according to the actual situation."

She paused and added: "Besides, your Sword Saint Strike isn't completely useless either."

Chen Ergou opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately just nodded.

"Fine, I'll go."

The corners of Shen Ruoxi's mouth twitched slightly, appearing satisfied.

"Go prepare. In three days, we will fight side by side."

Chen Ergou walked out of the guild stronghold, stood on the street of Novice Village, and looked up at the sky.

At the edge of the sky, a dark cloud was slowly approaching.

That was the vanguard of the Demonized Wolf King—the Shadow Wolf pack.

The three-day countdown had officially begun.

Chen Ergou clenched his fists, his eyes burning with a fighting spirit he had never felt before.