Stone Forest Town.
Lining both sides of the streets were towering virtual shops of all kinds, along with various high-end hotels, restaurants, bars, and more. Gone were the single-story buildings and modest two-story structures from before — now even the most modest building along the main street stood at least five stories tall, and the number of players bustling through the streets rivaled those of
In addition to the adventurous players, there were also plenty of life-skills players chatting and laughing along the streets.
On top of that, numerous NPC traveling merchants had set up stalls and were hawking their wares along the main road. The sheer number of NPCs milling about the streets was equally staggering.
The bustling scene bore no resemblance to a small town — it was more like arriving in a proper city.
Shi Feng couldn't help but feel a measure of astonishment.
In just a matter of days, Stone Forest Town had undergone such dramatic changes. If this pace of development continued, it wouldn't be long before it was promoted to a Advanced Town. If he hadn't already established a city, Stone Forest Town would have absolutely become the
As Shi Feng made his way leisurely toward the arena, intending to get a proper look at the state of Stone Forest Town, he overheard several adventuring parties chatting on the street.
"The experts gathering at the arena these days are really increasing. Back then I could still place in the top hundred in the daily small tournaments and pick up some consolation prizes, but now I can't even crack the top three hundred…"
"Tell me about it. Right now, only someone as strong as our party leader can hold onto a top-hundred spot. But the consolation prizes the arena gives out to the top hundred have gotten a lot better too. I heard some inside info from Zero Wing — they're planning to expand the consolation prize pool to the top three hundred. The top hundred get priority purchasing stamina potions from the Candlelight Trading House at a ten percent discount, though limited to three bottles."
"Priority access to stamina potions? That's great! The stamina potions the Candlelight Trading House sells are limited in quantity every day — they either get snatched up by procurement officers from the big guilds, or resellers camp out and grab them. Adventuring parties like ours can't even compete."
"Exactly. With our party leader in the top hundred, we should be able to buy three bottles a day without any problem. Once we stockpile enough stamina potions, our party can venture deeper into those farther-off advanced zones for exploration. The income will be incredible. I heard the Sharp Edge Adventuring Party did exactly that — they pushed straight into the Ghost Ruins and made a killing in one run. Word is they're already planning to buy a second private residence in Stone Forest Town. Just not sure when Zero Wing will put more up for sale."
"They made that much? I heard the last private residence auctioned for over 600 gold. Next time it'll probably go for even more."
"Of course. You don't know the half of it — they found a Gold-grade treasure chest and pulled out a design schematic for a Mythril-rank pair of combat boots for Level 50 players. Then they put it up at the Auction House and struck it rich in one shot."
"Having stamina potions really does make a difference. You can explore much farther-out areas that almost nobody has reached. If only our adventuring party had a private residence in Stone Forest Town — then we could compete in the tournaments every day and be first in line to buy special items from the traveling merchants."
"True enough. But our party leader's still on the fence — not sure whether to prioritize getting mounts for all our members first or go for the private residence."
…
Whenever players on the streets brought up private residences in Stone Forest Town, their eyes practically lit up.
In the past, most people had figured private residences were nothing special. After all, the transport carriages running between NPC towns already saved a fair amount of travel time. But now the difference was night and day. A private residence not only let party experts compete in daily tournaments, but also gave first dibs on items from the traveling merchants. Most importantly, it let party members accumulate double experience points — leveling up far faster than everyone else — and even served as a massive storage warehouse.
"So the effects of private residences are gradually showing. But this is only the beginning," Shi Feng thought to himself, growing ever more confident in his plans as he observed the increasing enthusiasm people showed for Stone Forest Town's private residences.
In truth, private residences didn't just allow teleportation for their owners — they also let companions teleport in. However, the number of companions was severely limited, the cooldown was quite long, and the residence itself needed to reach a certain level first.