Chapter 33: Sprinting into the Top Thirty of the Rankings

Good heavens! My eerie value has actually reached 3,800 points!

Meanwhile, my ranking on the leaderboard has surged into the top thirty, landing at twenty-eighth place.

Opening the Bloody Phone, I suddenly noticed that quite a few people on the forum were specifically tagging me.

"Big Boss Chen Ye, could you share the method for increasing your eerie value so quickly?"

"Can I exchange coins or food for it?"

"Big Boss, do you need a sidekick? I’m incredibly steady at latching onto powerful thighs!"

"Could you share a guide on how to grow your eerie value so rapidly? You can message me privately anytime. As for the price or compensation, we can discuss the details."

"@Chen Ye: Great God, I have some intelligence regarding the Eerie Era. If you're interested, we can exchange information to deepen our understanding of this world—a win-win cooperation!"

Chen Ye browsed through the posts and found that many players were even willing to offer high rewards to catch his attention, hoping to trade for the secret to his rapid eerie value growth.

When he saw mentions of coins and food, he couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.

He currently possessed two different survival skills. Food would never be in short supply for him. As for coins, he could earn those later! After spending time in Xining Alley, he had even gained a "loyal listener." It wasn't just about roasted chestnuts; even playing music could earn him money. It would only be worth it if they were trading with characteristic items.

As for exchanging intelligence, Chen Ye had little interest. He was an original closed-beta player; it was highly likely that the information other players had to risk their lives to obtain was already known to him. Furthermore, his leveling strategy relied on fully utilizing the characteristics of the [Wanderer] class, combined with innate talents like the Eye of Luck. Every player had to decide their own path based on their individual circumstances; it couldn't simply be copied. Even if he taught it, it would hold little reference value for others.

Just then, the old woman selling chestnuts walked over with a smile and congratulated him:

"Heh heh, your roasted chestnuts are already better than mine. There’s absolutely no problem with you selling them for money now."

"However, as a chef, you need your own kitchenware."

"You currently lack a set of specialized tools and some seasonings. You need to go to the market to purchase them."

Market?

Chen Ye’s heart stirred. He realized this was likely another place to acquire survival supplies. However, a market was undoubtedly a high-traffic area where one might encounter all sorts of eerie beings, and it might even hide certain dungeons. This meant both opportunity and risk.

"Grandma, may I ask where exactly this market is located?" Chen Ye asked.

"No need to be in such a hurry about that..." The old woman smiled kindly. "Let me calculate. A set of custom stoves, a mobile cart, matching kitchenware, and seasonings—all in all, it will cost two hundred and fifty coins."

"Once you have those coins, I can take you to Yongan Market myself."

"Alright, your culinary skills have reached the level of a master, so this old woman doesn't need to worry anymore. I should go tend to my business, otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll have nothing to eat later..."

The old woman's voice gradually became ethereal and illusory. Pushing her cart, her figure slowly faded into the other side of Xining Alley, disappearing into the faint mist.

Two hundred and fifty coins, huh... Chen Ye looked at his panel, seeing his assets now at a flat "0," and couldn't help but smile helplessly. His current source of income was far too meager; the tips he had painstakingly earned from his "loyal listener" had been squandered in no time.

Compared to playing the suona, Chen Ye hoped to unlock his culinary skills for now. After all, doing art didn't put food on the table. Although he could earn tips for playing a complete piece of music, the efficiency was still too low. With only a few listeners, the meager money they threw in would take forever to add up to two hundred and fifty coins. Moreover, Chen Ye couldn't spend every waking hour working; he still needed to focus on his role-playing, gathering intelligence, and climbing the leaderboard.

Chen Ye calculated the resources he had on hand, planning a strategy that would allow him to quickly acquire a significant amount of capital without falling behind in his eerie value growth.

"Right."

"These roasted chestnuts can also be traded on the [Eerie Black Market]."

"In any case, I've already traded roasted chestnuts before, so there's no need to keep this information to myself. Using it to exchange for necessary resources will generate much higher value."

It was predictable that as his rank soared to the top of the leaderboard, people would inevitably spend resources to exchange for relevant information. Chen Ye had already traded roasted chestnuts with "Nine-Tailed Fox's Pen," so this intelligence had likely already leaked. After all, many players were currently searching for information on Chen Ye, and everyone could quickly surf the web using their Bloody Phones. Even the slightest bit of news, if revealed to someone untrustworthy, risked being leaked and spreading rapidly in unexpected ways.

However, Chen Ye didn't mind. His true professional identity wasn't [Chef], but [Wandering Musician]. For now, [Chef] was at most a side gig; his main ability points weren't invested there. Even if this information spread, it would only serve as a misdirection.

Moreover, [Chef] was inherently a profession with commercial value and resource-exchange characteristics; one couldn't possibly learn to cook only to cook for oneself all day, right?

Opening the public screen, Chen Ye happened to notice many players discussing the issue of food.

"Damn it! The food in this broken game is just too disgusting. Do you know what my employee meal was yesterday?"

"A three-headed frog! A raw three-headed frog! A three-headed frog covered in flesh tumors!"

"The entire cafeteria was filled with the sound of people swallowing raw three-headed frogs. I really didn't expect that the people of this world... no, wait, they should be called 'eerie'—would just swallow them raw like that..."

"I sat in the cafeteria, looking completely out of place among the other employees. The moment I prepared to give up on my meal, everyone’s gaze shifted to me simultaneously. It was as if they were staring at the food on their plates!"

"To be honest, I've been very bold since I was a child. I used to hike down mountains in the dark all by myself, and back then, I thought even ghosts should be afraid of me... But yesterday, I was almost scared to death by these 'colleagues.' I suspected that if I showed any signs of not being one of them, I would be eaten!"

"The taste of that three-headed frog was like a basement rat that had just crawled out of a sewer, covered in filth. Then, keeping it 'all-natural,' they just stewed the frog like that."

"I swear, I will never forget that taste for the rest of my life, I mean it!"

A player with the ID [Nine-Turn Intestines Are Delicious] had posted a thread, using vivid writing to describe their unique dining experience in this world. Because the imagery was so intense, many players commented below, describing similar experiences to express their empathy.

Chen Ye browsed through the posts and found that such players were not in the minority. His eyes suddenly brightened.

"While most players can currently find sources of food, that food is terrible."

"Even for players who have access to food, there is still a demand for better-tasting meals!"

"My roasted chestnuts might be considered relatively normal food, but in the 'Eerie Era,' this taste is absolutely comparable to a heavenly delicacy!"

"This means the roasted chestnuts have a vast blue ocean of a market..."

Although current players generally wouldn't use characteristic items to trade for survival resources, as time passed, most surviving players would have a source of coin income. While coins might not be as valuable as characteristic items, they were universal and, in terms of resource attributes, naturally one level higher than food.

In this way, using the roasted chestnuts in his hand to exchange for coins would be highly profitable!

Chen Ye’s mind stirred, and he immediately used his Bloody Phone to upload the information regarding his roasted chestnuts to the [Eerie Black Market]...