Chapter 90: The Grim Reality

Only a few hours had passed since the game began, so it was impossible for any player to have much Col. Argo had only chosen the smallest private room, but the Col spent still made her heart ache quite a bit.

"Alright, in this room, no outsiders can eavesdrop on our conversation. However, let me state one thing first: if this isn't important information, I will definitely dig up all your information and sell it for free in the plaza! Furthermore, any intelligence you buy from me in the future will have its price doubled!" Argo puffed out her cheeks and said through gritted teeth.

Watching Argo's puffed-up appearance, Lingyun couldn't help but chuckle. This little girl was actually quite cute when she was angry!

"I want to tell you a very important piece of news. This news concerns the lives of most players in this world. Do you want to hear it?" Lingyun smiled mysteriously.

"News concerning the lives of most players in this game?" Even as a top-tier information broker, Argo couldn't help but gasp. However, she quickly calmed down: "Who knows if this news of yours is true or false!"

"I can guarantee that this news is true, and it absolutely exceeds your imagination!" Lingyun waved his hand, "However, as an information broker, you should also know that to obtain intelligence, one must pay a certain price!"

Looking at the calm Lingyun before her, Argo wished she could punch him in the face. Lingyun's attitude of 'everything is under my control' was truly infuriating.

"Tell me, what price do I have to pay?" Argo said through gritted teeth. As a famous information broker from the beta test, when had she ever suffered such a loss at the hands of a player?

"The price is simple: you are not allowed to sell information about me and my companions to other players!" Lingyun said.

"You guys? No problem!" Argo's eyes rolled, and she said with a smile.

Seeing Argo's smiling face, Lingyun couldn't help but slap her on the head: "Don't try to be clever with me; this is a price you cannot afford to pay!"

"Tch, stingy!" Argo curled her lips, then looked at Lingyun with a serious expression: "What is this news you mentioned that concerns the lives of all the players in the world?"

"Tell me, what is the difference between this world and the Aincrad you knew during the beta test?" Lingyun suddenly brought up an unrelated topic.

"What's the difference? It's obviously much more realistic! Wait, realistic?" Argo was indifferent at first, but she quickly reacted and pinched her hand hard.

"Ouch!" Because she didn't believe it at first, Argo had pinched herself very hard, and as a result, she almost shed tears from the pain.

"In a game, you shouldn't be able to feel pain, which is why players dared to confront monsters recklessly. If the sense of pain has really returned to normal..." Argo couldn't help but shiver.

"That's only one of them!" Lingyun waved his hand, "Have you noticed that there are many more players in this world? That is also a problem."

"Please, I beg you, tell me everything you know about the situation in this world. I, I am willing to pay any price." Argo suddenly stood up and bowed ninety degrees to Lingyun.

"Heh, is this really the most famous profiteer of Aincrad? She's just a kind-hearted girl after all." Looking at Argo before him, Lingyun curled his lips into a smile and thought to himself.

"Get up first. I will tell you the intelligence I have gathered regarding Aincrad. However, you must be mentally prepared."

"Okay." Argo stood up, sat back in her chair, and looked at Lingyun with hope.

"According to my investigation, this world may have become a real world. Under these circumstances, you must never treat the people and monsters of this world as you would in a typical game." As soon as Lingyun spoke, he said something unimaginable to Argo.

"A real world?" Argo was shocked.

"Yes, and this world is already completely different from the previous game. In other words, most of the data from the beta test is no longer useful." Lingyun dropped another bombshell.

"The data from the beta test is no longer useful?" Argo frowned slightly. This matter could be big or small. For ordinary players, it might not matter, as they didn't know the situation of this game world beforehand. But for a Beta Tester, it was different. If they continued to clear the game based on previous intelligence, they might face unimaginable life-and-death crises.

"I will keep this in mind, but you definitely haven't said the most important thing yet, haven't you? After all, this matter is a much greater threat to Beta Testers." Argo stared intently at Lingyun.

Lingyun waved his hand: "This is naturally not the most important thing; the most important thing is something else. Previously, when I was talking to the residents here, I discovered that the wild monsters in this world have undergone unknown changes for some reason. Both in terms of strength and intelligence, they have improved significantly. Especially the monsters in the Labyrinth Area and the final floor bosses—their strength may have increased even more, and they might also undergo some unknown mutations. If you still follow the previous experience to clear the bosses, there will definitely be unimaginable losses."

"Is what you said true?" Argo stood up abruptly and grabbed Lingyun's clothes.

"For this kind of thing, you can just find any player who is a hunter on the street to ask about the situation of the wild monsters. Based on that, you can roughly infer the situation in the Labyrinth Area!" Lingyun spread his hands.

"How could it be like this?" Argo let go of his clothes, looking a bit dazed. "That bastard Kayaba Akihiko, does he want to bury all of us players in this game world?"

"I don't know about that. Perhaps it was Kayaba Akihiko's doing, or perhaps he is just as confused as we are. Who knows what exactly happened in this world?" Lingyun concealed the truth about why the world had become this way; after all, such a thing was too world-shattering. "This is all the intelligence I have mastered for now. You decide how to sell it."

"Thank you for the intelligence. I have something to do now, so I'll be going." After hearing Lingyun's words, Argo bowed to Lingyun once more, then rushed out of the room at top speed.

"Lingyun, how high a price do you think this information broker will sell the intelligence she got from you for?" Lingqi asked with some curiosity.

"Her? She'll probably give it away for free!" Watching Argo's retreating figure, Lingyun revealed a smile.

"Give it away for free?" Lingqi showed a rare trace of astonishment. "Didn't you say she was a famous profiteer? Why would she give away such important intelligence for free? Just printing these things would cost her quite a bit of Col."

"She is indeed a profiteer, but she is also a good person. You will slowly understand as you continue to interact with her in the future!" Lingyun stood up. "Alright, let's go level up. We've already wasted quite a bit of time looking for this little mouse; we can't let Ye Xi and the others get too far ahead of us!"

"Oh, okay!" Lingqi followed behind Lingyun, left the tavern, and walked toward the wilderness.