The Game Merchant Who Started from the Ninja World

Chapter 55: The Rune of Destiny

The Sound Four exchanged bewildered glances.

They hadn't dared to eavesdrop on Orochimaru's conversation with the mysterious noble,

but judging by their master's emotional fluctuations, even he was treading carefully around this seemingly unremarkable man.

Naturally, they didn't dare act out of line either. Quietly, they helped Orochimaru back into the carriage.

Ah Fu spoke up. "Shouldn't we buy a protective capsule now?"

When a player's soul consciousness enters the game, their real-world body becomes unconscious—either asleep or passed out.

That makes them extremely vulnerable to ambush.

Though no player had been killed this way yet, the risk was clear.

Fang Yi nodded in agreement. "You're right. Protecting the players is our top priority."

Then he added, "But I won't be the one buying it. They will."

"Huh?"

Ah Fu blinked. "You want the players to buy it themselves?"

Fang Yi continued nodding. "Of course. What, you want me to pay for it?"

"But didn't you just say protecting them is our top priority?"

She had assumed her master meant he'd provide the protective field to keep players' real bodies safe.

To her surprise, he expected the players to pay.

"Exactly!" Fang Yi said brightly. "That's why I'm offering them the opportunity to buy protective shields. Only fifty reward points a day."

If a player paid for it, it meant they truly needed it.

If they thought it was too expensive and didn't buy it, that meant they weren't worried enough.

When the fear finally came, they'd buy it themselves.

Perfectly reasonable.

Ah Fu couldn't bring herself to look at her master directly.

She suspected even the soul-eating demons in Hell's corrupted zones would steer clear of him.

Because he was too dark-hearted. Possibly moldy.

Fang Yi glanced sideways at her. "Thinking bad thoughts about me?"

Ah Fu lowered her head guiltily. "I just think… the players might start complaining…"

"Complain?"

Fang Yi chuckled coldly. "I'm doing this for their own good. They won't complain—they'll thank the merchant for his thoughtfulness."

Don't want to pay?

Well, most players spend the majority of their time in-game.

Nobles already lock their doors and trust no one—not even their closest servants.

Mei Terumi has bodyguards every time she logs in, terrified of being assassinated mid-game.

In Kirigakure, where strength rules, betrayals and coups are common. Who knows how many disgruntled people still lurk in the shadows?

Kumogakure, Iwagakure… even Konoha has players who log in together and assign ninja to guard them.

"With protective capsules, we can ensure their safety and reduce the ninja villages' burden.

Shouldn't they be thanking me?"

It did make sense… but something still felt off.

Ah Fu wanted to argue, but her mind couldn't form a proper rebuttal.

The logic did sound like it benefited the players.

…

[Minor Trial Activated]

Trial Objective: Defeat the corrupted [Magic Stone Goblin].

Note: A low-tier magical world species. After being corrupted, they fell into mass degeneration. Goblins capable of throwing magic stones are the warriors of their tribes.

The black text faded from Orochimaru's vision after he read it.

"Corrupted goblin? Not wraiths?"

Orochimaru frowned. Clearly, Kabuto's intel wasn't comprehensive.

Or maybe the average player simply couldn't probe the game's true depths.

At the very least, neither corrupted goblins nor these invitation-only trial areas were in Kabuto's reports.

The forest was a deep gray-black,

its vegetation twisted and fanged, as though polluted by some unknown force—

each tree a monster waiting to devour the unprepared.

At the top of his interface was a minimap of the trial grounds.

There were five rooms in total.

Orochimaru's green arrow stood alone in the center of Room 1.

Around him, red dots indicating threats were rapidly approaching.

[Open your inventory and equip your starter gear.]

A tutorial prompt appeared.

Orochimaru followed it, opening his inventory. The first slot contained a dried-out, brittle wooden stick.

From outside the screen, Fang Yi, who was observing the trial, clicked his tongue. "Orochimaru's luck really sucks."

Every player received a random starter weapon.

Most of them were white-tier. A lucky few got green-tier.

White-tier weapons included daggers, swords, and spears—cold weapons.

Some even got pistols or hand crossbows—hot weapons.

But the worst of the bunch?

The wooden stick in Orochimaru's hand.

Barely better than something you'd pick up off the side of the road.

"No wonder he lost the Hokage seat to a wet-behind-the-ears Minato Namikaze."

"Studied forbidden arts but chose Danzo, of all people, as a partner. Sold out completely."

"Coveted the Sharingan but got his hand chopped off by a weasel."

"Raised Sasuke with care, only for that little brat—Indra's reincarnation—to slay the white-scaled snake form in a single blow."

"And then, after swallowing his pride to hide inside a cursed seal,

he ran into the weasel again—this time wielding a sealing artifact. Didn't even get to run."

Fang Yi shook his head in amusement.

People call Sasuke the child of destiny. But Orochimaru's track record is almost worse.

Ah Fu asked, "Master, wouldn't it be cheaper to just toss some wraiths from the Death Soul Mountain into the trial instead of spending reward points to send Orochimaru to a new corrupted zone?"

She knew her master was stingy. This seemed out of character.

Fang Yi pinched her soft cheeks. "You forgot what I said.

We're here to hunt corrupted sources—to invade corrupted worlds. Not just to make money."

"Profit is a means, not the end. The goal is to train elite players."

A glowing golden rune appeared in his hand.

Ah Fu's eyes widened. "Master… is that a [Rune of Destiny]?!"

"Yes."

Fang Yi nodded. "It took a full one million reward points just to gather the origin required to create this."

Ah Fu couldn't believe it. Had her penny-pinching master been possessed?

Flick.

Fang Yi flicked her on the forehead. "Stop daydreaming. This ties into the upcoming game update."

The Rune of Destiny.

It radiated an overwhelming aura of fate.

It could automatically sense wandering fragments of destiny.

When players encountered special events, it would activate and guide them—

triggering fragments of destiny that would become quests.

In short…

this was the foundation for the game's Quest System.

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