The Game Merchant Who Started from the Ninja World

Chapter 56: Class Artifact

And that wasn't all.

The Rune of Destiny also allowed players to be guided toward corrupted regions that best matched their souls. When triggered, these destiny fragments had a higher chance of dropping equipment, items, or skills perfectly suited to the player.

Fang Yi rubbed his temple and said, "Take Mei Terumi, for example. Her powers are all heat-related, so I prompted her to change class to Flamecaster."

Since he'd read the original series, he naturally knew Mei possessed the Lava and Boil Release bloodlines. He'd recommended a class tailored to her specific talents.

Otherwise,

if all he had was her basic identity—Fifth Mizukage—he might've mistakenly steered her toward water-type classes and skills.

But players he knew in detail like that were few and far between.

For most, Fang Yi could only access basic info. Anything more required burning through reward points.

For purple-tier soul potential players, that was fine.

But most were white or green tier. Spending huge amounts of reward points to guide ordinary players just wasn't worth it.

So it was better to use the Rune of Destiny to automatically scatter fate's energy across all players.

Ah Fu said worriedly, "The corrupted zone Orochimaru got sent to… the pollution source is Tier 3. There's no way he can handle that kind of monster."

"You mean the Goblin King?"

Fang Yi didn't mind. "Ah Fu, you still haven't figured it out, have you? I spent all that effort to create the Rune of Destiny and send players to matching corrupted zones—not to have them cleanse the source."

"One step at a time. The corrupted zones around the two starting villages are enough to keep players grinding for a while."

"My goal is fleece them like sheep!"

"Low-level players won't get sent to a zone's core anyway.

Like the goblin nest Orochimaru ended up in—that's just a small outpost on the outskirts of the Goblin Kingdom. He won't even see the Goblin King."

Seeing Ah Fu still confused,

Fang Yi didn't blame her. He continued explaining, "Even peripheral areas of high-tier corrupted zones contain extremely valuable loot.

This goblin outpost, for example, has a class artifact perfectly suited for Orochimaru."

"If I tried to create that item myself, it'd cost me 2,000 reward points. Even if I charged him through a quest, I'd still lose money."

Basic class items—like those for Brawlers or Rogues—cost 500 reward points to create.

When players retrieved them through quests, Fang Yi could still earn back double that.

But strong soul potential players always needed stronger, more specialized classes. The cost of crafting their class items skyrocketed.

"So I might as well charge them an entry fee to these corrupted zones and let them search for their own class artifacts."

Ah Fu raised a key concern. "But what if the player fails? What if they don't find the item?"

"That's not my problem!"

Fang Yi scratched his head and shrugged. "I gave them the opportunity. If they can't chew the meat placed right in front of them, they're either too weak or just unlucky. How is that my fault?"

"Of course, I'm not heartless.

If they fail the first time, they can retry.

Each invitation letter comes with five revival attempts.

Naturally, those revivals are a paid service."

That… actually worked?

Ah Fu's brain went blank.

After a moment, she realized this was exactly like what her master had once said—

"When a donkey gets tired, let it buy its own coffee."

Even this "concern" over players' well-being—like handing out game invites—was just laying a massive trap for them to fall into willingly.

A goblin wreathed in black mist roared and charged at Orochimaru.

Thwack!

Orochimaru swung his wooden stick, smacking the goblin's skull.

Though about the size of an underdeveloped academy student, the creature's strength was shocking.

It could lift a wooden spiked club nearly as heavy as itself.

When it was killed, the goblin exploded into chunks.

Among the gore was a white glowing item.

[Fallen Goblin Fingerbone]

A message entered his mind. It was a rare crafting material, useful in creating gear or performing certain dark rituals.

Orochimaru picked up the bloodied bone and shoved it into his inventory.

Inside were also leg bones, goblin blood, and various other materials.

[You've reached Level 3. Gained 2 free attribute points.]

He distributed the points into Strength and Agility.

Orochimaru's physical body had always been weak. His survivability came from serpent techniques like shedding skin—not toughness.

He never put points into Constitution.

When he reached the third room on the map, he found a strange goblin with jet-black skin. It was the size of a grown man and wielded a heavy iron spiked club.

Its jagged teeth and bulging muscles made it look especially terrifying.

"Interesting… it's stitched together, yet still alive?"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and examined it closely.

This black goblin had been assembled from the bodies of several others—a kind of Frankenstein's monster.

Was there someone in the goblin den studying anatomy?

He was intrigued.

It took a serious effort to bring down the monster—he even had to use one of his revives—but finally, it died.

[You've reached Level 4.]

In the final room,

Orochimaru saw the trial's boss: a hunched goblin in gray robes, holding a cracked wooden staff.

But the staff clearly wasn't just a melee weapon.

It radiated a bone-chilling aura.

"You killed my undead? Then your body will pay the price!"

The goblin waved its staff.

The ground split open.

All the goblin corpses Orochimaru had killed fused into the goblin's body.

The hunchbacked monster was swallowed by the flesh and emerged as a three-meter-tall goblin giant.

Its skin was ash-gray and stiff. Its claws gleamed like daggers.

A goblin zombie.

"Are you kidding me?"

Orochimaru still held his iron club, but even at close range, its spikes barely scratched the zombie's skin.

Boom!

Using his brief invincibility after reviving,

Orochimaru stood panting over the collapsed goblin zombie, the club buried in its chest.

[Trial Complete]

A purple glow rose from the corpse's chest.

It was a weathered black stone tablet, etched with tiny runes.

"What's this…?"

Orochimaru leaned in with curiosity.

Up until now, all he'd found were white-tier materials.

This purple glow meant he'd found something rare—and his spirits lifted.

[Necromancer's Tablet]

Type: Class Artifact

Effect: Unlocks the class [Necromancer]

Note: A foul class that manipulates the flesh and souls of the dead. Its users are hunted by church organizations on sight.

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