"A level 40 purple dagger with DPS that high? That's a god-tier weapon!"
"One Gut Ripper, one corpse. That thing is insane."
"I'm not smart enough to describe this properly, so I'll keep it simple: holy shit, that's awesome."
Gut Ripper instantly took over Fearless guild chat. During open beta, BoE epics were incredibly rare. Seeing one drop was enough to send the whole guild into a frenzy, especially when it was a weapon this good.
Not everyone was a reincarnator who knew how the game would develop after launch. The global open beta meant everyone was still fumbling forward in the dark. Even beta players had only experienced content up to the level 45 cap and knew nothing about what came after.
So in everyone's eyes, gear above level 40 was top-tier. It was the best stuff around.
"Oh my god, the guild leader is level 44!"
"Level 44? Holy crap! The cap is 45. He's about to hit max level!"
Someone finally noticed the real point: Gabryell's level had already reached an astonishing 44. He was about to hit the open beta level cap of 45.
"He really deserves his title as the game's top Mage. I'm convinced."
"Same. Completely convinced."
"On Tichondrius, only a monster like the guild leader could loot something this insane. Joining Fearless was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me."
Getting hyped up by the guild was nothing unusual. Every game worked the same way: if you were number one, people treated you like a legend.
"Too bad it's a dagger. If it were a sword, I'd definitely buy it. One swing, one Horde. I'd show you all what a real PvP God can do."
The person who said this was Skybro. He was only level 10 right now. For this "PvP God" to become strong enough to slaughter Horde, he still had a very long road ahead.
"A dagger is exactly what it should be. Daggers are the symbol of Rogues. A Rogue who uses daggers is a real Rogue."
DeathScum asked, "Leader, are you selling Gut Ripper? I want to buy it."
TwinBleeds said, "Scum, don't fight me for it. I want it too."
The other Rogues also spoke up one after another, all saying they wanted to buy Gut Ripper.
Since he was selling it to guild members, Gabryell naturally couldn't be as ruthless as he would be on the Auction House.
He set the rules. "Gut Ripper starts at 50 gold, capped at 100. If more than two people bid 100, we decide with a roll. Roll and accept the result. Whoever wins gets it, and whoever loses doesn't complain."
"If you agree to this rule, type 1 in guild chat."
A starting price of 50 gold was reasonable, and the 100-gold cap was there so he wouldn't fleece guild members. If Gabryell listed it on the Auction House, he would only put it up for around 150 anyway. For someone who could farm 40 gold an hour, earning 50 gold less didn't matter.
More than a dozen Rogues immediately typed 1 in guild chat. The broke Rogues could only watch the auction and enjoy the show.
"To keep things fair, I'll hold the auction in guild chat. Place your bids here. Anyone not participating, don't mess around. Anyone who does gets kicked from the guild."
Gabryell wanted to use this rare opportunity to let everyone get familiar with the GDKP model in advance and give them a basic understanding of buying gear with in-game gold. That way, it would be easier for them to accept guild-run GDKP raids in the future.
At this stage, players with more than 50 gold were extremely rare. Anyone carrying over 50 gold had either saved every coin or spent real money buying gold. The former were careful planners. The latter were whales.
"50."
DeathScum made the first bid.
"51."
TwinBleeds refused to back down.
The others could not hold back and began bidding too. Most of them raised the price by 1 gold at a time. During open beta, when gold was expensive, it was impossible to bid like a real GDKP raid, jumping by 50, 100, or even hundreds of gold at once.
Ghoststep said, "I'll do 88."
A Rogue big shot suddenly appeared and pushed the price straight from 63 to 88.
Gabryell opened the guild roster and checked Ghoststep's info. He was a level 33 Rogue, already near the front of the guild's second wave. Among the overall playerbase, his level was considered very high.
88 gold was a huge bid, and it immediately silenced over a dozen Rogues.
DeathScum gritted his teeth. "90."
TwinBleeds said, "Screw it, 91. Any higher and I'm actually broke."
Ghoststep said, "99 gold."
TwinBleeds went silent.
DeathScum hesitated for a moment. "Forget it. I'll let the big shot have it."
Gabryell asked, "Anyone else?"
After about ten seconds, no one replied.
Gabryell continued, "Counting down. 5."
Just as the countdown started, another big shot appeared. A Rogue named RedAce said, "100."
Ghoststep said, "I'll do 100 too."
Two people had bid 100, reaching the cap. According to the rules, they had to roll for it.
"Good grief, we have this many rich Rogues in the guild?" Igor, who was watching from the side, was stunned.
Gabryell said, "Don't play melee if you're broke, especially Fury Warrior."
No matter the game, players who liked melee DPS were usually fairly well-off. The main reason was simple: melee combat felt impactful, so it was especially popular among whales.
Carlos sighed. "Good thing I'm a tank, not a Fury Warrior."
Gabryell checked RedAce's info. He was a level 35 Rogue, even higher than Ghoststep. Another hidden expert.
After finishing the countdown, Gabryell said, "RedAce, Ghoststep, come to the Ironforge bank entrance. Roll once to decide who gets the dagger."
Gabryell also wanted to take the chance to go back and clear his bags. His Hearthstone was bound to Gadgetzan anyway, so he could return at any time.
"Alright."
The two answered at the same time. RedAce was in Arathi Highlands, while Ghoststep was in Southshore. It would take them a while to get back to Ironforge.
There was still enough time, so Gabryell did not leave the Witch Doctor alone. He killed Zum'rah before returning to town.
This time, the Witch Doctor was generous and dropped Jumanza Grips, blue cloth gloves with +11 Intellect, +10 Stamina, and +10 Spirit. Gabryell took them without hesitation.
Gabryell teleported back to Ironforge just as RedAce and Ghoststep returned by gryphon.
The three gathered at the entrance of the Ironforge bank. Gabryell checked their gear, and once he looked, he was genuinely shocked. Both of them were wearing the best and most expensive blue BoE gear from the Auction House.
"Two whales."
Buying a full set of gear like that would cost at least a hundred gold. At this stage, aside from him, any player who had over a hundred gold was almost certainly buying gold with real money.
"You two roll," Gabryell said. He wanted to see which whale had better luck.
Ghoststep went first and rolled 89. In a two-person roll, that was already very high.
RedAce once again moved second and actually rolled 93.
"Roll and accept the result. Gut Ripper goes to RedAce."
Gabryell opened a trade with RedAce.
Ghoststep said, "RedAce, sell me Gut Ripper. I'll give you 150 gold."
Gabryell finished the trade with RedAce. RedAce actually had 100 gold on him and did not need to pay with real money.
"Not selling."
RedAce refused without hesitation.
Ghoststep knew he couldn't buy it, so he could only give up.
Gabryell could not help asking, "Exactly how much gold do you two have on you?"
RedAce said, "I still have 61."
Ghoststep said, "I still have 153."
Gabryell was speechless. Just as he had guessed, these two were whales. With that much gold on them, who knew how many people they had bought from?
"Are you two that desperate to carry that much gold?" Gabryell asked.
They said, "We just like the feeling of having a lot of gold on us."
Gabryell was impressed. He thought of the company he was preparing to establish, a safer, cleaner version of sites like IGE, and said, "In the future, if you want to buy gold, you can buy it from the guild. Safe and fast."
The two were pleasantly surprised. "The guild sells gold?"
Gabryell said, "Yes. You know the Azeroth National Geographic Forum, right? In a few days, a trading platform will go live there. The guild will sell in-game currency through it. When the time comes, you can buy there. It'll be safe."
RedAce said, "Alright, I'll buy there from now on."
Ghoststep said, "Buying from random sellers is sketchy as hell. I got scammed at least three times buying this 150 gold. Otherwise, I'd have over 190 gold by now."
RedAce said, "I got scammed four times."
Fine, there was someone even worse off. Still, whales were whales. They did not lack money, and even after getting scammed, they never complained about it in guild chat.
After meeting with Hugo's brother, Gabryell planned to finalize the company matters and launch the trading platform as soon as possible. With promotion through the Azeroth National Geographic Forum, he would guide as many Warcraft players as possible to trade through the platform.
The trading platform would charge a commission while providing security for players. Once the game officially launched, it might even sell game time cards through the platform.
The trading platform would become the company's first profitable project and lay the foundation for the company's future development.
Once the trading platform went live, Gabryell would also announce in the guild that all gold, gear, and items sold in the guild's name had to go through the platform. If anyone got scammed in a private trade, the guild would take no responsibility.
"Leader, do you have any gold to sell?" RedAce asked.
Gabryell thought for a moment and said, "Yes. I can sell 200 gold."
RedAce said, "Sell it all to me."
Ghoststep said, "Don't hog it all. Sell me 100 gold. We'll each take half."
RedAce agreed. "Leader, sell us 100 each."
Gabryell really wanted to tell them not to sweep the Auction House for gear. Current equipment was not worth spending money on recklessly. But since both of them were whales who didn't care about small amounts like this, he gave up on trying to persuade them. To whales, spending money to have fun mattered more than anything else.
At the Zul'Farrak graveyard, Gabryell could farm several hundred gold a day. Give him two days, and he could easily earn enough for ten mounts. The gold he had on him could indeed be sold.
Besides, Gabryell came from a comfortable but not especially wealthy family. Unlike Hugo, he had not been born rich.
His family gave him 800 dollars a month for living expenses, which was comfortable by college standards, but still nothing compared with the kind of money whales threw around. Selling a little gold on the side could make his real life much easier.
At the current gold price, 200 gold was 800 dollars, a full month of living expenses. Gabryell could support himself without relying on his family's allowance.
Gabryell also had a Nokia phone, a reward from his father when he was admitted to Westhaven University.
RedAce and Ghoststep transferred the money quickly. His Nokia chimed with text messages from mobile banking, showing that two payments of 400 dollars had arrived one after another.
"You can really make money by playing games?"
Carlos only had 500 dollars a month for living expenses. When in-game gold truly became real-world money, it hit him hard.
Gabryell laughed. "This is just pocket change. Once our company develops, every one of us will become billionaires."
If Gabryell could not get rich relying on his memories from the future, he would be a disgrace to all reincarnators. As long as he had enough time, money would become nothing more than a number to him.
When he gave interviews in the future, he might even put on an act and say, "I don't love money. I'm not interested in money. What I miss most is my college days, when I lived on 800 a month."