Chapter 9: The Roaring Success of the Grilled Skewers
Ye Da: “Anyone interested in grilled mushroom and bear meat skewers? Two units of poor-quality wood per skewer! PS: If Dali sees this, add me!!”
Just as he was about to hit send...
“Would you like to take a photo of the food? It will be more appealing that way.”
How intelligent is this system?
Since the function was available, Ye Da would be a fool not to use it. He picked a skewer sizzling and dripping with oil, used a strip of sliced Jumping Mushrooms as a brush, and evenly spread the savory fat across the slightly charred mushrooms on the grill.
Click!
Ye Da snapped a mouthwatering photo of the grilled meat and posted it on the trading market.
Ding!
Ding ding ding...
No sooner had he put the listing up than he was bombarded with messages.
He flipped the skewers with one hand and opened the comments with the other.
“I want a skewer!”
“+1”
“+2”
“+10086!”
“Who is Dali?”
“Two units of poor-quality wood per skewer—isn't that a bit expensive? Can you make it cheaper?”
“If you don't want yours, sell them to me. I'll take them all!”
“I spent all morning collecting dead branches and only got five units of poor-quality wood. How do you all have so much?!”
“Collecting branches? I just chop trees directly, hehe. A small tree usually gives five to ten units, a big one over ten or twenty.”
“What do you use to chop? Aren't we all just living off picking up dead branches?”
“Of course I use an axe. I scored an iron axe from a wooden treasure chest, 23333. By the way, how many dead branches does it take to trade for one unit of poor-quality wood? There are plenty outside my door, but I thought they were useless, so I ignored them.”
“Ten dead branches for one unit of poor-quality wood. Ah, I'm so envious! Boohoo, no luck, nothing to eat—I'm just so done!”
“Honestly, if you're still alive, you're already lucky. This morning, our region had 2,000 people. Now only 1,962 are left. No idea what happened to those thirty or forty.”
“What? That many just this morning...?”
“My guess is they didn't check the weather, so when the fog rolled in again, they didn't make it back to their tree holes in time.”
“This place is terrifying. I want to go home.”
Forget going home, we haven’t even figured out how we got here. You want to go back? Dream on! Rather than wish for the impossible, you might as well focus on when the Bear Slayer will put up more skewers for sale—I want to buy ten!
Bear Slayer, you have to limit purchases! Otherwise, crazy people like the one above might buy everything and leave nothing for the rest of us!
Yes, limit purchases! Also, aren't you selling bear meat separately? I think it’s a better deal, even if the taste isn’t as good. At least it's filling.
Can no one tell me who Dali is?
There were so many messages that Ye Da couldn’t possibly read or reply to them all.
So, he only managed to reply to the last one...
Reply: “Sorry, there’s not much bear meat left, so it’s only available as skewers now. Also, each person is limited to two skewers of the bear and mushroom combo. Thank you for your support.”
Ye Da never expected that this reply would have such a dramatic effect.
Just as he finished sending it...
Ding!
Ding ding ding ding...
A rapid-fire barrage of notifications rang out, almost nonstop.
He glanced at the comments below his post—instantly, the messages piled up like a high-rise, reaching twenty stories in mere seconds.
Clearly, his popularity was off the charts—his comment section was as lively as a celebrity livestream.
“What? Only two per person? Why?!”
“That’s not fair! How can you limit your customers like this?”
“Looking for someone to buy for me—five units of materials for two skewers.”
...
Ye Da’s replies quickly devolved into a chaotic marketplace, with so many comments that he simply couldn’t keep up.
So...
Ye Da simply chose not to look anymore!
Sizzle, sizzle!
Because the meat was sliced thin, the ten skewers cooked quickly. The moment Ye Da put them up on the market, they were gone in a flash!
Even though...
He had set a purchase limit.
But with a pack of hungry wolves all watching eagerly, it was impossible to keep up.
“Come on, man, isn’t it a bit much to charge two units of wood per skewer for such a small amount of meat?!”
Delicious! So good! I’ve never had anything like this in my life! If you don’t want yours, sell it to me—let me buy it from you!
Who said I didn’t want mine? It’s not enough! Back off, don’t even think about getting my skewer!
Boss, when’s the next batch going up? I’m starving, and these people keep posting food pics—it’s torture!
As Ye Da continued slicing and skewering, he couldn’t help but feel hungry himself after reading the buyers’ comments.
Looking at the fragrant skewers, Ye Da decided—the next batch...
Was for himself!
Hot, hot, hot... but so fresh!
He picked up a perfectly grilled skewer and took a bite. The juicy Jumping Mushroom burst in his mouth, soaked with the rich flavor of bear meat, and combined with the natural sweetness of the mushroom, Ye Da finally understood what pure, unadulterated flavor meant.
It was like fresh oysters or tender salmon—delicious even without any seasoning.
He realized why, despite being a shrewd merchant, slicing the meat thin and charging a not-so-cheap price, not a single customer had asked for a refund or tried to resell.
Because such a delicacy wasn’t common even on Earth, where good food was everywhere.
Let alone here.
Among a group of starving players, finally getting their hands on something so delicious after a long wait.
Poor-quality wood could always be gathered, but who knew when they’d be able to taste such a skewer again? Most importantly, it filled their bellies.
Boss, is the second batch ready yet? I’m starving...
Grill faster! I really want to eat!
I’m out of poor-quality wood—can I trade something else? I have poor-quality flax and poor-quality nails—anyone want to swap?
Just as Ye Da was about to post his third batch of skewers, he saw this message and immediately contacted the buyer: “I want the flax and the nails. How much do you have?”
“I have ten units of each! Boss, ten units of each material! Can I trade them all for skewers?”
Ye Da replied without hesitation: “No.”
He quickly calculated: ten units of poor-quality flax was equivalent to a hundred units of poor-quality wood, enough to trade for fifty skewers. Add in the other material and that meant a hundred skewers.
Even if he could grill that many, he couldn’t sell them all to one person. Otherwise, the other buyers would probably revolt.