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Legend degree: 11250.
Not long after the latest volume was released, the value of Ye Ruo's popularity had been rising steadily, and the numbers continued to climb. In a incredibly short period of time, it had shattered the ten-thousand mark, jumping up from the previous few thousand. These were big numbers.
An ordinary Mondstadt resident provided a popularity degree of about 0.1, while younger children contributed even less, typically around 0.01. Those who provided higher points were basically members of the Knights of Favonius or the Church. Individuals who possessed a Vision usually provided between ten and twenty points of popularity.
At first glance, these individual numbers looked very small, but it didn't matter. Mondstadt was a bustling city with a significant resident population and an even larger floating population of merchants and travelers. Looking at the current value, it was clear that he would reach even higher reputation milestones soon.
If you factored in the children and the common folk, it meant at least a hundred thousand people had read his novels and connected deeply with the stories, thus providing him with this massive reputation. It was a numbers game, and quantity was clearly the key to creating miracles.
It hadn't been long since he started this venture, and he knew there would be much more to come. The continuous addition of fame was amazing. It wasn't a one-off payment; a new batch of points could be harvested every once in a while as the books changed hands and reached new readers. It was like a field of leeks that just kept growing back after being harvested.
I certainly made the right choice with this story, Ye Ruo thought. As for why he subtitled it "The Pupils of the Gale King," he considered it a bit of a dark joke. After all, by the end of the story, quite a few characters would be receiving their "box lunches." Once the plot concluded, the people of Mondstadt would truly understand that beauty is often short-lived.
Suddenly, a massive +100 indicator flashed across the legendary screen before disappearing just as quickly. Ye Ruo paused. With the normal rate of addition, he could usually tell where the points were coming from based on the frequency and size of the increase. He knew exactly what each tier of person had to offer. Seeing a single person provide a hundred points at once was shocking.
Who could that be? he wondered. Even someone like Jean only provided twenty points. This person must be on a completely different level. Ye Ruo showed a strange expression as he pondered the identity of this mysterious high-value reader, but he didn't dwell on it for too long. He had more pressing matters to attend to.
Now that he had accumulated so much reputation, he could finally start unlocking the blue-tier treasure chests. In the system's hierarchy, these were the Exquisite Chests. Up until now, he had used all the fame he gained to draw ordinary treasure chests. The condition for unlocking the next tier was simple: he had to draw from the current tier one hundred times. It was a matter of padding the numbers, but it wasn't a loss by any means. These weren't the low-level, junk-filled chests he had imagined. On the contrary, every chest he opened proved to be useful. Even the white-tier chests provided essential resources like timber, ores, medicinal plants, Mora, and various food items. This meant that even after he unlocked the blue items, the white chests wouldn't lose their value.
However, the specifics of the higher-tier rewards were still a mystery. He would only find out the truth after he drew an Exquisite Chest and saw the blue-quality items for himself. He was only about twenty draws away from hitting the hundred-draw milestone.
"Exquisite treasure chest, here I come," he whispered.
Ye Ruo focused his mind and commanded the system to perform two more ten-consecutive draws of the ordinary boxes. In his mind's eye, the first batch of ten wooden boxes fell from the sky and burst open in a flurry of light. The rewards scrolled past his vision. Five thousand Mora, one Ice Mist Flower, one Flaming Flower, ten Electro Crystals, three thousand Mora, ten Calla Lilies, twenty Wolfhooks, and finally, three individual drops of Mora.
Ye Ruo took a moment to reflect on the results. He had performed so many draws now that he was beginning to see the patterns. It seemed that receiving Mora was the baseline; if no specific item was drawn, the worst-case scenario was a small pile of gold. The other items were excellent. Ice Mist Flowers and Flaming Flowers weren't common plants, and they were considered quite rare. He could harvest the materials and use them for alchemy. In a city like Mondstadt, which had a very sophisticated alchemy system thanks to the Chief Alchemist Albedo, these were valuable. He could use them to create essential oils for elemental damage or potions for elemental resistance. Even the Sumeru Akademiya hadn't fully mastered some of the knowledge Albedo had brought to the city.
Ye Ruo continued with the final set of ordinary extractions. As the last box opened, the icon for the Exquisite Chest on his interface quietly shifted from a locked grey to a vibrant, active color. A series of notifications rang out in his head, followed by a brand-new prompt.
"Ding! Congratulations on receiving a Golden Crab. Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn one hundred common treasure chests and fulfilled the unlocking conditions. You have now unlocked the Exquisite Treasure Chest, and you can now obtain blue-tier items from it."
Ye Ruo smiled. This was exactly what he had been waiting for. After those final sets of ordinary draws, he still had eight thousand legend points remaining, and the value was still slowly rising. An ordinary treasure chest cost 160 reputation points per draw, but the Exquisite Chest was significantly more expensive, requiring 500 points per draw. It made sense for the price to increase; starting from the blue tier, there was a probability of drawing items from other worlds entirely.
By his calculations, he had enough points to perform sixteen draws right now. He decided to start with a ten-consecutive pull to see what the new tier had to offer.
"Ding! Are you sure you want to draw ten Exquisite Treasure Chests?"
"I'm sure."
Ten brand-new treasure chests appeared in his vision. Compared to the simple, wooden structure of the ordinary chests, these lived up to their names. They were much more refined, decorated with intricate metalwork and a glow that gave them a truly precious feel. A dazzling blue light filled his mind as they opened.
"Ding! Congratulations on receiving twenty Sumeru Yaks, fifty thousand Mora, an instant noodle recipe, a bicycle, one box of mineral water, a dose of the miracle drug APTX4869, one hundred thousand Mora, one hundred types of learning materials from Mikami Satoru, and the Knight Training Starter Manual."
Ye Ruo stared at the list of items, his mind racing to process the variety. The blue tier was definitely a massive step up from the white one. He had received a significant amount of Mora, but the other items were the real prizes. Sumeru Yaks were powerful beasts of burden, and having twenty of them was a massive boon for any logistical operation. A bicycle and a box of mineral water were simple but useful items from another world.
The instant noodle recipe was a goldmine for his business ventures, and the Knight Training Starter Manual would be perfect for his work with Noelle. However, his gaze lingered on the other items. APTX4869âthe shrinking drug from a famous detective story. And the learning materials from Mikami Satoru... those could be anything. He realized that the Exquisite Chests were going to make his life in Mondstadt even more unpredictable and exciting. He leaned back in his chair, feeling the weight of his new acquisitions. The Wind Knight's journey was about to get much more interesting.