The Game Merchant Who Started from the Ninja World

Chapter 12: The Importance of Equipment

Take Naruto, the Konoha squad, and the majority of players for example.

None of them had yet realized the importance of equipment.

At Level 5, they were still wearing Level 1 white gear—or even fighting completely unequipped—focused only on leveling up.

They hoarded the reward points they earned from hunting corrupted creatures, unwilling to spend a single one unless absolutely necessary, only buying a couple of healing potions as a last resort.

But reward points needed to circulate.

Left sitting in players' inventories, they were just useless Origin. Only someone like Fang Yi, who possessed World Will, could truly make use of them.

A full set of white equipment could increase a player's power by nearly two or three times.

Tsunade's green gear set boosted her even more significantly.

Once the Konoha squad saw firsthand the power that came with good gear, they'd undoubtedly get jealous and burn through their hoarded reward points in no time.

Boom!

Wraith Shockwave.

A thick, gray energy beam the width of a bowl shot straight into the Wraith Guard's chest, blasting its body apart.

Its drop was a glowing white orb—a spectral core shaped like a human face.

Asuma explained, "Wraith Guards always drop their spectral cores as a guaranteed material. And if you're lucky, you might even get a piece of Wraith set gear."

But the odds were very low.

Out of the nearly hundred Wraith Guards they'd taken down, only Kabuto had managed to get a pair of Wraith leather boots.

As for Tsunade, fully geared in Wraith gear from head to toe, she was probably the only "whale" player in the entire Reincarnation Game.

"So strong!"

Naruto couldn't resist the temptation anymore. He spent all his saved-up reward points on a three-piece gear set from the game shop.

He couldn't afford the full set, but even a Wraith three-piece had a set bonus—though a bit weaker.

1,500 reward points.

That was everything he had.

He had originally planned to buy two B-rank ninjutsu, but after seeing the terrifying strength of Tsunade, he changed his mind.

This wasn't just an ordinary game.

Naruto had already tested it—he could bring his in-game skills back to the real world. If that was possible, then equipment surely worked the same way.

Compared to the boost from the Wraith set, those B-rank jutsu suddenly didn't seem all that attractive.

During the purchasing process,

Players were given the choice: to bring an item into the real world or keep it in the game.

Once selected, if they wanted seamless access to the item in both worlds, they had to pay a certification fee.

Only certified items could be used freely in both reality and the game.

Through this system, Fang Yi had already raked in thousands of reward points.

Earning points from players required attention to every detail. It had to be sustainable and long-term.

"Did none of you realize? At the same level, a single Wraith Guard could take on all of you at once."

Tsunade had a sharp eye and called it out immediately. "The further we go, the stronger the corrupted monsters will get. If you don't buy equipment, you won't survive in this game."

Asuma had also begun to suspect this.

But gear was expensive—it meant spending every point they had worked so hard to earn.

To afford a high-quality set like Tsunade's, they would even need special funding from the Hokage himself.

And most importantly—

Gear had level restrictions. It wasn't a one-time investment. Once you leveled up, you'd have to replace it anyway.

Asuma sighed. "When I log out, I'll bring this up with Lord Hokage."

[Server Channel: A Wraith General has been sighted in the ruins of the castle deep in the Death Soul Mountain Range.]

Description: In life, the Wraith General was a knight stationed at the castle, possessing immense strength and battle aura. After death, he was transformed by the Wraith Sorceress Sarina into one of her most powerful minions.

Naruto shouted, "A powerful corrupted monster just spawned!"

After becoming professionals, players unlocked the communication channel.

Every two hours, players could post one message. Most of the time, it was nonsense—players asking for help leveling, ranting about drop rates, or speculating about the mysterious developer behind the game.

Sometimes, an announcement like this one would appear.

The last one was about the Blood-Soaked Barrens, where Vampire Baron Klar had spawned.

Players had rushed there in excitement—only to be instantly killed by the terrifying vampire lord with bat wings who drained their blood in a single gesture.

Two hundred players in the region were wiped out in an instant.

As expected of the area's top-tier boss monster, designated as a "Lord" by the game—totally out of the players' league at that stage.

But… this Wraith General wasn't a Lord-tier boss.

Asuma thought for a moment, then said decisively, "The castle ruins aren't far. Let's go observe first. If necessary, we'll use our deaths to test its strength. If it's too much, we withdraw."

When Baron Klar had appeared, one player had stubbornly tried to beat him, reviving fifty times—and couldn't even break his defense.

Asuma wouldn't allow such pointless sacrifices.

"Let's go!"

The Konoha squad, along with Tsunade—now Level 3 and decked out in Wraith gear—marched toward the depths of the Death Soul Mountain Range.

After half an hour of rapid travel, they reached the outskirts of the ruined castle.

Crumbling stone walls, rusted iron gates, and corroded rivets surrounded the overgrown compound.

The castle was large. Beyond the main keep, there were gardens and storage buildings scattered across the grounds.

Slash!

Kabuto flickered forward, cloaked in shadow, and delivered a swift strike.

He cut deep into the back of a fully armored Wraith soldier's neck. It vanished into mist upon death, leaving behind a piece of broken armor.

He picked it up and stashed it in his inventory. "These Wraith materials… shouldn't just be for selling to the shop, right?"

After all—

If selling was their only function, there'd be no point in separating them out as distinct materials. They'd just be turned into reward points directly.

Behind the screen, Fang Yi nodded slightly.

That function wasn't available yet.

Once players had amassed enough reward points to support trading between each other, he'd unlock life professions.

Then all those armor fragments, Wraith essences, and gargoyle chunks could be processed into potions, consumables, and gear.

The silver-haired loli asked at just the right moment, "But what if players start crafting their own gear? Won't the store's items stop selling?"

Fang Yi waved it off. "The gear in the store is overpriced on purpose. It's meant for early-game exploration or emergencies."

"To spread gear more widely, I'll increase the drop rates later. On top of that, life professions will become essential."

He smirked coldly. "You really think life professions are easy to level?"

"To train one, you need to burn through massive amounts of materials. The higher the item level, the higher the profession level required. Everything's built by grinding materials. And let's not even talk about the failure rate—it's enough to make most players cry."

"Solo players can forget it. Even big organizations like the Hidden Leaf probably won't be able to support more than a few high-level life professionals."

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