Leisure Journey of Refinements

I was very tempted to get this, but it's out of my comfort zone to destroy more than 100 mil meso on a single item.

My average earnings now, at best, are 20 mil/day.

 

Long story short, after a disappointing third level-up, I decided to end the suffering.

These were the final stats before it was destroyed.



Stats Gained: Timeless Pescas
Level 1: 0/1 Str, 1/2 Luk, 0/2 wa
Level 2: 1/1 Str, 1/2 Luk, 2/2 wa
Level 3: 1/1 Str, 1/2 Luk, 1/2 wa
Level 4: -
Level 5: -

 

There is this but as you can see I'm poor now.



There's nothing much in the market, and I haven't sold anything in days. It's not exciting to scroll things if there's nobody buying, especially now that the event is over.

The mid-game audience is mostly dead, with the high-end players trading things out of my budget among themselves.

 

I think there is a large absence of mid-game because if a player knows what they are doing, they can completely skip that portion of it, as the mid-tier items are not necessary for their progression. At any level, they can find a map with mobs they are able to grind efficiently with minimal pot usage and farm gachas, which will provide the most earnings and allow them to get items beyond the mid-tiers within a reasonable time frame.

It's depressing for me, as a large portion of my earnings came from the mid-game audience during late 2022 to mid-2023. They don't sell very high, but they are not too risky or expensive to make as well. Now, the demands and value of mid-game items have dropped drastically, so it's not that worth risking on those anymore. It's almost break even with production cost, sometimes even more expensive, and it's better to spend the time farming mobs instead. What makes it much less profitable is that some 30% scroll prices have increased as more players use them to scroll high-tier items, and it's almost never worth using them to make low to mid-tier items anymore. When I was scrolling TMA170-ish wands in late 2022, Wand MA 30% scrolls were half of what the current market price is now. On top of that, the value of these wands has also dropped by 25-40% of what they used to sell.

I'm at a point where the rate of my earnings struggles to keep up with the rate I need to spend for any further upgrade within the time frame that will keep me motivated enough to prevent burnout. Although one can argue that I don't really need those, and it's just luxurious upgrades, especially when I'm not even doing any bossing, which I completely agree with. But upgrading items is fun, and ever since I started scrolling things for myself, I have enjoyed the game more than I ever had, mainly due to me missing out on those experiences during the early days in official servers, and now I'm able to relive them.

But I'll think of something. I still have 1.2k coins, and I'm starting to think maybe I should put them to good use instead of waiting for a 131-133wa dagger. As time passes, I find myself wanting the dagger less, and perhaps it will feel more rewarding making one myself than buying from someone else, even if I have to spend more than what the market offers.

 

If it's for your I/L, MW20 will probably be your best value to spend the most on. The next would be a Wand 7, find something around 170-174 TMA for less than 200 mil. The rest aren't really needed to be too well-made, as you should be very close or already one-hitting Ulu2 at lv130, and Ulu3 at lv140-145

For the cape, get a cheap 13-14 Int crimson cloak, probably less than 10 mil. 14 TMA earring for less than 10 mil, 10-12 TMA gloves for less than 20 mil. You might be able to find 12-14 TMA shields for 50 mil or less. 7 Int eyes are around 25 mil. Scroll any shoes for speed. Bathrobe 12-14 Int for less than 30 mil. Get a smiling mask for speed as well. I think that's about it.

From there, you will be well-equipped enough to farm most of the best maps to earn meso.

If that's the case, then I'm happy to have bagged much of the meso from that segment of the market before someone else does. I have nothing else to sell at the moment... gift me 109wa TL Pescas... as a treat?

 

While players are offering services like 100% skillbooks and 100% White Scrolls, I thought about asking for a 100% 8+wa Timeless weapon leveling service. So, I decided to give it a try and proposed an offer in Discord, not really expecting anyone to take it up.



Currently, there’s a clean perfect Timeless Pescas listed in the market at 250 mil mesos for the last 2 days. Using this amount to calculate the expected cost of leveling it to 8+wa at 8.64%, it would be close to 2.9 bil meso. I offered to pay a slightly higher price of 1k Prestigious Coins.

Here’s how it would work: someone would pass me a clean perfect TL Pescas, and I’d level it up. If it levels up to +8 or more wa, then I’ll pay 1k coins. Otherwise, no payment.

Yes, that would mean transitioning into a WS10 project if it succeeds— exciting, eh? Of course, the paths to 131-133wa are still open, whichever happens first. Since I have nothing much else going for me now, I thought it’s actually not a bad idea. I don’t really have to complete it; just passing 3xWS10 on a 117wa dagger would be enough for an upgrade.

If I consider my current 9wa cape and 16wa gloves, upgrading just 1wa for the cape would cost about 350 coins on top of the value of a 9wa cape. Similarly, a 1wa upgrade for gloves is about 400 coins. At this point, a WS10 actually provides decent value, where an expected 1k coins would provide a 5wa upgrade from the weapon, making it 200 coins per 1wa upgrade, and it remains on average until the slots deplete.

 

Everyone will encounter this "wall," and its impact is relative to your playtime and earning ability. In many cases, achieving higher numbers in this game is more of a challenge than a necessity, and these challenges are often what keeps long-time players engaged. When there's nothing else to achieve, much of the game's meaning lies in the social element. I think currently, my biggest wall is time as my earning rate struggles to keep up with the spending required in what I consider reasonable, especially when heavy RNGs are involved.

I'm upgrading for the fun of it, to see how far I can go. The decision to maintain a base 4/25 in Str/Dex isn't necessary, but it adds to the enjoyment and prolongs the upgrading process a little. I don't have a hard threshold I'm aiming for, just whatever is the best and something I personally want to attain. There are ways to achieve these goals, but they come with sacrifices, like quitting my job, abandoning my family, and committing full time—16 hours a day—to grinding. I'm always thinking of ways to reach these goals within my sanity threshold.

Leveling is the most enjoyable when I'm doing it myself, and exp gains are more of a time factor than RNG. Since I'm not engaged in any bossing content, my progression isn't gated by level, so it wouldn't make much difference to me. If I were to spend my wealth, I'd want to invest in something I might not be able to achieve by myself, especially when facing heavy RNG where there's a chance I may never reach it.

 

We have our first dagger in! Thanks to Fayden, who is comfortable with the reveal in the journal.



I didn't think anyone would consider taking up the offer; it was an idea I had thought out while lying in bed before sleeping. I got a pleasant surprise in the morning when I woke up. Thank you for the trust!

To ensure transparency, my plan is to take a video showing the @time and @itemexp commands in the game, and the stats of the weapon after each level up. If there's anything more I can do to increase transparency or integrity, please let me know.

To reiterate the agreement, I was passed a clean perfect Timeless Pescas, a 109wa, 7-slots in this case. I will level it up, and if it gains at least 8wa, I will pay the player who passed me the dagger 1k Prestigious Coins; otherwise, there will be no payment. If there is a screw-up on my side, I'm willing to pay for the dagger.

 

Someone mentioned to me that the gamble is more favorable to me because I still get to keep the byproduct even if the leveling goes bad. After some thought, I will add another layer, which is I will try my best to come up with a scrolling path that can lead to at least 130wa, and I will pay accordingly. The player who passed me the dagger is also free to choose the scrolling path I should take on the dagger should it not reach the desired level up.

130wa - 125 p-coins
131wa - 200 p-coins
132wa - 275 p-coins
133wa - 350 p-coins
134wa - 425 p-coins
135wa - 500 p-coins

Thanks for the feedback. I will gladly adjust the terms more to your favor if I feel it's reasonable. I will also do my best to take a video of the scrolling process as well. Although unlikely, there is still a chance that during the process, I might encounter software or hardware issues and thus miss the captures.

The leveling has started! I will release the images before the videos, as I would need more time to process them.



I will finish it within the next 2 days as I will be on vacation after that. If there's another dagger, I'm afraid it will have to wait for another week before I can level it.

 

First level up result:



Stats Gained: Timeless Pescas
Level 1: 0/1 Str, 1/2 Luk, 1/2 wa
Level 2: -
Level 3: -
Level 4: -
Level 5: -

 

Second level up, still hopeful!



Stats Gained: Timeless Pescas
Level 1: 0/1 Str, 1/2 Luk, 1/2 wa
Level 2: 0/1 Str, 2/2 Luk, 1/2 wa
Level 3: -
Level 4: -
Level 5: -



Every level up is so nerve-wracking; I can’t get enough of them! I’m actually very grateful to have someone taking up the offer because I’m not ready to burn hundreds of millions meso for it to fail. Really hope this can make it!

Expect the next level up to be about 12 hours later as I gotta leave for work.

 

Timeless exp to level ups are:
Level 1 - 80
Level 2 - 90
Level 3 - 100
Level 4 - 110
Level 5 - 120

Skele leeching is at a nice rate of about 1 exp/min, totaling about 500 minutes, or 8 hours and 20 minutes. The reason for leeching at Skele instead of leeching/grinding at Shaolin is that I might get disrupted halfway, and it’s easier to leave and come back at any time. Additionally, there's always the other map for Skele, and it’s relatively safer and comfortable for me to farm at.

Anyway, I haven’t forgotten this; just waiting for the next batch of daggers to be available for purchase.

Currently, there are some 105-106wa Timeless daggers, but they are a little too pricey for me, so I'll wait a little longer.

 

It's gonna be a cruise, stopping at nearby area in between, nothing too fancy. There's not gonna be any cruise tour, so expect no videos or photos.