Chapter 114: Apprentice Engineer

After failing countlessly, a white light finally shimmered over the workstation, revealing rows of standard bullets.

"Haha, a success at last!"

He didn't know exactly how many bullets a single successful craft would yield, as the workstation couldn't calculate it until the process was finished. Zhang Shan checked his inventory, noted the current bullet count, and then gathered the output. He checked his inventory again to see the difference.

Ten thousand rounds.

Not bad. Being able to produce ten thousand standard bullets at once meant that as long as he gradually improved his success rate, crafting ammunition wouldn't be too time-consuming. He could simply collect materials from the auction house whenever he had time and craft them whenever he ran low—perfect.

Successfully crafting an item granted one point of engineering proficiency. This leveling process was a bit slow, but he pressed on, assuming the success rate couldn't stay this low forever.

Zhang Shan used up all the remaining materials in his bag, managing two more successful crafts of standard bullets. After the initial breakthrough, the success rate for subsequent attempts improved significantly. He was now succeeding about once every ten tries, which, given the current material prices, meant he was no longer losing money. The cost of the materials was actually slightly cheaper than buying bullets directly from the shop.

He continued to grind for proficiency. He knew that as his proficiency increased, his success rate should continue to climb. Once he reached the rank of Apprentice Engineer, he would be able to craft attribute-enhanced bullets. He decided to check the auction house for Level 2 engineering blueprints, hoping to be prepared so he could start using better ammunition as soon as possible.

He teleported to the auction house and first checked if anyone had bid on his "Invincible Slash" scroll. Reviewing his list of items for sale, he saw zero bids. It was hard to tell if no one had seen it or if he had set the price too high. He decided to ignore it for now and let it sit.

He swept up more materials for standard bullets; he didn't mind paying a few extra coppers—he had money to spare. Then, he looked for Level 2 engineering blueprints. After a careful search, he discovered that while there were Level 2 blueprints, none were particularly practical. They were mostly for toys, such as "Wooden Bird" or "Firecracker" blueprints. Neither product had any utility; the wooden bird was essentially a kite for players to use for fun, and the firecrackers were just for noise and light displays. He didn't find the ammunition blueprints he was hoping for.

He searched for higher-level blueprints. Surely the engineering profession wasn't limited to making standard bullets? What would be the point of learning it then?

Indeed, in the Level 3 engineering blueprint section, he found a recipe for special ammunition: the "Primary Incendiary Shell" blueprint. However, there was only one listed in the entire auction house, and the seller was a greedy soul, setting the starting bid at 50,000 gold and a buyout price of 100,000.

Zhang Shan examined the details. The stats for the Primary Incendiary Shell were quite good: +100 Attack, and upon impact, it caused burning damage of 500 points per second for three seconds. A 100-point attack boost was solid, and the extra 500 points of fixed damage made it very practical. However, it required an additional material compared to standard bullets: Flame Stones.

Flame Stones were blue-tier materials. Individually, they weren't expensive—a few dozen gold coins each—but to craft these shells in bulk, he would need to buy a massive quantity. Given his experience with standard bullets, Zhang Shan had a clear understanding of the success rate: it was low, especially when first attempting a new item. He would need to hoard materials; otherwise, having the blueprint without being able to actually craft the shells would be useless.

He decided to buy the blueprint eventually, as he didn't know if he would see another one. However, he didn't want to give in to the seller's greed. The auction for the blueprint lasted until tomorrow morning, so he placed a starting bid of 50,000 gold and decided to see if anyone else would bid by tomorrow. According to auction house rules, once a player places a bid, the seller cannot cancel the auction and must let it conclude at the highest bid. Conversely, buyers cannot back out, as their funds are locked upon bidding. If he didn't win, the money would be returned. If he won, the gold would be deducted after a one-percent fee.

While he waited on the incendiary shell blueprint, he bought the useless wooden bird and firecracker blueprints outright. They were cheap, and he could use them to grind proficiency once he reached Apprentice Engineer.

With his blueprints secured, he spent a fortune sweeping up materials—not just for standard bullets, but also for the toys and the flame stones for the incendiary shells. As long as the price wasn't extortionate, he bought everything. He was going to need them eventually, so he might as well stock up.

After his shopping spree, he realized that aside from the money spent on blueprints, he had spent several thousand gold just on raw materials. Damn, life professions were expensive. He decided to take it easy on the grind for now; he couldn't afford to keep spending gold like this. He would just pick up cheap materials daily and accumulate them slowly.

He teleported back to the guild territory and continued crafting standard bullets. His current engineering apprentice proficiency was only at three points; he needed one hundred to advance to Apprentice Engineer, which was still a long way off. Proficiency increased by one point for every successful craft, and each blueprint could only provide a maximum of one hundred points.

The workstation took about ten seconds per cycle. Zhang Shan worked tirelessly, feeding materials in one batch after another. Initially, he only succeeded once every ten tries or so, but once his proficiency reached ten points, the success rate improved to about once every seven or eight attempts. He checked his supplies; he had enough materials to keep going all day. He was determined to reach Apprentice Engineer before going to sleep.

As his proficiency increased, his success rate improved significantly. By the time he reached fifty points, he was succeeding nearly every two tries. The success rate was quite impressive. He realized that even selling standard bullets could be profitable at this stage; if he produced them in large quantities and sold them cheaper than the shop, there would certainly be buyers. After all, there were so many hunter players in the game, and surely many of them wanted to save a few coppers. Of course, this was just a thought—crafting took time, and he would rather be out grinding monsters.

He continued his grind. After more than an hour of non-stop crafting, Zhang Shan finally raised his engineering rank to Apprentice Engineer.