Soon, he locked his gaze on Salt Field Town, which was only about 180 kilometers away from his current location in Harrenhal.
He was less than a three-day ride from there (which could be shortened to two days if he didn't consider the horses' condition); within such a short time, even players who rushed to the meeting point from the very beginning might not have met each other.
In other words, in the most ideal scenario, he might even be able to get the first kill.
Even if he couldn't, as long as he successfully hunted down one player in the next two months, those 4 points alone would be enough to free him from the threat of the assassination mechanism for a long time to come.
Wait, that's still not right. Although other professions wouldn't find their starting equipment easily recognizable, traveling merchants definitely would. Therefore, they might sell some assets or buy more mules and horses, or even dismiss a few servants or hire a few more farmers to help out.
In that case, how would he distinguish them?
After thinking for a long time, Ivan found the answer—starting funds. Their 100 gold dragon starting funds remained unchanged.
Ivan had deliberately researched this during character creation and clearly remembered that, apart from the final profession, the previous options had a negligible impact on starting funds.
This meant that even if a traveling merchant maximized their starting funds in the options, the money they had on hand would not exceed 110 gold dragons. With such limited funds, if they wanted to earn 1000 gold dragons or even more within two months, they would have to go all-in with their capital.
"After I arrive at Salt Field Town, I just need to inquire about the local salt price. Perhaps the foreman also takes kickbacks, so I'll inquire about the kickback ratio as well. In short, based on these two points, I can deduce the range of goods purchased by merchant players, and then I can identify suspected player merchants based on the amount of goods they transport," Ivan perfected the entire plan in his mind.
Without wasting any more time, he quickly gathered all his equipment on the table.
He planned to sell these items and his horse, then buy a machete and an old packhorse, disguising himself as an ordinary caravan guard to travel to Salt Field Town.
Caravan guard was actually one of the optional starting professions for players, but due to its poor equipment, poor attributes, and lack of money, Ivan categorized it in the T3 sequence.
Moreover, the initial equipment for a caravan guard was a short sword and leather armor, and Ivan differentiated himself in these details as well.
Anyway, with the pitiful strength of a traveling merchant, as long as he approached the opponent without arousing suspicion, he could surely take him down.
The advantage is mine!
Thinking of this, Ivan began to estimate the value of his equipment set.
The full set of armor could be sold for about 500 silver deer, while the hand-and-a-half sword could fetch over 200 silver deer.
As for his horse, which was currently tied in the inn's courtyard, according to the memories gained through the background story, it was a 5-year-old Riverlands warhorse, newly adult and in its prime, so it should sell for over 750 silver deer.
All combined, it was over 1300 silver deer.
After completing the appraisal, Ivan put his full set of equipment into a bag and pushed open the door to leave.
Upon reaching the first floor, he asked the proprietress for the location of the Harrenhal blacksmith shop, paid 10 copper cents for lodging, and then went to the backyard stable to lead his horse before leaving the inn.
Upon reaching the inn's main entrance, Ivan stopped.
Less than half a meter in front of him stood an incredibly thick stone wall, its moss-covered surface riddled with dense cracks, looking as if it had weathered many storms.
Ivan took two steps forward and, through these cracks, saw the other side of the stone wall.
It was a completely abandoned hall with no ceiling, filled with various rubble and garbage, and dusty banners hanging on the walls, their crests completely obscured, seemingly narrating a distant history.
The eerie environment and the foul smell emanating from the cracks made Ivan's heart pound. He did not linger but withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace towards the exit of the alley.
Turning the street corner, a sudden north wind blew, and a strange wailing sound echoed in the sky.
Although Ivan knew this was the sound of air passing through the stone cracks on the Wailing Tower, he still felt a chill, so he had to quicken his pace once again, gradually transitioning from a fast walk to a jog.
The footsteps of man and horse echoed in the narrow alley, forming an eerie harmony with the wailing in the air.
After passing through several abandoned streets filled with rubble, Ivan finally arrived at the square where the blacksmith shop, as described by the proprietress, was located.
"What bad luck! I need to sell this equipment quickly and get out of this cursed place," he muttered, tying his horse to a wooden post outside the door, then walked into the blacksmith shop.
The blacksmith shop was very quiet, with only an old blacksmith and two young apprentices.
The old blacksmith looked short and strong, with graying brown hair. As Ivan walked in, he had just finished repeatedly hammering an iron sword, skillfully pulling it out and then quenching it in a bucket of cold water nearby.
The glowing red iron sword plunged into the water, hissing and emitting wisps of white steam.
"Young man, do you need anything?" The old blacksmith noticed Ivan's arrival, turned around, and asked him.
Ivan surveyed the room and quickly ruled out the possibility of other players being there.
Firstly, he had learned about this old blacksmith from the inn proprietress, and according to the game's setting that player characters appear out of nowhere, this old blacksmith, who had worked his whole life in Duskfall, was undoubtedly a native.
Then there were the two young apprentices, who were clearly in their early teens, well below the minimum selectable age.
Ivan let out a sigh of relief, then opened his bag and took out his sword and full set of old chainmail.
"Uncle, I'd like to sell this set of equipment," Ivan placed the items on the table.
The old blacksmith, Aedon, looked at Ivan suspiciously, then carefully inspected Ivan's equipment. There were no cracks, and the surface wear was not severe, indicating good potential for profit after repolishing.
'But...' Aedon looked back at Ivan, somewhat puzzled, 'You should be a knight, right? You are still so young, why would you want to sell your equipment?'
Ivan was indeed very young; to be precise, he was too young.
When creating the character, Ivan had tested and found that age had no effect on stats, so he directly set the age to the minimum limit of 16.
A knight of this age, in the old blacksmith's eyes, should have a promising future, so he couldn't understand why the other party would want to sell his equipment.
Because I took an arrow to the knee? Ivan thought humorously, but he still showed a wry smile on his face and casually fabricated a story: "Because I've had enough of the life of a hedge knight. People say we and bandit knights are two sides of the same sword, and there's no honor in that. I don't want to continue living like this."