He purchases the majority of his gold via middlemen, who purchase gold in large quantities from gold producers who then sell it via websites such as El Dorado or OSRS gold. Horn says he's used between 4000 and 5,000 euros to fuel what he believed at one time was an addiction to gambling.

When players like Corne or Mobley have returned to RuneScape with the money and appetites of adulthood, the game's black market increased. Players reported that there was a large number of Chinese gold farmers, but there were others who profited from the revival of RuneScape: Venezuelans like Marinez.

On March 12 of 2020, Marinez began to apply at a police academy in Caracas the capital of Venezuela as well as pursue an occupation in law enforcement. The following day following, the Venezuelan government announced its initial two cases of COVID-19.

The government then shut down all schools, closed the frontiers between Venezuela and its neighbors, and put six states and Caracas as quarantine. Buy OSRS gold was left stranded on the road and was confined to his uncle's home in a city a little more than 50 miles from the capital.