"...Please, take care of me."
Abigail said, and bowed.
"Welcome~ Welcome~"
Fang Raon said with a smile.
"...Are you sure you want to join? It’s not like you’re being forced to join since you ’lost’ the fight or anything like that."
Machary said.
"I am sure."
Abigail said with a serious look.
When Machary looked at her, he got some school president vibes off her. She seemed very diligent and also very serious.
She was beautiful black-haired girl, so she was most likely very popular in school, but also someone that wouldn’t care about high school romance because she was too busy studying.
"Two more remaining~"
Machary said with a smile.
"You already have eight in the party, including us?"
Abigail said in surprise.
Since they came here alone, she thought that they were the only ones in their party.
"Haha... We are only planning to have five people in the party. Less is better, isn’t that right, haha?"
Machary said with an awkward laugh and sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
He just hoped that wasn’t going to scare Abigail off because it could make them look extremely reckless.
Abigail looked at the two young men in silence, let out a sigh, and shook her head, as she shouldn’t have expected anything less.
They almost started fist-fighting back in the Combat Lounge because of the gambling money, and she had to drag them outside before they made a scene.
"I’ll leave the last remaining two to you guys. Tank and Helper are all we need anymore."
Fang Raon said with a smile.
"...Where are you going?"
Abigail asked curiously.
"I have something to do over in the city, and I want to do that before we head over to the tower."
Fang Raon said.
"See ya."
Machary said, fist-bumped Fang Raon, and then they watched as he walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
"...So, that’s Fang Raon."
Abigail whispered.
"You know of him?"
Machary asked.
"A few days ago I went to Black Online forums to find the best possible cheap skills that I could find on floor 6, and I happened to see several posts about him."
Abigail said.
"Ah, yes. He isn’t as impressive as the rumors make him out to be. Dude is a total noob."
Machary said with a scoff.
"...You say that, but I can see that you respect him. I see that armband you got. Rose Records, huh? That’s decent guild, but yet, you are following him."
Abigail said.
"Following him? I’m not following shit! We are leaders, both of us. Get that?"
Machary said angrily in response.
"Sure, sure. Then, where do we start recruiting the last remaining two, Mr. Leader?"
Abigail asked with a smug smile.
"Just follow my lead. I got this shit. I’ll find the best Tank and Helper this place has to fucking offer!"
Machary said haughtily, and with Abigail following behind him with an amused expression, they made their way down the street.
...
[Karuma’s Merchants and Traders]
The sign was waving in the wind, and the sun was setting behind the buildings, casting a warm glow over the bustling market.
In that moment, inside the merchant store, Fang Raon was standing before a counter with countless items stacked in front of him.
"...I’ll give you 5,100 Square Coins for all these."
Karuma said.
"That doesn’t cut it. I want at least 7,000."
Fang Raon said.
"7-7,000?! You are crazy, young man, crazy!"
Karuma shouted in shock.
He was a stubby-legged old man—looking like a dwarf, pretty much—and had a long beard that touched the floor.
"I know you will sell all of these for at least 10,000, you greedy old man. At least you can give me 7,000!"
Fang Raon said.
"The thing is, I don’t know if I can sell some of these items. Like, what the hell kind of use does this have?"
Karuma took out a mysterious object from the pile—it was a ticking pocketwatch, but it was counting backwards—it also had strange runes etched into the metal.
It was a magical item, and they would usually go for a lot, but there were many magical items that were worthless.
"Find an appraiser. I don’t care. It might be more valuable than either of us expects, but you’ll never know if you only give me 5,000!"
Fang Raon slammed his hands on the counter.
"Y-You..."
Karuma gritted his teeth, looked at the objects, and at the very least, he could make 7,000 with this stuff to make it dead-even.
If he was lucky and the magical item turned out to be good, he could make way more than 10,000, so he really wasn’t losing anything.
"Fine, you little shit... Here!"
Karuma gave him 7,000 and then immediately shooed him away, and Fang Raon left with a smile on his face.
When he was outside, he stored his money in his interface and saw the number going up.
[+7000 Square Coins]
[Coins: 7714]
’Gotcha.’
Fang Raon thought with a smile.
He already checked whether that magical pocketwatch had any worth, and from what he could find, it was completely worthless.
’The powers of being a player—there is a lot of information about the tower that locals such as Karuma simply don’t have access to.’
Fang Raon thought with a smile on his face, and now, with money in hand, he headed towards the Skill Market.
There were only two things that he really wanted to purchase—better armor and one skill that he would use as his trump card.
’I want Tier III skill, at least.’
Fang Raon thought to himself.
After asking directions from the locals, he found his way to the armor and weapon store, where he purchased "Hide Armor," which had better protection.
It had the hide of a Strong Bear and was known for its durability and resistance to damage. It was weak against fire-based attacks, but he was fine with it.
It cost him 2,200 Square Coins, which pained him, but the leather armor was just not strong enough in the end, so this purchase was good.
In that moment, he arrived at Skill Market—there were stalls lining up the street, manned by players and locals alike.
The players that were selling were from higher floors, and they had brought with them quite interesting skills.
However, they were also vastly more expensive.
’...What skill should I buy?’