My current rank is 30th.
I’ve been steadily climbing, but it takes ages to match, and there are too many rankers avoiding me, so this is about my limit.
I’ve accumulated about 80,000 honor, but since the matches have peaked, I can only earn honor through maintaining my challenger status.
My goal is 500,000 honor, to purchase the ‘Ring of Three’ infused with the power of the unbeatable angel, Pretrus.
The Sword Saint is ahead of me, but just in case, I hadn’t used anything at all…
“I can spend about 1,000 honor.”
That’s plenty for the convenience of my people.
“Phew… I’m feeling uneasy.”
Ena and I arrived at the PVP battlefield.
There are still a lot of people, but since neither of us has started the broadcast, it wasn’t too crowded.
If I started around this time, I could match quickly but…
‘It’s better to go live.’
It’s not a rank I absolutely need to raise, and I’m more accustomed to broadcasting now, so getting reactions makes it more enjoyable.
“You want to go to the honor shop?”
“Yes.”
“Got it.”
If I speak to the golden raccoon next to the battle fairy Moco, I’ll get a golden coin to enter the honor shop.
Just like the raccoon, it has golden fur and is wearing a blue ring.
I don’t think it heard anything from the raccoon.
“But… do you really not know Rika?”
“I don’t.”
“Strange. You look so alike…”
The raccoon muttered while scratching its head and then lazily lay down again.
Rika…
“Could it be connected to Lady Lily’s job?”
“Well, I don’t know her, but I guess I’ll find out later.”
First, let’s buy what we need.
After spending the coin, I entered the honor shop.
Inside the honor shop made of golden shrines.
The guide is…
“Not here?”
“Looks like they stepped out. It’s not just one or two honor shops, so it’s not unusual for them to be absent if it’s not your first time here.”
“Aha.”
“But if you want to buy something, they’ll be back right away.”
That’s what they say.
Having no one might actually be better.
I quickly headed to the third floor.
The first floor mainly has cheap items, and the second and third floors have slightly more expensive ones.
The fourth and fifth floors sell pricey items like legends or mythical ones.
At the very top on the fifth floor was Pretrus’s Ring of Three.
There couldn’t be multiple Rings of Three, so I figured the fourth and fifth floors are either shared among everyone or have models instead.
After arriving on the third floor, I headed towards the ‘Consumable Item’ section.
There it was, in the seventh row, third spot: a blue ‘High-Quality Mana Bomb (x10)’.
In the third row, there’s a blue ‘High-Quality Mana Bomb (x10)’.
Behind it, there are five boxes stacked…
“How do you remember all that?”
“I have a good memory.”
“…Even the number of boxes?”
“Yep.”
Even if I don’t want to know this much, I can know it.
That’s just how I roll.
I said this nonchalantly, and Yena followed behind me with a chuckle.
Rustle!
“Anyway, do you see that faintly behind the five stacked boxes? That.”
“Yeah, there’s something dusty.”
“Right. Behind that dust, there’s a ‘Broom with Somewhere Useful’ worth 500 honor. And behind that broom is exactly!”
I pushed aside the broom and pulled out a bundle of emerald-colored paper.
Due to the special environment, there was no dust at all, but if it were an ordinary shop, there would’ve been heaps of dust accumulated in that position…
[‘External Network Access Ticket Bundle (x10)’ / (Stock 4) – 1000 Honor]
[This item is worth over 300 Honor. Please purchase through an NPC related to the Honor Shop.]
I found the access ticket.
“???”
“What do you think? It’s really here, right?”
“So you saw the box behind the mana bomb, then noticed the broom between the boxes, and finally saw the paper behind the broom?”
“Yep.”
“Crazy.”
Clap, clap, clap.
“Lady Lily, you’re really amazing.”
“Anyway, it’s for sale, right? There’s a barcode.”
“With this effort, it has to be sold. Let’s buy it right away.”
“Just as I expected. I knew Miss Yena would say that.”
If you’re not going to sell it, you shouldn’t leave it like this.
With it sitting in plain sight for customers and a barcode to boot, that’s basically selling it, isn’t it?
■
“…This isn’t for sale.”
“Excuse me?”
I called for Guide Ria to make a purchase.
With golden hair and a pure white outfit, she was a woman wearing a blue ring, just like the raccoon.
As soon as Ria saw what I was holding, her expression turned pale, shaking her head.
“Where on earth did you find this?”
“It was just on display.”
“Display?”
“Yeah. Display.”
I confidently explained where the paper was supposedly displayed.
With each explanation, Ria’s expression grew more serious.
“That isn’t just a display…”
“But it was visible to me.”
“Uh, but what’s visible…?”
“That’s strange. I’m pretty sure you said everything visible could be bought…”
“Didn’t they say I could buy it…?”
Why can’t I buy this?
“……”
“I won’t pay more or less, just the exact price. I’ll take all four bundles.”
“That’s correct. It didn’t look like it was selling well, so we’ll help you clear the stock. Oh, I’ll take this too.”
Yena was holding that ‘broom that seems to have some use somewhere’ that I had seen earlier.
“Miss Yena, are you going to buy that?”
“Yes. Doesn’t it look like it’s for a hidden quest?”
“Oh.”
“Or we could use it for cleaning the guild.”
“Not a bad idea.”
It’s impressive that, including me and Yena, we’re managing to clear out five unsellable items.
From the store’s perspective, isn’t this a huge profit?
And they’re not even asking to lower the price; they’re paying the exact amount!
“Complete gain for us.”
“It is, indeed.”
“……”
As we naturally exchanged banter, Ria took a step back, perhaps thinking we weren’t communicating.
“…This doesn’t seem like a matter I should handle.”
“Even for something worth only 4500 honor?”
“I’ll go fetch the person in charge. Please wait a moment.”
Ria kept bowing her head and hurriedly dashed outside.
Once Ria completely disappeared, Yena snickered and plopped down into a seat at the honor shop.
“I feel like we’ve turned into some troublemakers.”
“Normally, you should be confident in situations like this.”
We’re the customers, simply buying the visible items as directed by the store.
If it hadn’t caught my eye, I wouldn’t have asked for it, but…
‘If you show it like this, I have no choice but to buy it.’
“Still, it’s a relief that Deoen doesn’t impose sanctions for things like this. Unless it’s a conflict between users.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Deoen practices a hands-off policy toward the users, so even if something happens that makes you think, ‘this isn’t right…?’ they won’t impose sanctions.
After all, matters within the game should stay within the game, so players wouldn’t feel like they’re being controlled.
Deoen only manages matters outside the game.
If there were to be sanctions…
‘It would be within the game.’
“What’s going on!”
“You’ve arrived.’’
From afar, the golden raccoon seemed to turn red, running over in a huff.
He was running so urgently that his golden fur was all messy, and next to him was Ria, looking utterly gloomy.
As soon as the raccoon spotted me, he lunged to grab the voucher I was holding.
Whoosh!
“Eek!”
He didn’t even come close.
“Aren’t you going to hand it over?!”
“I’m the one buying it!”
“You’d better hand it over if you don’t want to die.”
The raccoon’s blue ring flickered, and a golden aura surged around him.
Golden energy rippled through the creature’s body.
But I casually waved my voucher.
“Can you kill me?”
“I received the authority to kill Outsiders who don’t listen. So hand it over while I’m still being nice.”
“No, what I mean is…”
Tsk.
My hand broke through the energy surrounding the raccoon and grabbed it by the nape.
In a blink, the raccoon was lifted without a fight.
I locked eyes with the raccoon.
“Do you have the power to kill me, is what I’m asking.”
“……”
The raccoon is strong.
It’s operating PVP battles under some authority from the System, and its power could crush even the mightiest Ranker in one blow.
It’s comparable to a weak Ancient Beast from the past, now considered a mid-tier World Boss.
Right. A mid-tier World Boss.
‘Compared to the raccoon, it’s really, really weak.’
“What, what is this…”
I can’t tell if the raccoon has always been strong or if they received different strengths due to their separate tasks.
What matters is that the raccoon is no longer a threat to me.
“I could let you go, even now. Just drop it and go away.”
“If you let me buy just this, I’ll leave.”
“Don’t mess with me. I’m serious.”
“I’m not joking either!”
“……”
A brief standoff with the raccoon ensues.
It definitely has less power than the raccoon, making it easier to handle.
“…Let’s make it one. No bundling, just one for 100 Honor.”
“I’m buying all of them.”
“Hey!”
“I’m paying the full price, so why won’t you sell to me?”
“It’s up to the Master!”
“But you aren’t the Master.”
Can a part-timer really refuse to sell items based on the Master’s wishes?
I’m seriously starting to wonder.
“If the real Master comes and says no, I’ll leave.”
“…Stop talking nonsense. I can’t possibly bring That Person, so just take one and go!”
“I don’t want to.”
“Ugh…!”
The raccoon is getting redder.
At this rate, it’ll become a red raccoon instead of a golden one.
“Y-you! If I was in my true form, you would be dead by now! You would have already vanished from this world!”
“That’s true for me too, you know.”
If the raccoon were in its prime, it would’ve already been on the ground.
Though that doesn’t mean it would be dead.
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