Well rested, his [Skullflame Shield R2] patched up a little thanks to Menchi's unending supply of [Omnigel-modified], which she carries along with her [Medigel-modified], both of which she, as well as Alex, always carries around.
The group ventures outside, walking back toward the markets.
"Are you sure this is smart?" Menchi asks. "You know... I didn't pay enough attention yesterday. I really reflected on it, but just going back to shopping? Like nothing happened? Shouldn't we look for that guy, or maybe other players? I fear Jason might try to team up with them."
"It's a good question," Alex admits, deep in thought, "but I feel like we have no choice. If you think about our usual modus operandi, it is focused on maximizing resources and fighting enemies. I have strong combat abilities; in fact, I'm pretty confident that I can win all 1-on-1 or even 1-on-2 fights, as long as it's against players of my level. My weakness is that I don't have any real way of scouting for enemies... how are we supposed to find Jason and his Jaffa lackey?"
"I... don't know?" Menchi replies, looking unsure. "Look around... maybe... yeah... okay, I see what you mean. It would be useless. Impossible in such a big city. If we had a few weeks or a month... maybe, but we just have a day."
"Yes," Alex replies. "That's a serious weakness. Benezia often told me that, and that I'm best suited to solo missions or require people who can make up for my weaknesses. However, Jason is not a direct combat type. His Hatsu, as I told you, can literally reverse the movements of items and people. He probably has a way to scout for enemies, since he can't fight them alone. "
"In any case, about his ability. He himself can't really do anything while he uses his Hatsu, so at most, he can block me from doing anything, but that leaves him vulnerable to you and Jewel. Even if he has that Supporter... it's three on two; we are at a clear advantage. So I'd say we ignore them. If they want to come and fight, let them."
He then shrugs. "So what we should do is obvious. Stay alert and look out for them, but aside from that, we need to earn as much as we can. We have funds from Benezia, so money isn't an issue. Let's just buy as many items as possible. Rather than going on a wild goose chase and maybe ending up with nothing, we might as well give up on that approach and focus on what we can actually do. Look, our approach might be boring and predictable. We scour the world for items, for any kind of resources we need to turn into shards and FC; that's what we do. We are not here to have fun; we are fucking here to earn as much profit as possible. We do it day in and day out. Every single day. Understood?"
"Got it!" Menchi says, smiling.
Princess Jewel also agrees.
"Great, let's get to it then. Let Menchi and me take care of finding things. Jewel, I'd like you to use your spider senses and look out for other players, okay?"
Soulmate... that's not how the senses of spiders work. Soulmate shouldn't believe these silly misconceptions from a certain comic.
However, Princess Jewel will do her best to use her SNS along with En and Gyo to look out for enemies.
That's all I ask for.
Finally, the group resumes their shopping spree.
Now with money, Menchi, who thankfully knows quite a bit about Yorknew, shows them around to various stores. Not cheap pawn shops this time, but actually high-class businesses with far more curated selections.
After a few failed attempts, visiting businesses that only displayed items the system didn't recognize, the group finally arrives at a more promising store. Menchi introduces it, as the store, a large three-story building that immediately stands out, comes into view.
"I've heard a lot of Hunters and even Amateur Hunters use this place for equipment... since I mostly use cooking knives and don't rely on gear, I've only been here once, a couple years ago. I've also almost entirely forgotten that visit, so don't expect too much," she explains.
That means it couldn't have been that impressive of a store....
Inside the store, Alex and Menchi are greeted by rows upon rows of weapons. Huge cleavers, axes, firearms, various tools, body armor, different types of equipment, and even rations and survival gear fill the space.
Not bad... this actually looks promising. A store for Hunters! Combat and survival, that's what I want to see.
However, no matter how many weapons and pieces of gear Alex inspects, none of them are recognized by the system.
"Fuck this garbage!" Alex finally snaps, losing his patience. "We are wasting time here. We might as well go back to the fucking Bull market. How stupid is this?"
"I mean... converting money into items just like that... it would be a little too convenient, wouldn't it?" Menchi asks, looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, my recommendations didn't work out."
Just as they are about to turn around and leave, a shopkeeper waves towards them.
"Excuse me..." the attendant, a well-dressed middle-aged man wearing an expensive-looking suit, his long hair neatly combed back, says as he approaches the group. "I couldn't help but notice your... dissatisfaction with my wares. I can tell that you are both Hunters. If you present me with your license, I can grant you access to our Hunter-only VIP selection. It is somewhat costly, but I assure you, you will be satisfied."
"Great," Alex replies without hesitation and grabs his license.
"Looks good," the store owner says, smiling. "A Double-Hunter, that is quite impressive indeed. I can't offer you a discount, though."
Just seconds later, much to his surprise and growing excitement, a system window appears before him. As Alex scrolls through it, he sees a selection of items, slightly smaller than what is displayed in the store, but this time, all of them are recognized by the system. Weapons, equipment, tools, and a good amount of the items he had seen earlier are now properly listed for sale.
"Please let me know once you've found something. I'll be at the register," the man says before stepping away.
"That's looking promising!" Menchi remarks. "Look, it's all Light Green, Green, and even Deep Green. Aside from the tools and rations, which are White, everything else is Green."
"True... but..." Alex says slowly, shaking his head as he points toward a particular item, a two-handed greatsword vaguely resembling his own [Executioner's Blade R2]. "Did you take a look at the prices?"
"Let me see..." Menchi says, leaning in closer as she studies it carefully.
[Heavy Cleaver]
World: Hunter x Hunter
Quality: Green
Type: Greatsword
Required Stats: STR - 12, PHY - 10, AGI - 6
Durability: 50/50
Damage: 16-26
Effect: Cleave – Increases the chance to cut and penetrate through objects (including armor and weapons), damaging them.
Note: A heavy cleaver, crudely created and unusable for anything without immense physical strength. Able to tear apart most defenses.
Price: 15,000,000 Jenny.
"Doesn't look bad, a typical Green Quality weapon. Let me see, the price is... 15 million Jenny?!" Menchi reads aloud before raising her voice in disbelief. "What a ripoff!"
"It's not a normal store. It's system-operated... we can buy these exact items in this world for a fraction of the cost, but we wouldn't be able to take them out. If we want fully system-accepted items, we have to pay that price..." Alex explains, keeping his tone steady despite his annoyance.
This is not really unexpected... so maybe we should just...
"Still, since we haven't found anything worthwhile elsewhere, we might as well spend our money here," Alex decides.
"Fine... I'll try to spend our money here," Menchi says. "I'm not sure I'll be able to get any kind of discount. If not, it looks like you'll have to be the one buying them. We're not negotiating with an actual person, but with the system interface itself. Unlike that store in Water 7, which was hidden and had fixed prices, this one will probably apply your discount instead."
Menchi experiments a little, and as expected, she can't reduce the prices at all. She even tries to argue with the shopkeeper, but it leads nowhere.
"Yes... you need to buy them," she says, clearly disappointed. "Maybe Benezia could bypass this limitation and still get a discount? I certainly can't..."
"Fine, I'll just buy them," Alex decides. "The Light Green items cost 10 million, the Green ones 15 million, and the Deep Green ones 20 million. In the end, it balances out since they can be sharded for 2, 3, and 4 shards, respectively. Buying White items would actually be more efficient, but they're not even being sold. The fucking system knows exactly what players would try to do and simply doesn't allow us to buy a bunch of cheap White items to shard."
Annoyed, Alex spends nearly all his money to purchase 7 Green items, which would normally cost 105 million Jenny. However, thanks to Basic Eloquence lvl 6, he receives a solid 11% discount, reducing the total to 93.45 million Jenny.
"I'll keep the rest. We might still come across more items, or maybe buy more from the pawn shop. Those items are priced ridiculously low in comparison, but still cost something," Alex reasons.
The group quickly moves on, continuing their shopping throughout the rest of the day while also staying alert for potential enemies.
Hunting for more rare finds, they manage to gather just five additional White items by thoroughly scouring the flea market once again.
"You know why I like the specific name of this market?" Alex asks, his frustration slowly building.
"Why? It's called Bull-Market for a reason..." Menchi replies, already sounding a little tired and bored.
Because it's bullshit! ❤️
"Bingo, one cookie for Jewel," Alex says, clapping his hands.
Princess Jewel prefers chicken.
"You know... just talking about shared interests, if we ignore the whole royalty, chicken, bombs, fishing, gems, and, you know... everything else considered, Jewel would actually be quite similar to me," Alex mutters, suddenly realizing.
"She learned from you," Menchi says, sighing. "Though, to be fair, she amplified your worst traits to the absolute maximum. I can't blame you for everything."
Princess Jewel is right here. There is no need to talk as if she can't understand what is being said.
The group continues moving, time passing steadily, until they suddenly come across a small commotion.
A lone man of average height, otherwise unremarkable except for the strange robe he's wearing, is shouting at a middle-aged bald merchant. He even grabs the man by the neck, slightly choking him.
"I know you have it. I want to buy it!" the aggressive man demands loudly.
"I... I... don't know w—what you are talking about... this is a—all I've prepared for today. I might have some more items in my car..." the merchant stammers, barely managing to speak.
"Everything. Take out everything. I want that knif—show me everything else you've got for sale!" the man yells, pausing once. "I'll give you three minutes."
Alex signals Menchi to move aside, and both of them instinctively activate Zetsu, stepping out of sight.
"Player... and that old merchant... could it be the guy who eventually sells Ben's Knife to Gon, Killua, and Leorio?" Alex wonders quietly.
"It could be... what do we do?" Menchi asks.
"I've thought about it..." Alex mutters slowly. "We wait until he reveals the knife... and the moment he does... we take the knife... and everything that player has."
-------------------------------------------------
A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments, and Reviews. Thank you for reading!
If you are interested, then please support me at patreon.com/FRWriter
90+ Early chapters available - I will still release on WN daily!! Thank you!
New Chapters every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday!
Bored? Complains? Demands? Check out the Discord: https://discord.gg/puVqWsf3y9
Thank you for supporting the story with Power Stones! Every bit of help is appreciated.