CHAPTER 39: CONGRATULATIONS, MERCHANT

"Wait, wait!" Ned said as he scrambled back, but Wade didn’t care.

He surged forward, faster than the man could blink, and sunk his fist into the man’s stomach.

The thug instantly folded around Wade’s fist, coughing.

Wade blinked, his eyes traveling to the first as Ned sunk to his knees. He hadn’t used much force, but it had been enough to take the man out of the fight.

He looked down just in time to see Ned barf, the contents of his stomach spilling across the ground.

Wade hopped back, careful to avoid getting vomit on his shoes. "Stop being a drama queen," he drawled. "I didn’t even hit you that hard."

Ned gasped, trying to say something, but all he achieved were a few gasping and choking sounds.

"Fair enough." Wade shrugged. Then he looked up to see the rest of the gang running out of the gate, heading back towards the town.

For a moment, he pondered chasing after them, before discarding the idea. That would just be too much. He was an adventurer, so it would be like an adult fighting a kid.

Besides, the deal had just been about him recovering the barrels of honey for the beekeeper.

He turned to the wagon as Ned began crawling away, clutching his stomach, his expression twisted in fear.

Wade walked to the wagon, unloading the three barrels of honey. They were quite heavy, and he estimated that each one contained about 25 to 30 litres of honey.

With that done, he turned to the beekeeper. "Here you go, your barrels."

The beekeeper surged to his feet, with what looked like tears of joy in his eyes. "Thank you, adventurer! Thank you! You don’t know how much you’ve just saved me!"

"Err... that’s well and good, but I can take my barrel now, right?" Wade asked, placing a hand on one of the barrels.

The beekeeper blinked, surprised, before nodding. "Y- yeah."

Wade smiled, before sticking the barrel of honey into his inventory.

Ding!

[Trade recorded.]

[Barrel of Honey: Free]

[Cosmic Value: +10!]

[A free deal?! That is the pinnacle of trade! You score a perfect ten!]

[Balance: 11.5]

Wade blinked at the screen, before a smile appeared on his face. "Yes! A perfect ten!"

He glanced at the beekeeper. "Thanks, man."

Just as he was about to dismiss the screen, it changed.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Merchant. Your recent trade has exceeded all thresholds of profitability.]

[As a reward, you may select a Dimensional Key. Each key opens the gate to a dungeon of unfathomable depth. Choose wisely.]

[Available Dungeons:]

[1. Obsidian Key - Unlocks the Dark Labyrinth, a shifting dungeon of endless shifting black stone, where shadow beasts lurk and every wall hungers. Beware, adventurer, for not every step is assured, and every shadow as it seems.]

[2. Blood Key - Unlocks the Blood Crucible, a dungeon where rivers of lava forge monsters of fire and iron. They seek to drag visitors into the depths, to join them in the lakes of eternal damnation.]

[3. Bone Key - Unlocks the Catacombs of a Thousand Kings, a dungeon of endless ossuaries where skeletal monarchs rise from their thrones, demanding challengers to prove their worth, or join their legion forever.]

[All dungeons offer great rewards and are single layer dungeons.]

[Please select your key.]

[Note: This transaction costs 10 cosmic value points, and would reset the difficulty, introducing the Law of Diminishing Returns. Getting another key would require double the effort in trades.]

Wade stood there, staring at the screen with wide eyes.

’What the hell just happened?’

Just a single trade, chasing away a few thugs for a barrel of honey, and he’d attained enough points to unlock a dungeon key.

To him, it had been a simple task that didn’t take more than just a punch to the gut, but to the beekeeper, it had represented salvation. A raft to grab onto as he drowned.

"Lord adventurer, I—" the beekeeper said, but Wade raised a finger, and they all froze.

He stared at the screen intently. This was a decision that could make or break him going forward.

Then, a question occurred to him. ’What if I don’t want to choose now?’

Another screen appeared before him, glowing a deep red and unseen by everybody else, just like his other screens.

[Warning!]

[Exiting this screen without picking a key will count as a choice, your cosmic value points will be deducted, and the Law of Diminishing Returns will be applied.]

"What the hell?" Wade swore.

If he exited, he’ll miss out on a key, but getting the next key would also take twice the effort?

Well, now that he thought about it, it was a bit fair. After all, it had been easier than he’d thought to get his first dungeon key. He hadn’t even known that the threshold was 10 cosmic value points.

But that was okay. All he needed to do was to choose the dungeon he was most confident in clearing by himself.

The one that sounds easiest.

His eyes moved through the options, and none of them sounded easy.

They were all single layer dungeons, appropriate given the difficulty of getting this key, but none of them sounded like a stroll.

If he picked the obsidian key, it sounded like he’d have to fight shadows. And everywhere would be dark. According to the text, even the floor might not be safe.

He immediately added obsidian key to the ’last resort’ section.

He moved on to the blood key. The first thing that stood out to him was the environment.

Rivers of lava. That meant even if he slipped and fell in the lava, he was dead. And that was without factoring the monsters of fire and iron that would supposedly be running around the place.

It sounded like hell. Literally.

He moved to the last option. The bone key. Catacombs with skeletons. It sounded more like a horror comedy than the others.

He thought about it. Shadow creatures, monsters living in lava, or skeletons?

The choice was simple.