“I will work hard to acquire more ingredients and improve my cooking. I’ll also study up on our next mission, I guess! Now that we've got a goal, it's time to get serious,” Menchi says, her tone firm.

“Sorry, I’ll make myself scarce as well. I need to focus and get into the right mindset. I’m going to take a few more risks myself,” Tereza adds.

Rishi smiles, calm and composed as always. “See you soon. There’s work waiting for me.”

“At least you're with me, right, Jewel?” Alex asks with a grin, already knowing the answer.

Of course, Soulmate!

On his way to the market, Alex quickly sends a message to Glimmerwhisk, feeling a bit guilty about leaning on her again, asking for help.

[Alex: Sorry for bothering you… again. What’s the going rate for Items used to turn into shards? I know the Trade-Alliance offers an exchange service, but they feel like scammers!]

[Glimmerwhisk: The Union has their own service. Rates for players are mostly fixed—I can’t help you directly. Selling price is around 1,800 FC per Shard. If you’re buying, expect to pay closer to 2,000 FC. If you want to exchange for Shard items, visit the Eternal Coffins. The rates are about the same everywhere.]

Let’s do some quik mafs, Jewel! 2,000 FC per Shard… so if I want to buy 400 Shards—the requirement to rank up a Deep Gold item—that’s an insane 800,000 FC. Ranking up, say, 5 Purple Quality items like my Pluto items would cost 800,000 FC too. I’m not sure we’re on the right path here, Jewel. Should we blow all our FC just to increase a few stats like durability by 20%? Some stats might not even change at all!

Sooner or later, Soulmate has to rank up items. But if he replaces a ranked-up item, that would be a waste.

Jewel, I don’t know why, but I feel trapped… and really unsure. We’ve got all this FC, but spending it just to upgrade a few pieces of gear feels… wrong.

It is a difficult decision, Soulmate. Princess Jewel wishes she could tell you more.

Should we buy skills for you? I also have a skill slot left, but I don’t want to waste it on a generic Blue skill. That’s usually all that’s available.

Princess Jewel can’t help her Soulmate on his next mission, so she thinks this not required for now.

Still deep in thought, Alex reaches the market—and is suddenly stopped by a young woman.

“Excuse me, sir, please help me! I don’t have any FC left, and I can’t afford even basic healing items. I’ll surely die on my next mission! Please save me! I’m willing to do anything!”

“Yeah… me as well. I am very broke. Very sorry about that, life’s tough. If I come across a bit of FC, I’ll remember you. Anyway—bye!” Alex says, walking off.

A few bystanders laugh as they watch the scene unfold.

“Haha, he’s shameless! Of course, he wouldn’t fall for that kind of scam.”

“Worst excuse ever. Didn’t he just earn almost 2 million FC? He doesn’t give a fuck, does he?”

“...”

They might be right. I need better excuses.

Princess Jewel agrees with her Soulmate—but is surprised by his indifference. Doesn’t he want to help? If it’s just a few thousand FC, it wouldn’t affect him much.

Look, Jewel, I get what you’re saying—but this isn’t something we can do. Give something to one person, and the rest will swarm us. I’m pretty sure that was a scammer anyway. You’re still not used to all the deception in the Realm. But the crowd’s reaction told me everything—We need to forget her. If you want to change the Realm, the solution’s simple: survive to the end. Wasting FC on beggars or scammers won’t help us do that.

“Hey there, Player 1337!” a man approaches. Alex gives him a tired look, sighs, and replies, “Not interested.”

“Hehehe, don’t be so quick to throw away a unique opportunity.”

“Look, I may have won some FC—and yeah, that might make me a target—but I’m not an idiot. And don’t forget: my FC is also Glimmerwhisk’s FC. Hers remains hers. I don’t have a single FC to waste.”

“Oh, come on! This is a big chance for you!” the man insists, flashing a sly smile.

“Thirty seconds. Blow me away,” Alex says with a grin.

This’ll be funny.

“I’ve found this group of newbies who want to sell a bunch of White items. I convinced them to sell at 1,500 FC each, way bel—”

“Way below the Shard market, yeah, but you don’t even have the FC to buy them yourself. If you’re some kind of low-tier trash who can’t even afford a few White items, then fuck off. And if you want to do business, get a contract first,” Alex snaps.

“Contracts are too expensive—they cost FC! You know, we can—”

“Idiot. Goodbye!” Alex says sharply, turning and walking away.

Maybe we should just leave the market today. Too many idiots hanging around. I thought the auction would spark some activity—but no, it just attracted more desperate people.

After a couple of frustrating hours in the market, Alex opens the guild chat in annoyance.

[Player 1337: 41691, you there? You told me to take this next mission seriously. Take responsibility for that—I'm at the market, and all I’m finding are beggars or scammers… maybe both at the same time.]

[Player 41691: Newbie… even at your low level, you’re struggling to spend FC meaningfully? I’m constantly broke—how are you not spending your FC fast enough?]

[Player 1337: The stuff on the public markets is average at best! And the second something decent shows up, a major guild goon shows up and grabs it immediately! I’ve seen at least 20 of those annoying bugs just today!]

[Player 41691: I can refer you to a couple of hidden shops—some run by players, some by workers. Just know, they’re out for profit. You might find something good, but expect to overpay.]

[Player 1337: Now name a price for that information, and you’ll become the third scammer in a row trying to get my FC.]

[Player 41691: Do I look like someone broke and desperate who’d do that, to his guildmates, huh?!]

[Player 1337: You just said you were broke…]

[Player 99: Broke loser]

[Player 17: Yes, you do look like one, sweetie.]

[Player…]

Countless other players, some of whom Alex hasn’t seen interact in chat before, all chime in, in agreement, using this opportunity to insult Player 41691. Even Qingfeng and Ziyou speak up.

[Guild-Leader Qingfeng: Player 41691, I forbid you from scamming guildmates—especially those heading into a desperate mission with tough odds!]

[Vice-Leader Ziyou: 41691, you really are low, huh?]

What the… that guy is so unpopular, and he didn’t even name a price. Yet everyone’s ripping into him. I almost feel sorry for him!

[Host, Player 41691 wishes to privately contact you. Do you accept?]

“Yes, 1337,” Alex says, wearing an apologetic smile.

[Player 41691: You…! You started all of this.]

[Player 1337: Sorry man, things look rough for you. Your reputation could use some improvement. Anyway, tell me about these stores… if I find something, I’ll owe you one. A very small one. Maybe half. Maybe.]

[Player 41691: Fine! Whatever. Not like I ever needed some newbie’s gratitude! First of all, if you’ve got a decent Gold-ranked item—which I know you have—rank it up. Don’t be greedy. That’s the most efficient way to progress. Anyway, I’ll send you the coordinates so your system can show them on your map. You’ll be able to enter these stores now. I can give you invitations to exactly three places. You can’t get in without them. One’s abandoned, basically a storage facility of a big time buyer, desperately trying to earn FC to survive without going on missions—but might be worth a look regardless. One’s dangerous, but has a good and varied selection of items. The last one’s unique and has destroyed players. Don’t play with fire. Visit them in the order I send them—that’s my personal ranking and recommendation, with the first being the safest and probably smartest place to visit.]

Oh? This guy is surprisingly helpful! Complaining really worked this time!

Alex quickly heads to the first store, deciding to follow 41691’s recommended order. It turns out to be a nearly empty cellar, with just a single person sitting behind a counter. The person appears to be some kind of wolf-man—humanoid in shape but covered in fur, with a tail, large teeth, and a differently shaped head, body and a weird posture.

Suspicious! Is this a damn trap?!

“Why hello there. How are we doing on this beautiful, sunny day, with nonexistent weather, inside our beautiful Realm, sitting all alone in a basement… you know what, just show me what you’ve got—I’m drawing a blank here,” Alex says, cringing a little.

“…At least you got to the point quickly, human. Here you go. No negotiating. Buy something or fuck off—not like I care,” the wolf-man responds, clearly bored.

To Alex’s surprise, the wares include a good selection of Potions and recovery items, though all of them seem fairly average. He scrolls through more listings and notices a few Essences.

Not interested in Essences… although the[Blood Essence] might be useful for me. Wait—15,000 FC? Way too expensive. I’m rich, but I’m not throwing money away. This looks more like a storage dump for a rich, experienced player—just tossing in extras to maybe score a sale here or there. I can ignore most of this stuff.

What I really need is something useless to most people but valuable to me. Like items related to LUK.

“Sorry, my bored friend—nothing that catches my eye. I’ll be back in a year or so, hehe,” Alex jokes.

The wolf-man sighs and raises his paw in resignation.

Jewel thinks this wolf is a little interesting, though his job seems to be boring.

Alex quickly moves on to the second address.

To his absolute horror, the second shop appears to be run by a small guild—and he’s immediately greeted by several female players, all staring at him with happy, seductive smiles. The store itself looks like a small boutique and is well furbished with expensive looking decorations.

“You know, maybe I should leave… feels like I just walked into a hornet’s nest,” Alex mutters.

“Don’t be like that… 1337, right? You’re a valued customer—not one of those broke losers who just waste our time checking out our luxurious ‘goods’,” says an older-looking woman with braided black hair, dressed in a red, revealing gown.

This looks bad… I really should walk away... but well… maybe a quick look can’t hurt.

“Show me what you’ve got, then,” Alex says.

“Look around. We’ve got panels for different categories. Equipment’s over here. Trinkets, rings, necklaces—there. Consumables over there. Special items in this section. And our large weapon selection is right here,” a seemingly friendly young woman explains.

Alex notes the automated trade panels—clearly designed to let buyers browse and purchase without the need for direct negotiation.

So these women really are just bait, huh? Useless!

Ignoring the attention, Alex quickly checks out the items. He finds plenty of decent options, slightly overpriced, but nothing truly interests him.

Then he notices another panel. As he glances toward it, the apparent owner gives him a knowing smile.

“Yeah… you made it obvious. Fine, I’ll take a look at your selection of special goods,” he says.

Alex approaches and finds a variety of special items that don’t fit neatly into other categories. He spots several Green and Blue quality skills, a few low-ranked mission items—but all of them have terribly low rarity and don’t look promising.

Finally, he sees something familiar—along with something new: [Superior Supporter Armor-Rank Upgrade] and [Superior Supporter Weapon-Rank Upgrade].

This is it! I need to check them out! These are rare items that I’ll need in the future, without a doubt!