Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Grade 0 Merchant, Goldring
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"Half Golden Goblin?"
The all-too-familiar sight drew the words out of me before I could stop them, crumpling the Grade 0 merchant's face even further.
"You son of a bitch! Who the hell are you? How dare you toss around my race's name like that?! You got a death wish or what? Yeah, I'm a half-breed! So what're you gonna do about it? Huh?! All my kin got wiped out anyway, and I'm the only one left. Why the hell am I only half?! I'm a full-fledged Golden Goblin now! No, the more I think about it, the madder I get. Even the Thrones don't bring up my race with me, and here you are—a puny mortal trying to climb all over me. And you haven't even cleared Stage-0. Un-fucking-believable."
He seemed pretty pissed. How was I supposed to handle this? Caught off guard by my own slip-up, I was sweating bullets.
This guy was one of the Abyss's top merchants, one of the rare few who could roam every zone freely.
Think of him as a real-deal NPC. Unlike the folks who settled here across generations and became locals from another dimension, he was someone the Abyss—or the System itself—had directly summoned.
From what I knew, you couldn't kill merchants. You couldn't attack them, and they couldn't be attacked. More precisely, the moment you tried, you'd get permanently banned from the Abyss.
Not all merchants had that perk, though—just the high-rank ones. Even so, low-rank merchants still held plenty of privileges.
That's why some players and locals took on merchant quests over and over, aiming to get recognized by the System, climb the ranks, and hit Grade 3. At that point, you gained near-immortality and partial System protection.
Sure, returning home got tricky, but who cared? Semi-immortal status and a direct line to the System? Sign me up.
And the being in front of me was one of the originals—the very first merchants, and one of only five Grade 0s.
Maybe that's why his speech was so rough, laced with weird dialect now and then. Hard to console a guy like that...
Hold on, but aren't the Golden Goblins extinct?
He kept insisting his race was wiped out, claiming he was the true Golden Goblin now... But there was definitely one living Golden Goblin in my territory.
"Damn it, when you get old, you oughta just croak already. Why bother being a merchant and clinging to life? Then all my kin get slaughtered in a blink. Heartbreaking, just heartbreaking."
"The Golden Goblins all went extinct at once?"
"Yeah, you rotten bastard! 9,999 of my kin vanished in an instant. Our numbers were always exactly 9,999—never more, never less! Then one day, poof, all gone! Goddamn System! It promised to make me a full Golden Goblin if I became a merchant! Fuck, now that all my kin are dead, what's the point?! Ptooey! Filthy Abyss! Shitty System!"
This was my fault. No doubt about it. Before my regression, I'd bombed every last Golden Goblin.
"And yeah, what, one survived, so that's enough, right? Screw this half-assed System. I'm a half-breed! A half-breed! My dream was to become a true Golden Goblin. What? One survived? That doesn't count me, you bastard!"
His rant made me shoot my hand up in rebuttal.
"Sorry, but there's one Golden Goblin still alive."
Oh crap! Pride struck again. I didn't mean to say it. I needed to balance my stats quick, or this random courage and arrogance kept bubbling up.
His glare could kill. But it wasn't a lie.
"Hey, kid. You better stand by those words."
The Half Golden Goblin merchant's voice was sharp as a blade, his eyes promising murder. I nodded frantically.
This was a guy even the Thrones treaded lightly around. If I pushed it, I'd have to bow and apologize till my head hit the floor.
I could use a summon scroll to snag something, but if he blacklisted me forever, hunter life would suck. Might even kiss goodbye to trading with Abyss merchants.
"If you're lying, you're dead. I'll rip you limb from limb, no matter what it takes."
Those words almost unleashed the massive black flame dragon sealed inside me... Nah, it was Pride jerking my mouth open again.
"What if I'm right? You gonna give me something for free? Deals are supposed to be fair, right? Ever hear of equivalent exchange? Equivalent exchange."
My own words stunned me. The merchant let out a disbelieving chuckle, pulling a golden pipe from his robes and lighting up.
Puffff!
Whoa—even the smoke was golden! How pricey was that tobacco?
Wondering didn't last. The Grade 0 merchant nodded, his face set like he was ready for a death match.
"Fine. If there's even one pure-blooded Golden Goblin alive, like you say, I'll give you any item I have—for free."
"Oho~ No take-backs on that."
Shut up, mouth! Stop moving!
Haa... Too late. That look on his face meant no turning back.
But no problem. This bet was mine to win. I opened my inventory—bigger than usual, like entering my territory. A portal yawned open, and I stepped through.
-Kruuuaang!!!
The startled Goldring leaped back.
"What the hell is all this?"
My territory had changed beyond recognition during my absence. What the hell had that Golden Goblin been up to?
A castle forged entirely of gold, houses everywhere. The scale was insane, but the craftsmanship? Perfection.
The castle featured dragons and mythical beasts carved so lifelike they seemed ready to leap free. Every house boasted ornate facades and flawless proportions.
Was this guy a Golden Dwarf, not a goblin?
Mid-thought, I felt prodding from outside and remembered why I was here. I called out.
"Golden! Time to see the outside world. Come here."
-Guwaang~~!
No arguments. I grabbed his foot and hauled him back to the hotel room.
The instant he saw Golden dangling from my hand, swinging like it was a game...
"Aigoo~~!!! God of the great Golden Goblins! You're alive! Of course, one as mighty as you wouldn't perish. This lowly Half Golden Goblin Goldring never dreamed Your Majesty survived—I failed to seek you out!"
He slammed his forehead to the floor, trembling, not daring to look up, overflowing with joy.
-Kruuang? Half-half!
"Yes! Your Majesty, I'm a Half Golden Goblin. Forgive me—my lowly blood dared not search for you. Sob! I thought you'd passed with the others. You must have been preparing your successor!"
What? So Golden was the god—and emperor—of the Golden Goblins?
That explained the mythic grade. Born right after the previous king's death, via some succession rite.
Did I mess up the succession by killing him?
Highest probability. But it wasn't a bad outcome.
Look at Goldring now—even a Grade 0 merchant, untouchable by Thrones, was showing absolute loyalty to Golden.
Anyway, bet won. As Pride's influence faded, my stuffy, impulsive mood cleared, leaving me refreshed.
Pride's domain was narrow: it flared when I felt ignored or disrespected, hijacking my personality in a frenzy.
True to its origin stat, it nailed its role too well. A force that corrupted archangels? This side effect was a blessing.
If Misfortune awakened on top of this...
Ugh, dizzy just thinking. What chaos would those two unleash?
Dungeon rampage aside, Misfortune hadn't stirred much, but it was probably regaining power. Time to stay sharp—it could smack me anytime.
I shelved the thought and eyed Goldring. He was rolling on the floor at Golden's command, playing like a kid.
A being older than gods, acting like that... Felt kinda bad.
"Golden. That's enough. Come here. Wanna go back? Or stick around a bit?"
-Stay fun!
"Got it. Hang tight—I'll talk to him first, then we play."
Golden obediently backed off. To him, this was his first glimpse of the Abyss since birth—way more exciting than Goldring.
As he scampered around the room, I brushed off and faced the rising Goldring.
Staring intently. Silently. Long and hard. Piercing, thoughtful.
"Aw, screw it! Fine, you win, mortal. You came to buy anyway, right? Pick one—anything, free. You're just Stage-0; no way you have enough coins to satisfy me, so don't push for more."
A System window popped up—Goldring's sales list.
"Whoa~~. You sell all this? Insane."
"Hmph. A Grade 0 merchant's got that and more. System hooks us up, and we didn't just goof off all this time."
"This item's gotta be like 0.0000000001% of the Tower of Gold."
I muttered without thinking. Suddenly, Goldring was in my face, eyes rolled back worse than when he saw Golden.
"What... What'd you just say?"
"Wh-what?"
"What tower? You said something about a tower, right?"
"Tower of Gold? That's my authority."
Thud!
Goldring collapsed like he'd heard blasphemy, staring blankly at the air like a fanatic whose god turned out fake.
"For real?"
Beats me. Was this old timer bipolar? Whatever—focus was picking something sweet from his wares, not him.