Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Pechi - 1
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‘Guess the name didn’t change after all.’
The moment I mentioned the name ‘Pechi,’ the sleazy grin that had been plastered on her face vanished completely, and I felt a wave of relief.
Just like how the NPC who was Arcana in the game had become Minerva, and the names of the Empire’s Emperor and the Holy Kingdom’s Pope had changed too, I’d been worried that Pechi’s name might have shifted along with the gender swap.
If it had, I’d have to go through the hassle of buying stuff from her every single time we crossed paths.
And honestly, I would’ve been pretty bummed if the name had changed.
Pechi.
A legendary character who appeared consistently from Brightest Darkness 1 all the way to Brightest Darkness 4, transcending time and space across the entire series.
Even that NPC in BD1 who gave the hail-the-sun gesture didn’t show up directly starting from BD2, despite its massive popularity.
But Pechi pulled it off.
We couldn’t know for sure if all four appearances across the games were the same Pechi, but since the name, the signature bald head, the voice, and even the voice actor stayed identical, the fan consensus was that it was the same person.
On top of that, if you kept hitting the continue dialogue option after buying a certain amount from Pechi, she’d drop a subtle hint about having sold goods for a very long time.
It was probably less a canon detail and more the devs tossing in fan service, knowing Pechi’s cult following.
“So, feeling like chatting now?”
“H-Haha. No idea what you’re talking about. Pechi? Who’s that?”
“You know better than anyone that denying it with that look on your face is pointless. How about we just get down to business quietly?”
“…….”
The girl with hot pink twintails pondered my words for a long while.
The money I’d shown her was real, so she was probably racking her swindler brain trying to figure this out.
While Pechi mulled it over, I took the chance to observe her closely. Like all the other NPCs, she looked nothing like her in-game counterpart. The biggest difference was that she wasn’t bald.
Her hair was beyond pink—practically hot pink. Claudia had pink hair too, but the shade was totally different.
If Claudia’s was a soft cherry blossom pink, Pechi’s was a flashy, vibrant hot pink. Even her eyes were such an intense pink that it made me dizzy just looking at them.
The twintails, tied up near her ears, reached all the way down to her hips, and her face radiated mischief she couldn’t even pretend to hide.
Her outfit was straight out of this world too.
She wore a pink underboob tights top, and for bottoms, pink tights so short they rivaled Lize’s dolphin pants.
It was an exposure level that wouldn’t lose to anyone. If not for the long red coat draping down to her ankles, it would’ve been on par with Nix or even the Pope in terms of skin shown.
At least her chest was incredibly flat, so the impact was toned way down. With that outfit and bigger breasts, it would’ve been nipple-exposing fashion instead of just underboob.
On her back was a backpack as big as her whole body—the one thing that matched the game exactly.
“This is ridiculous! Fine, if that’s how it is!”
Just as I finished sizing her up, Pechi—who’d been deep in thought—flashed a bright smile and winked.
“This is Pechi, and I sell everything except what I don’t! Take your time browsing!”
With her iconic line that she spouted every appearance, the bag hit the ground with a thud.
Pechi flung it open with a whoosh. I’d thought it was just a regular bag at first, but it had supports inside and opened up like a wardrobe on both sides.
‘In the game, it was just the UI popping up.’
I ignored Pechi’s giggling nearby and brought Lize and Nix over to the bag.
As I mentally tallied prices on the familiar consumables, Lize suddenly grabbed a high-grade potion, checked it out, and whispered to me with a shocked face.
“Delta. Is this girl nuts? She’s charging 1.5 times what they sell for in town?”
Lize stuck out her tongue, but I wasn’t surprised—I’d seen these prices before.
Pechi was an NPC you could run into in all sorts of places. She even popped up in specific spots in the southern continent’s poison marshes, bustling across the land nonstop.
Maybe that’s why her stock was so varied. From the Empire’s edges to the Holy Kingdom’s, every consumable sold in shops continent-wide passed through Pechi’s store.
In theory, you could get every shop consumable just by sticking with Pechi.
According to her, the 1.5x markup was because she maintained top quality while traveling the whole continent—no helping it.
Of course, as an NPC hated by players, most called bullshit.
“Ah! Hold on! Wait! You just touched that! Once you touch something, you have to buy it!”
The second Lize tried to put the potion back, Pechi jumped in with a horrified look, hand raised to block her. Lize scowled hard.
“What? You joking? Who does that?”
“Customers might just wanna touch once in a while, but I deal with dozens of those ‘just once’ customers a day! What do you think happens to a potion bottle after dozens of touches? It gets fingerprints all over—can’t sell it! So! The rule is: touch it, buy it!”
Pechi emphasized ‘so’ by dragging out each syllable, then thrust out her barely-there chest proudly, like she was above reproach.
Having Lize and Nix right there next to her made it kinda pitiful by comparison. Taking that pose sandwiched between those two.
‘Still bigger than Ceres, though.’
That thought sparked curiosity. Wonder how Ceres was doing.
Not sure if the Wind Jade Pill effect was still holding. In the game, it lasted right up until the final boss, so it stuck around for a good while.
“Crazy talk— Mmph!”
“Got it. I’ll buy it, so put it down.”
“Hehe. Thanks a ton!”
I clapped a hand over Lize’s mouth and tossed Pechi the potion she’d grabbed. Pechi caught it effortlessly and set it down gently.
To trigger the event I wanted, I needed to spend a certain amount at Pechi’s shop anyway. I grabbed whatever was within reach and chucked it all at her.
Pechi caught the flying items like a pro and lined them up nearby.
Once my mental calculator hit the target amount, I stopped shopping. My picks were lined up in a row. Pechi’s smile never faded.
“How much for all that?”
“Yes! That’ll be 15,620 gold!”
Her voice was super chipper. I handed over pouches stuffed with gold coins without a word. Pechi started counting the coins one by one.
It took a while, but eventually, she bowed deeply, grinning ear to ear.
“All good! Thanks for shopping, customer!”
‘Doesn’t even feel like I got ripped off.’
In the game, comparing to base prices every buy made it sting bad.
‘Maybe ’cause of her looks and outfit?’
A pink-haired cutie in underboob tights exposing her chiseled abs down to her solar plexus, plus tights barely bigger than panties, smiling and thanking me—it didn’t scream scammer.
I’d seen tons of posts about players pissed at the bald dude casually calling them ‘bro’ and decking him on sight. Obvious scammer, right?
Didn’t matter—Pechi was a scammer either way to me. But I wouldn’t get charmed by her looks and drop the ball.
“Can I ask one thing? You bought a lot.”
As Nix teleported the pile of consumables away, I sidled up to Pechi and whispered.
“Sorry, but I don’t sell my body. No matter how much gold, I don’t do that—so don’t ask.”
I was stunned for a sec by her comeback.
“...Not that. Don’t get weird ideas?”
“Oh, sorry! I travel alone so much, I get those offers all the time. Ask away then—what’s your question?”
“I wanna see the stuff that’s exclusive to you.”
“Aha! Got it! Coming right up!”
Pechi replied brightly and reached behind the bag. Maybe because I’d just dropped over 10,000 gold, she moved with impressive speed.
This was why Pechi’s event was tough in the first playthrough. With money tight already, hardly anyone splurged 10k gold on one NPC.
First-timers, pinching every penny, hesitated to deal with her 50% markup.
Later playthroughs made it easy, though. Even losing half your gold on death, 10k was pocket change from street trash mobs.
‘But then what? Can’t trust the seller.’
First-timers often got royally screwed before even affording a 10k shop, then came back raging to kill her.
Some players got so burned on first meet they murdered her every encounter per run, events be damned.
Pechi’s scam history was legendary enough to justify it.
“Here! Check these out!”
Pechi waved once the display was set. I went around back. Pricey-looking consumables were lined up—stuff you could only buy once per run in the game.
That’s why skipping purchases after opening the shop triggered special dialogue.
“I’ll take this.”
I picked up the rolled-up map at the far end. The price tag below had ‘Pechi’s Treasure Map!’ scrawled crookedly.
Pechi looked shocked as I grabbed it.
“Uh... You really picking that one?”
“Yeah. Why? Problem?”
“No, not really. Just surprised.”
She seemed a bit conflicted.
It was a map designed to lure suckers to a trap-filled ruin for a backstab, but seeing how much of a pushover I seemed, maybe she figured keeping me alive for repeat scams was better.
I shook the map in my hand lightly.
“So, you selling? Or not?”
“Selling. It’s there to be sold, after all.”
Her hesitation was brief. Made sense—with that price, passing up a buyer would be dumb.
“How much?”
“One million gold.”
Despite my prior explanation, Lize and Nix gasped at the insane sum. I spoke casually.
“One map for a million? That’s too steep.”
I’d picked it knowing full well. The game even had a complain-about-price option.
“No way, no way! Hear me out—you’ll change your mind!”
“Yeah? Go on then, explain.”
“This treasure map leads to a site I explored myself! An ancient ruin only I know about, and the treasures inside are worth at least two million gold combined!”
Pechi spread her arms wide, gesturing wildly with her whole body.
“Two million... If there’s a ruin like that, why not raid it yourself and take it all?”
“Ah, well... Embarrassing, but my skills fell short for fully exploring it. Didn’t wanna waste it, so I marked the location and saved it for someone who’d appreciate its value! Entrance is well-hidden, so it’s fine!”
Pechi held the map up to her face like a mask, peeking out with just her eyes and grinning innocently. To a stranger, it’d look genuinely bashful.
“Got it. I’ll trust you. Here.”
I handed over another fat pouch, and Pechi verified it way longer than before, bowing with a smile glued from ear to ear.
“Yes! All confirmed! Not sure if you can find it from the map alone—want me to guide you to the ruin?”
“That’d be great. I’ll cover it, so let’s take a carriage. Here, go rent one. Keep the change.”
“Got it! Be right back! Oh, mind my stuff for a sec? Won’t take long!”
I tossed her a pouch way heavier than carriage fare, and she snatched it like lightning before bolting to the nearby city.
Once Pechi was fully out of sight, I waved the map and chuckled.
“She probably thinks I’m some naive rich kid totally clueless about the world, right?”
“Yeah. And you didn’t even twitch while setting her up.”
“Hehe, right...”
Lize and Nix had heard the rundown already—from her being a scammer to the ruin on this map being trap central.
That’s why I didn’t wanna do it with borrowed cash. To progress Pechi’s event, you had to fall for it once, but getting scammed with someone else’s money felt off.
If I was gonna get played, it’d be with my own dough.
“So, what’re your jobs again? You first, Lize.”
“You said you sent us ahead out of worry, so tail the carriage without getting spotted.”
“Good memory. Nix, you?”
“Hehe, I’m no good at hiding, so wait for your signal and teleport in.”
I patted their heads as praise, then beckoned. Nix vanished via teleport, and Lize ducked into cover nearby.
Impressive how those huge breasts still let her hide perfectly.
‘Gotta plan how to greet her when she exits the ruin.’
I leaned against a tree, waiting for Pechi to return. I’d told Lize not to kill her even if they met later, so she’d probably stay alive somehow.