Two Great Merchants, from the Very Start
Yujun, who had met the two Great Merchants from the very outset, followed their lead into a lavish mansion.
It was splendid enough, and stylish enough, to make his eyes go wide. True to their titles, Capcom and Shoman walked into a place like that with perfectly unbothered faces.
"An undead can come in here, can't he?"
"I leased the whole place. There's no one whose permission I need."
Yujun nodded at Capcom's words.
"When did you take the lease? This doesn't look like your building."
"I'll speak plainly. The moment word reached me that you'd arrived, I knew it would come to this, so I contacted the place first. Anyone else around would only have been in the way."
"Wise of you. I like it."
For a first meeting, the treatment was more than satisfactory.
"Shoman. I'd be obliged if you'd step out now. As I just said, I rented this building."
"You old geezer. I'm next either way. Quit wasting time and let's trade all at once."
"Yes. I'd prefer that too."
Yujun sided with Shoman. If the two of them kept needling each other, he stood to gain all the more. That competitive streak might even drag out items they would otherwise have hoarded and refused to sell. Either way, having both of them in the same room suited him just fine.
Capcom looked distinctly unenthused, then nodded all the same.
"If that's what the customer wants, I can hardly refuse. Very well. Shoman, you come in too."
"I knew I was right to trust you, Shin Yujun."
Shoman said it almost under his breath.
A table stretched impressively long across the room. Yujun took the luxurious chair set before it and went straight to the point.
"First, I'd like to buy access rights to the Sky Castle."
"Access rights? Why would you need those?"
"Are you daft? He's buying access rights so he can go to the Sky Castle. You think he's buying them to gift to someone?"
Shoman scowled at the jab.
"Stay out of this, old man. No—what I meant was, I wanted to ask why he intends to go to the Sky Castle at all."
"Well, I never. Why should I have to clear out of a building I rented myself? Preposterous."
Bang!
Yujun struck the desk like a man who had run clean out of patience.
"I said sell me the access rights first."
"......"
"......"
The sudden outburst left both Shoman and Capcom flustered.
"Just now I was only copying a movie. So the two of you do have access rights, yes?"
"I do."
"Of course. I have several on hand at this very moment."
"Good. I'll take exactly one... no. I'll buy two."
He had meant to purchase only one, but he changed his mind. He would not be going to the Sky Castle alone. Manuela would be going with him.
"Very well."
"This is a backroom deal. You can't normally buy them for money, so an access card runs to about a hundred and fifty million points."
"But you won't be selling at that price, will you?"
"I'll sell cheaper than that old man. No matter what."
Shoman said it with a bright smile.
"Haha. Shoman. You won't manage to undercut me."
"What's that supposed to mean, old man?"
Capcom placed two Sky Castle access cards directly into Yujun's hands.
"Free? With nothing asked in return?"
"That's right."
"Then what do you want?"
"Want? I'm only giving them to you so you'll look favorably on me."
"Then the other card—I'll—"
Shoman belatedly produced an access card of his own, but Capcom only sneered.
"I've already given him two. There's nothing left for you to wedge yourself into."
"......"
"You've been scrambling to copy me since you were young. Even now, with that thick, dark beard settled across your face, you're not much different from back then."
"You damned old geezer..."
"If you're giving them with no strings attached, I'll take them gladly."
Two cards, worth three hundred million points between them. A fine start.
"Shall we get to the real business, then?"
Buying the access cards had been his main purpose, but what Yujun was truly looking forward to were the other items—consumables, above all. He didn't expect even Great Merchants to be sitting on a great stock of consumables worth coveting. Even so, surely they had at least a few things he could actually use.
"You were Capcom, yes? I'll look at your items first. You did give me the cards."
"Heh heh. As you wish."
Capcom wore the smile of a victor. When Great Merchants locked into a rivalry like this, the right to trade first was no ordinary advantage, and he meant to strip Yujun of every last point before Shoman ever got a turn. Thirty billion, at the very least. He had brought goods whose worth climbed well past that.
"Have a proper look. I'll lay out everything you might need."
He truly began drawing items from his inventory. Spread across the long table, they numbered roughly a hundred.
"...You brought quite a lot."
"We're players with inventories, are we not? This much is only to be expected."
"I'll have a look."
The share of equipment was high, but that couldn't be helped. Consumables were harder to come by than one might think, and the more permanent their effects, the rarer they became. Yujun had never much cared for the sort that granted only a temporary buff, and the reason was simple. He hated the feeling of growing stronger for a while, only to seem weaker by comparison once the time ran out. It had been the same when he played the game, which was why he rarely stockpiled items of that kind. They weren't even especially dramatic.
He set aside every consumable that lacked a permanent effect. The equipment, by contrast, he examined option by option.
"The level requirements are high. There aren't many Mythic pieces, though."
Capcom nodded.
"Mythic equipment is a troublesome thing to acquire, and most of it already has an owner, which makes it harder still. You of all people ought to know that. High-level gear is even more difficult to get your hands on."
"For now, there's nothing among the equipment that interests me."
Even his rival, Shoman, could not laugh at that. To his own eye, the gear Capcom had brought was of a remarkably high standard, and yet this man looked at it as though it were trifling. His own goods were bound to be dismissed just as easily, and Shoman's expression soured.
Not every one of Capcom's items failed to catch Yujun's eye, however.
"This. How much is this?"
◈ Option: When fed to a summon, all stats increase by 15.
"The feed. I'll take it."
"Planning to use it on that undead summon, I take it."
"Yes. How many do you have?"
"Only two. On a summon, it ought to apply up to three times."
"Give me both."
Just then, Shoman produced a single Supreme Summon Feed.
"I have one as well."
"Perfect."
"Hold on. Weren't you meant to trade with me first?"
"If I put it off, I'll forget. It's a hassle besides. I'm buying it anyway."
"Hmm..."
Yujun held absolute leverage as the buyer, so Capcom could not go against him. He might have refused to sell at all, but he would have gained nothing by it—only lost the chance to move goods he had brought to sell. You never set your pride above a customer. With that principle firmly in place, Capcom nodded, smiling.
"Fair enough. As for the price, may I charge the listed rate?"
"Yes. Just don't gouge me."
"My thanks."
Yujun trusted the two Great Merchants. His instincts told him the bond between Shoman and Capcom was not built on collusion, and even if they set out to deceive him, a man with senses as sharp as his would not fail to notice.
"Five hundred million apiece."
"That's expensive."
"It's Mythic, and difficult to obtain. Summon items don't see much demand, which is the only reason the price settled this low. Otherwise it would have been far steeper."
"Hm."
"Old Man Capcom has the right of it. Summon feed that bears the name Supreme trades as high as five hundred fifty million points—six hundred million, even—when the price climbs."
"I'll buy all three."
One and a half billion points might have felt like a waste to someone else, but Yujun did not think so at all. Fed to Paranet, the Supreme Summon Feed would return several times the efficiency it would on any other summon, because the creature possessed Horidan's Ring—an item so absurd it was suspected of being a bug.
◈ Equip Restriction: Lv. 1 or higher
◈ Option: All stats increase by an amount equal to the wearer's Magic. Players cannot equip it.
If Paranet ate all three, the total stats he gained would come to 360. Every stat would rise by 45, and Horidan's Ring would lift them by another 45 on top of that.
Even if this item worked on me, it would be far better for Paranet to eat it than for me to.
Yujun was not usually one to invest heavily in his summons, but Paranet was an exception. The creature's potential went beyond imagination. He had already completed his evolution, and through the fortune of the Moonlight-Drinking Pond he had achieved an ascension of rank. Feed him this, and it would be nothing short of icing on the cake.
In a single stroke he spent one and a half billion points and came away with three Supreme Summon Feeds.
The trouble is finding consumables that leave a permanent effect like these. Points I can always earn again by selling items.
Capcom and Shoman might have been Great Merchants, but judging by the level of their equipment, his own stood far above theirs. A little ease settled onto his face.
"There's no separate commission, I take it?"
"This is a direct trade, not an auction. Different from the Black Market."
"Good. A direct trade."
"There is the matter of safety, mind you. But Great Merchants like us live on trust, and on our goods. You've no need to worry on that account."
"Right."
He had not needed to worry in the first place. Yujun had already taken the full measure of Capcom, of Shoman, and of the player subordinates Shoman had posted around them.
However fine the items a Great Merchant holds, they're still only players in the end. Unless the System itself arranged it, I shouldn't expect too much from equipment.
The thought came to him as he looked over Capcom's goods.
Have my standards climbed too high?
Lately his high Luck had let him acquire top-tier consumables one after another. His eye could not have failed to grow picky, even if he had tried to keep it humble.
Still. There is one more.
On the table sat a High-Grade Trait Gem, shining more brightly than anything around it. Yujun's gaze locked onto the stone.
"How much is this?"
"With gems, the price is whatever I name. A High-Grade one is something you cannot obtain even with money."
"So you brought it out just for show?"
"Of course not. I'm willing to sell it to you."
"Only to me?"
"In the Tower of Infinity, you may as well say there is hardly a soul who doesn't know your potential. Think of it as an investment in someone like you."
"An investment, over a single gem... that's a bit much."
"...Do you truly not know how precious a gem is?"
"I know."
Precious or not, Yujun had already obtained and used nine trait gems and skill gems, and he had even gotten his hands on one of the very highest grade. He had no wish to take on a burden of obligation merely to acquire one more High-Grade gem.
Sensing as much, Capcom revised his words.
"I called it an investment, but don't let it weigh on you. I'm hardly giving it away for free, am I?"
"All right. How much?"
"Eight billion."
"......"