Chapter 258 The Hanging Gardens Part 6

Chapter 258 The Hanging Gardens Part 6

.

.

.

—-----------

"Fufufu..."

The clerk chuckled at Dale's Question, finding his reaction amusing.

"Yup, a simple deal, nothing too absurd." She said with a sweet smile as she pushed some of the items on the counter aside as if they were all trash

"I'll let you buy anything in this shop for a hundredth of its price..."

"But you won't be able to buy anything else until you pay for it all."n-(o--V--e.)l(-B-/I((n

"And if you can't pay for even one of them, then I'll be taking everything away, causing all of your efforts to go... Poof." She said as she moved her hands in the air to complement her words

"What do you think?" She asked with a thin smile

"I... I don't understand, why offer me such a thing?"

"Hum..."

'She stood in complete silence for a moment before replying:'

"..."

/STATIC!/

"?!"

The moment she spoke, Dale heard extreme static in his ears, causing him to touch his ears in pain as he squinted his eyes in both confusion and shock.

This was the first time such a thing had ever happened to him, and he couldn't understand what had just transpired.

"Oh dear, I expected this to happen."

"Too bad... Let's just say that... I find you interesting." She said with a bothered expression as she tapped the table

"Urg... Just... Who..."

"Now now... Mr Knight. Take one step at a time... Else you could break the ice and plunge both of us into the cold waters underneath." She said with her usual teasing smile

"I'll ask it again..."

"I'll do it." Dale said as he interrupted her

"How decisive! That's why I like you." She said with a chuckle as she raised her right hand

/Snap!/

But snapping her fingers, Dale felt something had changed about the room, although everything looked the same as before.

So he looked at the items placed before him, and as expected...

[Memoire of Refengard's Conquest]

[17000]

[Recognition multiplier Package (Premium)]

[Recognition Reset + 5000 Favor]

[Favor multiplier Package (Premium)]

[10000 Favor]

[Skill Boost Token]

[3000]

Everything had been reduced to just a fraction of its original cost... They even seemed to shine brighter, taunting him into buying them.

"..."

'I can't let myself be swayed by this.' He thought silently as he held some of the items

'I'll still have to pay full price on everything here, and I still don't know what that girl wants from all of this.'

'Why would she propose such a thing on her own and not as an original feature otherwise?'

"Oh! I also forgot to mention that I'll be adding two other restrictions." She said with a cheeky expression, raising her hand in the air

"Wh... You can't just keep adding conditions after I already accepted it..." Dale said with a tired frown as he looked at her

"I'm sorry, I really am! But they're all so annoying and..."

/BUZZ!/

"Oops... Te-he?" She said cutely

"..."

"Don't worry, it won't be anything significant."

"Condition Number 1, some items here now have limited supply." She said as she pointed at the Skill Boost Token

"You can only buy one now. We're... Out of stock." She said as she turned around, throwing dozens of the Skill Tokens onto the ground without a care as she swiped them from the shelves on the wall

"..."

"Condition Number 2, you have to challenge all activities from now on in the hardest difficulty possible."

"... Annoying." Dale said as he crossed his arms

"I know right?"

"In any case, these conditions won't really affect you much, they just limit how much you can grow before going out there."

"Even if temporary, being able to upgrade your Skills for very little would give you a significant advantage over all Tasks, allowing you to complete them all with little challenge, so there was a need to cut down said possibility."

"While the difficulty Level means little for you, since in the first place, wouldn't you be trying those already?"

"... You aren't wrong, but I do have some degree of caution..." Dale retorted with a grunt

'I planned on checking things out first and then going for harder difficulties... But now I'm stuck with whatever they throw at me.'

'This entire exchange has made me reconsider my plans for this event more than once, either through my will or not.'

"So? What are you waiting for? Take your pick!" She said with a large smile as she opened her arms wide

"..."

'Since I'm here already...'

Dale started by grabbing the Packages and the Token, those were obvious choices.

"Those three huh... Well-chosen, I would've been a bit concerned if you had grabbed anything else first."

And for obvious reasons, since now, with the packages, Dale would only need to gather a third of the total Favor to pay for his debts.

The biggest problem with these packages was their initial price, this meant that you would first need to gather Favor to buy them, which took time, and then work harder so that the item paid for itself.

Only then would you profit from it... But then, how much would that value actually be?

Obviously, the item was made with that in mind as they didn't want anyone abusing it.

Yet now, Dale was buying the item with his initial Favor, meaning that, from the very start, this item was already paying for itself.

This wasn't a boost he could ignore.

"Anything else?"

"..."

Dale crossed his arms, not really interested in the rest... At least for now.

The more items he grabbed, the longer he would be shut from the shop, so in the situation he really needed something, he would have to wait or maybe even lock himself from something, maybe losing an opportunity or his precious time.

The most important thing here was to cautiously plan his future...

"Hum... As I said... You're a cautious man." The Clerk said out loud as she touched her chin

"Maybe these items weren't to your taste... Not enough to make you greedy." She said as she looked around

"Well... All of these items are desirable, but what I need right now are things that can help me make Favor, faster."

"Priorities, you got them down at the very least... But unfortunately, there is only one thing that fits your description now that you took the Packages. Strength."

"The stronger you are, the higher the challenges you can take."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"..."

She didn't reply, instead, she moved around the place with her little silver cart, fetching things here and there.

And after a minute, she returned.

"If you can't grow stronger... Then we can make what would once be easy... Tricky." She said with a pensive expression as she unloaded the items from the cart

"How about these?"

She placed several boxes on the counter, each containing a dozen seeds of plants he had never seen before.

They had a strange presence to them, causing Dale to frown... Because he felt that they were very dangerous.

[Minor Instance Modifier (Devilish)

Description: Crush this seed within an instance to increase its rating by 0.5 and slightly modify its contents, increasing all rewards in proportion.

]

[50]

[Great Instance Modifier (Devilish)

Description: Crush this seed within an instance to increase its rating by 0.5 and greatly modify its contents, increasing all rewards in proportion.

]

[100]

[Minor Instance Modifier (Demonic)]

[Great Instance Modifier (Demonic)]

[Minor Instance Modifier (Mutants)

[Great...]

[Minor Instance Modifier (Savage)]

[Great...]

[Instance Modifier (Status Lock)]

[Instance Modifier (PermaDeath)]

...

"Interesting..." Dale mumbled as he looked at the box

"Isn't it? But I'll warn you, these aren't toys."

"The increased difficulty according to its description cannot properly encapsulate the risk you'll take by using it."

"Different creatures behave differently according to their habitats and physiology, they have their strengths and weaknesses, by changing that, you're ridding yourself of one of your advantages, knowledge."

"It's hard to say what may come from mixing together too many modifiers..."

"You may end up creating a situation where even though everything in the instance is something within the realm of your ability to deal with, you cannot breach through it due to the way everything arranged itself."

"So be careful, some of these can be... Exceptionally bothersome to deal with, even more when together." She said with a deep and heavy expression

"So how many will you be buying?" She asked with a beaming expression as she clasped her hands together

"..."

"Is this price per individual seed or box?..."

"Box!"

"... Then I'll take them all."

"It was a pleasure Mr.Customer!"

"..."

'I feel like I've been scammed.'

...

For the next few minutes, Dale looked around the shop but eventually opted to leave.

Although there were many items he could buy to aid him in his journey, from Accessories to Weapons, from Skill Books to Potions, he eventually decided that it would be best to leave.

He was tempted to buy many of those items, but he first needed to figure out how much Favor he could grind within an hour before trying any of those.

He would have to pay for their total value eventually, so what would be the point of buying 10 items and 5 Skills if in the end, even with their aid, he was unable to pay for them all?

Not to say the items he was unable to buy even with the discount... 10 Million divided by 100 was pretty much everything he had...

Anything above that was beyond his wallet.

...

"Are you leaving already?... Then... I'll be taking my leave as well Mr. Customer." She said as she moved to the back door of the shop

"..."

As he heard her footsteps echo further and further away, strangely enough, Dale felt sadness... Not from himself, but from the clerk.

It was as if she was giving him her final goodbye, as even her tone was devoid of the usual cheerfulness he had gotten used to.

He couldn't tell if this was part of her own schemes, some sort of deep psychological manipulation, but he had the urge to prevent her from leaving.

It wasn't because he was fond of her per se, but because she was a clue...

A clue into the very thing he had been trying to figure out all this while.

Someone that can manipulate the world he was in to such a degree... Who was she really? A developer? Maybe the game character of someone like Roger?

Or something even higher...?

He couldn't let her go, so with those thoughts in his mind, Dale raised his arm almost instinctively, holding onto her own.

"Wait." He proclaimed out loud

"... My!... I appreciate the gesture but I'm not into forceful guys~" She said with a teasing expression as she made a dramatic gesture

But for a moment, her eyes flashed with a complex expression.

"I uh... Can you give me your number?" Dale asked with a serious gaze

Not knowing what to say, Dale went with the only thing that went across his head, this embarrassing phrase...

He wanted to keep her close to him so he could contact her, and what else but her number should he have asked for?

Although... Ahem... It may have been the correct question, but it was certainly not the smoothest of ways to ask it...

"Wh... HAHAHAHA!" The clerk said as small tears gathered in the corner of her eyes

"..."

'They told me the worst she could say was no...'

With this being the first time Dale had ever asked a girl her number, it greatly hurt his pride to be laughed at this much.

"Hahahaha... Haa... Out of all the things..." She said with a faint smile as she looked at the door

"... They can't blame me for this..." She mumbled to herself in a very faint tone as she turned around to face him

"I like you, here." She said as she pulled a small disk from underneath the counter

Dale couldn't figure out how she kept pulling things from there...

"What's this?" He asked as he inspected the disk

It was full of strange symbols, spiraling towards the center where the head of a veiled girl stood.

"My number, hold it close kay~?"

But the moment he was about to grab it, she pulled it away.

"Wait! I have a little condition."

"..."

'Since when do girls add conditions to getting their number...?'

"Humph! I can tell what you're thinking from your eyes!" She said with a slightly upset gaze as she looked at him, but of course, she was teasing him

"Take off your helmet for a moment!"

"Hum? Just that?"

"What? You expected me to send you on a journey or something?"

"..."

As she asked, Dale took off his helmet, and the moment he did, her eyes sparkled slightly.

"You're pretty cute aren't you?"

"... Isn't the word, Handsome?" Dale asked as he let out a sigh

"Hum... Maybe if you grow up a little." She teased as she started walking

"Huh?... How am I supposed to call yo... She already left."

Now alone in the shop, Dale felt rather lonely...

/Creak.../

That was, until the door opened again, and this time, a new clerk appeared.

It was a man with a similar outfit as the girl, but his expression seemed... Static.

There was no life within the man.

"..."

'I've got what I came here for... There's nothing else for me to do.'

'Time to grind.'

So without further ado, Dale met with Ermin and his sisters back in the main Plaza, ready to take on their first challenge, one of many.

On the way, he took the chance to message some of his real-life friends and family who were playing the Event to see how they were doing, but not for long since duty called.

He would be busy for a while...

...

.

.

.

Notes