Chapter 158 - Potion Store

"This might take some time seeing as I don't know where anything in this kingdom is," Yuki said to himself as he walked through the many rows of buildings and houses in the kingdom in search of a potion shop. He knew that navigating a kingdom from scratch would be a hassle however, Yuki was willing to go on the search to acquire a potion which would cure him of the need for sleep. Obviously, that would only happen under the condition that a potion such as that ever existed. Yuki needed the potion due to the possibility that he might be getting tracked. 

While Yuki had expected the journey to take several hours, he was mistaken. However, his mistaken guess was a lucky one as he found the potion shop in less than an hour. This had brought joy to Yuki as it usually took him a lot longer to find something he was looking for in an area which was as large as the kingdom he was in now. Once he arrived at the door of the store, he knew right away that it was the place he was looking for. While the outside shop structure of it made it obvious, it was much more clear that it was a potion shop by the large quantities of potions which could be seen from the outside window. 

"Well, I guess I made this. That's a relief," said Yuki as he entered the store in hopes that they would have the precise product that he was looking for. That being, a potion which could make it so that he didn't need any sleep. Once Yuki entered the shop, he was greeted by the same person who had greeted him in the previous kingdom where he had gone to purchase and stock up on potions. While it was weird to look at the same face in a totally different place, Yuki ignored it as he knew that a shopkeeper was an npc and as such, they didn't need to adhere to the laws of nature. 

"How may I help you today?" the shopkeeper asked right as the front door of the store closed behind Yuki. There wasn't anyone else at the store which made sense as the economy of the kingdom would be horrible and not many people would be able to afford the products. 

"I'm just looking for a potion which makes it so that I don't need to sleep. Would you happen to have anything that fits that description?" Yuki asked as he hoped that the shop keeper wouldn't ask him why he needed something like that. 

"I actually do have something exactly like that. It'll cost you exactly 10000 silver," the shopkeeper told Yuki. 

"10000 silver? Are you sure that's the right price? That can't possibly be. A full status recovery potion costs only 500 silver. If that's the case, why is a simple potion such as this so expensive?" Yuki asked in confusion. He didn't mind spending the 10000 silver at all. The problem was that if he planned to buy a lot of those potions, the price would add up and Yuki would end up completely broke. 

"This must be your first time ever in a potion shop or your first time in a potion shop in a while. Well, to make this simple, once you reach a certain point in level, which happens to be each level ending with a 0 such as level 10 and 20, the cost of a potion gets multiplied by 10 because the portions of the previous tier lose effect. As such, if you were a level 1-9 player, the cost of the potion would be 100 silver. If you were a level 11-19 player, the cost would be 1000 silver but since you're a level 21 player which is in the level 21-29 sector, the cost of the potion is 10000 silver and the full status recovery potion would cost you 50000 silver," the shopkeeper explained. 

"But the potions I had from before I was a level 10 player still worked for me," Yuki protested in the belief that he was getting scammed. 

"Did you happen to be in a dungeon when you reached level 10?" the shopkeeper asked. 

"Yes..." Yuki replied. 

"Well, since you reached level 10 in a dungeon, the world/system automatically negates the expiring of the potion until you leave the dungeon. That's probably why it worked for you then. If you were to try now, it won't work," the shopkeeper explained. 

"But when I gave the potion to someone else, it worked just fine for them," Yuki replied. 

"Well, did they happen to be lower than level 10? If so, that's why it did work," the shopkeeper explained. 

While hearing this, Yuki still didn't believe a word that the shop keeper said. Even though he was an NPC, Yuki didn't care. He needed to see for himself if what the shopkeeper said was true. 

[Open inventory]

Yuki opened his inventory and took out an attack boost potion. In the moments when he was drinking it, Yuki was fully convinced that it would work. He believed that he would gain the boost that the potion usually gave to him. However, to his disappointment, that didn't happen. Yuki didn't feel any stronger than how he felt before drinking it. To put the nail on the coffin, the usual sword symbol which sat under the settings button on the top right corner of Yuki's view was no longer there, in turn confirming that the potion had no effect on Yuki. 

"Are you satisfied now?" the shopkeeper asked. 

"Yes..." Yuki said with an embarrassed look on his face. He had just humiliated himself in front of an NPC. It was stupid to think about as there was no reason to argue with someone or something that was programmed to do their one job. Yuki should've known that better than anyone in the world. 

[Extract: 1 million Silver]

Yuki extracted 1 million silver and bought 100 potions which would cure him of the need to sleep. Yuki also extracted a lot more of his silver to purchase 50 attack boost, speed boost, defense boost, full status recovery options along with other potions which might be needed later on on his journey in the dungeons. 

"Well.. I might have spent a lot of my money on potions but it will all be worth it soon since I'll just earn back all of it in the dungeons.  My real concern should be if I still remember how to fight in the dungeons. I mean, it's been a year of me not doing anything," Yuki questioned as he headed back to his home. 

"Wait.. I gained a lot of levels from killing all those people. So that must mean that I should be able to easily clear the next dungeon I go inside with ease," Yuki said to himself as he reassured himself that he would be okay and would defeat all his future enemies without trying just like he used to in no time. 

While walking towards the potion shop was easy, the journey back to his home was what Yuki has trouble with. He didn't bother learning the path he took to the store, as such, he didn't know how to return where he started. Due to this, Yuki walked endlessly as he hoped that somehow, he would be able to randomly stumble upon the house which was now his own. Although that was what he was hoping for, Yuki wouldn't get that lucky as he would only arrive back home once the sky was pitch black. 

Once at the door, the tired and exhausted Yuki knocked at the door which was quickly answered by the king from the 8th stage of the 1st dungeon which completely cleaned the place and made it look brand new. As a finishing touch, he even bought a small couch since the place didn't have any furniture inside it when Yuki arrived in it. 

"I see that you cleaned the place up pretty well," Yuki said to his summon. 

"You took quite a long time which gave me the chance to make the place spotless. I hope you like what I did with the place. There wasn't any furniture here before so I took the initiative to buy a couch so you could sleep in it for the night. I didn't get anything else in case you wanted to decorate the place on your own," the king told Yuki. 

"Yes, that's fine. I just got lost on my way back so it took me longer than I expected. The important thing is the information about the group of kids who brought me to this place. Did you manage to gather anything at all which might lead me to find out who they work for and who actually rules this place?" Yuki asked as he sat down on the couch. 

"I actually did. I think you'll like what you hear once I tell you what I've learned so far," the summon replied.