Chapter 24: Shopping

DHAK

“Now, Gary. Don’t be stingy. Pay me a fair price for all this.”

Gary hummed as he inspected the three beast corpses Lex had brought.

One was a Toctile, which genuinely surprised him. The others were a small hare and a Quilla in decent condition, good enough to skin and cook whole.

After a quick calculation, Gary said, “Fifty.”

Lex frowned. “What? Just fifty for a whole Toctile?”

Gary scoffed. “I’m talking about the entire hunt. Take it or leave it.”

Lex’s expression darkened. “You paid that asshole brother of mine more for an injured wolf he just stumbled upon.”

Gary shrugged. “He got lucky. You didn’t. Sell it or take it away.”

Lex clicked his tongue. Between the rotation fees and the payment he had promised Luke, he had no choice. “Fine. Sell it—”

DHAK

Something far heavier slammed onto the ground, drawing everyone’s attention.

A five foot long boar lay sprawled there.

Dart exhaled deeply. “Well? What’s the price?”

Gary’s eyes lit up as he examined the carcass. “Tusks intact. Heart untouched. Clean kill. Nice. One hundred.”

Dart grinned. “Now that’s more like it.”

He shot Lex a nod. Lex responded with a snarl.

Dart glanced around. “Has Luke not returned yet?”

Still inspecting the boar, Gary shook his head. “No.”

Lex scoffed. “Probably got scratched by a Quilla and ran home crying.”

Dart rolled his eyes at the blatant bitterness toward his own brother.

But then his expression shifted.

A familiar figure was approaching.

Dart’s face brightened at first. Then he noticed what Luke was dragging behind him, and his body stiffened.

“What… in the…”

Lex and the others turned as well. Their eyes widened.

Luke walked forward slowly, pulling a line of beasts tied together with a rope he had bought from the system store.

Gary’s attention locked onto the pile instantly.

“Damn… this is like a month’s worth of food for a whole family.”

Three Toctiles.

Two Quillas.

Five hares.

And one massive Webster snake, coiled tightly with rope to make it easier to drag.

The ground seemed to tremble under the weight of his hunt.

Dart let out a low whistle of appreciation and handed his water pouch to the panting boy. “You keep surpassing my expectations. How did you even find this many beasts within the perimeter?”

Luke tilted his head back and chugged the water before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “The Croctiles broke part of the perimeter wall on the eastern side. A bunch of beasts slipped in from there.”

Gary flinched at once. He spun around sharply. “The perimeter is broken? Where?”

Luke sighed. “Relax. I already fixed it. But you can go check if you want. It’s near the two large Woodimber trees on that side.”

He pointed in that direction calmly, as if mentioning a minor inconvenience rather than a potential disaster.

Gary made a mental note to have the perimeter inspected later, but for now he turned back to Luke.

“For the hunt and the information alone, you’ve earned four hundred.”

“What?!”

“…!”

“The hell?!”

Not just Lex and Dart, but several others nearby reacted to the number.

Luke simply grinned. “Do you even have that much on you right now?”

Gary scoffed. “You underestimate me, kid.”

He stepped into his hut and returned shortly after with four heavy pouches.

Handing them over, he said, “Be careful. You might be one of the richest people in the village now.”

Luke winked. “Don’t worry. I’ll store it in the safest vault possible.”

His inventory.

A vault no one else could ever touch.

He cast one last glance at Lex, savoring the bitterness on his face, then gave Dart a nod before walking away.

He was not heading home.

Instead, he made his way toward a timber house at the edge of the village.

As he walked, he spoke inwardly,

’Tell me my stats.’

[Stats:

Str: 11.5 → 13

Spd: 10 → 11

Def: 5 → 8

Int: 11

Gamma: 6 → 12]

[Attribute Points: 0]

[Gamma Reserve: 850]

[Inventory:

Toras: 1202

Throwable Knife: 1

Massaging Oil: 1

Mantis Claws: 1]

Yes, he had purchased a weapon from the system.

Mantis Claws.

A pair of metal claws nearly half a meter long, balanced and comfortable to wield, yet brutally lethal in close combat.

Hunting the Toctiles had not been easy.

He had no choice but to spend a fair amount of Gamma Points to make it happen.

Then he asked inwardly, ’System, can I get my weapon repaired by you?’

[Yes, Host. You can replenish or repair items purchased from the system at half the original price.]

Sweet.

The massage oil was already half empty, so he planned to refill it. After all, his dear sister in law had been still aching for some more pleasure.

And then there was his mother.

The thought of her made him want to head home immediately. But first, there was something he needed to handle.

“Excuse me, I want a bed made,” he called out to the man polishing a wooden stool.

The man glanced up briefly. “Quality, size, and deadline.”

Luke hummed. “I need it done within three days. Five and a half claws wide, eight claws long. Use the best material you have.”

A claw was the local unit of measurement, the distance between a man’s outstretched thumb and little finger.

The man scoffed. “Three days and best quality?” He let out a short laugh. “Do you even know how much that’ll cost?”

Luke shrugged. “State your price instead of judging me.”

The man clicked his tongue. “Three days means hiring extra workers. And the wood you want isn’t cheap, especially for a bed that size. Three hundred toras.”

As he spoke, he looked up at Luke, expecting him to falter.

Instead, Luke slipped his hand into his vest and tossed a pouch toward him. The man barely caught it.

“There’s a hundred inside. Count it and start working. I want it delivered at this exact time on the third day.”

Leaving those words behind, he turned and started walking away.

He was going to buy some sweet dishes and return home. For some reason, he was aching to touch his dear mother after such a long day of hunting.

••••••••••

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