16 Episode 1: Reset (5)

"1-120,000 gold with a 50% discount..." With the feeling of having walked into a scam artist's shop, the young man at the stall frowned in displeasure. Though, he attempted to not show it to the vendor. "Isn't that a little too much?"

"Hah? A little too much? I gave you a 50% discount!" the man clicked his tongue. "Kid, you're wasting a good deal! Think about it, it's 50% off!"

"G-Good deal...?" Shinto felt like crying out as he heard the shameless vendor's answer. Surely, he had never visited a player's shop or otherwise, he would've eaten his own words. "Hah... Ahem. Let me think about the deal, I guess. Right now, I'm just checking out the products at hand."

"Tch. So you're basically here window shopping?" Kuhit frowned. "Hmph! Should've known that some piss-poor adventurer like you would waste my time! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to attend to!"

"Jeez... Seriously?" Shinto ruffled up his hair as his eyes moved away from the amulet and over to the other goods on display. Much like the [ Amulet of Kura ], there were various other rare items in Kuhit's catalogue that were obtained from defeating bosses. Most of them had the infamous drop rate of a rumoured 0.1%. "The array of items are good... But what the hell? Why are there so many here?"

From armour like [ Ruruka's Thorns ] to weapons like the sword, [ Tidal Palace ]—there was a large variety of equipment, which came off as a shock for Shinto. After all, this wasn't the capital, and neither was it the player's marketplace where mainly these items would've been circulated around.

"...there are so many rare drops here," he was deep in thought. "Though... Knowing how the prices go for this guy, it's a shame."

To Shinto, the cost for these items was outrageous, far from the initial price that a player would sell for. As such, it wasn't at all worth it to buy such items from this stall.

"Hah... It really is a shame," he shook his head helplessly. "It was too good to be true."

Taking one last look around the stall with a glance, Shinto let out a sigh as he slowly walked away from the shop. However, during his quick glimpse at the display of items, his eyes spotted a strange oddity amongst the high-end goods.

"...huh?" Stopping at his footsteps, he turned to look at an item that had caught his curiosity, whereby, in the next moment, he grabbed onto it. "...what's this?" Within his hands was that of a strange notebook. Though, it was incredibly crumpled up and nearly torn apart—almost like trash.

...

[ Garbage Notebook ]

Rarity: Common

This is a notebook dubbed garbage by the owner, Kuhit. After all, the pages were filled with gibberish and nonsense. The vendor had hoped to earn quick bucks with such an item—unfortunately, it was complete trash.

"...a garbage notebook?" Shinto blinked at the sight. "To find that among the products here... This is just..."

The young man was at a loss for words. The strange peculiarity that had caught his attention was this notebook. This was because it was the odd one out amongst everything else. But, to his dismay, it was just complete trash.

"Ugh... I was expecting something else," he furrowed his brows. "Sigh... This trip here was just a waste of time. What was I even expecting out of a notebook with some gibberish—" At the mention of the word, his gaze fixed back onto the [ Garbage Notebook ] once again. "...unless?"

With his eyes staring deep into the notebook, he silently activated a certain passive on it.

[ You have activated the passive: (Eyes of Altric)! ]

[ A hidden function has been found in this item. ]

[ The item's description has been updated! ]

...

[ Skillbook (Stat Points) ]

Rarity: Rare

A rare skill book among many that are scattered throughout the continent. Written by an unknown librarian, this book contains knowledge that many may not comprehend. As such, only those with the eyes of analysis can unravel its contents.

Effects: 10 Stat Points will be permanently added to the user who uses the skill book.

Condition(s): An analytical skill must be used on this item first before use.

"...?!" Upon usage of the passive skill, Shinto was greeted by the unexpected sight of a skill book within his hands. "T-this is...? A skill book?" he was in disbelief, dumbstruck at the findings.

A skill book, especially one that gave stat points, was one of the rarest and scarce things in the game. As such, it was valued extremely high among players due to the advantages it brings for them.

"Perhaps it wasn't a waste of time after all..." he exhaled out in relief. "10 extra Stat Points would do me good. And seeing as how this is dubbed as garbage, it should be cheap, right?"

For every level a player gains in the game, they would earn 10 Stat Points. These points would then be distributed into the player's four basic stats. Thus, with this skill book at hand, it was basically like obtaining an additional level.

"...ahem." In hopes of buying the skill book from the vendor, Shinto shook his head in an attempt to rid the smile off his face. Otherwise, it would've raised suspicion. "Hey, excuse me? I'd like to ask for—"

As the young man was about to call out to Kuhit, the vendor immediately interrupted him. "Huh? What? You'd like to ask for a discount? The answer's no," he scoffed, not batting an eye to Shinto. "Shoo. If you're not gonna buy anything, then leave me alone."

"Ugh..." Shinto's eyes twitched from the scammer's nonchalant words. "Hah... No, you misunderstand. All I want to know is the price of this book. How much is it for?"

"Harh? What book?" Finally turning around to face Shinto, Kuhit quickly frowned at the sight of the crumpled up notebook that he was holding. "Tch, that trash of a book? Ugh... Can't believe I gave you such a great discount on one of my best items when I see you wanting such crap like that."

"Just tell me the price already." Shinto's brow creased, not wanting to hear anything necessary from Kuhit any longer.

"Hmph. Useless brat," he clicked his tongue as he scrunched closer to where the young man stood. In the next moment, with a quick look at the notebook, he spoke out. "20,000 gold. Take it or leave it." 

"...on a book like this? For something that you find utter garbage?" Shinto was baffled at this man's shamelessness. For such a thing that was deemed crap and trashy, he priced it highly for no reason at all. This was truly a scam artist's shop.

"What? You don't like that? Well don't buy it then!" he shrugged. "Seeing as how it's of interest to you, I'm not gonna let it go for free, you know."

"...it can't go lower? 1k? 500?" he attempted to bargain.

"What, are you kidding me? Are you trying to rip me off?"

"..." Shinto kept his mouth shut. This guy was unbelievable. Ripping him off? He should look at himself. "What's your best price then?"

"20,000. Take it or leave it."

"...10,000."

"20,000."

"15,000?"

"I said, 20,000."

"Ugh..." Shinto grunted as he soon took a deep breath. "Fine. How about this? The amulet and this book, for 60,000."

"What? You're adding other stuff to the table now? Give it up already!" Kuhit's brow furrowed. "If you want to buy this alongside one of my best items, then 80k!"

"60,000 for both. It's unfair that you deem such a notebook as garbage and then you proceed to charge that high of a price," Shinto refuted. "Aren't you losing business and customers with such schemes like that?"

"Hah, you're unbelievable!" Kuhit gritted his teeth. "Don't you know I very well earn my upkeep?! Besides' that crappy book was obtained through difficult circumstances! So you're paying for the work of my labour if not the actual item!"

"Tch..." Scratching his head in annoyance as whatever Shinto was saying wasn't getting through to the scammer, he took a deep breath as he muttered out. "This is my last offer, 70k."

"Jeez, you're so persistent. Fine, fine. 70,000 gold it is," he grumbled. "Make sure you pay in full! Or otherwise, you're just wasting my time! You're not broke are you?"

"Yes, I'm not broke," he sighed in defeat as his eyes glanced over to his gold amount, where it displayed [ 120,000 Gold ]. "Though... I might be because of you." Keeping his final words bottled down, he took out a large portion of his money and gave it to the man. "There. It should be enough, right?"

"70,000 gold. Good!" Kuhit nodded his head in satisfaction. "Business is done. Now take your goods and go away!"

"Whatever..." He shook his head helplessly as he moved away from the stall alongside the notebook and amulet in hand. "I'll just consider the Amulet as a bonus item for buying a skill book that's worth 70,000 gold..."

Even though Shinto still profited from the barter with the vendor, he wasn't feeling good with the scummy schemes of Kuhit. After all, who would with that sort of attitude?

With the young man leaving the stall, Kuhit was left with a smug look. "Haha... Bastard thought he could fool me, huh? Mwahaha! You paid 10k extra for that Amulet!" With a large smirk plastered on his face, Kuhit stored the gold away and proceeded to close the shop for the day. "Can't wait to tell her all about today! Hehe."

...

Walking further down the streets of Parm, the seemingly annoyed young man turned around, now looking back at the scam artist's stall. Then, he sighed to himself. "Sigh... Well, that's over and dealt with," he ruffled his head. "...at the very least, I got a nice boost in level advantage and a good item out of it. Now for a weapon..."

As the evening skies turned to dusk, Shinto surveyed the marketplace to look for a shop that sold a beginner's staff. Soon after, after purchasing the staff, Shinto began making his way out of town and towards the forest, where he would now test his skills in combat.