Hasty Retreat

Xu Chen's flight was short-lived as he painfully smashed onto the grass, and as he struggled to stand up, he saw what had sent him flying.

At first, he thought it was a bull from its appearance, but when it turned around, he realized it was most likely not a bull. Rather it was probably some sort of demon beast or whatever they called such creatures in this world.

As soon as he stood up, he immediately opened the door to the Store as the demonic bull-like beast charged towards him again.

Thankfully he got into the Store seconds before the beast could send him flying again.

"Encountered trouble have ya, Stranger?"

The Merchant's tone held no pity for Xu Chen's miserable appearance. Not only was the front of his robe covered in blood and foul-smelling mucus, but now it was also ripped open on his left side where a bloody gash could be seen.

Xu Chen wasn't in the mood to reply to the Merchant as he took off his robe and ripped off strips of cloth from the bottom of the robe. He then tightly wrapped the strips he'd gotten around his midsection, trying to stop the bleeding from his wound. When he finished, he gently put his robe back on. Even if it was torn up, it was better than going nude out there.

For now, he sat against the door and planned to rest for a while as he sighed in pain and dejection.

...

"Finally waking up, Stranger?"

Xu Chen woke up to the dull pain coming from his left ribs, at the same time the Merchant's voice drifted into his ears. Looking up, he saw the Merchant leaning on the counter and staring at him, which creeped him out, had the Merchant been staring at him this whole time? Maybe even while he slept against the door?

"Ah, sorry, I'll be going out now."

Xu Chen's reply to the Merchant was curt as he cautiously opened the door and left the Store.

Outside he quickly looked around and didn't see the demon beast, so he breathed a sigh of relief. As he began walking again, Xu Chen decided the moment he heard anything out of the ordinary next time he would immediately enter the Store instead of trying to look around.

Luckily Xu Chen didn't reencounter the demon beast this time; instead, he bumped into another Breeze Petal flower. This one was taller and larger than the previous one.

Quickly plucking it, he entered the Store once again.

"Another Breeze Petal flower Stranger? You seem quite lucky to get another so fast, and even luckier that this one is five years old. There's a decent quantity of Wind Qi in this one, and it's in pristine condition, so you can get 180 credits for this."

What?! 180 credits! Xu Chen was baffled by the value of this flower. How could this five-year-old flower be so much more valuable than the one-year-old one?

"I'll sell it, Merchant!"

Xu Chen was delighted as 36 white spheres flew into him, bringing his total credits to 240! Now he started contemplating, should he continue to save up for the Mithril Chainmail, or should he get himself a weapon?

Thinking carefully about it, Xu Chen realized a weapon might do him no good right now as he wasn't even sure if he had the strength to harm a beast like the one that had sent him flying.

That's it. He decided to keep going for the Mithril Chainmail first, but he fell into another dilemma soon after as he felt the dull pain from his left ribs.

Should he use some credits to buy a single Athelas leaf? Its effects should be potent enough to heal his wound but was it worth spending the credits? Looking at the Store's screen, he filtered for healing items and quickly found Athelas leaves, their price making him suck in a sharp breath!

«One Athelas Leaf - 150 Credits -»

«Bundle of five Athelas Leaves - 680 Credits -»

«Bag of fifteen Athelas Leaves - 2050 Credits -»

The price of just a single leaf was already costly, and the prices for the bundle and bag were even more so, although the Store gave a bulk discount.

'Should I buy a single leaf? No, it isn't worth it right now, not unless my wound worsens.'

"Thanks for the business, Stranger."

Xu Chen still felt creeped out by the Merchant, but he waved the Merchant goodbye on his way out this time instead of leaving quietly.

'Hopefully, I'll be out of the Mystery Zone soon, if I'm even going the right way.'

Xu Chen thought to himself as he closed his eyes and continued walking in the same direction wishing he'd soon be out.

He continued to walk for a full day finding another Breeze Petal flower, this one being two years old, that sold for 60 credits. He also found another type of berry bush. Unlike the dark berries from last time, these were poisonous.

The Merchant called them Rot Berries. Just as their name suggests, they would start making anything that ate them appear to be rotting, and the affected person or creature would die from infections.

The Rot Berries didn't work very well on those that cultivated, according to the Merchant, although he didn't explain more, so they weren't worth very much, even less than the Dark Berries from before.

Xu Chen discarded the Rot Berries since he didn't have any pockets or a bag he would've had to carry them by hand, and he didn't want to take the risk of carrying something poisonous in his hand for an extended period of time.

As night came, Xu Chen entered the Store and sat against the door.

'I might be in a bad situation in an unknown world, but at least I don't have to sleep outside. Who knows if there are more demon beasts out there like the last one.'

Xu Chen thought to himself in relief as he quietly fell asleep.

...

Waking up sometime later, Xu Chen felt his left ribs flare-up in pain, but he stood up nonetheless and again contemplated buying a Single Athelas Leaf. Again he decided to push through the pain for now and save his credits for the Chainmail.

"Good morning, Stranger, slept well against the door, eh?"

The Merchant greeted Xu Chen as he leaned against the door waiting for the pain coming from his ribs to lessen.

"As well as one can sleep against a door, I guess."

Xu Chen's reply drew a chuckle out of the Merchant who sat down on the old chair behind the counter.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Xu Chen felt ready to continue walking. He prayed that he would soon find water as he left the Store, or else he'll need to waste a few credits to buy some from the Store.

It was still dark out when he came out of the Store, not that it mattered to him since he'd need to walk with his eyes closed anyway.

As he began walking again, he thought about what he should do once he managed to leave this place.

'Should I aim for immortality? Cultivation novels always made me excited when characters were breaking through or about to give some young master a nice slap to their arrogant face. But now I'm actually in such a world, and I don't feel excited, just scared I might die without knowing what happened, maybe that might change in the future after all I have the Store! If I'm not able to cultivate and gain immense powers, I could just gather credits and buy a character like the Dark Lord Sauron to help me. Unfortunately, Sauron costs 236000 credits, but weaker characters cost much less, like Eomer, who only costs 49000 credits. Still far more than I have but much more affordable.'

He continued to mull over what he could or wanted to do. He wasn't interested in going back to his old world since he already made peace with his end back when he was still alive in that world.

However, what he really wanted to know was how did he get here in the first place and who's body was he in, or was his body created when he somehow ended up here?

He sighed as he continued making a roadmap for things he should get from the Store after the Chainmail.

'The first thing I need after the Chainmail is without a doubt an Athelas Leaf so I can stop this damn pain. Next, I'll need something to protect myself... I should look at the bows in-depth next time. There's also the elephant in the room. Should I get the One Ring? I'll need to ask the Merchant if the Ring's negative effects still remain and if it still corrupts one's mind.'

Xu Chen was still deep in thought when he suddenly stumbled, his eyes shooting wide open only for him to be stunned. In front of him was the edge of a forest which made him almost jump in joy! Looking back, he could see the endless field of grass, and he hoped this was the end of the Eternal Green Sea or at least the exit.

However, Xu Chen was also extremely anxious as he walked towards the forest. While the Eternal Green Sea was generally empty, the same probably won't apply to this forest. There's a high chance he could encounter a predatory animal or another demon beast, so he had to be far more cautious from now on.