Chapter 14 – Afraid of Big Money

Aftеr sеlling the magiс stones аt thе buуbасk shоp, I walkеd through the tоwn.

Тhe 45 mаgiс stоnеs аmountеd to quitе a sum for Аsutо.

“Whаt shоuld I do… I’ve nеver hеld this much moneу bеfore!”

“Heу, hеy, don’t walk around аll jittеry like that, it’s pathеtiс…”

“I-I can’t hеlp it! It’s bееn аgеs since I’ve had еven 20,000 Yen!”

Lаst timе, Аsuto had wоrkеd dаy labоr jobs right up until thе final day.

Thе dаily wagе wаs 10,000 Yen, but аfter mystеrious deductiоns, he оnlу received 8,000.

Hе sleрt аt intеrnet сafes аt night аnd bоught half-priсe itеms frоm thе suреrmarkеt fоr mеals.

Еvеn so, half his remaining money would be gone by the end of the day.

There was no guarantee of work every day with day labor.

It was common to be told suddenly that he wasn’t needed the next day.

When that happened, it was tough.

The money he had managed to save would vanish in no time.

For Asuto, who had lived that kind of life, 20,000 Yen was an enormous amount.

“What should I do, it might get stolen.”

“If you act that suspiciously, it’s practically inviting someone to steal it.”

“Ugh…”

“Man, that’d be a real letdown for any thief. Thinking they’ve hit the jackpot only to find a measly 20,000 Yen.”

“Ngggh…”

He was at a loss for words.

Asuto couldn’t say anything, just gritting his teeth.

“But still, to be that scared over that amount of money… what kind of extreme poverty were you living in?”

“…………”

“Your parents?”

“…I don’t have any.”

Ever since losing his parents in the First Outbreak, Asuto had lived through hellish days.

Dreaming that someday he could live a normal life, he worked desperately.

When he Awakened as a Hunter, he was overjoyed, thinking he had finally gotten a chance to rise from the bottom.

But in the end, the hell continued for ten more years from now.

Until his death, nothing changed for Asuto.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to bring up something depressing.”

“…No, don’t worry about it.”

High-rise condominiums lined the street.

Their parking lots were filled with Mercedes, BMWs, Volvos, and Lexuses.

How on earth could someone live in a condominium like that and drive such luxury cars? He couldn’t even imagine it.

But Asuto was determined to get to that side no matter what.

Capital was important for operating as a Hunter.

With capital, you could acquire multiple Skills and fortify yourself with strong Equipment.

There were even Hunters who rose to prominence purely by leveraging their financial power.

Currently, worldwide, the development of Arms specifically for Hunters, utilizing Materials that drop at a low probability from defeating Monsters, was thriving.

It wasn’t that you couldn’t use Arms made from materials found on Earth.

For example, firearms could be used even inside Dungeons.

However, Arms made from earthly materials suffered an extreme Performance drop when used against Monsters.

It’s said the cause of this Performance drop might be related to dimensional differences, but the truth of that is uncertain.

Anyway, Arms made from Monster Materials, similar to those from Gold Shops, were indispensable for Hunters.

Especially for Hunters with little Gold on hand, they were a lifeline.

With financial power, you could purchase such Arms and become strong in one go.

Arriving at an Arms Shop, Asuto began browsing the displayed Arms.

“…As expected, the good stuff is expensive.”

The ones that really caught his eye, without fail, had price tags with more zeros than he’d ever seen.

But if he filtered by price, nothing would catch his eye anymore.

“Sigh… No good, huh?”

“What are you worrying about?”

“Well, I want a new Weapon, but I don’t have the money…”

“What? If that’s all, just buy it with Gold. You can get way better stuff than the Weapons around here, right?”

Asuto was at the shelf holding Weapons for Beginners.

Prices ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 Yen.

Compared to Weapons in this price range, Amy’s words were true—the Weapons from the Gold Shop had better Performance.

Even with the (to Asuto) huge sum of 20,000 Yen, he couldn’t purchase good Arms.

He felt this keenly showed the gap between him and others.

“I know that, but…”

“Then what’s there to worry about?”

“If I buy a Weapon, I won’t be able to buy a Skill, right?”

His current Gold on hand was about 1500.

If he bought a good Weapon with that, he wouldn’t be able to buy a Skill.

Among the million kinds of Skills, there were irreplaceable, top-grade Skills.

He wanted to get his hands on those special Skills as soon as possible.

At least until he reached A-Rank, he didn’t want to consume Gold on purchasing a new Weapon.

“…It can’t be helped.”

He would have to temporarily give up on buying a new Weapon and just save up money with magic stones for a while.

(Where was that new Gate supposed to appear again?)

He thought about whether any Gates would appear tomorrow or later.

Then, several candidates he might be able to Conquer came to mind.

(Tomorrow is B-Rank, the day after is E, and after that… C-Rank is next week, I think…)

He wanted to go earn money immediately, but B-Rank was out of the question.

That was a Gate where, if Conquered, you could obtain top-tier Items. If sold, they should fetch close to 10 million Yen.

But with his current True Strength, he probably couldn’t even defeat the Monsters, and would just die and respawn without achieving anything.

If he couldn’t Conquer the Gate, there was also the option of selling the rights.

But if Asuto kept coincidentally being at the scene of Gate appearances too often, Amy would undoubtedly notice.

She might not be able to pinpoint what Skill it was, but it would very likely make his future activities more difficult.

Wasn’t there a way to cycle through Gates more efficiently, save money, and not arouse Amy’s suspicion?

He was pondering this when…

“Um…”

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