Don't Make Promises Lightly

"Don't be surprised, I always tell the truth," Jiu Ming shrugged slightly, unfazed by Shokuhou Misaki's confused expression. "Since I made you do extra work, satisfying your curiosity is only fair. It's a fair trade."

"Fair trade? Are you really that Mysterious Merchant (and not just some chuunibyou)?" Being at a disadvantage, Shokuhou Misaki could only go along with Jiu Ming's words for now.

"Of course, I sell all sorts of... uh, well, my inventory is limited at the moment, but I can accept certain commission-based tasks. I plan to make this the main focus."

Hmm, at least if I accept commissions, I won't have to worry about finding suppliers everywhere.

"Is that so?" A sly, foxy smile appeared on Shokuhou Misaki's face. "Then I have a commission too... can you accept it?"

"Oh, we're not close, let's talk about the payment first," Jiu Ming curled his lips, speaking the words 'even brothers keep clear accounts' and getting straight to the point without hesitation.

"Do you want money?"

"Forget it, you're not the first, but you're definitely not the last!" Jiu Ming scratched his head, answering helplessly. Why was money the first thing everyone mentioned when it came to payment!?

Especially with Shokuhou Misaki's expression that clearly said 'I'm not short on cash,' but he genuinely didn't need money. What would he do with money? Unless, in a place like Hell in this world, burning some paper money for him might be useful.

"Don't mention money to me! And whether I accept your commission depends on my mood."

That's right! Whether he accepted it or not depended on his mood. The restrictions the Mysterious Shop placed on him, besides the two basic ones about information leakage that he could largely ignore, was a fixed monthly quota of 'Origin' to hand over. Apart from that, he had most of the control.

Therefore, he wasn't like those system-based or main-god-carrying protagonists who had to accept 'missions' for every event without even considering their own will. For him, it was 'take it or leave it.' The requested payment could be anything, even exorbitant, or he could even refuse payment entirely!

As long as he could submit the required amount of 'Origin' each month. If he couldn't, the Shopkeeper would take over...

Compared to those 'carrying-along' types, his was more like a 'following-my-heart' type.

"Tell me your commission, I'm listening."

"Lick my feet..."

Jiu Ming was slightly taken aback. He looked at the Star-eyed Girl's foxy smile. The fear that had accompanied her not long ago had vanished at some point. Oh? Did she realize I'm a 'good person'?

Cough, cough, cough!

Shaking his head, Jiu Ming knew his previous act of being a villain had been seen through as fake. Judging by her current playful demeanor, she had likely determined that he truly had no ill intentions towards her.

Sometimes talking to smart people was easy, but negotiating with them was quite troublesome.

"Ahem, anyway, you promised me something earlier, and you definitely wouldn't want to see me angry. Alright, tell me the price for your 'commission.' What can you offer?" Jiu Ming clasped his hands together, maintaining a proper smile, as if he was already getting down to business.

"As expected, a merchant full of the stench of copper, willing to sell anything for profit!"

"Nonsense! My self-assigned persona is that of a Mysterious Merchant who always brings all sorts of rare treasures and Divine Artifacts whenever I appear..."

"Then what do you have right now?" Shokuhou Misaki retorted unceremoniously, as if trying to reclaim all the 'humiliation' she had just suffered.

"Alright, I'm new to this business, so I don't have much on hand, only a mere three items," Jiu Ming shrugged, answering with a relaxed expression. He really did have something special! What if he actually had 'Divine Artifacts'?

"You're kidding me!?" Shokuhou Misaki's face was full of disbelief, as if asking if I was joking. If she couldn't read Jiu Ming's thoughts, how could she appear so 'passive'?

"En, want to hear an introduction? By the way, your lackeys' physical condition isn't bad. They woke up so quickly." The students who were previously knocked down by Jiu Ming on the ground were startled, and their plan for a sneak attack was immediately disrupted.

"...So useless, you guys can go down now."

"Yes, Queen."

"..." Queen!? Tsk tsk!

"What did you just do?" Jiu Ming asked Shokuhou Misaki, tilting his head slightly. He clearly saw the brief daze in those students' eyes.

"It's nothing, I just made them forget some of the things they just heard, and also made them go do what you said earlier." Shokuhou Misaki answered casually, but Jiu Ming felt she was showing off.

"A very convenient ability. As expected, espers are either incredibly self-controlled (@Professor X), or... well, never mind."

Seeing the girl's downcast face, Jiu Ming smiled slightly and decisively stopped talking, "Alright, let's get back to the main topic. Do you want to see the things I have?"

Displaying items...

"What? A mobile phone that can call other worlds? Is it reliable? I feel like you're trying to trick me!"

"What is this thing? A preserved egg? Why don't you say it's a fossil!"

"And also, this unscientific thing, are you kidding a child? Fifty days of life? Come on, this isn't a novel, and you're not some devil with horns and wings."

"...The one with horns and wings is a demon, and the one standing before you now is a ghost. You're talking to me about science?" Jiu Ming clicked his tongue twice and directly sealed the fossilized preserved egg, which looked like it had food poisoning, and the cheapest divine artifact mobile phone in history, back into cards. If the life force isn't used on a living being, crushing the card will cause the sealed life force to instantly disappear like air. Yes... he knew it wouldn't sell, but he still took it out, out of a certain sense of pride.

"Then the way you passed through the window just now... was it because you're a ghost?"

"Of course."

Shokuhou Misaki simply sat to the side, feeling more at ease. Since he was a ghost, there was no need to worry about his physical body. "Let's continue discussing the commission from earlier."

"Licking feet!? You haven't forgotten?" Jiu Ming grinned, his eyes slightly lowered. He looked at her beautiful legs, clad in white stockings with spiderweb patterns. Especially when his gaze shifted, the girl casually took off her shoes, revealing a pair of delicate little feet.

Tsk, he wasn't a perverted foot fetishist. His gaze immediately shifted away, "This unreasonable commission, I... refuse!"

"Don't be like that, I haven't even mentioned the price yet." The girl winked playfully, and a stocking was pulled down from her leg in front of Jiu Ming. Shokuhou Misaki casually threw it aside, "How am I?"

"A femme fatale, no comment!" Jiu Ming glanced at her smooth leg, curled his lips. Seduction? He had experienced death-like experiences more than a hundred times. If he lacked this much self-control, he would be too pathetic!

However, a suddenly popped-up Panel-kun provided him with a piece of information.

"You!? Thanks for the compliment!" First, she was angry, then Shokuhou Misaki seemed to have thought of something and revealed a faint smile. But this time, she saw Jiu Ming looking at her with a somewhat... strange gaze?

It felt like something bad was about to happen.

"Ahaha? Sorry, sorry, I misunderstood just now. How are you? En en, you can say it. You are definitely the most generous customer I have ever seen, even more generous than that person who risked his life for dozens of photos."

Is there no integrity? Even the hardest integrity will eventually be broken by sharper prices!

Shokuhou Misaki's words seemed to trigger some hidden mechanism of the Mysterious Shop, and Panel-kun, in a rare move, popped out proactively to give him a prompt.

The Mysterious Shop allows oneself to be used as the price.

Then Jiu Ming decisively asked a bunch of related questions. If someone really did this, once the transaction or commission was completed, the other party's 'household registration' would be transferred from the xx world to the Mysterious Shop's 'household registration'.

Also transferred would be the 'Origin' bestowed upon the other party by that world. Oh? Hard to understand? Just think of it as 'luck'. The higher the world's attention on the person, the higher their luck naturally becomes. Luck is also a special blessing from the world's Origin Power.

Those who are particularly noticed... we can call them protagonists!

This means that even if you use yourself as the price, it depends on your identity, not your personal identity, but your identity in this world. Even if you are a billionaire, live in a mansion, and wake up every day on a 50,000-square-meter bed...

En, it's a pity you are not an important existence in this world. Under the Mysterious Shop's 'valuation', you are not even comparable to an NPC who is destined to be a supporting character in this world. If you want to sell yourself, you have to see if you are important to the world you are in.

Don't even talk about this issue if the world would continue to spin even without you.

In short, Panel-kun explained a lot this time, even shifting from passive answers to proactive ones, and his explanations were filled with considerable instigation.

"Commission confirmed?"

Looking at Jiu Ming, whose tone suddenly changed, Shokuhou Misaki, who was dangling her little foot, was enveloped by a very unnatural feeling. It was as if... no matter what he did, she would be the one losing out?

As soon as this thought arose, she immediately felt the urge to retract her leg. However, if she did that, wouldn't it mean she was showing weakness again!?

Absolutely not!!

"Of... of course!"

"Alas, why bother, why suffer!?" Shaking his head, Jiu Ming asked, "Do you have family? Can you bear to leave them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Shhh--" Jiu Ming whistled and smiled, "Good reaction. You don't seem heartless. I'm kindly giving you a piece of advice: next time you encounter something like this, don't force yourself."

Jiu Ming grabbed Shokuhou Misaki's dangling little foot. The feel was good. Since he decided to stop scamming people, it wouldn't hurt to get some benefit, right?

"What?" Shokuhou Misaki struggled slightly, but couldn't break free.

"Have you heard of devil's bargains? After you answered my question just now, in some ways, you've already signed the devil's contract."

"Ha, thank me!"