People with Money

Sid opened with a heavyweight offer: five hundred gold coins.

Over the past few days, Gong Qiying had gained some understanding of the purchasing power of this world's currency.

Copper coins and Silver Coins were the most commonly used. Gold coins were only used for major transactions, and their purchasing power was considerable.

A couple of days ago, he had rented a shop on the commercial street near the Gourmet Market for a year. Including renovations and other miscellaneous expenses, it had only cost him a few dozen gold coins.

A small torn-off piece of Rainbow Fruit could sell for five hundred gold coins. That seemed like quite a bargain.

"Add another hundred, and I'll tell you how I avoided the monsters," Gong Qiying said.

"No problem," Sid agreed readily.

He had really run into a rich man this time.

Before long, Gina brought over a check from the Magic Crystal Bank, which could be exchanged for gold coins at any time.

Gong Qiying described how he had avoided the monsters and even drew a map of a shortcut on the spot. He added plenty of luck-related details to make his method seem difficult to replicate.

In reality, it was nowhere near that complicated. The dungeon monsters would not attack him. He had merely strolled over to the Rainbow Fruit and torn off a small piece.

But if he did not make the process sound more difficult, how could he capture people's interest?

"You really are lucky," Sid remarked after hearing him out.

Gong Qiying said nothing. Even the shortcut he had just drawn was made up. He could just alter the map later when he returned to the dungeon that night.

Of course, even if he specifically created a shortcut for Sid and the others, the difficulty could not be greatly reduced. At most, the route would be a little shorter and have one or two fewer monsters than elsewhere.

"But luck is also part of strength. If the Guild establishes a Rainbow Fruit Exploration Team, I hope we can invite you to join," Sid said, extending an olive branch. "Do you have a residence in Bede City? It would make it easier to contact you later."

"Actually, I just rented a shop recently. I'm planning to sell dungeon-produced items and things like that," Gong Qiying said as he wrote down the address on paper and casually slid it over to Sid.

"An item shop?" Sid looked at the address and casually asked, "If you already have a storefront, why are you still setting up a roadside stall?"

"Because advertising works better where there are more people."

"Mm, that's true." Sid nodded. Promoting treasures on the street could indeed draw customers to a shop. It was also a tactic merchants often used.

What Gong Qiying actually meant, however, was attracting more people to the dungeon to die.

The promotional effect had already been achieved. The moment the Rainbow Fruit had been opened, it displayed an overwhelming allure. Those who had smelled its fragrance were probably now unable to eat or sleep, desperate to explore the dungeon.

Furthermore, the sensation caused by Sid's display of high-level magic at the market had even overshadowed the Rainbow Fruit. People would talk about a mysterious expert revealing his strength at the market—but why had he revealed it? Because of a fruit produced by Zane Dungeon! What kind of fruit could attract the attention of such an expert? If I could get one too...

See? The publicity was already here.

After leaving the Guild, Gong Qiying intended to spread the news that a fragment of Rainbow Fruit had sold for the sky-high price of six hundred gold coins, adding more fuel to the promotion.

The meeting ended with both host and guest pleased, and he left the Adventurers' Guild with Gina seeing him out.

A moment later, when Gina returned to the reception room, a sweet fragrance nearly made her lose control of her saliva. Sid had opened the box and was staring at the Rainbow Fruit in deep thought.

He frowned in thought while swallowing hard, making for a rather amusing sight.

"Sir, was it really worth spending six hundred gold coins on a fruit whose use we don't even know, especially when it's only a small piece?"

"It was absolutely worth it."

Sid slowly closed the box, licked his lips with lingering reluctance, and said,

"When I look at it, there is a voice in my head constantly telling me to eat it, eat it. Once I relax, that voice grows louder and louder. Even Tranquilizing Spell cannot suppress that urge."

"You mean..." Gina understood something.

"The fact that this small piece of fruit can have such a significant effect on my mind makes it worth that price."

Sid revealed a faint smile. "What sort of effect would it have if it were used to create illusion-type items? I look forward to finding out."

"..."

Watching the old man wear a smile like some villain pulling strings from behind the scenes, Gina finally could not help quietly saying,

"Um, sir, you're drooling."

"What? I was clearly trying hard to control it."

"Would you like me to cut off a small piece of Rainbow Fruit for you to taste?"

"This is valuable research material. It cannot be eaten."

"You don't want to taste it?"

"Heh, it's you, little girl, who wants to eat it, isn't it? Don't use public business for private gain to tempt me."

"You really don't want to taste it?"

"..."

"Then I'll take it away."

"Wait. Cut me a little piece."

Sid helplessly covered his forehead. He had never wanted to eat something so badly before.

Then he remembered what Gong Qiying had said before leaving:

"The sweetness of Rainbow Fruit is beyond human imagination. If you want to taste it, I recommend diluting its juice in water. As for the ratio, one drop of juice needs an entire swimming pool of water."

He had initially scoffed at those words, believing Gong Qiying was merely boasting, but now he was somewhat hesitant.

He said to Gina,

"Where is the nearest swimming pool? Take me there. And call the Guild's people over too; we'll treat it as a meet-and-greet."

Later, the Bede City Adventurers' Guild closed for a day for certain reasons.

It was said that the Staff Members drank so much fruit juice that they passed out and were all sent to the hospital.

But the story was so absurd that no one believed it.

The perspective returned to Gong Qiying. He arrived at the commercial street called White Whale Street and found the shop he had rented.

It was neither too large nor too small, with just the right amount of space. It was located midway down the commercial street, between a potion shop and a clothing store, and the foot traffic was decent.

This street's spending level was slightly above average for Bede City. Most of its regular visitors were adventurers, though there were also some customers who were wealthy but not excessively so—in simple terms, the moderately well-off. Ordinary people came here for a stroll from time to time as well.

There had originally been no vacant shops on this street, but Gong Qiying had gotten lucky. The owner of this shop had happened to urgently put it up for transfer, so he took it over.

In the future, he could use this shop to sell some dungeon specialties. It could also serve as a channel for transmitting information to the outside world.

He had no interest in doing business. Opening a shop was merely an experiment, so naturally he would not focus his attention here.

The shop was still being renovated, and it would probably take a few more days to finish.

He bought some fruit drinks for the workers, received a chorus of thanks, then found an unobtrusive corner, pulled over a reclining chair, and lay on it pretending to be asleep.

His consciousness had actually already returned to the dungeon. He could switch between Gong Qiying and Godwyn's two bodies at any time and immediately notice anything happening around either body.

It had felt rather strange at first, and he could only slowly learn to accept it.

"Let's see what new tricks the adventurers have come up with today."

He looked toward the Gourmet Area, where something unexpected had happened.

Fishing rods, buckets, folding stools.

The Gourmet Area was actually packed with fishermen.