Fantasy Realm [One Piece] [Harry Potter] [Naruto] - [Progression] [LitRPG]

Chapter 81: Last Minute Upgrades

"Not much of a talker, is he? Damn," Alex curses inwardly, realizing his usual tactics are useless here. This guy's too smart to be baited into lowering his item's value by arguing.

"Anything else besides FC you might be interested in or need?" Alex tries again, nothing much to lose.

"Not worth naming anything. I need FC. Not like you can give it to me in the tutorial section. Nobody sells it; it's rare and precious here. Sometimes idiots even sell it off without realizing its value," the man responds, his frustration showing.

"Worth a try asking, isn't it?" Alex answers, pushing a bit. "Come on, give me a shot. I know people, a friend of mine has good connections!"

The man eyes him before replying, "I need Soul Crystals to level my innate skill. So, give me 50,000 FC so I can buy them after my next mission, once I leave this desolate kindergarten filled with small babies!"

Alex smiles as he casually pulls out not one but two Soul Crystals, tossing them in his hand like dice. The man's greedy expression is priceless.

"Today's your lucky day! I'll give you my two hard-earned Soul Crystals for the cloak!"

"...I need three," the man counters, eyeing Alex's crystals hungrily.

Alex stares at him like he's lost his mind and drops all politeness, his tone turning blunt. "Dude, you just said they're rare, and nobody's trading them here. I only have two—how the hell am I supposed to pull a third out of thin air? Plus, these are worth at least 20,000 FC, sometimes up to 30,000 FC outside the tutorial Realm!"

"You lie. They're worth around 20,000 FC."

Alex sighs, narrowing his eyes. "When did you last check? That's outdated info. With the rising player numbers and newbies flooding into the 36 tutorial sections, demand is skyrocketing."

The man's shocked look says he had no idea there were 36 tutorial sections.

After a bit more haggling, they're deadlocked. "This guy's pride won't let him just accept my offer," Alex thinks. "Alright, time to let him think he's won this round."

"Fine... you win; you're a real master at trading—or maybe just greedy as hell," Alex says with a mock-sigh. "I'll throw in another 2,000 FC."

"3,000," the man replies, a smirk playing on his face.

Alex pretends to hesitate before sighing. "Fine, cut me some slack here... you got me. Two Soul Crystals and 3,000 FC!"

After completing the trade, the man unexpectedly extends his hand to Alex. "Carlos, from São Paulo."

"Alex, from Germany." Alex shakes his hand with a small smile, handing over his contact details. "You look like someone bound to go far. Let's keep in touch—maybe trade again or exchange info, maybe even team up down the line. If you need anything, shoot me a system message."