After leaving the Candy Complex, Kai took Yara to the Hunters Market. He wasn't foolish enough to take her to a market run by fairies.
"Wow, it's like a festival!" Yara's fatigue instantly vanished the moment she saw the bustling scenes of the Hunters Market.
"Big bro, what's that?" Yara was drawn to the accessories being sold by a vendor.
"Little girl, you've got a good eye! This necklace can increase one's Ki recovery speed by 1 percent," the vendor said enthusiastically, his eyes lighting up as Yara approached his stall.
A lot of magic accessories dropped from Bronze chests are F-grade accessories without any useful attributes. Over time, these F-grade accessories have been reduced to mere jewelry worn by women.
"How much for it?" Before Yara could even ask Kai to buy it for her, he asked the vendor the price.
"Just 2 silver coins," the vendor replied naturally.
However, upon hearing the price, Kai frowned. He knew for a fact that F-grade accessories usually didn't exceed 20 copper coins. Even the fairies sold F-grade accessories for only 50 copper coins.
"Do I look like a fool to you?"
"Customer, you've got the wrong idea," the vendor quickly said. "The reason these accessories are so expensive is because of how beautiful they look. See that guy over there? He's selling F-grade accessories for 15 copper coins and E-grade accessories for only 80 copper coins."
The vendor explained and gestured toward another stall a few stalls away.
"Yara, let's go look at those," Kai said, unwilling to spend 2 silver coins on an F-grade accessory. He brought Yara to the other vendor.
"Big bro, I don't like these. They're all so ugly," Yara said after browsing for a while, not liking a single one.
"Customer, it seems your sister really likes the accessories sold by that guy. How about I help you get a discount?" Hearing Yara complain, the vendor selling the ugly accessories knew this was his chance and spoke up.
"Is it possible?" Kai felt something was suspicious.
"Of course, why not? I've been selling accessories here for more than three months and know everyone around. That guy owes me a favor—let me help." Saying so, the vendor signaled for Kai and Yara to follow him.
Seeing the vendor confidently walking toward the other seller, Kai knew he was being scammed.
However, looking at Yara's eager expression, Kai decided to play along with their little scam.
"Hey, Narvin, got a minute? This guy here is a friend of mine and he really wants to buy that... which one is it? Right, this necklace. How about you give me a fair price?"
Returning to Narvin, the other vendor—named Arvin—immediately asked Narvin to reduce the price of the necklace Yara liked.
"Arvin, you always put me in a difficult situation like this. Alright, how about this: for you, I'll lower the price by 30 copper coins."
"Thirty coppers? Do I look like a beggar to you? At least drop 80 copper coins!"
"Eighty copper coins! Do you want my kids to starve to death?!"
"Then let's do 50—you can do that for me. After all, I helped you a lot."
Both Narvin and Arvin gave an excellent performance. If Kai didn't know better, he would have thought they were about to fight.
"Customer, you really put me in a difficult position. You can have it for 150 copper coins." Narvin looked as if he had suffered a great loss, picked up the necklace Yara liked, and handed it to Kai.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Kai refused to take the necklace and instead signaled Arvin to talk to him alone.
Seeing this, Arvin's eyes lit up. He followed Kai, thinking Kai wanted to buy more accessories and needed his help.
"You could have a good acting career back on Earth," Kai said, complimenting Arvin for his performance.
"Customer, what are you implying?" The moment he heard Kai's words, Arvin immediately turned hostile. After all, this scam was the livelihood for their entire housing complex. If they got exposed, it would be difficult for them to continue operating inside the Hunters Market.
"I'm not implying anything. I just want a good deal." Kai didn't outright confront Arvin and instead asked for a price he could be satisfied with.
Knowing that Kai wasn't going to expose them, Arvin went to Narvin and whispered in his ear.
Seeing Narvin's expression change, Kai felt quite pleased with himself. Back on Earth, when he moved to Touri City, he had fallen victim to many such scams.
"Customer has sharp eyes. How about this—for 1 silver coin, I'll add this E-grade defense ring along with the necklace." Soon, Narvin's expression returned to normal as he made the offer.
However, unfortunately for Narvin, Kai had fallen for this exact scam too many times. Back in Touri City, when scammers were exposed, instead of running away, they would genuinely offer a seemingly good deal.
The problem with the deal was that the additional item they offered would be valuable—but had no practical use.
Like the E-grade defense ring Narvin was offering. The ring could block a single attack from any Level 2 monster—after that, it would be destroyed.
Two or three months ago, the E-grade defense ring was very popular and even sold for 2 silver coins—much higher than the 1 silver coin price of other E-grade accessories.
However, now no one was willing to buy an E-grade defense ring for even 20 copper coins, let alone 80.
"Thanks, but we only want to buy that necklace." Just as Narvin thought they had succeeded, Kai insisted on buying only the necklace.
"Narvin, he knows all our tactics... I think he used to be a member of the merchant gang."
Arvin again whispered into Narvin's ear. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Kai wasn't a member of the merchant gang—instead, he had just been scammed too many times and now knew all their tricks.
"Customer, you win. 30 copper coins for the necklace," Narvin finally admitted defeat.
"Great, here." Although the price was still higher than the market rate, Kai immediately paid and bought the necklace.
"Big bro, does it look good?" Putting the necklace on, Yara turned to Kai and asked.
"Yes... it looks good." Looking at the oversized necklace around Yara's neck, Kai had an urge to laugh. The necklace looked really funny on her.
After the whole episode with the accessory scammers, Yara and Kai continued exploring the Hunters Market.
"Big bro, apple candy!"
"Big bro, look at that shining crystal! Can I get one?"
"Big bro, that bad guy is selling guns. We should report him."
"Big bro, that guy looks like big Omar!"
"Wow, big bro, that guy over there is breathing fire from his mouth. Do you think he's a dragon?"
Yara started dragging Kai along with her as they continued exploring the market.
"Yara, big bro is hungry. Let's get something to eat." After running around the Hunters Market for about an hour, Kai started feeling hungry.