Normalizing the Labyrinth City in the Game

“Hmm… Where should I go first?”

Currently, all Siwon had left was the cheap leather tunic and pants given to him at the inn, and a little money.

The first place that came to mind was the general store.

‘I should buy a bag first.’

It would have been nice to buy an inventory if he had enough money, but he was short on funds.

Speaking of inventory, he remembered the white bundle that had now left its owner.

‘Damn, if only I hadn’t been robbed by that bastard in the first place….’

This was the second time the face of the guard captain came to mind.
Once might be a coincidence, but twice makes him a mortal enemy.

It might be difficult right now, but Siwon vowed to get revenge on that son of a bitch someday.

‘Which general store would be good?’

Hidden events or items weren’t a consideration.

The important thing was the price.

He had to go to the cheapest place.

While walking towards the shopping district where general stores were gathered.

[Normal’s General Store]

‘How can a person’s name be Normal?’

He spotted an eye-catching signboard.

The name was Normal and the exterior looked just ordinary.

Siwon immediately stepped into Normal’s General Store.

“Excuse me~ Is the owner here~?”

…There was no answer.

It seemed no one was there.

‘I’m short on money, should I steal a few things?’

The devil that suddenly appeared in his heart whispered to Siwon, but.

“Yes, just a moment!”

A man’s voice was heard from far away.

‘Close call.’

He must have been organizing something, as there was dust sticking all over the man’s body.

“Yes, customer. I’m Normal. What are you looking for?”

What am I looking for, he asks.

No matter how much you prepare for exploration, it’s never enough.
At least ten things come to mind right away, but he doesn’t have enough money to buy them all.

He needs to compromise as much as possible on things he can compromise on.

‘Well, the money I have now is….’

Siwon counted the silver coins filling his pocket.

He currently had 1 gold and 90 silver.

‘If I set aside 40 silver as emergency funds, and invest at least 50 silver in weapons and armor… The maximum I can spend here is 1 gold.’

It was exactly the amount of one gold coin hidden in his bosom.

“…Customer?”

“Large backpack, three healing potions, two bundles of bandages, ten roots of Leria herb, three days’ worth of rations, water canteen, rope, grappling hook, 10 crossbow bolts, oil, flint, torch wood….”

“?”
Ignoring Normal’s questioning gaze, Siwon gathered all the items he had just listed and placed them on the counter.

“How much is all this together?”

He probably wouldn’t have enough money.

He decided to eliminate the less important items one by one depending on how short he was.

“Ah, well, just a moment….”
After a brief calculation.
“It’s originally 1 gold and 3 silver, but just give me 1 gold.”

“….”

Unexpectedly, the amount matched exactly.

If he had bought this much at another general store, they would have charged 30 silver more.

No matter how well he haggled, it would have been difficult to lower it to 1 gold.

‘Could it be, haggling is possible?’

As if reading Siwon’s inner thoughts, Normal immediately answered.

“Ah, by the way, haggling is absolutely not allowed. We sell at fixed prices.”

“…I know that too. Here you go.”

Siwon willingly handed over the gold coin hidden in his bosom.

It was so cheap that he wondered if there was any profit left selling at this price.

“Yes, thank you. Please come again~”
“…?”

Siwon looked at Normal with a “what are you doing” expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you going to check it?”

When Siwon said this while glancing at the shining gold coin in Normal’s fingertips, Normal smiled and answered.

“Come on, why would I check something like this? I’m in a profession that lives on trust.”

“…!”

A truly rare virtuous person in the labyrinth city.

To think there was someone like this here too.

“…May you be blessed.”

With those sincere words, Siwon left Normal’s general store.

He felt a little ashamed of the bad thoughts he had earlier.

“Now then, next is….”

Siwon’s gaze turned next to the armor shop.

In fact, except for when he was a newbie, Siwon had never visited an armor shop even once.

Because custom-made armor and weapons from the blacksmith have the best quality.

‘But damn, if I had that kind of money….’

The goods in the armor shop are one of two things.

Items that blacksmiths couldn’t sell at all and became bad stock.

Or things discarded by other explorers.

In the latter case, most are actually from explorers who died in the labyrinth, though they say “discarded”.
When maggots bring such items, armor merchants buy them at bargain prices and pile them up in their shops.

It’s fine because it’s a game, but in reality, it would be quite unsettling to wear these.

‘Can’t be helped.’
For the above reasons, the goods in armor shops were much cheaper compared to blacksmiths.

Siwon immediately stepped into the armor shop.

“…?”

As soon as he opened the door, he saw a bald merchant who looked quite dirty.

Judging by appearance, he seemed to be in his 50s.

“…Who are you?”

“?”

It wasn’t easy to be spoken to informally from the first meeting.

“Who else would I be, I’m a customer.”

Siwon was the type to respond rudely if treated like a dog.

As if Siwon’s answer was unexpected, the bald merchant was momentarily stunned before speaking again.

“What did you come to buy?”

“I came to an armor shop to buy armor, what else would I come to buy?”

“…Come here.”

At first, he seemed quite awkward, but now the bald merchant seemed to have adapted to Siwon’s way of speaking.

Then he showed Siwon a set of iron armor that looked quite usable despite being rusty in places.

When he tried it on, it creaked a bit but seemed fine to use.

“How is it, want to buy?”

“How much is it all together?”

At Siwon’s question, the merchant lowered his head as if thinking for a moment.

“…Give me 50 silver.”

He called out a price so ridiculous it was about to burst.
If he gave that much, would the darkness buy it for him?

“25 silver.”

“No, if you suddenly cut it in half…!”

“Take it or leave it.”

“…35 silver. I can’t go lower than that.”

Nothing is impossible in haggling.

“25 silver. If you don’t like it, just forget it.”

“Tsk! 30 silver.”

Still clinging to his pride.

“25 silver. If you really won’t do it, I’m leaving.”

Originally, for armor like this, he would have bought it from maggots for less than 10 silver.

Still, there would be shop operating costs, so a 2.5 times margin is okay.

25 silver was the appropriate price.

“…It really can’t be done, 25 silver. Fine. I’ll do it for 25 silver.”

“Thank you.”

Since he accepted, Siwon used polite speech for the last part at least.

“….”

The merchant’s expression didn’t look particularly pleased to hear the polite speech, though.

“Well, is there anything else you want to buy?”

“Hmm, anything else… Ah, there is one thing.”
“What is it?”
“A hand crossbow.”

As soon as he heard Siwon’s words, a smile curved on the merchant’s lips.

“A hand crossbow? Well, it’s hard to get, but… I do have just one left.”

‘Bullshit.’

There’s probably a mountain of them piled up.

It’s not like 1st class guides dying is something new.

The bald merchant immediately went inside and came back with a dusty hand crossbow.

“Here. How is it?”

“…Not bad.”

“Right? It’s expensive, that one. I picked the best one here.”

That’s nonsense.

It’s obvious just by looking that it’s bad stock that couldn’t be sold.

“So, how much are you selling it for?”
“Hmm… 50 silver?”

Get lost.

Holding back the words that were about to burst out, Siwon called out the appropriate price.

“5 silver.”

“What?! Are you joking right now? If I sell at that price, I won’t even make the cost price.”

Cost price my ass.

You probably got it for almost free, how would you not make the cost price?

There’s a limit to lying, this is too much.

“4 silver.”

“No, why are you lowering it more? Hah…. Alright, how about 10 silver?”
He shouldn’t yield here.
With the mindset of a man who shouted for a daily wage of 4 dollars, Siwon shouted again.

“4 silver.”

“…You want me to sell at that price? Forget it. I just won’t sell it.”

“Good job.”

As Siwon got up to leave, the merchant grabbed his arm.

As expected.
In negotiations, the one who needs it more ends up giving in.

“…I really can’t sell at this price.”

“Are you selling or not?”

“…Fine. Here.”

The merchant said this and handed over the hand crossbow.

Siwon counted out silver coins and placed exactly twenty-nine on the table.

“…You really only put 29.”

It seems he was secretly hoping Siwon would add one more.

“Calculations should be accurate.”

“Yeah, that’s right… But you, are you a guide? Looking at how you haggle, you don’t seem like a low-rank guy.”

“I’m 1st class. If I were 2nd class, I wouldn’t come to a place like this.”

“Really? A 1st class guide… Well, can’t be helped then. Take care.”

The bald merchant said this and turned around.

“…What’s with that?”

Siwon’s curiosity was piqued, befitting an explorer.

“It’s a request that’s difficult to ask a 1st class. Especially a guide.”

“Let me hear it, and if it’s okay, I’ll try it.”

At Siwon’s words, the bald merchant thought for a moment and then spoke up.

“Well, actually, my brother went into the labyrinth a while ago… but there’s still no news. He usually only wanders around the 1st floor.”

He had an ominous feeling.

“…He’s probably dead.”

At Siwon’s answer, the bald merchant’s expression turned gloomy.

“Yeah, I know. But, if you happen to find him… He should have a necklace around his neck, could you find just that for me?”

“A necklace?”
In Siwon’s mind.
He recalled the necklace that had rested on the severed head of the bald man.

“Yeah, if you happen to find it, I’ll reward you.”

“I understand.”

“…?”

When Siwon suddenly used polite speech, the bald merchant looked surprised anew.

“Take care, and good luck with your business.”

There was a reason why the bald merchant’s face looked familiar.

Siwon left those words and fled the shop.

‘Damn, what bad luck. Of all people….’

He decided never to go to that place again.