บท 21: 21. A Deal With 'Mysterious Shadow'.

Keeping the dagger in his inventory, Sunny quickly made his way back to the city while avoiding the monsters on the way as much as possible.

As he has already reached level 20, he can't level up now before completing a ceremony at the Mage Class Hall in the noble district.

Exp gained during this period is taken into account by Aurora and stored to be used after the ceremony. But, after accumulating 100% Exp, further Exp gained will only be one tenth of usual.

Say, a player status shows: Level: 20 / Exp: 100%. The player will not level up like usual, but the Exp accumulated will continue to increase. Its just that the Exp gained will only be one tenth of he normal amount.

After seventeen minutes, Sunny was back into the city. On the way, he also got to see some players fighting with normal [Two Headed Snakes]. Some successful in killing, some dying, some running back to the city, etc.

Sunny quickly contacted Sword Genius thorough VR Forum. //Which city are you in? I have some equipment to sell if you are interested.//

He then went towards the Cycadlike Treasure Chamber to upgrade his level 15 equipment to level 20 ones from there. As he was about to enter he remembered that he has insufficient money to do so. So, he waited at the entrance for two minutes before Sword Genius's reply came.

//I am at the Xia Ember City. Mention some details you dimwit! Level, Class, Numbers, etc. Also send the city you are in.//

'Huh?! Dimwit?! Me?!' Sunny scratched his head while typing back the details. //I am at the Indraprastha City. There are 28 level 10 equipment: 8 Mage, 6 Rogue, 5 Fighter, 5 Ranger and 4 Magic Soldier.//

//39 level 15 equipment: 12 Ranger, 9 Rogue, 8 Fighter, 6 Mage and 4 Magic Soldier.//

She replied back quickly, //Wait for some time. I will get back to you in a few minutes.//

Sunny waited while recalling some instances from his past life. Because of his quiet personality he was sometimes ridiculed at work. But Raghav always had his back and never let the ridicule escalate to bullying.

He isn't shy or prefers to be alone. He is just not able to express himself properly.

'Maybe I can try in here, in this virtual world. To make money, I have to interact with many people in the future. I can't stay like this. Hmm... Let's watch some videos on `how to express oneself?` today after logging out.'

As he was planning the steps he can take to improve his social abilities, the transparent chat page at the corner of his eyes lit up.

Sword Genius: //You know Mysterious Shadow, right? It doesn't matter even if you don't know. Anyway, I will send your VR profile Id to her. She will send you friend request and she is in Indraprastha City. You can make the deal with her. Any problem?//

//I don't have any problem with that. Also can you tell her to mentioned the code [#*^$@()] in the request?//

Sword Genius: //Sure, I was just about to ask the same thing. Well, I am going outside the city to level up a bit. If there's anything, you can contact Shadow, okay? Bye!//

Sunny opened request list and requested Aurora to highlight the request with the code. A few moments later, a request came and he accepted it.

Shadow then sent a chat request which he accepted and the virtual interference changed from friend list to chat page.

Shadow sent a message: //Sword said you want to sell some equipment. Where are you now? Can you come to the café in the Market Section near the Central Plaza?//

Sunny sent a reply //I am at the entrance of the Cycadlike Treasure Chamber. I will be there in few minutes.// and started walking towards the aforementioned café.

Seven minutes later, as soon as he entered the café Sunny noticed the beautiful girl with obsidian black hair and same eye color. She was sitting on third table in the second row from the entrance sipping a cup of Jaggery Coffee.

Another girl with above average looks and short brown hair was sitting at the seat beside the beautiful girl. She was busy looking at a virtual screen in front of her which appeared blurred if looked from from another person's perspective other than the girl.

Sunny recognized Mysterious Shadow at first glance. Her lower half of the face was covered with a thin gray colored scarf which can be found in any of the NPC clothes shop. There were few players in the café and it seems like none of them recognized her. Some of them were just stealing glances at her from time to time. NPC costumers included.

Sunny also found himself staring at her for a few seconds. As a NPC waiter passed by thereby blocking his sight of her he broke out of his daze and went to her table and introduced himself while standing next to the seat opposite to her, "Hello, I am Chaos. Sword Genius told me to contact you regarding the equipment." He also requested Aurora to display his username above his player icon for 5 seconds.

M. Shadow looked up and noticed his username. She stood up unhurriedly and spoke in a light tone, "I am Mysterious Shadow and you can call me Shadow." She extended her right hand for a handshake.

Usually she wouldn't have talked like that nor would have offered to shake hands with a stranger much less a male stranger. But, as Sword Genius had told her about Sunny being a potential recruit and a talented one at that, she decided to give him minimum formal treatment.

Another reason for her good attitude towards him would be that Sword Genius had mentioned that he didn't looked at her with an obscene gaze like most male do. Neither openly nor covertly. Shadow believed SG since the three of them are rather sensitive to that type of gaze.

Although she noticed him looking at her in a daze when he entered the café she didn't detect anything wrong in his look. It seemed like he was just stunned by her beauty for a moment.

Sunny shook her hand and they both sat on the table facing each other. A waiter came to Sunny for his order. He ordered a Chocolate Cold Coffee for the price of 10 Copper Coins.

Shadow took a sip from her cup and said, "So, would you please show the attributes of the equipment?"

Sunny nodded and requested Aurora in his mind. 'Aurora, please share the attributes of every equipment in my Inventory not including the equipment and items present in the first row with Mysterious Shadow.'

An Inventory comes in the form of ten by ten grid form. Each grid can hold ten unit of the same item or equipment. Food, water and money doesn't occupy any space in the Inventory. Sunny had kept every thing of importance in the firs row. Rest were dumped anywhere in the inventory without any care which includes monster materials, herbs, etc.

Shadow glanced through the equipment and allowed the girl next to her to see the information screen and said, "See if we need these equipment and estimate their price according to the Cycadlike Treasure Chamber's price."

Sunny and Shadow were enjoying their coffee in silence while the brown haired girl was checking through the equipment. After some ten plus minutes the girl spoke up.

"All the equipment will of use to us. The total price for them would be 139 Gold and 45 Silver coins."

Shadow nodded and thought for a moment before addressed Sunny, "139.45 Gold plus 30% for all the equipment, okay?"

Sunny thought for few seconds then nodded to indicate his agreement. If he sold these equipment at the auction house or by setting up a stall, he would only get 25% more of the price at the Cycadlike Treasure Chamber. At most 40% more if his luck is good. But that would take time and he also didn't want to go through the hassle.

They finalized the deal and Sunny got his coins while Shadow got her equipment.

Sunny got up to leave and offered an handshake to Shadow and said, "Pleasure doing business with you."

Shadow also stood up and accepted his handshake, "The feeling is mutual. If you have any more equipment please contact me."

"Will do." Sunny turned around and was about to leave when Shadow said, "When you have finished class advancement please contact me or Sword. You will be a good addition to our guild."

Sunny nodded without turning back and exited the café.

He then visited the alchemy shop, smithy and butchery and dumped all of his Inventory content in their respective place. This earned him 1 Gold and 38 Silver Coins.

After doing all this, he went to the Cycadlike Treasure Chamber again to make preparations for his trip to the Goblin Race territory.

He also thought about selling the location of the rocky region for some small earning.

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@Soggoth88 Thank You Very Much for the precious <GOLDEN TICKETS>×1.