Yuna glanced at the medical kit.
It contained at least seven or eight rolls of professional-grade medical bandages, along with some medicines she had never seen before.
[Level 1 Medical Bullet: Restores 50 Blood Volume], [Level 2 Medical Bullet: Restores 100 Blood Volume]…
‘These NPCs are so loaded.’
‘Every NPC she’d met was filthy rich.’
‘It makes you want to rob them.’
“Thank you.”
Yuna shyly thanked Sylas, her polite demeanor a stark contrast to how she’d looked while killing those players moments ago.
The bodies were still lying on the ground.
Sylas, however, didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it.
After all, those players had been asking to die.
With the help of the medical bandages, Noir’s injuries healed quickly.
“Would you like to come to my camp and rest for a bit?”
Sylas looked down at Yuna and smiled faintly.
“…”
‘How can any man be this good-looking!’
“Would it be too much trouble?”
Yuna played hard to get, but her mind was already racing with calculations.
It was almost dinnertime; if she went to Sylas’s camp, she and Noir might be able to mooch a meal.
Yuna had already found a shelter.
It wasn’t great, but its main advantage was the lack of zombies, as it was located in the sewers.
Yuna had checked it beforehand—no zombie rats, cockroaches, or anything of the sort.
It was relatively safe.
“Not at all.
I’m quite fond of this little one.”
“Let’s go.”
Sylas extended a hand to Yuna.
His fingers were long and clean, with well-defined knuckles, like polished white jade.
‘Honestly, Sylas has all the makings of a male lead from a romance novel.’
‘But Yuna wasn’t stupid enough to cast herself as the heroine.’
‘What kind of author would write a heroine who has it this rough?’
Grumbling inwardly, Yuna took Sylas’s hand and let him help her onto the giant tiger’s back.
The fur beneath her hands was so soft and fluffy that the corners of Yuna’s mouth turned up unconsciously.
‘A tiger!
To think I’d actually get to ride on a tiger’s back in my lifetime!’
‘This feeling is incredible!’
The white tiger moved at a relaxed pace, bringing Yuna and Sylas back to the camp in no time.
Sylas’s camp was in a fenced-off wooded park, just one of several he maintained.
The camp was full of animals, most of them predators and birds of prey.
Yuna followed Sylas inside the camp, where other humans were present.
“Yo, Sylas.”
Yuna saw the title above their head.
[Recycling Merchant—Nathan King]
‘What a stroke of luck.
She never expected to find the two merchants she was looking for in the same place.’
While the two were chatting, Yuna quickly checked the loot from the two players she’d killed.
Since Backpack Grids were limited, most players stored their most valuable and abundant supplies in them.
Yuna was no exception.
This group of players had been fairly capable; each had five or six Backpack Grids.
To Yuna’s surprise, one of the players’ backpacks contained 207 vials of Tier 1 Blood and 83 vials of Tier 2 Blood!
This much blood was enough to trade with Sue Carter for a good amount of supplies.
In addition, there were two hand-cranked flashlights, a club (+11 Attack Damage), a long spear (+18 Attack Damage), six slices of bread with jam (+25 Satiety), six bottles of mineral water, three bottles of vodka (+11 Hydration, +21 Emotion Value, risk of alcohol addiction), and two packs of cigarettes (40 total).
Yuna even found a sedan, though it had no gas or keys!
‘Robbery really is the fastest way to get rich.’
Yuna couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for the players Sylas had killed.
Even the Mutated Blood dropped by the Tier 3 Zombie had vanished when that player died.
But for every loss, there is a gain.
Although Yuna had lost out on a lot of supplies, she had successfully gained 30 points of Goodwill Value with Sylas.
It was obvious how she needed to curry favor with him.
By the time she finished organizing the items in her inventory, Nathan King and Sylas had finished their conversation.
Yuna hadn’t been trying to eavesdrop, but she’d caught the gist of it.
Sylas had led his army of animals to raid a wholesale market for a large batch of supplies.
Nathan King, acting as a broker, was helping him contact other merchants and organizations in Salix to trade the supplies for things Sylas needed.
With Sylas’s huge deal on the table, Yuna wasn’t sure if Nathan King would even bother with her meager offerings.
A trace of hesitation appeared on her face.
As if he knew exactly what Yuna was thinking, Nathan King reached out a hand to her, his smile brilliant.
“I’m the Recycling Merchant, Nathan King.
Feel free to come to me if you need anything.
I’ll even take a trade for a single cookie or one bottle of water.”
“We can trade right now, in fact.”
Nathan King added emphatically.
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t much: the club, long spear, and a dagger; one serving of instant noodles, one self-heating rice meal, some candy, and a compressed biscuit.
And the bicycle.
Honestly, she was better off just running than using that bicycle.
As for the vodka, cigarettes, and the car in her inventory, Yuna had no intention of trading them to Nathan King.
‘It wasn’t a good deal.’
Nathan King’s words and demeanor gave off a very friendly and sincere impression.
But his profession meant he couldn’t be a simple person.
Yuna preferred to assume the worst in people; she felt that Nathan King was just like her, and the face he showed the world was a disguise.
First, you get people to lower their guard, and then, when they’re not looking, you fleece them!
The only difference was that Yuna’s “fleecing” was usually literal.
So far, the only game NPCs Yuna had met who seemed like normal people were the ones from The Watcher Organization.
The rest…
Nathan King inspected the items Yuna had laid out.
Glimpsing her uneasy expression, he shot her a friendly smile.
“Don’t be nervous.
What do you want to trade for?”
“Water or medical supplies would be fine.”
Hearing Yuna’s request, Nathan King paused for a moment before answering.
“Both of those are extremely scarce, as you know.”
“I can give you ten bottles of water, or one roll of Disinfectant Bandages.”
Nathan King stated his price.
He had originally planned to lowball her even more.
Yuna’s offerings were decent enough, but Nathan King’s merchant’s intuition told him that the girl before him definitely had better things on her!
“…I’ll take the bandages.”
‘Nathan King’s prices were a total rip-off.’
‘But when you’re selling to a recycler, you have to be prepared to get fleeced.’
From her experience with Sue Carter, the Blood Merchant, it was clear that these NPC Merchants had fixed roles that couldn’t be circumvented.
Moreover, NPC Merchants were scattered all over Salix and would move at a moment’s notice.
The cost of travel just to find them and trade for supplies was a huge problem for players.
Nathan King’s price-gouging was blatant because he knew he held all the cards.
After completing the trade with Yuna, Nathan King hopped on her crappy old bicycle and leisurely rode out of the park.
Yuna turned her attention to Sylas.
He was the main event.