The next morning, Yuuto returned to the Shibuya Explorer Guild. A few days ago, he had walked through these doors feeling crushed and hopeless. Today, his steps were almost light.
Inside his backpack, two small cloth pouches rested with great care—the refined slime cores and the fine magic-stone powder he had made the day before. They were his first real gamble for the future.
He headed straight for the material exchange counter at the back of the first-floor lobby, where explorers lined up to have their loot examined and sold. Appraisers worked quickly at each booth, weighing goblin ears, orc tusks, even huge monster pelts, turning them into cash one after another.
Yuuto watched from a short distance, anxiety and hope twisting inside him. Would his items be seen as valuable, or worthless?
He studied the different appraisers. One was an old man with a stern, veteran air. A young woman worked at another booth with cold, mechanical efficiency. The third—a middle-aged man—chatted kindly with each customer as he checked their items.
Yuuto joined the friendly man's line. He had a feeling this one would treat him fairly.
"Next, please!" the appraiser called.
Yuuto stepped up. The man greeted him with a warm smile. "Good morning. What do you have for me today?"
"Uh... these," Yuuto said, placing the two cloth bags on the counter.
The appraiser blinked, clearly having expected something bigger, but he opened the first pouch without comment. Blue spheres rolled across the tray with a soft clatter.
The man's smile froze.
"...What is this?" he whispered.
He snatched up a lens and studied one of the slime cores. His eyes widened. "No scratches... not a single mark?"
He turned the core again and again under the light, his friendly expression replaced by deep focus.
"Hey! Come look at this!" he called to the neighboring appraiser.
The colleague came over, took one look, and choked on his breath. "These are perfect. How did you even take them out? They're slime cores!"
Other explorers began to stare. Heat climbed up Yuuto's neck. He wished he could melt into the floor.
The appraiser cleared his throat and spoke again, this time with more respect. "Young man—no, Explorer. Did you collect these yourself?"
"Yes... I did," Yuuto said, voice stiff.
"How? What kind of knife cuts this clean? No, that's impossible. There isn't a single trace of contact. It looks like you pulled the cores straight out of the slime with a teleport spell."
Yuuto hesitated. He couldn't tell them about his Break skill, not when it was his only advantage.
"...Trade secret," he said at last.
The appraiser grumbled but nodded. Skill details were personal; even guild staff had limits.
"Fair enough. I won't push. But in all my years, I've never seen slime cores of this quality. There's no way I can pay the normal rate for these."
"
The appraiser hurried into a back room, most likely to get approval from someone higher up, leaving Yuuto alone under a storm of curious stares. He felt like he was sitting on a bed of needles.
After a few long minutes, the man returned, breathless and holding a sheet of paper.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I checked with headquarters. Our guild will buy everything from you—at the highest price we can offer."
He took a steady breath and held out the estimate. Yuuto stared at the numbers, sure he was reading them wrong.
Slime Cores (Top Grade), 13 units: 15,000 yen each — Total 195,000 yen.
Nineteen. Five. Hundred. Yen. It was five times the normal price. Most slime cores sold for one to three thousand yen at best.
The man explained quickly, "Scratch-free slime cores are used to make high-level potions. With this perfect shape, research labs will fight to get them. They almost never appear on the market."
Yuuto swallowed hard. His head spun. One day in a dungeon had earned him almost as much as his monthly salary back when he was an office worker.
His voice shook as he placed the second pouch on the counter. "I... still have this."
"Oh, right. Magic-stone powder. It's usually not worth much, but I'll take a look."
He poured the powder onto a plate, uninterested—until he froze again.
"...This purity...?"
Out came a different scope. He checked grain after grain, added a few drops of a reagent, and watched the reaction with widening eyes. When he finally looked up, it was as if he were seeing Yuuto for the first time.
"Who are you?"
Yuuto blinked. "Huh?"
"This magic-stone powder is over 99.9% pure. You can only make something like this with a top-class magic plant. How did you—no, I suppose that's a trade secret too."
Groaning, he scribbled a new number onto the estimate.
"This also gets a special price. Normally, low-rank magic stones are nearly worthless... but at this quality, it's different."
Magic-Stone Powder (Ultra-Pure): 50,000 yen.
Yuuto nearly fell over. Fifty thousand yen for something he thought was trash.
Together, the total came to 245,000 yen.
"Would you allow us to buy everything for this amount?" the man asked, gaze serious.
There was no universe where Yuuto would refuse. "Y-yes! Please!"
Relief washed through him, and it felt like the whole exchange counter cheered along with his racing heart.
The process was simple. The payment transferred directly to his explorer card. One tap on the reader, and his balance shot up.
"Your name?" the appraiser asked.
"Tajima... Yuuto."
"Tajima Yuuto. I'll remember it. If you bring more items like this, come to me first. I'll always pay top price."
He offered a business card. It read: Matsuda — Senior Appraiser.
Yuuto accepted it with both hands, bowing again and again before leaving the counter.
Outside, the evening sun felt almost unreal. The explorer card in his pocket seemed heavier now—not a mark of an E-rank nobody, but a real tool to shape his future.
I did it... I really did it!
Unable to hold it in, Yuuto slipped into an empty alley and pumped his fist. The pain of being fired, the shame of being laughed at—all of it finally felt worth it.
He had taken his first true step forward.