Sora looked at the two copper coins lying quietly beside the snake’s corpse and felt somewhat surprised.
Where exactly had they come from?
Was it like the monster-drop-money mechanic from games?
Did snakes count as monsters?
Besides money, would there be experience points as well?
After thinking about it, Sora opened his [Status Panel] and checked, but there was no experience bar or anything similar.
Apparently not.
Closing the panel, Sora bent down and picked up the two copper coins from the floor.
They felt cool to the touch and seemed no different from ordinary copper coins in reality.
Despite having dropped from the snake’s corpse, they weren’t stained with blood and hadn’t even picked up a speck of dust from the floor.
The front side featured a large ring.
The back side featured a small ring.
Other than that, there were no markings or words.
As Sora curiously examined the coins in his hand, Miyuri’s timid voice came from outside.
“S-Sora-kun…
are you alright?” Sora slipped the coins into his pocket and turned around.
“I’m fine.
The snake’s already dead.
You can come in now.” “Really?” “Really.” The landlady cautiously peeked inside.
Upon seeing the dead snake on the floor, she patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
“That’s wonderful!
Sora-kun, you’re amazing!
Thank goodness you helped me!
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what to do!” Pointing at the snake’s body, Sora asked, “Do you want to keep this?” Miyuri immediately shook her head furiously.
“No, no!
Please throw it away for me, Sora-kun!
I don’t dare touch it!” “Alright.” Sora found a garbage bag, used it to scoop up the snake’s corpse, tied it shut, and picked it up.
Grabbing his baseball bat, he said, “Then I’ll be going, Miss Miyuri.” The landlady repeatedly thanked him and walked him to the door.
Sora arrived at the apartment’s designated garbage collection area.
It was an internal trash station where workers would later sort and collect the garbage.
Seeing that nobody was around, Sora stored the baseball bat in his inventory.
Looking down at the garbage bag, he thought for a moment.
Since the snake was a “monster” capable of dropping copper coins, its body might also count as some kind of crafting material.
Throwing it away seemed wasteful.
It might be useful someday.
Sora simply stored the garbage bag in his inventory as well before turning and leaving.
Walking down the street, he took out the two copper coins again and examined them.
Large ring…
Small ring…
He had absolutely no idea what they represented.
For now, though, that wasn’t important.
He put one coin back into his pocket and attempted to store the other one in his inventory.
Unlike the baseball bat, the coin didn’t occupy an inventory slot.
Instead, it vanished directly.
Sora looked toward the upper-left corner of the inventory screen.
The wallet icon now displayed: — [0 Gold Coins, 0 Silver Coins, 1 Copper Coin] — A thought crossed his mind.
“I want to take out a copper coin.” Immediately, a copper coin appeared in his hand.
At the same time, the wallet display changed to: — [0 Gold Coins, 0 Silver Coins, 0 Copper Coins] — I see.
Coins went directly into the wallet instead of taking up inventory space.
That was quite convenient.
Sora took out the second coin from his pocket and stored it as well.
Now he had a basic understanding of the currency system, where the coins came from, and how they were stored and withdrawn.
The next question to investigate was which animals the system classified as “monsters” capable of dropping money upon being killed.
However, it was already getting late.
Beika Town was far too dangerous a place.
Just to be safe, he decided to postpone further testing until tomorrow.
Taking out the smartphone provided by the system, Sora found the nearest ramen shop on the map.
He went in, ordered a bowl of tonkotsu ramen, and filled his stomach.
Afterward, he visited a bank and inserted his card into an ATM.
The account contained five hundred thousand yen.
[TL: Around $3,100] Not a huge amount, but enough for the time being.
Sora withdrew one hundred thousand yen in cash.
After glancing at the security camera overhead, he walked out of the bank.
Only after reaching a street corner and confirming nobody was paying attention did he store the cash in his inventory.
Unlike the system currency, cash occupied a separate inventory slot.
The system wallet didn’t accept it.
Using his phone’s navigation, Sora then visited a supermarket and bought various daily necessities and food supplies.
When he left, he was carrying two large shopping bags.
There were too many people around, making it inconvenient to openly store them in his inventory.
Just as he was about to hail a taxi, a signboard at a nearby street corner caught his attention.
[Seto Seafood] Below it were several smaller words: [Beika Town Branch] “Seto…
could this be the mermaid family?” Curious, Sora walked over.
The seafood store was surprisingly spacious inside.
The floor was exceptionally clean.
There wasn’t even the usual fishy smell commonly associated with seafood shops.
“Welcome to Seto Seafood!
What can I help you with today?” A young female employee enthusiastically approached him.
“I’m just looking around.” “Of course.
Feel free to browse.
You can leave your belongings at the counter, and if you need anything, just let me know!” “Thank you.” Sora found the service quite pleasant.
After leaving his shopping bags at the counter, he wandered through the store.
Most of the products sold there were premium seafood ingredients, and nearly all of them were still alive.
Stopping in front of a glass tank, he looked thoughtfully at the long sea eels and giant lobsters inside.
If snakes counted as monsters…
Would these count too?
Sora was very tempted to buy a couple and take them home for testing.
However, after seeing the price tags, he quietly abandoned the idea.
Forget it.
Buying a chicken or a duck from the market tomorrow would work just as well.
Returning to the counter, Sora retrieved his belongings.
Even though he hadn’t purchased anything, the employee showed no displeasure.
She still smiled and politely saw him off, welcoming him to visit again.
“The products are good, and the service is excellent.
They’re just a bit expensive.” Sora hadn’t seen Sun Seto or Gōzaburō Seto anywhere in the store [TL: From My Bride Is A Mermaid] It was probably because this was only a branch location.
As he exited, his gaze shifted to the neighboring shop.
A sign depicting a cow hung above the entrance.
[Mito Meat Products] Below it was the same subtitle: [Beika Town Branch] “Even Ikumi Mito’s family business from Food Wars exists here…” “Just how many different series have been merged into this world?” Sora didn’t bother entering the meat shop.
After all, butcher shops sold pre-slaughtered and processed meat.
They weren’t exactly selling live cattle.
And with his current savings, buying a live cow would be difficult anyway.
“Although…” “I don’t actually need to buy an entire live cow.
I only need to perform the killing myself.” “If I ever get the chance to meet Ikumi Mito, maybe I can visit her family’s slaughterhouse and try killing a cow there…”