Abigail and I appeared outside the dungeon, about 20 feet from the entrance. Henry and Stu were waiting outside, but as soon as they saw us, their faces widened in shock.

"Holy shit. You actually did it? You actually defeat the dungeon boss? Or did you just run past it to the teleporter?" Henry said.

"Can you actually do that? Wouldn't the teleporter not work until the boss is dead?" I said.

"Kid, how would I know? I've never completed a dungeon. This is the only dungeon I've ever run and most of them ended in me running away from an enemy I didn't think I could beat," he said.

"That's fair I suppose. I have to ask though, what happened with Lloyd? I'm not pointing any fingers or looking to blame anyone. I mean more like, how did he get one shot or two shot by that troll? I thought you guys would have decent stats," I said.

"Kid, we're strength primary C and D-rankers. We deal high damage, but our hp is shit, and we can't dodge. We're mainly good at smacking down slow enemies with low attack damage. Lloyd was a D-ranker so he couldn't gain any stamina or agility stats from the cores we collected, not that we were allowed to absorb cores, except for the bare minimum required to do our jobs," he said.

"My strength is 203 and Lloyd's was probably somewhere between 150 and 160. Not that high, but keep in mind, that's our best stat. You know stamina? The stat that gives you hp and durability? The only way any of us could increase our stamina is through training and we got none of that from the company."

"I was just handed a sword on day one, given a handful of strength cores, and told to go fight. And none of us have time outside of work and taking care of our families to do training."

"The only stamina stats I've gained are on the job just from swinging the sword so much. I'm looking at my stats now and it says my stamina is 106. Consider Lloyd's was probably around 104 and there's your answer. We basically all have day-one stamina stats. It's a miracle we haven't died already. We're mercenaries. Our careers don't last long and they usually end bloody."

"When you put it like that, it makes total sense," I said. "I'm sorry for pushing you for an answer. I was just so shocked by Lloyd's death. I thought you all were safe and we'd work together for a long time, and then one of you is just gone."

"Hey kid, it's alright. I get the instinct to search for answers. I also get not being used to seeing a friend die, even if you only knew them for a few hours. It's something you learn to not look for solutions and just accept. And the deaths aren't so bad after a while. You get used to it," he said.

"That's not right though. If the company had tried harder to keep you alive with training and better equipment, Lloyd might still be alive," I said.

"It's not right. But there's nothing we can do about it. We're at the bottom of the ladder and shit always falls down," Henry said, sighing and rubbing his neck.

"Now, let's go sell this loot so you don't have to lug around all this extra weight. It would be better to give to Lloyd's family in money form too. What are they gonna do with a bunch of crystals besides just selling them at the market themselves? And they'll probably get a worse price since they aren't mercenaries."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. I was disappointed that things had to be this way, but as Henry said this may be the only option. I'd keep my mind open to other possibilities though.

"Sounds fun! I've always wanted to know how the other half lived," Abigail said.

"What, are you some rich kid turned bum? Why are you down here slumming it with the common folk?" Stu said.

"I'm a—" she started to say, but I covered her mouth.

"She ran away from home," I said. "It would be a huge scandal for her family if anyone found out she was missing. That's why she can't tell you her family name. Right, Allison?"

I turned to Abigail so only she could see my face, and I winked at her. Hard.

"Is something in your eye, Tom?" Abigail said.

"Allison, you know I don't like being called that. Use my real name, Jarnathan," I said. Then I leaned in really close so I was whispering in Abigail's ear. "We don't want them to know who we really are. They might turn us in for a reward. And I wouldn't blame them if they did."

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, Jarnathan! I always forget you hated that nickname," she said.

"Your name is Jarnathan?" Stu said. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's a new fancy upper city name. You probably wouldn't have heard of it," I said.

"Well, Jarnathan, we're here. At the market. So keep your eyes peeled and don't let anyone pick your pockets or steal your bags or coin purse. You'll never get it back," Henry said.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Good to know," I said. "Do you have control over that bubble?" I pointed at the large bubble containing and carrying the treasure chest full of crystals.

"Yeah. I can prevent people from taking it," Abigail said.

"Good. Put a bubble over your other stuff too, so people can't take those either," I said, looking around.

"Done!" She said.

"Ok. We're all set, Henry. Lead us to whoever is going to take these off our hands," I said.

"Follow me," Henry said.

We arrived at a very fancy-looking stall. At least fancy compared to all the other stalls in this marketplace. Maybe not upper-city fancy, but it was definitely lower-city fancy.

It had all kinds of different trinkets, baubles, potions, and crystals displayed. There was only one version of each potion and crystal displayed, and they didn't look very authentic. The only way I could tell what they were supposed to be was from the labels underneath and in front of them.

I was wondering why he would put fake items on display when a kid rushed by and snatched a fake potion off his display. The man didn't even react with a facial expression.

He said nothing and just reached under the counter, pulled out an identical fake potion, and replaced the stolen one on the display. So that was why he didn't have authentic merchandise out in the open.

When he saw Henry, and the rest of us his face lit up, and he said, "Henry! Good to see you again my friend." His eyes fell onto the treasure chest.

"You're not selling scraps this time I see. I'm excited to see what you got. Good day, I assume." He looked at me and Abigail. "Welcome! My name is Bobbin, and this is my shop, Bobbin's Baubles and More!"

He had warm brown skin, striking white hair, and a jovial smile. He wore traditional merchant's garb, and by that I mean he was dressed the same as any of the merchants in this square. I didn't actually know what merchants normally dressed like here since I got here yesterday.

"Nice to meet you, Bobbin. I'm Jarnathan, and this is Allison," I said.

"Nice to meet you Jarnathan, but let the lady speak for herself," he said, looking Abigail up and down. I could tell he was interested in creating an excuse to stare at Abigail's features, rather than anything to do with respecting women, but I let it slide.

"It's ok, Mr Bobbin, but as… Jarnathan said, my name is Allison, and… well, that's all he said," Abigail said.

"Marvelous to meet you, Allison," Bobbin said, while taking Abigail's hand and kissing it.

Allison pulled her hand back and giggled at that. I couldn't tell if it was an actual giggle or a discomfort one. I know how I'd feel, but I didn't want to assume her feelings.

"Stu, good to see you as well," Bobbin nodded in Stu's direction. "So, what do you have for me today?"

Abigail set the chest on the counter of his stall. Bobbin carefully opened the chest and what he saw inside made his jaw drop wide open.

Bobbin stared at the open chest full of crystals for longer than I expected him to. Finally, he said, "This is a dungeon reward chest. How did you get this?"

"We completed the dungeon, Bobbin. How else would we get it?" Henry said.

"Robbery is a possible option," he said.

"If someone was strong enough to complete a dungeon, and we weren't, how would we be strong enough to rob them?" I said.

"I suppose that makes sense," Bobbin said. "Well, however you got it, I want it. I want it all."

"How much will you give us for it?" Henry said. He looked at me and whispered, "Let me do the talking."

"Sure," I said, fully intending to interrupt if I felt we were being shorted. How would I know if we were being shorted? Time to ask the system.

'System, do you know the value of the crystals in the chest? Including the extra ones we added to it?'

[Yes. I was keeping track. The total value of the crystals you left in the chest, without including the crystals you kept, is 2,047 gold. This is the current wholesale market value. Selling each crystal individually would yield far greater profits. Bobbin should offer you at least 1,638 gold for the chest, which is 80% of its wholesale value. Anything less would be exploitative]

Bobbin rubbed his chin thoughtfully, which to me meant he was calculating the most advantageous price for himself, that he thought we would accept.

"I'll give you 1,228 gold for the whole thing, including the chest," Bobbin said. He was as cool as could be. No nervousness about lowballing us. Like a true professional businessman. I hated it.

He was offering us 60% of the true wholesale value of the chest. I waited for Henry to turn down the offer and argue for more.

"Sounds good to me," Henry said. "That's a lot of money. Right?" He looked at me trying to get me to agree.

"No! You're lowballing us! You and I both know those crystals are worth 2,047 gold without the chest. The chest could sell for 200 gold by itself. 2,047 gold and I'll throw the chest in for free," I said.

I was acting upset, which I was, but it was for show. I was more than willing to go lower than 2,047 gold. This was all part of the negotiation process, but I couldn't let him know I knew that. He might try to leverage it against me.

"1,433," he said. He upped it to exactly 70%. So this is how it was going to go. Well, two could play that game.

"1,945," I said. I lowered it 95% to counter his 10% raise. I was showing him I meant business and put him at a disadvantage for having offered a 10% raise.

Now I could continue to offer 5% lower every time, but he couldn't do the same. The lowest he could offer me now was a 7% raise. Or so I thought. I was just going off of everything I'd learned from TV, movies, books, and games.

I had never been in a real negotiation before. I liked it. It felt like my blood was on fire but in a good way.

"1,586. No higher," he said, with his arms crossed.

It didn't show on his face but he was sweating. I don't mean that as a figure of speech. Sweat was dripping down his face, and it wasn't that hot out.

A 7.5% raise. I'd counter with a 4% lowering. "1,863. No lower." I said. I was a little nervous, but I was also excited. This was the most fun I'd had in my previous life.

"Ok. You've proven to be a shrewd negotiator. How about we meet in the middle, eh? 1,725," he said, with a fake smile on his face.

He knew that the longer this negotiation went on, the worse it would get for him. This was an attempt to cut his losses.

"Why don't we make it easier? 1,800 even. That's a nice round number, don't you think?" I said.

That was 87.9%, but I wasn't doing it because of the exact percentage. I was doing it to socially engineer a little extra money out of him. I was doing all this math in my head.

In my past life, I was a boring old accountant. The work was alright, but I craved more excitement. This was certainly more exciting.

"1,750 and I'll let you pick one item you see displayed here for free," he said, narrowing his eyes at me.

"As long as we get a real item and not a fake display one, I'm willing to call that a deal," I said, letting a little bit of a smile make its way onto my face.

I put my hand out to shake his hand to seal the deal. He took it and shook it. The deal was done. 1,750 gold and a free item it was. 85.5% and an item wasn't a bad deal. It was more than I set out to make. I expected and was willing to accept 80% of the crystals only, and nothing more.

Henry was staring at me like he didn't know who I was. Which in all honesty, he didn't.

Henry leaned in and said, "I don't know how you did that kid, but that was amazing. I've never seen anyone beat Bobbin at his own game. I usually just take whatever he gives me and run. Not worth the arguing, but boy am I glad you stepped in."

"Think nothing of it," I said.

'System, what item should I pick?'

[What you pick is up to you, but I will point out there are a couple of expensive potentially useful items like a compass, and a sundial watch]

'Hmm. Yeah, but can't I just use you to tell where I'm going and the time?'

[Yes. I hadn't considered that]

'Yeah. I think I'll go with a health potion. Seems the most useful to me right now.'

[Very well]

"I'll take a health potion as my item," I said.

Bobbin wiped his brow like he was glad I didn't pick the compass or the watch. "One health potion. Here you go," he said. He put a red potion on the counter. I grabbed it and put it in my pack.

'System, is the health potion real?'

[Yes]

'Thanks.'

"Thank you. Now we'll take our 1,750 gold and be on our way," I said.

"I'll get that ready for you," Bobbin said. He prepared several coin purses to carry the gold with. It came out to 10 equally sized and weighted purses. I stuffed them all in my pack.

'System?'

[Yes, it's the right amount of gold]

'Thanks.'

"Pleasure doing business with you, Bobbin. Hope to see you again soon," I said, with a smile.

"Not too soon I hope," Bobbin said, with a forced smile.

We walked off out of the marketplace. "Henry, please lead us the Lloyd's house. I don't feel safe dividing up the gold until we're in a secure location," I said, looking around.

I had no idea how dangerous it was in this world, but it was definitely going to be more dangerous than where I lived before, and that place killed me.