Re: Evolution Online-Novel

"Wait a minute!" The fairy snapped out of his hatred and chased after Liam. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Let's talk about this first. Don't be hasty! If you think 10,000 mana cores is too low, then we can increase the amount."

Liam grinned and stopped walking. With the way the fairy was acting at the moment, he immediately knew that he was correct. These crystals were very valuable, and there was a high probability that an actual dungeon could be set up once again using these crystals.

Naturally, he was not planning to let this chance slip by, and there was no way he was going to accept the very first offer the fairy put forward. 

These beings were not their friends, and they never looked out for the well-being of humans. They were merely war profiteers.

So…

Let the negotiations begin!

"What amount are you talking about?" Liam turned to ask with a smile.

Aron had a bad feeling about this. He shakily put forth the next number. "Let me see what I can do." He gritted his teeth and mumbled. He then opened his system interface and started typing something. After a few seconds, he once again looked at Liam.

"I can only go as high as this. I can offer you a hundred thousand mana cores."

"Hmmm?" Liam remained calm and kept silent for a couple of seconds. He did not reply immediately.

Seeing this, the fairy started sweating. Damned bastard! He cursed Liam in his mind and waited, but the other party continued to remain quiet. What the hell?!

In the end, it was Aron who broke first. "Alright, I can make it a million mana cores, but that is really my limit."

"Hmmm…" Liam sighed. "That's unfortunate." He casually shrugged his shoulders and then randomly started walking out of the shop again.

"MR. LIAM! Please just stop and have a conversation!" The fairy was livid. "You are being too impatient. Fine. Tell me what you expect in return for this crystal. I will see if I can make it happen."

Aron did not speak these words on a whim. Instead of him increasing the offer exponentially without any necessity, he decided that he would let the idiot take a shot at it. With his brain, the human might even ask less than what he intended to pay.

"Hmmm…" Liam paused once again and pretended as if he was thinking about something long and hard. "Honestly, the price you are offering is too low for me. I would only be taking a loss selling you this."

The fairy's heart sank. Wait, this guy was not an idiot? Did he, by chance, know the actual value of a dungeon crystal? Oh no!

However, the next words made the guy sigh in relief.

"Alright. Though I will be taking a loss… since you seem to want it so badly, I have decided to sell it." Liam nodded magnanimously. 

Aron became overjoyed, and he also nodded his head in acceptance.

"Shall I name the price?"

He once again nodded vigorously.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Yes," He nodded.

"I am a simple man, so I will just ask for 100 billion low-grade mana cores in exchange for the dungeon crystal."

"Yes. yes." The fairy once again nodded, but then he suddenly froze. Wait, what?

Liam smiled. "So we have a deal? Quick, make the transfer. I have a lot of shopping to do." He tossed the crystal to the fairy as if it was no big deal.

Aron as well blankly caught the crystal and then stared at the thing and back at Liam without any words coming out of his mouth.

What…

What just happened…?

No… Did he say a hundred billion low-grade mana cores?

Fuuucccckkkk!

Aron snapped out of his trance and shook his head the other way hurriedly. "No. Wait." He then paused, took a breath, and again slowly spoke. "Mr. Liam. Surely, you are joking?"

"Huh? Was I?" Liam looked confused.

Aron gnashed his teeth wanting to tear apart the human being in front of him.

"It's just a few billions of low-grade mana cores. Don't tell me that is too much for a magic shop manager such as you. Come on, Mr. Aron. Now, who is joking? This is probably pocket change for someone like you." Liam sighed. "Please don't try to swindle me."

The fairy's face twitched. Who was trying to swindle whom here? This bastard!

The problem was not the price per se. Though it was a ridiculous number, the human wasn't wrong. For a higher realm, this price was nothing. 

In fact, if auctioned, the crystal might go for several times above this price mark. The fairy was only going to benefit even if he agreed to this dastardly demand. However… 

They were not in a higher realm at the moment!

They were in a sad, depressing, standing in line to get utterly destroyed, lowest tier realm. In a world like this, how could he possibly exchange anything for a whole hundred billion mana cores??? 

Even if these were low-grade mana cores, it was simply too much for a world like this.

It would be single-handedly changing the fate of the whole world!?

How could he possibly dare to create a ripple like that?

Wouldn't he get caught and slaughtered for manipulating the grand design like this?

Sure, he was willing to bend the norm a bit, but as a store manager of one of the shops assigned to this world, there were certain rules that he could cross and certain rules that he absolutely must not cross.

If he did something like that, then it would be his own skin that would be up for grabs. He would die like a dog, not knowing why he even died in the first place!

But on the other hand… an opportunity like this was once in a lifetime. If he were always confined by these horrid rules and regulations, he would never amount to anything in his life. 

This was his chance to metamorphize! Break from the mold that he was born to fit in! He could be rich beyond his dreams and live a life of luxury and debauchery!

No. He absolutely cannot miss this.

As the fairy's logic and caution slowly got overtaken by greed, his brain spun, and he quickly thought of a counterproposal.

"Mr. Liam, this conversation is going nowhere. We both have our own limitations, so instead of mana cores, how about we make this trade in terms of other things? Hmm? Would you be interested in some items or skills?" Aron flashed a big smile and rubbed his hands in anticipation.