Chapter 61: Zero-Grade Merchant, Gold Ring
“Half-Golden Goblin?”
The words slipped out unconsciously at the familiar yet unfamiliar sight before me, and the Zero-Grade Merchant’s face twisted further in irritation.
“You sh-! Who the hell are you to spout my race’s name like that?! You want to die? Is that it? Fine, I’m a half-blood! So what?! What are you going to do about it? What can you do about it?! Everyone else is dead, and I’m the only one left! Why should I be considered a half-blood anymore? I’m the real Golden Goblin now! The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Even the higher beings don’t dare to bring up my race, but here comes some mortal punk trying to step out of line. And a brat who hasn’t even cleared Stage-0 at that. Unbelievable.”
Clearly, he was very upset. How do I even respond to this? Caught off guard by the situation and my slip of the tongue, I started to sweat nervously.
This was no ordinary opponent.
He was the Abyss’s greatest merchant and one of the few beings capable of traveling freely across all its zones.
Think of him as a true NPC, one created directly by the Abyss or its system, unlike the other residents, who seemed to have settled in the Abyss over generations.
To my knowledge, merchants cannot be killed.
They cannot attack or be attacked. More precisely, attempting to harm a merchant results in permanent expulsion from the Abyss.
This rule applies mainly to high-ranking merchants, but even for lower-ranked ones, their rights are far from insignificant.
As such, there are players and residents who undertake quests to become merchants, repeatedly grinding tasks to gain recognition from the system.
Reaching even a Third-Grade Merchant grants semi-immortality and partial protection from the system, although it comes with some restrictions on returning to one’s homeland.
But who cares? Semi-immortality and a direct system affiliation are incredible rewards.
And the figure before me was one of the oldest merchants in existence, one of only five Zero-Grade Merchants.
Maybe that’s why his speech was rough, and he often used strange dialects. Comforting him seemed tricky.
‘No, but Golden Goblins aren’t extinct, though.’
He kept claiming the Golden Goblin race was wiped out and that he alone was the last true Golden Goblin, but there was still one alive in my domain.
“Damn it, I should have just died of old age. Why did I become a merchant, of all things, only to end up like this? And then to see my entire race wiped out in an instant? It’s too much to bear.”
“Did all the Golden Goblins really go extinct at once?”
“Yeah, you bastard! 9,999 of them disappeared in an instant! The number of Golden Goblins never increases or decreases from exactly 9,999! Then one day, they all vanished. Damn system! It promised that if I became a merchant, I’d become a true Golden Goblin. But what good is that now, when my entire race is gone?! Damn the filthy Abyss! Damn this rotten system!”
This was definitely my fault. No doubt about it. I had wiped out all the Golden Goblins with a bomb before my regression.
“And then what? The system says one survived, so everything’s fine? Damn it all! I’m a half-blood! A half-blood! My wish was to become a true Golden Goblin. And now, they say one survived? Of course, I’m not counted. Damn this wretched system!”
I cautiously raised my hand to interrupt.
“Excuse me, but there’s actually a Golden Goblin still alive.”
Oh no. My arrogance had acted up again. It wasn’t intentional, but the words were out. I really need to balance my stats before my arrogance takes over completely.
The merchant’s glare could have killed. But I wasn’t lying.
“Hey, kid. Can you take responsibility for what you just said?”
His sharp words cut through the air as if he were ready to kill me, and I quickly nodded.
This was a being even the higher beings showed respect to. I had to handle this carefully.
If I messed up, I’d have to apologize while groveling. Even with a summoning token, making a single purchase wouldn’t be enough to recover from completely severing ties with a merchant.
“If you’re lying, I’ll rip you apart, no matter what it takes.”
The black arrogance sealed deep within me—or rather, my boldness—acted up again.
“What if I’m telling the truth? Would you give me something for free? Transactions should be fair, after all. Don’t you know about equivalent exchange?”
Even I was shocked by my words. The merchant smirked in disbelief, pulled out a golden pipe, and placed it in his mouth.
Puff!
Wow, even the smoke was golden. How expensive must that pipe be for it to produce golden smoke?
After a moment of thought, the Zero-Grade Merchant nodded, his expression filled with determination.
“Fine. If there really is a pure-blood Golden Goblin alive, I’ll give you any one item from my collection for free.”
“You won’t go back on your word?”
My mouth wouldn’t stop.
Ha… It was too late. His expression made it clear there was no turning back.
Still, I had no reason to worry. This was a bet I was guaranteed to win.
Opening my inventory as if I were stepping into my domain, I dramatically entered the storage space.
-Kuaaang!!!
Startled by my actions, the Golden Goblin in my inventory jumped back in surprise.
“What is all this?”
The domain I hadn’t entered in a long time had changed drastically. What on earth had that Golden Goblin done?
From a castle made of gold to numerous luxurious houses, the changes were astonishing.
What shocked me most wasn’t just the scale of it all but the extraordinary level of detail and perfection.
The castle featured sculptures of dragons and other mystical creatures that seemed almost alive. The houses, too, were stunning, with ornate designs and impeccable proportions.
“Is this guy a Golden Goblin or a Golden Dwarf?”
As I marveled at the sight, I felt something tapping on my body from the outside. Remembering the reason I had come here, I called out to the Golden Goblin.
“Hey, Golden One! Time for you to see the outside world. Come out for a moment.”
-Kuaaang~~!
Ignoring any protests, I grabbed the Golden Goblin’s foot and returned to the hotel room.
As I looked at the goblin dangling playfully from my hand and swaying as if amused, the Zero-Grade Merchant, Gold Ring, suddenly dropped to his knees and shouted:
“Oh my~~!!! The great god of the Golden Goblins! You are alive! Of course, someone as great as you could never die. Forgive this lowly half-blood Golden Goblin, Gold Ring! I never even thought to search for you, believing you to be gone!”
He prostrated himself and trembled with joy, too afraid to even look directly at the Golden Goblin.
-Kuaang? Half-blood!
“Yes, Your Majesty! I am a half-blood Golden Goblin. I apologize for my lowly lineage failing to find you. I thought you had perished along with the rest of our kin. Were you preparing for succession all this time?”
Wait, does that mean this Golden Goblin is the god and emperor of the Golden Goblins?
So that’s why his rank is at the Mythical level. He must have been born immediately after the previous king died, as part of some succession process.
“Did I disrupt the succession by killing the rest of them?”
That seemed like the most plausible explanation. Either way, this wasn’t a bad outcome.
Judging by the situation, Gold Ring was showing absolute loyalty to the Golden Goblin, to the point where he didn’t even dare talk back.
Even the Zero-Grade Merchant, who claimed even the higher beings didn’t meddle with him, was this submissive.
Well, whatever. The important thing is that I won the bet, right?
With that realization, my mind, previously clouded by the influence of arrogance, began to clear.
A refreshing sense of normalcy washed over me.
Arrogance only triggers when I feel belittled or disrespected, altering my personality impulsively.
As a stat of origin, it performs its role too well, to the point where it becomes problematic.
Considering it’s strong enough to corrupt an archangel, maybe I should be grateful this is the only side effect.
“If Misfortune awakens as well…”
Just imagining the chaos made me dizzy. What would the two of them scheme together?
Thankfully, Misfortune didn’t act up during the dungeon overrun, so the situation wasn’t too dangerous.
Still, I’d need to be careful since it might regain its strength soon. Who knows when it might strike me unexpectedly?
Shaking off these thoughts, I turned my attention back to Gold Ring.
He was now rolling on the floor, playing around at the Golden Goblin’s command.
It was hard not to feel sorry for a being who had likely lived far longer than even the gods.
“Golden One, stop fooling around and come here. Do you want to go back now or stay a little longer?”
-Stay little!
“Alright, then wait a bit. Let me finish this conversation, and then I’ll let you explore together.”
The Golden Goblin obediently backed away.
At the moment, the novelty of the Abyss world seemed more fascinating to him than Gold Ring.
While he wandered around the hotel room, I turned to the now-dust-covered Gold Ring and spoke.
Quietly. Patiently. Thoughtfully. With a piercing gaze that conveyed my intentions.
“Alright, fine! I get it! You win, mortal! You called me here to buy something, didn’t you? Go ahead and pick one item. I’ll give it to you for free. Don’t get cocky and try to buy more, though. You won’t have the coins to satisfy me anyway.”
At that moment, a system window popped up in front of me, displaying Gold Ring’s inventory for sale.
“Wow~~. Are all these for sale? This is insane.”
“Hmph, any Zero-Grade Merchant would have at least this much. The system supports us, and we’ve been at it for a long time, so we haven’t been idle.”
“Based on these items alone, it’s like… 0.0000000001% of the Golden Tower.”
The moment I muttered that under my breath, Gold Ring’s eyes flipped wider than they had when he saw the Golden Goblin.
“What… what did you just say?”
“Uh… what?”
“Something about a tower? Didn’t you just say something about a tower?”
“The Golden Tower? That’s my Authority.”
Thud!
Gold Ring collapsed, staring blankly into the air as if his entire worldview had been shattered.
“What’s going on with this guy?”
I had no idea.
Maybe he was bipolar.
But that wasn’t my problem right now.
My priority was choosing something worthwhile from his inventory.
—
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