I woke up to the warm rays of sunlight peeking through the windows of my apartment. I stretched and yawned, feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep.

I rolled out of bed and began my morning routine, washing my face and getting dressed in my leather armor. My stomach growled, reminding me to fuel up for the day ahead. I headed to the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast.

As I ate my meager meal, I tried checking my status again, but just like last time, it still hasn't been activated yet.

I sighed, feeling a bit nervous at first, It was my first hunt, the one that could potentially unlock my system and grant me a place in this new world. And also the huge cash out I'll make from monster drops. 

According to hunters, monster drops are much more better than working as a life professional. But not everyone can become a hunter, because you can't choose the skills you have, it is from the system and you also won't know until you awaken it.

Once I finished eating , I picked up a gold bar that I dropped  on the table. I've been saving it up for a sword and armor. Then i walked out. Locking the door behind.

I turned to the direction of the marketplace. The morning sun almost at the highest. The street is already filled with people going about their everyday lives.

...

After 10 minutes of walking I finally got to the market. Rows and rows of shops lined up the street, with some merchants calling out to customers to buy their goods.

There are upgraded potions, weapons, armors, foods, Mana crystals of different colours, some elemental stones kept in transparent enchanted boxes, several enchanted equipments, edible monster parts, weird crystals and so much more; it was lively.

But that isn't where my attention is at, I walked a few more minutes before arriving at a rundown stall. the owner,  a blind old man, sitting crossed-legged on a warm mat surrounded by an assortment swords and blades, looked up at me as if sensing my arrival.

"Hey kid, welcome to" old man Willow's" shop. What can I do for you?"

"(Bowing). Greetings, honorable merchant. I seek a short sword, do you have any worthy ones?"

"(Smiling) Ah, young warrior, i have just the thing."

He rummages through his collection for a few minutes before returning with a blade in a black sheath.

"This one perhaps?"

He unsheathes the sword revealing a blade with a glinting body and the hilt is adorned with crystals, probably enchanted ones.

He passed me the blade. Honestly, I'm impressed by it. It feels just like the one I used during training

"This is a fine blade. how much is it?" I asked.

He turns to me with a sly smile on his face.

'What could he be thinking that's making him make such an expression?  He better not try anything funny, else I'll beat his old ass.'  I ranted in my head.

his smile turns into a grin.

'Why do I feel like he heard what I said. I didn't say that out loud, right?'

I shudder at the probability that he could hear my thoughts, I better start singing in my head.

'hehehehehe, this kid sure is smart, but I'm more advanced than he is, I'm gonna make a fortune out if this. Soni hurriedly replied before he changes his mind.'

"For you, I'll say.... 500 Gold pieces."

Uhn!!!   500 Gold pieces for one sword

This guy is a cheat.  but compared to other merchants, it'll be higher than that. I push my luck one last time to reduce the price.

"(Hesitates) That's a bit steep for me. I can offer 300."

"(Chuckles) You drive a hard bargain, I like that." He paused for a few seconds before continuing.

" Tell you what, I'll give you for 40 gold pieces. Take it or leave it." He replies in finality.

" (Sighs) Okay. Okay. I'll be buying a leather armor also, and a dagger. And also a boot with speed boost. Yeah. They should be enchanted. How much is it?" I asked in defeat.

"Without enchantments for the armor, it's 10 Gold pieces, same price for the dagger.

With enchantments it's 15 gold pieces for the armor, and 15 pieces for the dagger, and 5 pieces for the boots." He replies with a big smile in his face, making the wrinkles more pronounced.

My left eyes twitches,  but I still hand over the money to him, buying the four items, which costs 95 gold pieces.

He goes into his store to convert the gold into copper pieces.

If I convert that gold to copper, it will be a hundred gold pieces and if it's in copper, it'll be 10,000 copper pieces and now it's nearly finished, with only 5 gold pieces left.

"(Sighs) I'll just use one gold piece to buy food for the journey the rest are going into my Inventory."

I picked up the sword and unsheathe it. Swinging left and right, just as I was thought. After a few tries I picked up the dagger, standing in a defensive position and stabbing illusionary monsters,  earning a few weird stares from passers by.

I scratched my head in embarrassment and strap the dagger on my waist with the sword. Then I checked the armor and noticed the subtle magical readings on it.

I put it on, and I immediately felt energized. Must be the enchantments boost in my stats. If it was activated by now I could see it and unsurprisingly, according to him, the sword added 5 points to each stat. While the leather armor added 2 points to my strength. The red furred boots increased my speed by 2 points also.

Well it's better than going into a dead zone  unprepared.

Now I am fully prepared for my first monster hunt.

The Old man returns a few moments later with my change and I hurriedly walked away from his shop.

He happily waves at me

"Come back again!!! I'll have more quality equipments for you"

"I am never going back to that store except I have enough gold" i whisper as I walked towards a food shop that just opened and used all the gold piece to buy food.

.....

.....

Note: 1 Gold piece is equivalent to 1000 copper pieces.