Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Respect the Laws of the Market

As soon as Lloyd stepped out of the game room, he saw the Attendant from before already waiting for him at the door.

"Congratulations on your first victory! You have been awarded 10 points, which can be exchanged for a variety of astonishing rewards!"

The Attendant spoke in that same ridiculously flamboyant tone. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a thick stack of lists as if by Magic.

"Would you like me to introduce the list of rewards?" he continued.

Lloyd didn’t rush to ask about the rewards. Instead, he said hesitantly,

"Everything that happens here..."

The Attendant seemed to guess what he was about to say. He smiled and explained,

"Every player who comes here for the first time shares your concern. But rest assured, within the Dream Casino, no matter what you experience, participate in, exchange, or even kill... the outside world will never know. It is absolutely confidential."

"Once you leave, you can return to your normal life. No one will bother you, and no one will remember you. You can treat this place as a different world entirely—a spectacular world, a world of unrestrained entertainment."

Seeing how confidently he spoke, Lloyd believed about half of what he said.

’The confidentiality here must be legitimate. Otherwise, those criminals at the table wouldn’t have dared to be so reckless.’

’As for "spectacular" and "unrestrained entertainment"... yeah, right.’

"Do you have any other questions? I am more than happy to serve a victor such as yourself."

The Attendant asked with another smile, his enthusiasm much greater than when they had first met.

"Let’s talk about rewards. Does that list of yours have ’Gushing Blood Spring,’ ’High-Risk Demon’s Nerve Endings,’ a ’crystal chunk shaped like a brain,’ or an ’aged fine wine that induces madness’?"

Lloyd rattled off the materials he currently needed.

"One moment, please..."

The Attendant said, hastily flipping through the thick stack of lists. He had an answer in just five seconds.

"We have three of those items, but we’re temporarily out of the ’High-Risk Demon’s Nerve Endings’ you mentioned. As far as I know, it’s a piece of scrap with little to no practical value... However, if you truly require it, I can arrange to procure it for you as soon as possible."

"That won’t be necessary. How many points for the other three?"

"Please, have a look."

The Attendant handed him a sheet of paper. It only listed the prices for the other three materials:

’The Gushing Blood Spring requires 20 points, but the other two are only 4 points each?’

’Why is there such a huge price gap?’

Puzzled, Lloyd asked,

"Why is this one so expensive?"

He didn’t ask why the other two were so cheap.

The Attendant explained,

"Because the [Veto] system is the most fashionable one at the moment, the prices of its related materials have naturally skyrocketed. The other two materials, while possessing a unique Spiritual Energy, have no clear purpose as of yet, so they are naturally cheaper. We are simply following the laws of the market."

"I see. I’ll exchange for the two cheap ones, then."

Lloyd’s expression remained neutral as he spoke, but inwardly, he was gloating.

’Materials for the [Veto] system can be bought on the outside. But the ones needed for the [Twist] system... those are probably hard to find on the open market. I’d likely only find them in some shady underground black market.’

"Please, follow me."

The Attendant didn’t ask what Lloyd wanted with such obscure materials. He simply led him on a walk through a beautiful garden on the second floor, circling around twice before stopping in front of a mailbox.

He then opened the mailbox, took out two dark, oil-paper-wrapped packages, and handed them to Lloyd.

"You have two points remaining. Would you like to look at other rewards or exchange them for some services?"

the Attendant asked again.

"No, I’ll save them."

"Very well. We look forward to your next victory."

Lloyd thought for a moment before asking,

"You must have a lot of games here, right? Are there any that don’t... involve people dying? I’ve always been a gentle and kind young man, not really suited for such highly confrontational games."

"Of course. We have hundreds of different games, each with its own rules. There is surely one to suit you."

the Attendant replied with a smile.

"All right. I’ll come back and try again when I have time."

"Very good. I hope we meet again soon."

After the exchange of pleasantries, Lloyd’s vision went black. He was back in the empty room where he had started.

His Short Sword lay on the floor. The little kitten was pacing anxiously nearby, its face full of worry.

The moment it saw Lloyd appear, it pounced toward him with a flurry of "MEOW! MEOW!"

Lloyd bent down, picked up the kitten, and gave it a few good, firm pets before asking,

"I just disappeared, didn’t I?"

"MEOW, MEOW!"

The little kitten nodded.

Lloyd took out his pocket watch to check the time. A little over an hour had passed, which was about how long he had spent in the Dream Casino. This meant the flow of time was the same in both places.

He then reached into his pocket. The two oil-paper packages were there, faintly emanating a strange Spiritual Energy.

"Truly a magical place..."

Lloyd murmured. He bent down, picked up his Short Sword, and left the room with the little kitten.

As soon as he got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw the lazy clerk again, still slumped over the desk, fast asleep. The clerk didn’t even lift his head.

Lloyd didn’t disturb him. He left quietly, hopped on a streetcar, and rode it all the way to the "Don’t Ask Too Much" club.

The manager there hurried over to greet him.

"Mr. Lloyd? You’re here earlier than usual today. Have you finally decided to join us?"

Every time Lloyd saw this guy, the manager would try every trick in the book to get him to sign up for a membership. He never gave up, no matter how many times he was rejected, and he never seemed to find it tiresome.

’This constant pestering is really starting to get to me. I’ll probably just sign up for a membership after I get paid next month just to shut this guy up.’

For now, all he could do was say patiently,

"I’d like to ask about something. Have you ever heard of a place called the ’Dream Casino’?"

"Hm?"

The manager froze for a moment, then quickly made a "shushing" gesture. He beckoned for Lloyd to follow him and led him up to the second floor.

He then called over an attendant and took several dozen black envelopes from his hands.

"The ’Dream Casino’ you mentioned is also known as the ’Dream Theater’ or the ’Otherworldly Place.’ Information about it is a hot commodity here on the second floor. These are all investigation requests from our premium members, and they’re offering a handsome price..."

The manager waved the large stack of envelopes in his hand and continued,

"So, are you looking to post a request regarding that place? Or... do you have some information you’d like to share?"

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