Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

Wang Kai paused for a moment, scrutinized the old man for a few seconds, and realized that the man was not a yellow-green goblin. Judging from his appearance, he should be an old man of pure dwarf blood. So he slowly replied.

"May I ask your name, sir, if you are the boss?"

"Haha!" The dwarf chuckled twice. "Few people who come here dare to give their real names, let alone ask the owner's name. However, I smell money all over you, young man. As a sign of respect, you can call me John."

"Oh, Mr. John, hello..."

"Young man, you look unfamiliar. This must be your first time here. Let's skip the formalities. I won't waste any more words. If you have anything you're hesitant to handle publicly, bring it over quickly."

While looking around the shop's layout, Wang Kai carefully placed the bag full of magic stones on the counter.

John glanced at it briefly, a glint of light shining through his eyes, which were narrowed to slits by deep wrinkles. He then muttered a few words to himself, as if casting some kind of spell.

"Please don't mind, young man. I only briefly cast an appraisal spell. Indeed, these magic stones are all genuine, and almost all of them come from the underground cities surrounding Katla City..."

"Yes, yes, it's genuine. I just want to exchange these for gold coins or something and then leave immediately."

"Huh? Where are you in such a hurry to go? If you exchange all of these for money, it'd be close to ten large gold coins. My little shop doesn't have that much money right now, and besides, I'm pretty sure there's something fishy about where you got these magic stones..."

Wang Kai anticipated that even the black market would be met with suspicion because of the "urban oddities" he had caused.

He had already borrowed the most suitable excuse from numerous games, and while he remained outwardly calm, his words had become somewhat "official."

"Since I chose to trade here, it must be because I trust your store's 'confidentiality.' Is 'not asking about origins' just a gimmick?"

"That's right, that's right, there is such an unwritten 'rule,' how could I, an old senile, break it? But to be honest, having lived here for over ten years, I've heard about what's happening outside. The recent rumors about the 'Dungeon Headhunter' have really piqued my interest, so I couldn't help but say a few words. I see that you're young, and you don't have much decent equipment. Plus, the rumored 'Dungeon Headhunter' is only one person... So, you must know this legendary expert, or perhaps you're just a thief with superb stealing skills, able to 'steal' treasures from such experts and escape unscathed?"

"What 'thief'! Even though it's a different word, doesn't it still mean 'thief' or 'burglar'? It's unpleasant to hear, but I have to accept it!"

Wang Kai thought for a moment and nodded.

"Here's what happened: Today, I was walking down the street when I saw a tall man wandering around the city, dressed entirely in black robes and with his face completely covered by a mask. My 'professional instincts' told me that this man was definitely not simple and must be someone of importance. So I ran up to him, pretended to get into a fight with some passersby, and after the fight started, I deliberately steered the battle towards him. In the midst of the chaos, I casually reached into his waistband, and after succeeding, I immediately..."

“Hahaha!” John chuckled as he exhaled a puff of smoke, interrupting Wang Kai. “Little brother, you don’t need to go along with me and explain how you got started. It’s unnecessary, and besides, there’s a risk of ‘trade secrets’ being leaked. Also, let me mention that lies have very obvious characteristics: they are ‘full of details’…”

Wang Kai's face flushed red and then turned pale. In front of such a shrewd "black market boss," all his actions were childish in the other party's eyes. If he didn't stop in time, he might be tricked into revealing even more information.

Well, it's all for the best. It seems that after labeling this side as "naive and simple," they will definitely not believe that the person most people call... "Dungeon Hunter" is currently standing in front of them.

Not wanting to cause any more trouble, Wang Kai pretended to be angry, shook his head, glared at her, and said in a stronger tone.

"Whether the origin of the magic stone is something I made up or something else, hurry up and appraise it and pay me. I don't have much time to stay in this stuffy, smoky place... cough cough!"

John also dropped his teasing expression, counted the number of magic stones and other information, then held up five fingers on one hand and said.

"Currently, we only have 50 gold coins, which is 5 large gold coins. This pile of magic stones is estimated to be worth about double that. I can give you the rest in three days, but you can also find some items on the shelves next door to offset the price difference. These are all top-quality equipment that are extremely rare on the market. No matter what class you are, you will definitely find something better than you expect, so..."

“Hold on, Uncle John, didn’t you just say that your characteristic when lying is to talk a lot and go into a lot of details? This long passage doesn’t sound like a ‘welcoming’ speech at all. I’m quite certain that all the equipment on the shelves by the door is cheap stuff…”

"Wow, you're learning pretty fast, buddy. You've got the basics down so quickly?"

"Don't make sarcastic remarks. If I weren't in such a hurry to leave, I would have actually waited three days to settle the payment in cash. Since you've made things clear, I'm sure you have some 'hidden' shelves in the back of your shop. If there's any equipment worth no more than 50 gold coins, would you mind taking me there to browse?"

John pondered for a moment, smiled, put down his pipe, and waved his hand to the side, releasing a spell that instantly created a secret passage about half a person's height on the wall behind him.

"Yes, there is. If you want it, come along. If you're afraid, please go back and come back in three days!"

After saying that, John grabbed the bag of magic stones and went into the secret passage.

Although Wang Kai had his doubts, he could only grit his teeth and bend over to follow him inside.

After descending a flight of stairs, I could barely straighten up. Once the other person lit the oil lamp, the light suddenly burst forth from the darkness, illuminating the entire space as if it were daytime.

After Wang Kai's pupils adjusted to the drastic change in light, he could see that it was actually a basement that wasn't very big.

The reason why a single oil lamp could provide such a strong light was not due to magic or anything like that, but simply because the four walls of the basement were lined with display cases-like shelves, all filled with exquisite equipment made of magic stones...

"In the entire underground market, only I dare to buy so many magic stones at once. After all, there aren't many young people willing to be 'magic stone blacksmiths' these days. They spend all their magic power on a lot of identification, plus the subsequent forging work, and each job requires sitting for an entire day. I'm lucky as a dwarf, but other taller races would definitely develop health problems over the years. At best, they would retire early, and at worst, they would be paralyzed and bedridden... Young man, these words may seem numerous, but they are not lies."

"Yeah, I get it, I get it! Occupational diseases are all the result of the blood and tears of working people..."

Wang Kai glanced at the dazzling array of equipment inlaid with various magic stones while casually answering the questions.

To be honest, he didn't know much about the equipment in this world. He only knew that ordinary weapons, armor, rings, earrings, necklaces, and belts only served basic defensive and decorative purposes. Only equipment inlaid with magic stones could provide bonuses to physical and magical attacks.

Putting aside the differences in the quality of various equipment, finding suitable equipment for each of the 24 officially recognized basic professions on the continent, plus the hundreds of professions after the second job advancement, is a very troublesome matter.

Moreover, Wang Kai is currently a "newbie" in the game. Apart from basic elemental magic, such as "basic healing spells," he has no other class-specific magic.

These dazzling array of equipment, inlaid with various physical and magical enhancements, didn't offer him much of an improvement; they merely increased his basic magic level...

"Take your time, buddy. Every piece of equipment here starts at 1 gold coin. Just let me know what you like..."

After saying that, John went to a workbench and began to carefully sort through the bag of magic stones.

Wang Kai didn't know what kind of equipment he wanted for the time being. In the past few months, in order to "farm points", he had actually discarded the bulky chest armor, chainmail and other equipment that affected his "monster-stealing speed".

As for weapons, they were just some cheap iron swords. Later, because "cheap weapons deplete the durability of BOSSes very quickly", he switched to a hand hammer, since it was all about one-shotting everything.

Using high-durability blunt weapons allows you to defeat more bosses without having to replace them. After all, carrying a lot of heavy weapons while "running around and farming monsters" means that stamina consumption is a factor that must be considered.

Therefore, the primary consideration is to "travel light"...