Want to be human, but cube-like

Alex is unable to obtain the license yet. She had tried before, using bark to synthesize paper and placing it on the counter in the sky island, but received a message indicating insufficient reputation level.

Although she didn't quite understand, Alex, having no other choice for the time being, could only put it aside for the time being.

As for those currencies...

"Next, it's time to change jobs."

She swiped open the villager interaction interface in front of her, found the location in the interaction options, and then selected the work area.

No problem, Alex.

The villager turned his head, and a square frame appeared above his head. Then, in front of the loom blocking it, he quickly changed into a new set of clothes.

Just like when they turned the zombie villagers back into villagers, there was no process whatsoever. In the blink of an eye, before either of them could react, it was over.

Xiangzi, who was standing to the side, was stunned.

Then, Alex couldn't wait to open the interaction interface again with the villagers who had changed to shepherds.

Sure enough, there was another trading option.

She clicked on it, and there were four different dyes inside, including the blue dye that Alex desperately needed.

A quick glance revealed, as Alex had expected, that the currency beside her was not the emerald, which was commonly used in the past and was usually very precious in the early stages.

Instead, it was a new currency that Alex had never seen before.

[Copper Coin: 1C]

Beneath this brass-colored coin, displayed in Alex's item attributes, was that familiar price unit, C, which Xiangzi had once asked her about.

"Hmm... Xiangzi, do you remember when you helped me rewrite the menu, what exactly did that 'C' you asked me about?"

With a slightly troubled frown, Alex turned around and asked Xiangzi, who was watching her interact with the shepherd with curiosity.

"'C'?"

After a moment of surprise, Xiangzi vaguely recalled what had happened a month ago.

"What price unit?"

Although the image was a bit blurry, she still remembered some details quite clearly.

After all, they were all related to Alex, and for her, they were both novel and interesting things.

"Hmm, if I want to trade with this shepherd, he only accepts that currency... It's called copper coins. I've never seen these before, and it seems I can't get them now. Originally, I had to obtain them by operating a hamburger shop."

With a troubled pout, Alex briefly explained to Xiangzi about villager transactions and the currency mentioned in the quest log.

In fact, Alex had come into contact with currencies such as copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins before, but those were unique to other worlds. Although the currencies of most worlds are similar in name and form, they are definitely not the same thing. Even if they were the same, they could not be obtained in the same way as those worlds on this sky island.

After all, the mission description states that these currencies can only be obtained by her running the hamburger shop and from customers.

But Xiangzi had told her that the world in which the hamburger shop was located used paper currency issued by the country it was in, and now that she thought about it, it was obvious that there was no precious metal currency available for her to use for transactions.

"Eh?!"

Sure enough, Xiangzi, who had barely understood some of what was being said, suddenly cried out in surprise.

"So... that C actually refers to COIN?!"

She asked, somewhat incredulously.

Xiangzi had considered that there might be some discrepancies, but after estimating the value of the ingredients and comparing them carefully, she did feel that the price should not be much different from what she had guessed.

Xiangzi never imagined that this would actually be the price unit for physical precious metal currency.

In modern society, the value of currency made from precious metals is much higher than that of currencies issued by other countries.

Are all those ingredients really that expensive?!

We sold it at a loss!

…………

P.S. I'm not entirely sure if everyone remembers the villager trading stuff, since it happened quite a while ago, around chapter 15. The currency part is at the beginning of chapter 21. If you've forgotten, you can go back and check those chapters.

Volume 1: Chapter 124 Don't be too greedy

Saying that he lost money was just a joke.

If we were to price the menu according to the monetary values ​​Alex provided, we wouldn't be able to come up with a reasonable menu.

After all, modern society no longer uses this precious metal as a common currency, and converting it would be very troublesome.

The problem now is that the money they earn from running the hamburger shop doesn't seem to be directly used to buy ingredients from the villagers on the Sky Island.

Do we have to spend money to buy various metals, melt them down into currency, and then use them to trade here?

Xiangzi's mind began to wander to all sorts of ideas. For a fleeting moment, she even considered buying a set of smelting tools, like a small smelting furnace, or something like that...

Putting aside whether they have the ability and skill, and how efficient they are at melting and casting metal coins, the villagers might not even recognize the coins they produce.

"What should we do, Xiangzi?"

Turning her head, she saw Alex looking at her with bewildered eyes, pleading for help.

"Hmm! Let me think about Desuwa..."

Xiangzi, who couldn't quite resist Alex's gaze, blushed slightly and turned her head awkwardly as she spoke, unaware that her old verbal tic had unconsciously surfaced again.

"How about I go and get some cash and see if they'll accept it?"

Actually, there wasn't much of a good solution. They couldn't really go to the site to melt down some currency. After Xiangzi finished speaking, seeing that Alex didn't have any objections, he nodded to her and turned to walk towards the portal.

Back at the hamburger counter on the ground floor, Xiangzi squatted down and opened the cash compartment.

Nowadays, most customers are used to using online payment. Although there is some paper money, it is not much. In order to handle tax-related matters and for the convenience of bookkeeping, Xiangzi usually takes the cash to the bank every once in a while and deposits it back into the hamburger shop's account. Therefore, there is very little cash in the shop, mainly for giving change to customers.

She rummaged through the treasury and took out one of each denomination, including one coin of each denomination, for a total of 16,666 yen.

Holding a pile of banknotes and coins in his hands, Xiangzi returned to the portal to the lower level.

She looked down at the money in her hand. Although she didn't have high hopes, she still gently pushed open the door and went inside.

But soon, Xiangzi realized that something seemed wrong.

The coin in my hand seemed to move, or rather, its weight and quantity changed.

Before she could even stand up straight, she quickly looked down.

The banknotes still lay quietly at the bottom, while the coins on top had changed shape.

The 500 and 100 denomination coins had disappeared, replaced by five unfamiliar brass coins, while the coins of denominations one to fifty remained unchanged.

Xiangzi paused for a moment, thought for a moment, then took two steps back, stepped through the portal, and left the Sky Island world area.

Just as she expected, the five copper coins, in the blink of an eye, turned back into the 100-yen and 500-yen yen coins.

“How amazing…!”

With a slightly surprised sigh, Xiangzi walked back to the empty island.

She picked up the five copper coins with one hand and walked toward Alex, who was waiting for her not far away.

"Alex! Look!"

With a slightly excited shout, Xiangzi handed over the copper coin in his hand.

"Huh? Where did these copper coins come from?"

Taking the copper coin, Alex asked in surprise.

"It was automatically converted by coins at the door. Just now when I came in, two coins had turned into this."

Xiangzi opened his other hand and showed it to Alex, then replied.

Clearly, the remaining ones were not transformed for some unknown reason.

"Is it so convenient?"

Picking up a copper coin, Alex examined it closely but couldn't figure it out. She turned back impatiently and opened the shepherd's trading interface.

"It works!"

Soon, Alex had ten more blue dyes in her hand, and of the five copper coins she had taken from Xiangzi, only one remained.

"That's good."

With a slight smile, seeing how happy the other person was, Xiangzi also breathed a sigh of relief.

Being able to help Alex really cheered her up.

"However, why can only five copper coins be converted?"

Holding the copper coin, which was no bigger than a thumb, Alex asked in confusion.

"It might be a matter of the face value."

Xiangzi's mind worked quickly; after thinking for a moment, she immediately guessed the reason.

"First of all, paper money should not be convertible; the 16,000 yen here remains unchanged."

As she spoke, she slightly folded a few banknotes and casually stuffed them into her pocket.

"The remaining coins, it's probably because, even when added together, they don't amount to the value of a single copper coin?"

I counted the remaining coins in my hand, and the total value was sixty-six yen. The ones that had just been exchanged were a one-hundred-yen coin and a five-hundred-yen coin, for a total of six hundred yen.

"So, the value of one copper coin, or 1 coin, is equal to one hundred and twenty yen...?"

At this point, Xiangzi suddenly paused.

"Isn't this... the price you set when you wrote the menu before, Xiangzi?"

Alex realized what was happening and asked, somewhat uncertainly.

"Is it a coincidence?"

Xiangzi blinked, then turned his head blankly and glanced at the teleportation portal not far behind him.

Or is it that the exchange rate changed to this because she set the price this way?

The two looked at each other, both showing confused expressions.

"If you set the price even lower, Xiangzi, wouldn't we have a lot of copper coins, and even iron and gold coins?"

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, and Alex's eyes lit up.

Road.

“In that case, our turnover will become very low.”

Upon hearing this, Xiangzi looked at Alex with a hint of helplessness and patiently explained.

"If the price is too low, then even if the exchange rate changes, the money we earn will still be less, and the amount of goods we can trade here on the Sky Island will remain the same."

Not to mention, they have to spend money in various places every day, so they can't ignore other needs for the sake of short-term gains.

"Well... okay then."

Alex pursed her lips in disappointment and muttered to herself.

"Don't be too greedy."

Xiangzi gave a brief warning and glanced at the villagers behind Alex.

"Do you still need to make a transaction? There are some coins upstairs, I can take them all down."

she asked.

"Yes! I'll take as many as you have!"

Upon hearing this, Alex realized it was time to get back to the main topic, and she quickly nodded.

"There should only be a few dozen. The store doesn't have many coins, so don't get your hopes up too high."

"After all, it's just for making change," Xiangzi said.

Looks like I'll have to go to the bank and exchange some coins when I have time.

she thought.