Chapter 10: A Precarious Situation

Nick didn't hesitate for long and quickly made a decision. There were already quite a few people in the regional chat channel who were in the trading market. Even if no one was trading Runes, he could at least gather some information.

He raised his shovel and started digging towards the trading market. Nick had the Ancient Hand Crossbow as a weapon, so even if others wanted to make a move against him, they would have to weigh their own strength.

"Let's go!"

Nick glanced at the pangolin. Python understood and started digging downwards. With this little guy's help, the digging progress was much faster.

In just a short time, they had dug a tunnel more than ten meters long.

When Nick arrived at the trading market, he was immediately drawn in by the scene before him. The spacious, large dungeon didn't feel as stuffy.

Thanks to the torches on both sides of the walls, visibility was much better. Because of this, Nick could take in the entire dungeon.

This trading market was about a few hundred square meters in size. There were no buildings or stalls. Many people had simply set up their temporary camps, creating makeshift stalls.

Nick looked around and saw at least thirty or forty stalls, and there were quite a few people walking around in front of them.

"There are so many people who found the trading market..."

Nick was slightly surprised. This suited his intentions. If there were only a few stalls, it would be incredibly difficult for him to trade for Runes.

He didn't hesitate and walked towards the center of the dungeon. The trading market could be said to be one of the few safe areas in the dungeon world.

But this safety was limited to the absence of dungeon creature attacks. As for whether anyone would attack their fellow humans, no one could guarantee that.

Nick placed the hand crossbow in a conspicuous position, as a deterrent. He was also observing the condition of the others.

After three days of the Dungeon Survivial Game, it was easy for Nick to see the fatigue on their faces. Their lips were dry due to lack of water, they spoke very little, and some of them had obvious injuries.

This didn't surprise him. In the perilous dungeon world, it was difficult not to encounter dungeon creatures. After all, not everyone could see the digging hints like Nick.

Being able to survive until the fourth day was purely a matter of luck for them.

When these people saw Nick's energetic face and the conspicuous hand crossbow, their silent and reserved demeanor seemed to brighten with hope.

"Young man, do you need food? I have compressed biscuits. 3 biscuits for a 500ml bag of water!"

"I have instant rice, a large portion and filling. It can keep you full for a day. Can I trade you 2 bags of instant rice for a bag of water?"

One female survivor, seeing Nick with a weapon and the pangolin behind him, even pulled down her tattered clothes, exposing her fair skin.

"Can you take me with you? As long as I can survive, I can give you anything you want!"

"..."

Nick had anticipated this kind of situation. When their lives were threatened, let alone selling their bodies, even murder and robbery would probably become normal in the eyes of some extreme individuals.

Nick wouldn't bother judging them. His only thought was to survive in the dungeon world.

As he passed by their camps, Nick said indifferently, "I only want Runes. If you have any, come to my stall up ahead."

Leaving these words behind, he didn't linger. Finding an empty space, Nick took out the miniature altar from his pocket, and the temporary camp appeared before him.

"Let's see what I have to sell..."

Nick sat by the campfire in his camp. Several chests were neatly arranged in front of him, most of them filled with survival resources.

After keeping the resources he needed for survival, Nick placed the tradable goods in front of the camp. Python, the pangolin, lay by the camp like a guard dog.

In this pile of resources, there were over a hundred pounds of red python meat alone, not to mention the dozen or so palm-sized compressed biscuits.

The most attractive items were the several bottles of purified water Nick had. There were three 1L bottles and four 500ml bags of purified water.

This massive amount of resources alone was enough to survive in the dungeon world for a long time.

While Nick waited for traders to approach, he wasn't idle. He knew the old saying, "Wealth stirs the heart."

Especially in this dungeon world, where there was no order, any survival resource was extremely precious. There were probably quite a few people with bad intentions.

Nick skillfully loaded the hand crossbow with bolts and placed it beside him as a deterrent. If anyone dared to make a move against him, he had killed the red python...

...let alone puny humans.

After Nick set up his makeshift stall, many people started walking towards him. When they saw the large amount of fresh meat and the purified water they envied, desire didn't cloud their judgment.

In the dungeon world, the resources that could be collected did not include fresh meat. That meant Nick had already hunted a dungeon creature.

Moreover, on Nick's right side, there was a loaded crossbow. Not only that, but the pangolin was also lying in front of the camp, playing with its sharp claws.

If they had any bad intentions, their fate would definitely not be good.

Among the crowd, a middle-aged man with thinning hair stepped forward. He looked at the purified water in front of Nick with great eagerness.

"How do you trade these things?"

"Weapons, Fire Runes, and Water Runes. I decide the terms of the trade."

Nick's tone was indifferent, but his words carried a hint of authority. He had put on this big display to attract the attention of others.

This would increase the chances of trading for Runes.

"You don't want anything else?"

The middle-aged man was disappointed when he heard Nick's request. He didn't have any of the things Nick wanted. As for stealing?

He didn't have that kind of courage!

Nick nodded slightly. Judging from the blank looks on these people's faces, let alone possessing Runes, they probably hadn't even heard of them.

He glanced at the crowd and added, "If you have any strange or unusual items that you're not comfortable bringing out now, you can also come to me privately."

"If you don't have any of these things, please leave. Don't disturb others who need to trade."

Hearing Nick's threatening words, no matter how much they coveted Nick's survival resources, without anything to exchange, they could only leave悻悻(xìngxìng, dejectedly, resentfully).

And just then.

A thin figure squeezed through the crowd. Her clothes were simple, even shabby. Combined with her disheveled appearance, it was clear that her situation in the dungeon was not good.

She looked at Nick cautiously and said, "Um..."

"Any kind of Fire Rune or Water Rune can be traded for things, right?"