Deal

Jin spent the evening obsessing over how to price the soul cores, watching one strategy video after another until the clock struck 11 PM.

Awakening in the other world he felt nervous, he had thought of an amount he found justified settling on $200 per core. Expensive? Sure. But he'd earned every cent of it, bleeding and starving in a cave. 

Wanting to remain anonymous he summoned his armor. The familiar weight felt comfortable, he wondered why he hadn't summoned it on earth yet, although it would look quite strange to see a man in full armor walking down the street. 

Jin slung the sack of soul cores over his shoulder and made his way to the temple.

In front of the temple stood a man in his twenties, he had medium blond hair with a chiseled face. He looked around in excitement, a hint of childish naivety still etched in his eyes. Behind him stood a tall brown haired man packed with muscles constantly scanning the area. 

'Is that his bodyguard?' Jin already figured the guy was rich, anyone calling themselves BoredInMyBentley practically screamed it, but this sealed the deal. Jin grinned. He could probably push the price higher.

The bodyguard stepped forward when he spotted Jin in armor, his expression wary. "Who are you? State your business."

He looked ready to shove his client behind him at a moment's notice.

'Do I look that menacing?' Jin paused and then introduced himself. 

"I'm Goldfinger, you wanted to buy some soul cores right?" Jin said as he looked at the blond haired man he expected to be BoredInMyBentley. 

The blond guy's face lit up. "Yeah, that's me. My actual name is William. And this is Gerome, my... precaution."

He looked Jin up and down, wide eyed. "Damn, that's some armor. Is that a beast armament?"

"Yeah," Jin replied simply.

William whistled, impressed. "You selling that too?"

"No."

That shut the conversation down fast. Jin wasn't even sure beast armaments were transferable, and even if they were, he wasn't about to give up the only thing keeping his identity a secret, he could even use it for protection on earth.

William was a bit disappointed but quickly regained his enthusiasm,"Are those the beast cores?" He pointed at the sack Jin was holding. 

Jin nodded and he immediately approached. It seemed both parties had calmed down and were no longer afraid, although the bodyguard still looked at him warily. 

William peeked into the sack and whistled. "There's more than ten here. Can I buy them all?"

"There are 33 in total, but you can only absorb ten," Jin replied. 

Willliam looked confused, causing Jin to elaborate "You can only absorb 5 soul cores from each species of beast before it no longer has any effect, these soul cores come from 2 species so you can only absorb ten, but if you want to buy them all be my guest". 

William blinked. "Really? How do you know that?"

"Trial and error," Jin said dryly.

William nodded slowly, then asked, "So, uh... how much are you asking?"

Jin didn't answer right away. He studied William's face, his expression, from the videos he watched the other person should come with an offer first.

"You tell me," he finally said.

William stroked his chin thoughtfully, like he was trying to seem more calculating than he was. "How about... two thousand per core?"

Jin froze,'He said two thousand, right? Not two dollars? No definitely two thousand. Two thousand per soul core! That's... sixty six thousand!" 

Jin began breathing hard, although William noticed none of it thanks to the armor. 

William seemed to mistake the silence for hesitation. "Alright playing hard ball I get it, how about 2,500$ then" 

His brain short circuited, "2,500 dollars that's ... .How much even was that!" 

"Fine three thousand, but that's my final offer and I'm not going any higher than that" 

"I agree!" Jin said quickly, cutting him off. He was more than happy with the offer, anymore and he might start to feel bad. 

William grinned. "Cool. So… how do we do this?"

Calming down, Jin had already thought it through. "I'll send you a bank account. You transfer the funds. Then I will give you the cores." 

William frowned. "And how do I know you won't just ghost me after I pay? I don't even know your actual name or what you look like"

Jin nodded, it was a fair point, "Fair enough. How about I give you five up front. Then you send the money. Once that's done, I'll give you the rest." 

Gerome didn't look thrilled, but William nodded,"Deal", They shook hands.

Jin gave William 5 soul cores which he absorbed immediately, seeing them disappear one after the other, Jin became curious and asked "Why are you even after these things? What do you need them for?"

William glanced up, surprised by the question. "Isn't it obvious?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "People online say it boosts your strength and judging by that armor, you've probably absorbed a ton already. I want to take some precautions, will make hunting less dangerous."

"Hunting?" Jin blinked. "You actually plan to go out there? It's dangerous, you know."

William nodded, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Exactly. That's what makes it worth doing. A whole new world, monsters, combat, real strength it's like stepping into a fantasy world, except it's real. How could I not want to be part of that. 

"You're forming a team or something?" Jin asked, since he was buying all of these cores and could only use 10, they had to be for other people.

William lit up. "Yeah! I was gonna post about it later. You want in?"

Jin couldn't help but crack a smile as he declined the invitation. As reckless as it sounded, he understood. There was indeed something exciting about the other world, the rush of discovery, the freedom. Of course it wouldn't matter if you're dead. So yeah... he didn't plan on returning… he had a family to think about. 

Before parting, Jin warned him about the forest, and the creature that had nearly killed him. William listened, but Jin wasn't sure how seriously he took the advice.

Back on Earth, Jin sent his bank details. Within minutes, the transfer came through. Jin stared at the screen and swallowed hard. A hundred grand. William had rounded up. 

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, he still had a deal to complete. Not long after, Jin returned to the other world where he gave William the remaining soul cores. 

William promised to buy more if Jin ever acquired them. A spike of greed flashed through his eyes, but in the end Jin only halfheartedly agreed, he wasn't planning on leaving the shelter anymore, so they would likely never meet again. 

Having finalized the deal Jin went back to earth, six figures richer.