ch3 i am popular

"w-what?" after i said that i was going to be sold by her, marie instantly went pale while stumbling over her words because of the pressure of the crowd.

"i want it!"

"no, i want it!"

"i also want it!"

the crowd went wild, attracting more people, when those people heard what was going on they also went wild, causing more people to hear it, eventually the entire market area went into chaos, the rich and powerful ones yelling about wanting to buy me, and the poor and weak simply looking at the others showing off.

this chaos made me remember how the story goes, it starts with the player character who lives here, however monsters attack this place and the player was forced to escape, then they come across a new town, after a while the new town gets attacked by monsters, not normal monsters, but named monsters, after this, named monsters appeared everywhere, causing chaos, then the player has to defeat all named monster commanders, after that they can fight the final boss and save the world.

"500 energy stones!" a voice yelled out causing me to return from my thoughts, seems like the staff here are holding an auction for me.

"600 energy stones!" another voice said.

then suddenly.

"2000 energy stones!" this amount made everyone look at the person who made the bid in shock, however, after looking at the person who made the bid everyone realised why they had so much money, it was the city lords daughter, so it is no wonder she had so much money.

"are there any higher bidds?" the auctioneer asked.

"then, the item goes to miss karin!" after hearing this many people left in disappointment, however some stayed behind to congratulate the girl named karin, not without hidden motives though, but thankfully i jumped in at the right time.

"greetings, my new master, karin, i am 01, and this is zero." i introduced myself and my helmet.

"now that you are my master, you should know that my extra services are not free, i will only fight for you for free, naming and skill training will cost 100 energy stones each, however you are my master, so i will charge you half the price!"

"what!? you want to be paid fo- wait did you say skill training?" karins expression went from angry to surprised in a few words.

"yes, I did say skill training, i can teach most monsters, and even some humans new skills, unfortunately evolution is not yet available, however that would cost at least 200 energy stones, some materials and time."

"evolution!?" what was left of the crowd immediately went wild, my previous master, marie went even paler, which made me laugh internally, i do hold grudges so be prepared for more surprises, my previous master, no, wait i was the one who made the story so i guess it was my own fault.

"g-great one, why did you change masters like that? this does not feel right." my helmet suddenly said.

"this was her plan to begin with, she came here to sell us, so i played along." i answered while looking at marie.

"really?" the helmet looked at marie with what seems to be a pleading look, like a puppy before being left alone at home, but i can not tell because it is a helmet.

"yes... my father told me to get rid of you." marie said sadly and full of regret.

"see, i told you." as i said this the helmet seemed like it was going to cry, but it is a helmet so no tears came out, only a soft sobbing sound, like what marie did when she summoned me.

"cheer up, you are now named and have a new master who needs you." i said to the helmet.

"really?"

"yes really, you, no, we have a new master, so keep your head high, preferably just above my shoulders." i joked.

"ah, of course! i have to be brave!" the helmet said energetically, not getting the joke, but still moved back on my body, where my neck is supposed to be.

"then, master, should we go?" i asked my new master, karin, who was looking at me and my helmet.

"go where?" karin asked confusedly.

"that is for you to decide, master."

"however, i would like to look around for some materials." i added.

"what are you looking for?" karin asked.

"i need a soul stone, a pretty big one. thankfully i know where to get one." i answered while looking at the mystery merchant.

immediately understanding my words the mystery merchant smiled, grabbed a large opened geode filled with purple crystals, and handed it to me "50 energy stones, and a skill." they said.

"i will pay, if you can teach me a skill too after we get back." karin smiled.

"sure." i said while karin gave 50 energy stones to the mystery merchant.

"thank you!" the mystery merchant said while taking the energy stones "so what now?" they added after counting the energy stones.

"if you would wait a second." i said while taking the soul stone, moving my helmet to the side, and then stuffing the soul stone into my body from where my neck is supposed to be, surprising everyone around again.

slowly the soul stone disappeared into my chestplate, and when it completely disappeared open purple mouths with sharp teeth made from gaps in my armor appeared on my helmet, chest, and the palms of my hands.

well, not actual mouths but fake mouths that looked like they were painted on, making me look even more intimidating than before.

"wow, so, what changed aside from your looks?" karin asked curiously.

"the success chance of skill training went up, this will be necessary for teaching you a new skill as payment" i said to the mystery merchant "i think i know what skill you want, infinite randomized shop, right?" i added.

"how did you know!?" the mystery merchant asked full of shock.

how could i not know, the skill i just talked about is the advanced version of the skill that the mystery merchant has now, limited randomized shop. this skill is a family skill, all members of the family are born with it, however, every generation the skill will become weaker, until it completely disappears, but now the mystery merchant has the chance to get the advanced skill, so of course they would want it, though i will not say these things in public for privacy reasons.

in the game the mystery merchant would eventually join the main characters team, and only then would you be able to enhance their shop skill by taking a part of a monster that has the soul attribute, and making the mystery merchant eat it. the only negative part of this is that the mystery merchant will stop liking you until they use the skill and realize what happened, because, well, who wants to eat raw monster parts, especially soul attribute monster parts since they always look either scary and inedible like me and my armor, or they look gross and are poisonous on the level of instant death like a lich.

so you need to find a monster with soul attribute, and that is not dangerous to eat, thankfully my armor is not poisonous, and i can remove the sharp parts to make the only dangerous thing about it being a choking hazard.

this skill enhancement was one of the reasons i wanted the soul stone.

"here, eat this." i said as i pulled off one of my armored fingers, removed the sharp parts, and gave it to the mystery merchant.

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