Kira finally responded, "The only combat boots left are the ones I'm wearing. And someone already has a hold on them. If you want to buy them… one blueprint isn't going to cut it."

  Kira's sales tactics were different from Ellie's. She sounded perfectly reasonable, giving David Lee the power to decide. As long as David took the bait, he would fall into Jason's trap, step by step.

  Someone already has a hold on them?

  David frowned when he saw the message.

  Kira's meaning was clear: if he wanted the boots, he had to outbid the other guy.

  Originally, David was thinking of giving up. But the thought of facing goblins tomorrow left him feeling uneasy. If he had boots that boosted his speed, he'd basically be invincible.

  David decided to buy them!

  He had to buy them!

  David figured his life was the most important thing, no matter what. If he died at the hands of those goblins, it wouldn't matter how many supplies he had.

  Plus, the chance to buy these boots was rare. Once it was gone, it was gone.

  David steeled his resolve and replied to Kira that he wanted to buy the boots.

  Meanwhile, on the other side…

  Jason, with his arm around Kira, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that David had taken the bait. He was really worried David would think they were too expensive and back out.

  Following Jason's instructions, Kira sent another message to David. "Besides that 2-Star blueprint, all you need to add is 20 Escape Coins."

  David was surprised. He hadn't expected to buy the boots by adding just 20 Escape Coins. He thought they'd be much more expensive.

  But Kira's terms were… no bartering with supplies. Only Escape Coins, and the deal had to be done quickly, or she'd sell them to someone else.

  This stumped David. He had spent all his Escape Coins and only had supplies left. Getting 20 Escape Coins wouldn't be hard – he just had to sell some stuff. But Kira wanted a quick transaction. Selling items on the channel wouldn't leave enough time.

  As David wracked his brain, trying to figure out how to quickly get his hands on some Escape Coins, Ellie flashed into his mind.

  He could sell supplies to Ellie! They had just added each other as friends.

  With that thought, David immediately contacted Ellie. "Ellie, do you have any extra Escape Coins? I want to trade some supplies for them."

  Ellie replied quickly, as if she'd been waiting for him. "Sure, Davey! How many Escape Coins do you need?"

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  David felt a surge of warmth. She was such a good girl, replying right away and showering him with attention, without a care for his appearance.

  David was just about to send a message asking for 20 Escape Coins when Kira suddenly messaged him, saying the boots had gone up in price. He'd have to add at least 40 Escape Coins to buy them now.

  "What? How did they go up in price?" David immediately questioned Kira.

  40 Escape Coins was no small amount. That could buy a lot of supplies.

  Kira replied matter-of-factly, "The person bidding against you is willing to pay 40 more Escape Coins. If you can't afford it, I'll sell them to him."

  David cursed Kira in his mind. "Bitch. You have no business ethics! If I ever see you again, I'll drag you into my van and make you my slave."

  David was starting to have second thoughts. He was beginning to not want the boots. Was he really going to sell all his stuff for a pair of boots?

  Just then, Ellie messaged him, urging, "Davey, how many Escape Coins do you need?"

  David quickly replied apologetically, "Ellie, sorry, I don't need Escape Coins anymore."

  "Huh? Davey, are you playing with me? I don't have time to chat… let's just delete each other as friends." Ellie sounded annoyed at David for wasting her time, immediately suggesting they unfriend each other.

  David's expression changed drastically. He had finally found a pretty girl who didn't care about his looks. It would be a shame to lose her.

  "Wait, Ellie, I'll do it!"

  "How many?" Ellie asked curtly.

  Seeing that Ellie had only sent three words, David panicked. Before, Ellie's messages always had "Davey" in them. She must be mad now. What should he do?

  David was originally going to ask for 10 Escape Coins as a token, but he was worried Ellie wouldn't be happy with that.

  Just then, Kira asked David if he still wanted the boots. If he didn't, she'd sell them to someone else.

  Pressed by both women, David made a decision.

  Buy!

  David simply replied with that one word. Then, David sent Ellie two blueprints, asking how many Escape Coins she'd give him for them. Both were 0-Star vehicle blueprints. One was for headlights, and the other was for car windows.

  Ellie gave him a price: "20 Escape Coins for the car window blueprint. I don't need the headlight blueprint. I already have it."

  Only 20 Escape Coins? And she didn't want the headlight blueprint. David sighed. He sold some useless junk from inside the van to Ellie. A men's winter coat, three fleece blankets, two tubes of toothpaste, several toothbrushes, and a desk lamp. All these were junk items David had gotten from the chests today. Especially the three blankets. They were thick and plush, good enough to use as comforters.

  He had been planning to sleep comfortably with those blankets tonight, but now he was selling them all to Ellie. In the end, combined with the car window blueprint, he got 50 Escape Coins.

  Inside the van, the Beautiful sisters and Monty, Mark Johnson, Hank and Son-Bro were all looking at David strangely. Was David crazy? Did he not care about the future?

  Mark Johnson was the first to snap out of it. He patted Monty and the Beautiful sisters, grabbed a loaf of bread, and started eating.

  The others understood. They all understood what Mark Johnson meant. Quickly eat some food before David sold all of it, too.

  The others all grabbed food and began to eat.

  As for David, after getting 50 Escape Coins, he didn't immediately buy the boots. Because he had already raised the price, now he had to wait to see if the competitor would raise it again.

  David was cursing up a storm in his mind. He felt like he was getting ripped off, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was. He could only wait.

  A moment later, Kira sent David a message that filled him with despair. "That guy is willing to pay 80 Escape Coins."

  David would have to pay over 80 Escape Coins to buy the boots. If David hadn't bought the wooden spear and alarm, he wouldn't have been afraid of raising the price by 80 Escape Coins, or even 100.

  But David really didn't have much left. He couldn't sell the wooden spear and the alarm, could he? Then he would really be a sucker.

  But David couldn't bring himself to give up on buying the boots. He had traded all that junk just to get those 50 Escape Coins.

  David could only look at the remaining food…