The tavern was nearly empty, with only a cloaked figure in the corner and Xia Yan and Tong Ren, making them easy to spot.
“Tongzi?”
As Xia Yan and Tong Ren's eyes fell on the cloaked player in the corner, the player also looked back at them, then tentatively asked.
“Tongzi?”
Xia Yan found the nickname amusing and gently nudged Tong Ren with his elbow, asking, “Such a cute nickname, isn't it for you?”
Tong Ren blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed.
“Let's go over. That’s Argo.”
Tong Ren was certain that the cloaked player was the Argo he was looking for.
Xia Yan and Tong Ren walked over to the corner where Argo was sitting and took seats facing her.
“You won’t believe this!”
Argo removed her cloak, revealing her true appearance.
Her equipment consisted of cloth and leather armor, with a grappling hook hanging from her left hip and throwing needles from her right.
She was quite petite, with a cute, charming face that had a distinctive feature.
—Three lines resembling animal whiskers were drawn on each cheek.
She had short, golden-brown curls atop her head.
This appearance easily brought to mind the image of a ‘rat.’
This was also the reason why everyone called her Rat Argo.
“The Black-Cloaked Swordsman who crushed top players in various MMOs during closed beta and reached the 8th floor, is such a cute boy. If his defeated opponents knew this, they would be ashamed to the point of wanting to die by slamming their head into tofu.”
Argo stared curiously at Tong Ren’s baby face, scrutinizing it intently.
During closed beta, both she and Tong Ren used the default character appearances in the game, which seemed quite mature.
Argo had simply not expected Tong Ren to be even younger than she imagined.
No, he was practically a child.
“Tongzi, are you still in elementary school?”
Argo asked teasingly.
Tong Ren's appearance, with his baby face, made him look significantly younger than he actually was.
“None of your business.”
Tong Ren scoffed arrogantly. He was only fourteen years old, a second-year junior high student.
However, being teased like this by Argo was simply unbearable.
“I bet those closed beta players wouldn’t imagine that the big-time merchant in SAO is actually a small, underdeveloped student, right?”
Tong Ren retorted.
Being mocked as a primary school student, he felt the need to fight back.
He was a junior high student, after all.
“A girl’s age is a secret, I wouldn’t just reveal it like this normally. But I’m telling Tongzi for free today.”
“I just look young, but I’m actually a high school student.”
Argo contemptuously glanced at Tong Ren and said, “If you count it strictly, you should actually call me ‘senpai!’”
“You don’t look like it at all.”
Tong Ren grumbled.
“It doesn’t matter if you can’t tell, the most important thing for girls is to have a youthful appearance. Countless girls envy me for this!”
Argo didn’t care at all about Tong Ren’s comment about her looking young. Instead, she reveled in it.
“Alright, I’m not here to bicker with you today.”
Tong Ren sighed helplessly.
“You mean about the Moon Shadow Swift Weasel, right?”
Argo looked at Xia Yan with a bright smile and said politely, “You must be the buyer Tongzi mentioned?”
“That’s me.”
Xia Yan nodded, exchanged IDs with her, and said, “You have information about the Moon Shadow Swift Weasel?”
“Of course, as a qualified intelligence merchant, I naturally have this kind of confidential information.”
Argo smiled confidently and said, “And I can also confidently say that, in SAO today, there are very few people who know about the Moon Shadow Swift Weasel, perhaps even just me.”
“Price.”
Xia Yan got straight to the point.
“I love your decisiveness.”
Argo said with a bright smile, “Two hundred thousand Col.”
“What?!”
Xia Yan didn’t react, but Tong Ren’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Argo, you’re trying to take us for fools!”
Tong Ren said indignantly.
Two hundred thousand Col.
That price was basically astronomical.
It was important to note that even after grinding monsters nonstop for the past two days, occasionally opening some treasure chests, he barely had five thousand Col on him.
This was even after deducting the money he had spent on potions and equipment.
“Tongzi, you’re misunderstanding me. You’re an old customer of mine, I wouldn’t possibly scam a customer that you introduced.”
Argo said with a mischievous smile, her eyes gleaming with the unique shine of a merchant.
“This is a very friendly price.”
Argo explained, “The Moon Shadow Swift Weasel is a special monster that can be captured as a pet. SAO is unlike other MMORPGs, pets are extremely rare.”
“If you raise it well, a pet can be a reliable ally. You can imagine how much of an advantage you’d have over other players by gaining an extra attribute, right?”
Argo tempted them, like a merchant selling his goods, highlighting all its advantages.
“It’s true that it’s great if you raise a pet well.”
Xia Yan said calmly, “But if you raise it poorly, it’s basically the same as not having it. Besides, the resources required to raise a pet to that level aren’t just a little bit.”
In the original story, the only pet master that appeared was a small lolita named Silica.
And her pet, besides healing, didn’t have much use.
Moreover, judging by the original story, it shouldn’t be too difficult for Tong Ren and Argo to obtain a pet.
But why didn’t they have pets?
It was simple: It was too wasteful.
Raising a pet that could go into battle could potentially cost as much as raising two, or even more, frontline players.
So, pets were essentially a wealthy person’s hobby.
Currently, the players trapped in SAO, who could only rely on grinding, almost no one could afford to raise a pet.
The resources needed to raise a pet were better used on themselves.
It was much more beneficial to improve themselves than to raise a pet.
“That’s true.”
Argo didn’t refute, but said with a mischievous smile, “But I remember Tongzi used to be a solo player, even talking about teaming up with him was difficult. You’re now able to team up with him, you must have exceptional strength, so raising a pet shouldn’t be too difficult.”
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