Chapter 32 - Even 10,000,000,000 Aurum Is A Small Amount Of Money (2/2)

“W-well, my right leg was injured. But it was not that bad, my healing medicine was enough to heal it and it’s already completely healed now.”

But even after he confessed, it still looked like Akira was hiding something important and s.h.i.+zuka noticed that.

“Come over here for a bit!!”

s.h.i.+zuka then pulled Akira to the back room behind the counter without saying anything.

“Take off your augmented suit and let me check what’s under it. It’s not like you’re hiding bandages under that augmented suit, right?”

“I’m telling you it’s already completely healed.”

“In that case, there’s nothing to worry about, right? So take off your augmented suit now!”

Akira was overwhelmed by s.h.i.+zuka’s pressure, so he obediently took off his augmented suit. There were no bandages on his body and it did not seem like he had more scars compared to the last time. The huge amount of medicine that he consumed was able to completely heal his broken leg and all the small injuries that he got from the crazy manoeuvres of his augmented suit.

s.h.i.+zuka finally looked relieved as she tightly hugged Akira.

“There’s no need to try and hide it if you’re really okay. It only makes me more worried, you know.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Akira did not reject s.h.i.+zuka who was hugging him. But he was fl.u.s.tered because she buried his head inside her chest. He was also relieved that there was no need for him to tell her about the fact that he took the emergency request that he did not have to and how he was planning to go to a battlefield even if he had to run till there. After all, it would cause a bigger ruckus if she came to know that.

Akira and s.h.i.+zuka then went back to the counter and she put one of the rifles that he ordered on the counter.

“First of all, this is the AAH rifle. As for the anti mechanical monster gun… You want one because of yesterday’s battle, right? Can you tell me how the battle was? I’ll think of a gun that might suit you after hearing that.”

“Alright.”

Akira then told the story about his battle against the cannon insect swarms while omitting most of the details. He said that to be able to shoot down the resupplying robots with his AAH rifle, but he had to come close to the swarm while dodging the raining warheads. s.h.i.+zuka was surprised when she heard that.

“…I see. That’s a pretty dangerous thing to do. But since you had no means to run away from them, I guess that was your only choice, huh?”

“Yes, well, so I was wondering if there’s a gun that works well against monsters like them.”

“In that case, I recommend you to get CWH anti-material rifle or DSS sniper rifle. Both can be used with most of the anti-armour ammo sold in the market and they’ll work well against strong armoured monsters. So, accuracy or firepower, which one do you prefer?”

“Since I’m planning to use it mostly during a ruin exploration, I’ll pick firepower. After all, there’re many places where monsters can hide inside the ruin, so I don’t think I need a gun that has high accuracy.”

“Alright then, in that case, I would recommend you to get CWH anti-material rifle with anti-armour ammo. Of course, you can load it with normal anti-monster ammo too, but if you’re thinking of using it in tandem with the AAH rifle, I recommend you to only load the CWH anti-material rifle only with anti-armour ammo. Although it’s a bit expensive, you can also buy the specially designed ammo too as insurance, this ammo should be able to make short work of big and strong monsters. It might be a good idea to buy a few magazines of this ammo just to be safe.”

“Well then, I’ll take that gun with those ammo, some normal ammo to replenish my reserve and some energy packs for my augmented suit too. Is there anything else that you think I should get?”

“Let’s see. Well, of course, it’s nice to have everything in case you suddenly need anything… But if you ask me, then how about buying a charm or a talisman?”

Although s.h.i.+zuka was actually just joking, Akira unexpectedly took her suggestion seriously.

“I’ll buy one of those.”

s.h.i.+zuka shop mainly focused on ammo and guns for Hunters, but it was also selling some other goods too. Hunters could also place an order for an augmented suit and pick the order from her shop. But s.h.i.+zuka did not sell charms at all.

But seeing how Akira reacted, it was not like s.h.i.+zuka could say that she was actually joking there. He looked at her with a serious face and a gaze full of expectation, he also sounded like he really meant it when he said that.

“…Wait here for a bit.”

s.h.i.+zuka made an awkward smile before she went to the backroom as she rushed to the shop’s warehouse.

The warehouse which doubled as the loading area for the goods delivered to her shop housed all kinds of guns and medicines. s.h.i.+zuka was searching for the object that she was looking for inside the warehouse.

“…Where did I put that thing again…? Or more like, I’m not even sure if it’s here or not. But I don’t remember ever throwing it away. So it should be collecting dust somewhere around here… Oh, here it is!!”

What she was looking for was a cardboard box that was left deep inside the warehouse. Looking at how much dust was blanketing it, it seemed that it was left there for a very long time. s.h.i.+zuka lightly blew off the dust and opened the box. Inside, she found a collection of small objects.

There were small objects like an aiming device or medical products that could not be recreated using the current technology. Those were goods that were created using old-world technology. But among them, there were also other goods that did not hold any financial value. For example, there was an artistic painting, a bunch of inks and papers; these things did not have any technological value at all. Thus the hunter office deemed these goods as worthless.

Those goods were normally thought as worthless in the market, so the Hunters who came back with them would bring them to other places hoping that they could sell them somewhere with a high price. Some of them would be given to their acquaintances as a souvenir from the ruins, some of them were used as a chip in negotiation and some of them were given to random people thinking that it was better rather than just throwing them out. s.h.i.+zuka got quite a lot of these goods.

She gathered the goods that did not interest her and put them in the warehouse; that was the origin of the goods inside this cardboard box. She went to look for the box since she remembered that there was something that could be used as a charm inside it. She then picked some small objects and went back to Akira.

“Sorry for the wait. I don’t have much though, but do you need any of these?”

Akira was looking at the small goods that were lined up on the counter with a serious face. But he did not know which one was good as a charm and which one was not.

“Do you have any recommendations which one is good?”

“Well, charm is outside my speciality. But all of these goods were found in the ruins. I have no plan of restocking them and I can’t guarantee their effectiveness. In the end, a charm’s just an object to make you feel calmer after all. That’s why I think it’s best if you choose one yourself.”

Akira nodded while still looking confused, but then Alpha suddenly pointed to one of the objects on the counter.

“I think this one is good.”

“Is there any reason why you picked that one?”

“It has a lucky number carved on it. I think it’s some kind of a charm to increase luck used by someone during the old world era. After all, exploring the ruins also relies a lot on your luck. So I think that one will be a good choice.”

Akira then pointed at the object that Alpha recommended.

“I’ll take this one.”

“Alright. Since I can’t give you insurance for its quality, I’ll give it for free. Wait here for a bit, I’ll bring the rest of your order here.”

As s.h.i.+zuka was gathering all the goods that Akira ordered, he was staring at his new charm. He looked genuinely interested in that small object.

“Alpha, you said it has a lucky number, right? So what exactly does this number mean?”

“People usually get a load of money when this number comes up. That’s why it’s a lucky number.”

“I see.”

Akira thought that people in the old world also needed money so much that they would even get a lucky charm like the one he was staring at. It made him interested in the fact that there were actually more similarities between the old world era and the current era.

s.h.i.+zuka returned back with all the ordered goods.

“Sorry for the wait. If you have the time, I can explain the details of the goods if you want.”

“Yes, please.”

“Alright then. The CWH anti-material rifle is mainly used to fight thick armored mechanical monsters…”

s.h.i.+zuka started her explanation in a good mood.

Among all the types of the gun, the CWH anti-material rifle was made specifically to fight mechanical monsters.

Most of the mechanical monsters were autonomous battle robots or facility guardian drones. They were much harder to kill compared to the biological monsters. Their thick armour and hard metallic body were the reason.

If anti-armour ammo could pierce their thick armor and destroy their control devices, these monsters could be defeated with the least effort. And for those Hunters who were aiming to get their hands on the parts of these monsters, defeating these monsters while inflicting the least damage possible could earn them more money. Thus it was doubly beneficial for them to use anti-armour ammo.

Some of the Hunters who loved this CWH anti-material rifle earned their money by hunting tanks in the middle of the wasteland. They would load the specially designated ammo to their gun and destroy only the control device of a tank, then they would take that tank to the repair shop to install a new control device before selling it.

Of course, there were other types of guns that the Hunters would use for fighting big mechanical monsters. But the CWH anti-material rifle was a staple gun for such situations. That was just how good this gun was.

“The specially designed ammo for the CWH anti-material rifle might be expensive, but I can guarantee its efficiency. If you have enough knowledge about the inner part of the mechanical monsters and have the confidence to snipe their inner part, this ammo will work very well. It can be used to turn the table in one shot when you get into a pinch fighting a monster with thick armor. I don’t think I have to say this since I think you understand it very well, but you shouldn’t look forward to being in such a situation, okay?”

“Ah, of course.”

Akira nodded firmly, to which, s.h.i.+zuka looked satisfied as she nodded in return.

“Good. Now then, don’t try to use its specially designed ammo on some other guns just because it looks similar, okay? In the worst-case scenario, it might cause an explosion that would take your whole arms off. So don’t even think of trying to do something like that. Do you have any questions? You can ask me about the other guns too, you know? If it’ll make you buy more guns, I can tell you everything I know.”

Akira thought for a bit before replying.

“In that case then, please tell me about the AAH rifle fans.”

s.h.i.+zuka went silent since she did not have much to say about it. But she then smiled and looked at Akira with a gentle gaze.

“AAH rifle fans, huh… Akira, you’re too young to become an AAH rifle fan, you know?”

Although he did not understand why, he realized that he just asked something weird. Thus he tried to give more explanations about his question.

“Ah, it’s just that one of the Hunters who I was with yesterday said that. So I was just curious. That Hunter said that either I or s.h.i.+zuka-san must be an AAH rifle fan after he took a good look at my AAH rifle…”

“Is that so? If that’s true, then that means you did a pretty amazing job back there.”

“Do people get misunderstood as an AAH rifle fan if they did something amazing?”

“Well, what can I say here… It’s complicated, you see.”

Akira looked confused, thus s.h.i.+zuka smiled bitterly as she started explaining about the AAH rifle fans.

There were a lot of types of guns circulated in the eastern district. Some of them stayed around for years while some of them were popular for a short time before vanis.h.i.+ng. The AAH rifle had survived such strict compet.i.tion for more than 100 years. Thanks to its high performance to price ratio, the AAH rifle was a popular rifle even now.

And among the Hunters, there was this group of people called the AAH rifle fans who really loved this rifle. They loved it so much that they tended to get their priority backwards.

They would try to defeat every monster using the AAH rifle because of their love for the rifle. They would even try to kill monsters that normally could not be defeated with AAH rifle’s firepower just to showcase the greatness of the rifle. Some of them would heavily modify their AAH rifles to increase its performance and firepower. In short, these people would do all kinds of things for their beloved guns.

There were a lot of factions among the AAH rifle fans. Some of them despised any form of modifications and aimed for effective tactics using the basic AAH rifle. Some of them allowed modifications as long as it kept its basic design. Some of them allowed modifications as long as the core parts of the AAH rifle were still kept intact. Some of them would add extra functions on the rifle by adding extension parts. And finally, some of them did not really care about the inner parts as long as it still had the appearance of an AAH rifle. They would fight and help each other and spread the popularity of the AAH rifle.

One thing in common among the AAH rifle fans was that they were very zealous people. Although some of them were great Hunters, one might get swept and turned into an AAH rifle fan if he or she was not careful. That was why some people have trouble handling them.

“There were a lot of AAH rifle fans among the merchants too, but I’m not one of them, okay? I heard that people like them would strongly recommend buying the AAH rifle and they secretly sell modified AAH rifles with increased firepower. And among all the guns that they sell, some of them were jackpot guns. I’m sure that’s the reason why that Hunter said that to you.”

Akira then remembered what he did yesterday. He did say that the AAH rifle deserved its popularity and he destroyed the mechanical monster cannon insects using only his AAH rifle. So it was to be expected if that Hunter mistook him as an AAH rifle fan.

“Once they get a jackpot, these Hunters would buy a big number of AAH rifle hoping that they would be able to get another jackpot. Although, normally, they would not be able to get the same amount of firepower unless they use a gun that is sold in Chrome. Some people even say that its level of firepower comes from the old world technology that is utilized in the rifle. But seriously though, I wonder who would spread such a rumour.”

There were cases where Hunters who mistook a merchant as an AAH rifle fan ordered a huge amount of AAH rifle. It might give that merchant a temporary financial boost, but if that merchant ever got obsessed with it and by chance had bad luck, he would end up with a warehouse full of unsold guns which might even cause their business to crumble.

There were times when Hunters came to s.h.i.+zuka’s shop because of something similar. But s.h.i.+zuka always made them pay the full price of the guns upfront before placing their order for the guns. There was once a time where someone bought a truck full of AAH rifle from s.h.i.+zuka, and of course, s.h.i.+zuka was dumbfounded when that happened.

“s.h.i.+zuka-san, what is that Chrome? Is it something different from Aurum?”

s.h.i.+zuka was a bit surprised when she found out that Akira did not understand what Chrome was. She looked sorry for a split second, but she immediately replaced it with her usual smile.

“Akira, do you not know what Chrome is?”

“No. This is the first time I heard that word.”

“It will take some time to explain everything. Is that okay?”

“It’s alright.”

s.h.i.+zuka then started explaining about Chrome to Akira.

There were 2 kinds of currency in the eastern district. The currency issued by the Corporate and Chrome. Aurum was a currency issued by Sakas.h.i.+ta Heavy Industry, one of the 5 biggest corporations in the eastern district.

The corporate currency was mostly used in the regions under the management of that corporation. Aurum included, there were 5 types of corporate currency, each issued by the 5 biggest corporations in the eastern district. And anyone who bought and sold stuff using one of the corporate currencies could be thought of as someone who was under that corporation. The spread of the currency depended on the sphere of influence of that corporation and it was the pillar that supported that corporation.

The very act of trying to counterfeit the corporate currency could be treated as a declaration of war against the Corporate Government. There were cases in the past when such a thing happened and the Corporate Government always obliterated them without mercy.

Besides the Corporate currency, there was Chrome that was used everywhere in the eastern district. It was called the currency of the old world, a type of electronic currency discovered as a relic in the ruins. It cannot be reproduced using the current world’s technology. There were many methods to get this Chrome, and one of them was from an object called a Chrome card. It was some kind of an electronic wallet that contained Chrome.

Chrome had an absolute value in the eastern district. One could go to the Corporate Government to exchange a Chrome for a large amount of corporate currency. One might also exchange corporate currency to a Chrome which is sold at a very high rate. This was also one of the factors that raised the price of Chrome in the eastern district. Most of the transactions between big companies were conducted in Chrome.

And because of all of these, Chrome was able to hold its value and used as the currency from the old world.

Among the ruins of the old world, some of the factories were still operational. Of course, there were operational guardian drones patrolling these factories, and most of the time, even great Hunters or the Corporate Government military could not fight against these drones that were manufactured using the overwhelmingly advanced technology of the old world. As such, it was near impossible to collect relics from such ruins.

But it was possible to negotiate with the advanced AI that managed such a facility to get the extremely invaluable and extremely hard to create goods that were manufactured in such a factory. And this Chrome would be used in such a transaction. Although it was originally a secret, the truth slowly spread among the residents of the eastern district.

Not to mention that with Chrome, one could use the vending machines scattered in the ruins to obtain medicines that could even regenerate severed limbs in a short time.

Some people did try to force their way to get hold of such medicine from the vending machines in the past. And when that happened, they had to fight the security system of the vending machine. Most of the time, they would not only end up destroying the vending machine but also increase the piles of corpses that were already scattered around it.

Rumour had it that some of the companies in the eastern district would use their Chrome to buy military goods manufactured in the old world factories. This caused a s.h.i.+ft in the sphere of influence among the Corporations in the eastern district.

Because of that, the Corporate Government was trying to collect Chrome. And in order to do that, they would sell powerful and advanced equipment which could only be bought using Chrome.

s.h.i.+zuka then finished her explanation with a summary.

“So there, you have it. There’s also a rumour about a super-advanced AAH rifle that can only be bought using Chrome. I really want to see one if it really does exist.”

After knowing there was equipment that could not be bought using corporate currency, Akira finally realized the reason why Alpha said even 10,000,000,000 Aurum was just spare change. He then bowed politely to s.h.i.+zuka and said.

“Thank you for all the explanations, that was really an eye-opener.”

“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”

For those Hunters who already had an augmented suit or were planning to buy one, it was common sense for them to know about Chrome, but Akira did not know about it. s.h.i.+zuka’s heart hurt a bit when she discovered this, but she was trying to be considerate to him by not showing that in her face as she smiled to Akira like usual.

Silavin: lol. Reminds me of Inflation to the point where they had to change the currency.

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