Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 82: Where the Lights Dim

Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Where the Lights Dim

"Today, your work ends here, and this is your payment," Kaka said as she handed six Gold Coins to Iyas.

The six Gold Coins lay in her slightly wrinkled hands. Iyas had washed dishes till she felt dazed, her hands numb to the weight of the coins.

She had thought it was just a simple dishwashing task, but it turned into a four-hour ordeal.

At first, there weren’t many dishes, and she finished quickly, but as time passed, customer flow increased. Stacks of dishes piled up before her into small mountains, the more she washed, the more there seemed to be.

Gradually, Iyas began to regret casually agreeing to Yang Yu’s proposal to wash dishes for the restaurant.

Even with resentments brewing, a deal was a deal. Faced with constant nagging from the boss’s daughter and the relentless clatter of dishes, she had no choice but to bite back her complaints and silently get on with it.

Four hours later, she finally finished the task and received her pay.

The moment she came back to her senses, she grabbed the Gold Coins, stormed downstairs, and slammed them down in front of Yang Yu.

"Why didn’t you tell me it would take this long!"

"You never asked, and you agreed so readily, I thought you could handle it," said Yang Yu teasingly. "How do you feel about your first job, happy?"

"Absolutely terrible! If only I knew magic, I could have cleaned the dishes in a moment, but unfortunately, I don’t! This money should be more than enough to pay for the meal, right?"

Staring at the hard-earned Gold Coins on the table, Iyas felt an indescribable emotion towards them.

It was a love-hate feeling—love because it was the first payment she had earned through her own efforts; hate because the money would soon disappear.

This emotion was unprecedented for Iyas. It wasn’t that her village lacked money or that she had never handled money before, but she couldn’t understand why she felt this way.

All she wished for now was that this money wouldn’t run out and that she could keep some as a memento.

Yet, her fantasies were mercilessly shattered again by Yang Yu.

"Do you think these six Gold Coins are enough to cover the meal?" Yang Yu scoffed with a smirk, raising his hand to call over Kaka, "Check please, how much is it?"

Kaka gave Yang Yu a knowing look and after tallying seriously, he announced, "A total of 802 Gold Coins, but I’ll round it down for you to 800."

Yang Yu lined up eight Gold Coins, each with a face value of one hundred, on the table.

The purchasing power of currency in this world was very similar to where Yang Yu originated from. Although people commonly referred to it as "Gold Coin," it wasn’t so much about what the coins were made of, as much as "Gold Coin" being a unit of currency.

Like a 10-dollar bill, nobody really uses a knife as currency; it’s just a unit of currency.

But the term "Gold Coin" wasn’t entirely misleading. Any coined currency valued over 100 would contain some real gold, the higher the denomination, the higher the purity. The highest denomination, Lux Coins, were even made from 24k pure gold.

As for "Gold Coins" below the 100 denomination value, they were made from ordinary metal and simply coated with a durable layer of gold color for aesthetics.

Each type of Gold Coin was distinctly different, easily discernible by weight.

Kaka pocketed the hefty eight Gold Coins, handed a receipt to Yang Yu, and while sneaking a glance, she left.

Iyas stood there, dumbstruck, gazing at the distant Gold Coins, her feelings complicated.

To think that the money she had worked so hard to earn couldn’t even cover a meal, what was all her effort for?

Yang Yu pushed the "Gold Coin" toward Iyas. "Take it well, this is the reward for your hard work today. Now, I believe many of your questions have been answered!"

Undoubtedly.

Iyas took out the Gold Coin Yang Yu had given her and compared it with the one she had on hand.

The two coins were of entirely different qualities. It was surprising that so much could be learned from just a tiny coin, and the numbers on it were more than mere decorations.

"Verbal and practical teachings can impart much more knowledge, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The story of currency goes much further. I’ll teach you slowly."

"Wait! I have another question! After working for so long, I can’t even afford one-tenth of a dinner..." Storing all the coins in her pocket, Iyas spoke sternly, "I don’t believe everyone works like this, otherwise, how could you eat and drink so heartily with a clear conscience!"

"As you just mentioned, if you could use magic, you’d clean those dishes in an instant... Though it’s harsh, someone else’s moment might equal your four hours."

Saying that, Yang Yu stood up and looked toward the inn’s door, covered by the night, a hint of greed showing on his face.

"It’s getting late, let’s start our second lesson!"

...

...

Ada and Aluo were twin brothers, both sturdy and robust.

The distinction between them was that Ada, the older brother, had a scar on his right eyebrow from dueling with a monster in the underground city—a mark of his glory.

Indeed, they were adventurers, and B-ranked adventurers at that.

Usually, those who reached their level seldom took on tasks issued by the adventurer’s guild; Ada and Aluo were no different.

Instead of doing the grueling and thankless tasks, they preferred exploring underground cities, or rather, the Underground Maze.

There lurked dangerous monsters, and correspondingly, defeating those monsters could yield substantial rewards. Not given by anyone, but rather, the monsters would explode into a heap of Gold Coins, and sometimes, equipment as well.

If they could explode equipment of Rare quality or higher in the underground city, it often sold for a high price, which was incomparable to doing tasks at the adventurer’s guild.

The stories of ordinary adventurers exploding with Epic Equipment, becoming overnight millionaires, becoming CEOs, marrying the rich and beautiful, and reaching the pinnacle of life, were incessantly circulated among adventurers.

As the saying goes, when the wind rises, even pigs can fly.

This time, Ada and Aluo had caught the wind and discovered a new underground city in their frequent endeavors.

A new underground city meant that even those at the bottom end of the B-ranked adventurer food chain could get a share.

In fact, relying on their strength and luck, they had reaped substantial rewards on the first level of the underground city.

However, to avoid the attention of ill-intentioned adventurers who might kill for profit, they took advantage of the sparse population to secretly take the exploded equipment to Chuanyang City to cash in, gaining a small fortune.

Holding the hefty Gold Coins, their greed resurged; they returned the same night via the original route to see if they could gain more benefits from the newly discovered underground city.

It was deep into the night, and the two passed through a small town.

The town was brightly lit. Ada and Aluo had no intention of stopping until, under the dim lights, they saw a female elf with flowing golden hair...