Re-Awakening: I Became a Pay To Win Boss Monster

"A chat?" Rael tilted his head. "Don't you want to offer us tea first? I think that'd be a good start."

The bearded man chuckled. "I don't believe you deserve such a luxury, my friends. The most I can offer you is a comfortable jail cell."

Rael furrowed his brows. "Could I ask why?"

"The Beast was awakened earlier, and I don't exactly trust any outsiders. For all I know, you're coming here with bad intentions. So, simply enough, I will put you in jail for a week, and after that, I can get you some tea. How does that sound?" the bearded man replied with a smile.

"I refuse," Rael stated sternly. "We haven't come here with bad intentions, and for you to put us in jail for no reason? We aren't fucking animals."

He turned to Seryn, who was leisurely being crushed. "You can stop acting already. Let's take a detour."

"There's no need for that." The bearded man waved his hands. "I was just teasing you. You may enter. However, I hope you don't mind if I watch over you during your stay."

Seryn let out a sigh before suddenly pushing off the ground, sending the bearded man flying high into the sky.

But of course, that wasn't all, as all of a sudden, Seryn brought his hands together and shot a massive blue beam toward the bearded man.

However, despite the surprise attack, the bearded man didn't panic. He merely grinned, then severed the incoming beam in two with a simple downward slash before finally landing on the ground.

"I'd give you some brownie points for that attack, but not today." The bearded man chuckled before pointing off to the side. "Let's go inside now, the monsters are coming."

Rael glanced in that direction, and sure enough, there were monsters—quite a lot of them.

As much as he would love to go and kill them all and level up a bunch, Rael merely walked Sweepus Prime forward and stored him, then stored the car as well.

I wonder where those monsters are coming from? It's a bit strange how I didn't see any earlier, Rael thought as he followed behind the bearded man.

The gates to the Frostpire Bastion swung open with a rattling sound, and the soldiers who were on standby now made way for them.

It's almost like a royal welcome.

Nonetheless, the gates swiftly closed behind them, and finally, Rael took a good look around the Bastion's interior.

There were more workstations than people, and even worse, he couldn't see any food stalls.

It did make him wonder what these people ate, since agriculture was definitely a no-go in this land.

And out of curiosity, he decided to bring it up.

"Hey old man, what do you people eat? I'm not seeing any bakeries or farmsteads."

"Call me Genzo. And no, we process monsters and then eat them," Genzo replied, making Rael freeze on the spot.

"...You eat those disgusting things? Fuck..." Rael muttered. "Why haven't you tried expanding? Like maybe trying some kind of different produce? Something that doesn't necessarily require soil to grow?"

"Like what? You want us to sprinkle some salt on shit and dig in?" Genzo scoffed. "We've tried. Obviously not the shit part, but mushrooms, lab-grown goods, and all of that stuff. They simply wilted away or were infected by the Hollow Touch."

So they had contact with the moonlight then, Rael deduced, glancing up.

Right now, it wasn't as red as during the night, however, it still seemed very dreary.

And of course, the longer he looked, the more intense his infection grew—to the point where he began seeing flying money beside the moon.

Hallucinations... I wish that money was mine though, Rael sighed until finally, they reached some kind of center in this bastion.

There were a bunch of people gathered—some selling their wares, while others simply enjoying the commotion.

Rael didn't even want to think how many had died during the Beast's awakening.

"You're free to go wherever you'd like. No going into brothels—they're reserved for citizens only," Genzo said with a cheeky grin, making a chill run down Rael's spine.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of doing that," Rael replied, glancing around the place until eventually, his gaze landed on a particular shop.

The blacksmithing shop.

Rael walked over to it, with Seryn and Genzo not too far behind.

"Rael, before I forget—here," Seryn called out, his hand outstretched.

Oh? Money. Rael swiftly accepted his hand, and soon...

<Payment Received: 1,000,000 Trell. Accept? Yes/No>

<Confirmed.>

<Balance Updated: +1,000,000 Trell | New Balance: 5,020,594 Trell>

Huh? I'm still only at 5 million? God damn it... all these expenses are really starting to get annoying, he grumbled, before continuing inside the smithy.

He soon entered, and what greeted his sight was a simple, surprisingly well-dressed man, twirling around a hammer in the air.

"What could I help you with?" the blacksmith asked.

"Do you have any private rooms? I want to rent one for a day, preferably something isolated," Rael said, earning a confused look from the blacksmith.

"You want a room to forge, I assume? Sure, I can get you one. It'll be 500 Trell for the day—1,000 Trell if I have to provide my equipment," the blacksmith explained.

"That's fine with me. I have my own equipment," Rael replied, stretching his hand out.

The blacksmith immediately accepted it, and now, Rael had to figure out how to send a request.

Sending a friend request, I just had to think about it... So why don't I just—

<Payment Sent: 500 Trell.>

<The recipient has 5 minutes to accept or deny your payment.>

But not even a second later, the blacksmith accepted.

<Confirmed.>

<Balance Updated: -500 Trell | New Balance: 5,020,094 Trell>

"Here are your keys. Have fun," the blacksmith said with a smile, tossing the keys with the number 3 on them over to Rael.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Rael replied and began heading over to the room.

However, as he turned around, he noticed Seryn was still following him, and in the distance, Genzo was still watching.

Rael sighed. "I appreciate the company, but didn't you say you were gonna explore? I'm going to be busy, so let's meet up in the city center in 24 hours, alright?"

"Very well. Good luck," Seryn replied with a wave and began heading out.

Finally, some peace and quiet, Rael thought with a hum as he finally found the room and went inside.

However, he didn't exactly book this room for peace.

Instead...

<Crystal Genesis>

<Any Armor Piece (Uncommon ~ Epic) 100,000 ~ 10,000,000 MP>

<Available MP: 2,829,200/2,829,200>

There were a couple of sets he wanted to make.