The commercial district of Phoenix City was a shimmering monument to the wealth gap. Walking down the main thoroughfare, Verso felt like a smudge on a pristine white canvas.

Everywhere he looked, expensive sports cars glided over the road, their polished colorful chassis reflecting the high end clothing stores that lined the streets.

Everyone person that he could see was walking around with a sense of entitlement that only comes from having a eight figure bank account.

Wearing suits that cost more than a Primitive tier beast soul and dresses made of shimmering silk that was probably gathered from some creature in a dungeon.

In his worn out hoodie — the one with the small holes near the cuffs — and his faded black trousers, Verso looked completely out of place.

’Dude, how do these people make so much money...’ The question ate away at him.

He was a summoner with a literal god like system and yet he was currently worried about the price of a t shirt and somehow all these normal people had access to millions.

His eyes scanned the horizon, desperately searching for some sort of safe heaven. Finally, at the far end of a branching street, he spotted a shop that did not look like it required a high dress code to enter.

The sign outside saying H&N was simpler, but more importantly, the people going in were wearing clothes that looked... comparatively normal.

’Is that a cheaper place to buy clothes? Please tell me it is.’ Hope instantly flickered in his chest.

He started walking toward the potential safe heaven of affordability, his mind already calculating how many credits he could save for the future beast soul purchases.

But before he could make it more than ten steps, a sudden, thunderous roar shattered the atmosphere.

VROOM!

A bright red sports car with an engine that sounded like a dragon revved its engine, drawing the collective gaze of everyone on the sidewalk. The car swerved sharply, cutting across a lane of traffic before screeching to a halt on the road directly beside Verso.

"Hey scum! What the hell are you up to?" A loud, carefree voice boomed from the driver’s seat.

Verso stopped dead, his shoulders slumping. He didn’t even have to look to know who it was. That particular brand of aggressive greeting was a trademark of only one person in his life.

"How the fuck does he find me every single time..." Verso mumbled under his breath before turning to face the car.

Moon sat behind the wheel, his red eyes hidden behind a pair of expensive sunglasses, a wide, arrogant grin plastered on his face.

"Nothing much," Verso replied, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Just going shopping-"

"Shopping?" Moon cut him off, letting out a laugh that was loud enough to echo off the nearby glass buildings. "So you finally fucking decided to stop looking like a bum! About damn time, scum!"

The outburst was loud. Too loud.

Within seconds, the judgmental eyes of the well dressed elites on the street shifted from the flamboyant car to the boy in the tattered hoodie standing beside it.

Verso felt a flush of heat creep up his neck. He had spent his entire life trying to blend into the shadows and Moon had just pointed a spotlight directly at him. He could practically feel the collective disdain of the crowd.

Verso’s eye twitched.

"Yeah... I just need some decent clothes before I can go out and check out the city-"

HONK!

Before he could finish the sentence, Moon slammed his palm against the horn. The sound was deafening.

"Then what are you waiting for, loser? Get the fuck in!"

The butterfly door of the sports car swung upward, inviting Verso into the luxury leather interior. Verso stood there, frozen.

’Can’t he tell I’m trying to get rid of him?’

But as the seconds ticked by, the situation grew worse. Because Moon was blocking a major lane of traffic in the commercial district, the cars behind him began to pile up.

A sequence of angry honks started to rise from the drivers behind them, creating a wall of noise that put immediate pressure on Verso.

He looked at the cheap shop down the street, which now felt miles away, and then back at Moon’s expectant grin.

"Well then... I guess I’m going shopping with Moon." Verso mumbled, resigning himself to his fate.

He stepped onto the road and dropped into the low passenger seat. The door clicked shut with a satisfying, expensive sound and Moon immediately floored the accelerator, peeling the car away from the curb and leaving the budget friendly shop behind in a cloud of dust.

"So, the plan is to get you some good clothes and then go hunting, right scum?" Moon said, weaving through traffic with a reckless disregard for speed limits.

The words made Verso pause.

He suddenly realized now why the noble had gone out of his way to ’rescue’ him from the sidewalk.

Moon was not trying to help him out of goodwill... he was looking for a hunting partner.

’Actually... that’s not a bad trade off.’ Verso thought, leaning back into the seat. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

He had already planned on visiting the other six dungeons today to download them into his system.

To make his farming rotation efficient, he needed to see what kind of unique monsters inhabited the Phoenix City dungeons.

And with his newly acquired fusion ability, every single unique beast soul held significant value as it could be used as material to craft his next elite.

"Hmm, actually that sounds good." Verso said, accepting Moon’s offer.

Hearing the boy agree, a massive smile appeared on Moon’s face.

"That’s perfect! Let’s get this retail shit over with quick so we can finally go kill something!"

Moon pressed down harder on the accelerator. The car lurched forward, pinned Verso to his seat.

"But where are you taking me?" Verso asked, his hands gripping the armrests.

Although he had flown at high speeds on the back of his Reinforced Gargoyle, there was something significantly more terrifying about speeding through public roads in a lowered metal box.

"Where else?" Moon grinned, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"The same place all of us guys go to get our gear. You can’t be seen in the academy wearing some off the rack garbage."

Hearing the reply, Verso felt a phantom pain in his chest.

As he realized that today was his bank account’s funeral, because no way in hell did these nobles wear anything remotely affordable.