Sushi stood there like an idiot, staring at the girl as she prepared to pounce. He looked right, then left, then pointed a finger at himself with faked bewilderment. "Do you mean... me?"

  "Who else is here, you moron?!" she shrieked, his deadpan reaction only fueling her rage.

  Suddenly, Sushi's face went pale. He pointed behind her with a terrified expression. "Watch out! It's HIM!"

  "Huh?" The girl instinctively spun around to face the unknown threat. But there was nothing but the empty alleyway. When she turned back, Sushi was already hundreds of meters away, sprinting like a madman possessed.

  Her face turned a violent shade of red as she gave chase with everything she had. After an hour of twisting and turning through narrow streets, she lost his trail. She didn't know that Sushi had 15 years of experience outrunning bullies back on Earth; evading her was second nature.

  "Troubles never come alone," Sushi sighed, wiping his brow as he realized he was lost in a small marketplace filled with stalls. *?Since the alley-saving mission is tomorrow, there's no harm in doing a little 'business' today.?*

  A junk dealer greeted him with a greedy smile. "Welcome to my humble shop! Armor, swords, anything a brave adventurer like you might need."

  Sushi began inspecting the swords with a discerning eye—or so the merchant thought. He'd lift a blade to the light, shake his head in disappointment, and toss it aside.

  *?Is he a master in disguise??* the merchant wondered suspiciously.

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  Finally, Sushi picked up an old, rusty cooking pot with a hole in the bottom. "How much for this?"

  The merchant was baffled. "That piece of junk? A single silver coin would be overpricing it."

  Sushi's eyes gleamed as he tossed the silver. "Keep the change!" He hurried off, a new devilish plan forming in his mind.

  ---

  Sushi bought paper and a pen, drafting a complex ten-page contract in obscure legal jargon. Then, he stood atop a wooden crate in the center of the market and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Tired of failing your elixir refinements? Wasted your money on potions that don't work? The solution is here!" He held the broken pot aloft like a holy relic.

  A crowd gathered, and a fat merchant mocked him: "Are you joking? That's a stone-age soup pot! Are you trying to scam us?"

  Sushi closed his eyes in mock sorrow. "It may look ordinary to the shallow-minded," he said in a calm, authoritative tone. "But to someone like me, who possesses **'Grade S Insight'**, I can clearly see what was refined in this vessel 500 years ago."

  The crowd erupted in whispers. "Grade S?! Did he say Grade S?!"

  Seeing the momentum shift, the fat merchant yelled, "Just another lie!"

  Sushi pretended to leave, sighing deeply. "Alas, I wanted to help my fellow low-ranked adventurers, but it seems you aren't ready for such a gift..."

  The crowd immediately turned on the fat merchant, begging Sushi to continue.

  "Fine, my heart is too kind to refuse," Sushi said, gazing at the pot with reverence. "This vessel once refined the **'Elixir of Immortality'**! The magical residue in this rust ensures a 99.9% success rate for any refinement!"

  The crowd went into a frenzy. Sushi paused for a heartbeat, then dropped the bait: "Opportunities only come to those prepared! I'll open the auction now. The starting price will be—"

  "400 Gold Coins!" someone interrupted.

  "450 Gold!"

  "500 Gold! It's mine!"

  Sushi couldn't believe it. He was aiming for 101, but the price exploded! When he spotted the Elf girl approaching in the distance, he knew he had to close the deal instantly. He sold it to the fat merchant (the one who had mocked him), making him sign the papers hurriedly without reading them.

  The girl arrived only to find people talking in awe about the "Young adventurer with Grade S Insight who sold the Immortality Pot." She froze as she heard the description: "Black hair, ragged clothes, ordinary look..."

  *?He didn't just escape... he scammed the entire market in one hour!?* The veins throbbed on her beautiful forehead. *?Grade S Insight? That lowly, egg-crushing, homeless thief?!?*

  While she boiled with rage, Sushi was already on his way back, whistling a quiet tune as he counted his new fortune—unaware that he was no longer just chasing gold; he was now the "Most Wanted" target for a broken heart... and a very sharp sword.