[F01] «Earning a Living: Merchant» Working in a game? {Asakku}

[Woe 0]

It was another leisurely day walking through the town of beginnings, Woe was wearing his usual gear, slim plated heavy armour which only covered his most vulnerable areas, with plenty of black cloth padding underneath to cover his skin. He had stopped by the merchant square to check out some items since he was in-between questing and needed some better gear if he had any hope of progressing any faster through the levels. As he inspected a lovely sapphire accuracy trinket he saw a shadow moving in the corner of his eye, seemingly coming from the direction of a narrow alleyway between a shop and an inn. Woe gently put the trinket down and decided to take a better look at what exactly it was that had caused the startling movement in his peripheral vision. As he neared the alleyway he saw a quest notification pop up <<Earning a Living: Merchant>> without thinking Woe pressed accept, since he had gotten in the habit of simply accepting any quest notification that popped up in front of his face. 

Quote

"Hey you wanna learn how to cheat the sy- I mean to make good sales? Follow me." You almost don't notice him, the child that is standing in front of you. He is around the age of 12 or 13, but almost seems more mature for his age than other young kids that you have met. He beckons you forward, and considering it's a kid, nothing really seems that suspicious about him. He enters a small room next to a bigger inn, looks very small to be a shop, but a shop still exists somehow. He has you follow him into the back, where he has items littered all around, the combined stats on all of them are astronomical. "If you really want to learn how to be a Merchant, you have to be crafty and smart for this. You best know what you are doing. I'll show you how to identify an it- No! I'm all out." The kid pouts for a bit, then stops and turns to you."Go get me some more, around 3, so I can show you how to do this." The kid pouts again and crosses his arms.

3

Woe simply blinked, starting at the kid in front of him, not really all too sure what kind of quest prompt had just unfurled in front of him. "well ok I guess, being a merchant sounds fun." Woe walked out of the shop and looked around briefly scratching his head. "Where do I even start?" 
@Asakku

Edited June 22, 2018 by Woe

[Asakku 0]

Leaning beside a tall cobble building, Asakku’s brow shot up at she watched a confused player exit a shop. Maybe I can supposedly, quote on quote, help him? A mischievous smirk played her lips as she shrugged, could be worth a shot. Putting on a cheery face, she skipped over to the player. “Hey there!” She gave a big wave and a wide smile, “I saw you coming out of that shop, and you looked a little bit confused. I was just wondering if you needed help with anything? I would love to assist you!” She spoke in a happy yet casual tone. I think I’m going to be sick. She had to refrain herself from gagging as she continued to play this out. 

“Which quest did you get by the way?” She asked genuinely, peering to get a good picture of what his man could be. Now this is a question I want to know, I don’t want my time to be wasted by bozos on the street. Keeping on her bright face, her voice softened, “I’m not much of a good fighter, so I want to help people when I can,” she gave a fake sniffle and looked up at him with sad eyes.

@Woe

[Woe 0]

Just as Woe was about to head out a curious figure approached him. A short slender girl with raven hair and eyes as red as his. She asked if she could be of assistance, though to be honest she didn't look anymore experienced as him, coupled by the fact she stated she didn't think she was a very good fighter reinforced that hypothesis. However, he wasn't entirely sure where to begin and it wouldn't hurt having a companion come along for the ride. Woe scratched his neck and thought for a brief second before answering. "Uhh, sure I guess. It wouldn't hurt to have some company. Right now I'm doing a quest called 'earning a living' so I can become a merchant. You won't have to worry about any combat I think, I'd prefer to avoid combat too since I'm rather new at this, killed a few boars though." Woe smirked and sent her an invite to join his party, something he had learnt to do earlier from the game guide. "The quest objective is to gather three items to be appraised, so I guess we'll be going for some item hunting. I was thinking maybe some stealthy dungeon crawling." 

[Asakku 0]

She gave a small chuckle, “Oh thank god. I thought I had to actually kill something,” she turned away for a moment just to roll her her eyes. Not that it would be a problem. Turning back to him, she gave a crooked smile. “Yeah, I am too,” she admitted, accepting the party request. “Okay!” She beamed cheerfully, “sounds like fun,” the player said cooley, twirling a lock of ebony around her fingers. Barf, biting her lip, she stuck out her hand. “I’m Asakku by the way!” She could almost feel the grit coming out of her teeth as she spoke those words. 

In, out. You just have to be like this for the whole day, no worries, no worries. It’ll. Be. Fine. She gave a sharp breath and gave another artificial grin. “So, what level are you? I haven’t seen you around here before,” she scratched her chin as she said so, not that I would care anyways, she retorted in her head, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

@Woe

[Woe 0]

Woe blinked as she looked away before accepting his party request, interesting. He was reluctant to shake her hand but he thought there was no harm in being polite so he did so promptly. As they began to walk she asked what level he was, he figured in sword art online people found it rude to ask other players their level, he answered her question with a rhetorical one. "Doesn't matter, does it? Though I'm not generally around the town of beginnings because I'm usually only here to accept quests."  Woe preferred to keep out on the road than cowering behind the walls like some of the players did, was Asakku like that? "The name is Woe, by the way. Do you spend a lot of time behind the walls?" 

They would keep walking until they were out of the town of beginnings and near the grassy fields that surrounded it. He checked the game guide he picked up from the merchant in the town of beginnings with compiled data from other players for any tips on the ideal locations to get the items he was looking for. After a few moments, he tucked it back into his inventory. "Southwest of here there is rumoured to be a cavern with the gear of some dead NPC's, apparently the first one to pick em up gets the gear but they're useless unless a merchant appraises it. Guess that's where we'll start first." 

[Asakku 0]

"I see.." she bit help to prevent a sarcastic retort come out. Hold it in, hold it in. Lets see how long I can keep this up. She let out a shaky breath and gave a fabricated grin. "Oh, I suppose there are a lot of quests here," she nodded in agreement. "Nice to meet you," The raven haired girl gave another 'smile' but it slowly faded once he asked her a question. Her lips formed into a tight line, her eyes narrowing. "I'd like to think I don't," her voice was ruffled with anger and confusion. What kind of question is that? Who even asks those kinds of questions? She gave a sideways glance at the shops to prevent herself from spilling all the comments in her mind.

"Caverns?" her head tilted, "oh right, I've never been in one before, they're popular in the real world I suppose though," she commented, crossing her arms. "Why are they dead? Are there monsters in there?" There was no panic in her voice, she just wanted something she could stab in the head without getting in trouble for it. Something to get my mind off Aincrad, she simply though. "Oh right, that sounds like a great place to start!" she nodded 'enthusiastically'.

@Woe

[Woe 0]

Woe raised an eyebrow at the girl as he thought about her response, I wonder. "Not sure why actually. Didn't really put two and two together. Could just be they got lost and starved, or maybe suicide, or freak accident. Who knows. Never been to a cavern in real life though so I'm kind of excited, weirdly enough." Woe wasn't exactly a fan of being stuck in this death trap of a game but it was a very pretty one and offered many opportunities that you didn't normally get elsewhere. Especially for someone like him who grew up in the city all his life, he could now go and see many different places and see things he never got to see growing up, after all only having one parent didn't afford you many opportunities to travel. 

The kept travelling until they reached the cave that they were looking for. "This is the place I believe. The cavern with the dead guys should be inside somewhere." The two searched the dark caves, luckily there were already torches lit by the people who were here before them. All they had to do was follow the torches until they came upon the dead NPC's they were looking for. It wasn't long before they reached the cavern, it was large, much larger than Woe had expected it to be. Right by the entrance of the cavern was a dead body, with a giant two-handed straight sword resting on the skeletons back. "One down, two to go. Ain't that lucky."

@Asakku

Quest Objective: 1/3
+Perfect Two-Handed Straightsword (Unidentified)

Dice Information:

Spoiler

ID# 101964
Loot: 18
Craft: 1
Item Found: Perfect Two-Handed Straight Sword

 

Edited June 23, 2018 by Woe

[Asakku 0]

She shrugged, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. “I dunno, commiting suicide is too realistic to be something Kayaba would implement. It would be a waste of code and time. If the NPC is just gonna die, then what’s the point? I’m not sure if they have to eat either but who knows?” She sighed, nodding at his statement, “Yeah this would be my first too,” her mouth tilted downward. Don’t feel, don’t hear, don’t see. Taking in a breath, she exhaled slowly.  She repeated this phrase for another thirty seconds before relaxing they were at the caves already.

She stepped into the cave, her shoulders dropping, nothing to bash with my spear.. sadly. Biting in her retort, she made jazz hands, “thrilling,” she tried to hide the sarcasm in her voice but it was all over. Looking at the skelaton with a crooked grin, “wow, that is lucky,” she called, crouching down in front of the skelaton. Well aren’t you a beauty? She said in her absent mind as she poked several bones with her hands, fascinating.. Dusting her knees off, she stood up, “good find.”

@Woe

[Woe 0]

After having placed the item back into his inventory he leaned against the wall to face Asakku, he was short-sighted but he wasn't stupid. He could tell when someone was being sarcastic, and judging by their last interactions it almost felt like it was a poorly put together act starting to come undone. Alright then, what's your angle?  "I was thinking about what you said before you left. Kayaba isn't your typical game developer, as you can clearly tell it would take someone sick to do this to a sum of ten thousand people. I wouldn't be surprised if he had codded a backstory just as sick to some of his NPC's. Afterall, he knew that even the players would leave the game by any means necessary, even if it meant dying, a cruel test of will. A person like him is despicable, but still, I have to admire his ambition and work. Even as someone who doesn't play games, the technology needed to pull this off is unheard of. I guess what I'm trying to say is, the guy's messed up, but we have to suck it up and play his game." Woe figured a statement like that would push some buttons. He shrugged and pushed off the wall, heading into the cave. "Anyway, we're not done yet."

Woe entered the cavern, hoping to find some more dead bodies with gear he could loot. The cave smelt rank, but what could you expect of a place filled with dead things rotting away. Strangely enough, however, there were many banners which hung from the walls of the cavern, which lead Woe to believe that his used to be an NPC set up of some kind, or maybe just a story prompt. Woe wasn't really interesting in figuring it out though, he just wanted to get the gear and leave. Following the banners there seemed to be more and more furniture that decorated the large cavern. Sitting at an empty table was another dead skeleton, with another perfect greatsword. "Well would you look at that, It seems today is my lucky day."  Woe kindly relieved the skeleton of the burden that weighed on its back and added it into his inventory.

@Asakku

Objective: 2/3
+1 Perfect Two-handed straight sword (Unidentified)

Dice Information:

Spoiler

ID# 101970
Loot: 19
Craft: 1
Perfect Weapon Found.

 

 

Edited June 23, 2018 by Woe

[Asakku 0]

Her eyebrow raised when he explained his statement. Well look at that, opinions. Shrugging, she kept her eyes in front of her, “I suppose so..” she replied, taking in the words. “Kayaba is full of surprises, you’ll never know what you’re gonna see, that’s for sure.”

Glancing at the tapestries on the walls she grimaced, not creepy at all. Looking around, she crossed her arms, “why the hell is there furniture in a cave?” She sighed, rubbing her temple, “I’m not going to even ask anymore,” she muttered. Looking up to see another skelaton, she rushed excitedly over. “Oh, ho ho ho. How did he make those so life like?” She asked, lifting a bony arm. I’ve never seen anything so realistic even in real life. She looked like a child who just entered a candy store. It doesn’t look cleansed or anything, it literally looks like a fossil, rottoned, decayed. Gah, how did he do it?

@Woe

[Woe 0]

Surprisingly Woe's tangent of an opinion seemed not to yield much of a reaction at all, perhaps she didn't mind being stuck in here after all? No matter, Woe was probably just overthinking things for no reason, though it seemed she was starting to get more relaxed around him. "There's probably a story behind this place, but to be honest I'd rather find the last item we need and leave. Not really one for history."  Woe walked past her as she fawned over the decaying skeleton.  "My guess is he used a real one as a reference." At the end of the weirdly put together cavern hideout was some kind of study table, resting on the table was a perfect shield with the remains of its owner resting on top of it with some kind of cloth clasped in its bony hands, as if it were polishing the shield before they died. It did raise many questions as to what exactly happened here.

It looked as if something happened, and then they all instantly died, but there were no signs of trauma to indicate violence. "Interesting... Well looks like we got what we came for. What's that saying again? Good things come in threes?" He joked as he lifted the last perfect item in front of her. He popped it into his inventory and walked beside her before placing a calm hand on her shoulder. "Ready to leave?"

@Asakku

Objective: 3/3
+1 Perfect Shield

Dice Information:

Spoiler

ID# 101979
LD: 19
Craft:7
Perfect Shield Found!

 

Edited June 23, 2018 by Woe

[Asakku 0]

She crossed her arms and sighed, "yeah, you're right," she muttered, brushing her legs off. Since when's the last time I agreed with someone? She rubbed her nose with a bitter sigh. I'm going crazy, she shook her head, "lucky him, having a real skeleton must be cool," she mumbled, glancing over at the banners that hung on the wall. Kicking the skeleton aside, she followed after him, "oh look, another one," she grimaced, the skeleton thing is getting overused now. She arms let her arms flow by her side, stretching them the process.

Thank god we're finally done, she let out a breath of relief, "not all god things come at all," she muttered under her breath as she examined the item. Shrugging his hand off her, "don't touch me," she mumbled and gave a small nod. "Yeah, lets just go," she said blankly, walking past him towards the exit. Its finally over, whew. This was harder than I thought, the corner of her mouth turned down into a small frown. Oh well, we're close to being done anyways.

@Woe

[Woe 0]

Woe smirked as she shrugged his hand off, thought so. "Alright then let's get out of here." Woe lead on and followed the trail torches back out of the cave, the whole trip was a lot less eventful than he for some reason had anticipated, but he was trying to avoid trouble. Oh well.  Woe checked the quest outline for a refresher on what needed to be done, all he had to do now was take the three items back to the merchant and he'd teach him how to identify them, giving them certain properties. Asakku didn't really seem very talkative so he thought it best to leave her be, he didn't see any point in trying to rile her up or pry. Though he was a little confused as to what her goal was, she offered to help but he'd pretty much lead the whole expedition. The walk back was one of silence. 

They had finally returned to the small store, the child waiting at the counter still. Woe knocked on the door as he walked in. "Successful journey, and a lucky one at that too." Woe took the three items out and showed them to the storekeeper. "So how are these?" The kid looked at the three items with great surprise "Wow! You really did get lucky!" The npc looked at the items closer and then nodded in approval. "Alright very good then. Here's what you need to know about identifying items."  The npc then went into great detail about how to best identify enchantments on items, the common and even unique types of enchantments that may be found. Woe nodded thoughtfully as the process was explained to him. 

"Alright now you give it a try. Show me what you've learnt." Woe went through with the identification on one of the swords using the skills he was taught. The item screen popped up showing him the new enchantments on the item. "I have no idea if this is good but its better than my crumby sword."

@Asakku

 

Quote

Name: Woe
Your Profession: Merchant
Your Rank: 1
Roll ID: ID# 102075  ID# 102076  ID# 102077
Roll Result: 4,12,6
Item Type: Two-Handed Straight Sword
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +1 Bleed, +1 Paralyse, +1 Accuracy
Description: A red greatsword found in a cavern belonging to a dead npc of unknown background.

Spoiler

Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16604-f01-«earning-a-living-merchant»-working-in-a-game-asakku/?do=findComment&amp;comment=551550

 

1

 

Spoiler

ID# 102075
LD: 4
ID# 102076
LD: 12
ID# 102077
LD: 6

 

 

Edited June 26, 2018 by Woe

[Asakku 0]

She stretched her arms and gave a long yawn, "yeah, about time too," she placed a hand over her mouth and eye the floor tiredly. As they walked out, she eyed the skeletons skeptically, it's hard to believe those are fake, even I haven't seen anything that realistic and I got a flipping' medical scholarship! She huffed with irritation, focusing on the path in front of her. How would Kayaba even get his hands on a real skeleton? I mean, yeah you can buy one but I know the guy has morals! She rolled her eyes and transferred her gaze to her palms. Darn, am I a stick. I'm not getting any more fatter in this stupid game but at least I feel stronger.. she sighed, putting her hands down and keeping a firm look at her feet. 

When they entered the shop, she rolled her eyes with a sigh before leaning back against the door. Tuning out hitter conversation, she was once again, lost in thought. How is my body doing in the real world? I bet I'm skinnier than I am right now. She chuckled, pinching her forehead. Probably stuck to stupid life support or some crap.  I'm in the field of medicine and I don't feel close to any jobs in that field at all. Too late to consider life choices now.

@Woe