[SP-F1] <<Earning a Living>> The Wolf of Mainstreet (Complete)

[Baldur 0]

 

"You'd think," Baldur said to himself, "That people would find it criminal to sell Health Potions at such high rates when someone might actually die without one."

 

He rubbed his chin as he browsed the vendor's item list and prices, flicking it with his two fingers. It was a store sponsored by the <<Army>> as they had become known. Their justification was that it helped gear up the <<Army>> so they could clear the game and keep it safe. But they had been doing less clearing, and more "protection" racket lately. He tapped the exit window without buying anything and nodded to the uninterested playing behind the table.

 

"It seems like Health Potions and Teleport Crystals would be the most bought item in the game. The demand is there, but not the supply..."

 

He walked down the packed street. He had once been one of these people aimlessly wandering around, unsure of what to do or where to go next, but it had been a long time since that first week. He and Tyger had moved on, but there were still many players who didn't know what to do, and couldn't face death in this game.

 

Baldur couldn't be one of them sitting here waiting. It seemed worse than death.

[Baldur 0]

He wandered the streets of the Town of Beginnings. It was HUGE considering it was the largest geographical feature of the first and largest floor. It was as big as the entire district where he and Tyger lived in Tokyo. You could wander for days down here and still find new shops. Almost everywhere he went, people were over charging for health potions to the point where it really began to bother Baldur that people would profiteer off of such a life essential item.

 

"This is ridiculous."

 

With a huff, Baldur closed another trade window with nothing purchased.

 

It had taken him and Tyger a long time before they could finally break down and buy a health potion. A Health Potion! And even then, it had cost them several days worth of farming in order to afford just one potion.

 

"Can I help you find the weapon shop?" One of the NPC's asked him in their pre-programmed response.

 

"No. Can you teach me how to be a merchant?" He asked with a smirk. It was obviously a question this NPC couldn't answer.

 

"The merchant's guild hall is that way." The NPC pointed and a blip appeared on my map.

 

"Huh..." Baldur murmured, opening his map and looking in the direction the NPC pointed.

 

"Thank you." He said and bowed to the NPC as he left in that direction.

[Baldur 0]

 

He had never been to this district before, but then, there were many places he hadn't visited in the Town of Beginnings. Most often he just went between the teleportation gate and Tyger's shop, <<Catfish Forge>> now that they had out-leveled the first floor.

 

All around him were NPC vendors with the <<Master>> designation. <<Master Smith>> and <<Master Tailor>> seemed to be the most popular. The outdoor forge rang with the sounds of hammer on steel, and the murmur of conversation, both scripted and natural. Right where his map indicated, however, was a basic brick store with the sign "General Store" Printed over the top.

 

Baldur pushed his way inside, and the NPC behind the counter was an older man with a bit of a hunch and large glasses which almost seemed out of place in SAO. Baldur focused his eyesight on the old man, which brought up the cursor above his head and the name <<Master Merchant>>.

[Baldur 0]

"Kon'nichiwa" The older man said.

 

Baldur bowed and returned the greeting. "I wish to become Merchant so I can not gouge people at the expense of their life."

 

"Hmmm.... " The <<Master Merchant>> said, "Is that so?"

 

Slowly he came out from behind the counter and approached Baldur, picking up an apron along the way.

 

"First, you must become familiar with the wares. Restock my shelves."

 

A window popped up in front of Baldur asking him if he wished to accept the "Earning A living - Mercantile" Quest. He hit the accept button and the old man smiled and him and nodded, gesturing to the back door.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur walked up to the door and tapped on it. It had appeared to be an immovable world object. The kind that couldn't be interacted with, but when he tapped it, a menu came up at allowed him to open it.

 

The room behind it was a small room with shelves much higher than he could reach. He walked inside and looked at the wide array of items before him.

 

<<Antidote Potions>>, <<Healing Potions>>, <<Field Rations>>, <<Immolations Potion>>

 

"Hmm... those look interestiong." He tapped the <<Field Rations>> and found the "Appraise" option, which hadn't been there before. He tapped it, and a window popped up showing him what it did.

 

"Huh... +2 Max HP for one day. Cannot be used in combat." He tapped his chin. Those would be incredibly useful at the low levels when things were really risky. Heck, they were still probably useful to him now.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur moved to the next item he had seen. It wasn't really his style, but he would need to know all of these items, and many of them were new to him.

 

He tapped the <<Immolation Potion>> and <<Appraised>> it.

 

"Grants rank 1 thrones, Max of 5 charges... Wow, that's really cool." He chuckled. He was learning so much already.

 

"Wait'll I tell Tyger about some of these. This is turning out to be a great idea!"

 

He smiled and moved onto the next item, which was a <<Basic Teleport Crystal>> but he knew what those did. Everyone did, but they were too expensive for he and Tyger to afford yet.

 

Then he saw a pack at the end of a long row of weapons.

 

He tapped the pack, and saw that it was called a <<Dimensional Backpack>>

 

"Oh  my god! So that's where you get them from!"

 

Inventory space was precious in boss fights, but only the richest players had them.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur moved back over to the row of Health Potions and picked up several glasses, five was about the most he felt he could carry without risking dropping any. Walking back through the door with his white apron on... well... the loop was around his neck but it wasn't tied behind him yet... He had to walk around the store twice before he figured out where the <<Healing Potions>> went. He stacked them up on the shelf which was already almost empty. They were, it seemed, the most popular item. He had heard that master Alchemists could make healing crystals, which were more suited for combat, but they were just a thing of legend to him at this point.

 

Baldur went back for the <<Antidotes>> next, since they were right next to the <<Healing Potions.>>

[Baldur 0]

Slowly whistling while he worked, Baldur restocked the <<Antidotes>> then the <<Field Rations>> (The game wouldn't let him try a bite), the <<Immolations Potions>> and the <<Teleport Crystals>>. The shop wasn't very big, but it was packed to the brim with materials. Idly, Baldur wondered about how things went missing. After all, when you bought something, it went through the trade window. It wasn't like the merchant bagged up your health potions and told you to keep them refrigerated. Items didn't hang off of you either, unless they were armor and weapons.

 

"Huh... interesting..." Baldur mused as he placed the last crystal on the shelf, adjusting them to be in a perfectly symmetrical set-up.

[Baldur 0]

Walking back into the stock room, Baldur walked up to the long row of weapons and armors. Every type of weapon he could imagine was there, and every type of armor and accessory as well. He picked up a few swords, one straight, one slashing, and walked them out front to put into the large racks. He then went back and grabbed some of the two handed weapons.

 

And then.

 

And then he found the Katanas.

 

It was hard for him not buy one on the spot, but he knew Tyger would be upset with him if he brought home a strange smith's sword.

 

But it was a Katana, and it felt good to hold one again. He pushed the blade free with his thumb and then drew it half way out. It slid perfectly, and the hamon was a crisp, beautiful, textbook pattern. Nothing artistic, but beautiful non-the-less.

 

With a snap he put the sword back in its saya and place it on a rack as well. The Katana was classified as a two-handed sword in this game, but he was curious if it was limited to that, since most styles required both.

 

[Baldur 0]

"Merchant-Sensei."

 

The elderly man turned to Baldur and blinked as he looked around the store.

 

"Well done. You are now familiar with the primary goods of a merchant. Now you must understand profit."

 

He reached under the counter and pulled out a ledger. In the ledge, her listed several factors which showed how many of what materials it cost to make each item, and an approximate value for those materials. According to his book, it cost 500 Col in materials to make an <<Antidote Potion>> and 400 Col to make a <<Healing Potion>> using standard merchant supplier pricing. Depending on the cost of mats, you could make or break your profit margin. If Baldur could get a steady, reliable flow of materials and items, then he could offer less for an item, but it meant making less as well.

[Baldur 0]

As they were reviewing the ledger, a player came in. The <<Master Merchant>> gestured for Baldur to join him.

 

The player pulled up a menu and made a few swords and materials appears on the counter.

 

"Sell items." The player said, and the NPC obliged, touching each item and making it disappear with the sound of Col jingling in his ear. The player gave Baldur a curious, but left the store without any further comment.

 

"What happens to the items he sold?" Baldur cast a glance around the store, but nothing the man had sold appeared anywhere.

 

"The merchants have an exchange. Items players bring to you go out into the trade network for other merchants who want to sell them. We sell low to each other, and add a mark up to the consumer."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur pointed to the glass case that was under the counter where they were reviewing the ledger.

 

"Why didn't those items go to the exchange?"

 

The Merchant NPC made thoughtful noises for a moment, probably trying to analyze Baldur's question. 

 

"Custom, or very special items can make more money if they have high demand bonuses." The <<Master Merchant>> "You can sell them to the merchant to make a quick col, or you can put them out for sale and a player can come in and pay you full price."

[Baldur 0]

"Another facet of the exchange -" The <<Master Merchant>> continued, "- is that you can use a <<Voucher>>  to exchange like items. If you find a <<Straight Sword>> with a damage enchantment, but you have a customer who wants a <<Straight Sword>> with an accuracy enchantment, then using a <<Voucher>> you can exchange it with another merchant."

 

Baldur nodded his head in understanding and rubbed his chin at the thought.

 

"That's very handy."

[Baldur 0]

"The final aspect of being a merchant you must understand is the commodity market."

 

Baldur thought he knew where this was going, but he had never seen it in action inside the game.

 

"Depending on supply and demand, certain materials have higher values on some days than on others. If you buy metal when its cheap, and then wait for it to get low on supply which drives the price up, you can sell it for more money... or in the case of the merchant exchange, you trade it in for more material. That one <<Pure Silver Ore>> might be worth 4 <<Hardened Leather Hides>>, or it might be the reverse. It allows us to always keep stock with what you have... if you do it right. You might win some gambles, and loose others."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur nodded his head as the <<Master Merchant>> walked them through the step by step process of all the different facets of being a merchant. His mind was already considering all the ways that his shop and Tyger's could synergise. Having both of them in the same location would surely help players only need to stop at one place in order to get everything they needed... or at least the basics. If they had someone who could do cloth gear, then they really would have a one-stop shop.

 

"I can't wait to get started. I can sell Health Potions at cost, and if that keeps even one person alive who wouldn't have had the money otherwise, it's worth it."

[Baldur 0]

"The last thing I must teach you." The wizened old <<Master Merchant>> said gravely to Baldur, "Is where to find the Merchant Exchange." He reached into a pocket and took out a small pin and pinned it to Baldur's lapel. Suddenly Baldur saw a small icon appear near his health bar.

 

"This will let you access the exchange. Your first order of business will be to take this crate of supplies and exchange them, and bring the vouchers back here."

 

The <<Master Merchant>> reached below the counter and pulled out a basket with a wide array of materials inside. Horns, bolts of cloth, bars of metal, leather straps, it was all piled tightly inside of the box.

 

"Now be sure you get the best value for this that you can!"

[Baldur 0]

Baldur picked up the box and he saw a ping appear on his map. Baldur bowed to the <<Master Merchant>> as he held the box before hurrying out the door. He had once and a while seen people with such a box scurrying about the city. This is the quest they must have been doing.

 

"I guess this beats a 'kill 10 rats' quest." He didn't know if they had any of those or not, since they had fled to the field to try and farm out the first few levels before the area around the Town of Beginnings became so dense with players that you had to fight over mob spawns.

 

"I can't wait to tell Tyger what I've done." He spoke to himself as he wove through the streets. The map told him where he needed to go, but it didn't tell him how to get there. He ended up going down several dead ends, and going in a full circle several times before he came to what looked like a warehouse.

 

"oho! Greetings, errand boy." The NPC warehouse manager greeted him. "I see you have supplied from the old man." The large warehouse manager looked like he would be more at place in the front lines with a giant axe than in a store, but Baldur supposed you certainly worked up some upper body strength working in a warehouse.

 

"Yes, and he told me you always try to low-ball him on the first offer." Baldur smiled softly. Would the language engine be able to barter?

 

"He did, did he?" The NPC said after a moment of peering into the box, "Then tell the old man to stop sending me the bottom of the barrel." 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur rolled his eyes, getting into the game of it as if he were role-playing with another player rather than a system controlled non-player character.

 

"Well you can't expect him to give you the best stuff, he would run out of money in a heartbeat at the prices you're paying him."

 

The large warehouse manager scoffed at him. Did an NPC really just scoff?

 

"I have to make my own mark up, to someone else who has to mark it up. If I gave him what he asked, I couldn't sell it to anyone else."

 

Baldur shook his head and gestured with the box, "You and I both know you make your money on scale, not sale."

 

Ha! Baldur thought, I'm a poet and didn't know it. I wish Tyger had heard that one.

 

He stood a little straighter, quite proud of his rhyme.

[Baldur 0]

The manager frown, and considered Baldur's words and his box of supplies.

 

"I'll give the old man 5 uncommon vouchers, 3 Rare vouchers, and 1 perfect voucher for the whole box."
 

Baldur shook his head, and the manager seemed surprised.

 

"He told me you always low-balled him on the first go round. You're gonna need to give me more or I'm taking this somewhere else."

 

The manager rubbed his chin, and then shook his head like he couldn't believe what he was about to say.

 

"Fine. 4 rare vouchers, but not a single one more."

 

Baldur was quite surprised. A rare item was like a blue in any other MMO. That was the best kind of item you could hope to get before you started raiding. The <<Master Merchant>> had to be happy with this exchange. Baldur took the vouchers and quickly ran back to the general store.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur burst into the general store, quite excited from his bargaining skills.

 

"Sensei, sensei! I look how much I got for that box of supplies!" He quickly ran up to the <<Master Merchant>> and handed the old man the vouchers he could use to exchange items of a kind at no cost.

 

"Impressive young man." Baldur held back a smile. It had been a long time since anyone had called him that. In this game he sometimes worried he was the oldest person there.

 

"With this, you have completed your apprenticeship to me. Now go forth, and open your own shop using what I have taught you, and this gift."

 

The <<Master Merchant>> knelt down and picked up another box of supplies like that one he had just given him. Then he reached down and picked up a ledger of his own and place it on top.

 

"Now you have everything you need to start your own shop. May fortune be ever in your favor young man."

 

He smiled, adjusted his glasses, and then patted Baldur on the cheek. As the old man walked off, Baldur pulled open his character window and saw "Merchant: Level 1" off to the side. He picked up the box and the ledger and then left the store at a jog to tell Tyger about what he had just done.