After the two Players left, peace and quiet returned once more to the Used Gear and Scrap Merchant's shop on the outskirts of Paldia.
Sean stood motionless behind the wooden counter, surveying the thirty silver coins and assorted monster materials left scattered across it. The faint stench of blood from the monster parts, along with the mud caked onto the materials, drove home the fact that this world was no longer just graphics on a computer screen. Everything had a sensation. Everything could be touched. And everything was genuinely life-threatening.
“All right... Better check the resources I have on hand first.”
Sean muttered softly to himself as he used his fingers to call up his status window and personal inventory.
[Shop purse: 30 silver coins, 450 copper coins] [Materials in storage:] Rusty scrap metal x14 Gray wolf fang x8 Horned rabbit hide x12 Dried monster blood x5 Low-Grade Cracked Magic Core x1
In Chronicles of Atheria, the standard exchange rate for silver and copper coins was 100 copper coins to 1 silver coin, and 100 silver coins to 1 gold coin. For beginner Players, carrying only a few dozen copper coins was perfectly normal. But for Sean, getting thirty silver coins from selling a single weapon was a pretty decent starting capital.
However, the thing that truly made Sean's eyes gleam with excitement wasn't the money. It was this pile of junk materials!
“In the original version of the game, these low-grade materials were only good for selling to NPCs for dirt-cheap prices, or crafting into ordinary items nobody wanted to use... But with the ‘Dark Merchant Forge’ skill, these materials are practically a gold mine!”
Sean didn't waste a moment. He strode over to the pile of battered weapons stacked in the back corner of the shop and picked up a piece of old leather armor, its tears so severe that it was practically unusable, to appraise it.
[Appraisal (Lv.1) activated] [Item: Tattered Leather Armor (F-rank) - Durability: 3/50] [Properties: Defense +2 (almost no effect in combat)]
“The tears across the chest can be repaired and reinforced with horned rabbit hide. As for the lining... If I grind the wolf fangs into powder and mix them with dried monster blood to enchant it...”
The thoughts of a top-tier gamer raced nonstop through Sean's mind. He was beginning to understand how the ‘Dark Merchant Forge’ worked. It wasn't just pressing a button to create an item according to one of the System's fixed recipes. It drew out the hidden potential of various materials and fused them together, ignoring the game's original limitations!
Sean reached out with his right hand and touched the tattered leather armor, mentally calling forth the materials he wanted to use.
Fwoosh—!
Purple-black spectral flames erupted from his palm, wrapping around the leather armor as all the materials floated slightly above the floor. The sound of condensing energy rumbled softly through the air before the leather fibers knitted together seamlessly. The grime faded away, transforming into charcoal-black leather armor adorned with beautiful, thornlike patterns across both shoulders.
[Synthesis complete! You received: ‘Bloodthirsty Leather Armor (C-rank Special Grade)’] [Properties: Defense +38, Strength (STR) +5, Passive Skill: Restores 5% of maximum HP upon killing a monster] [MP consumed: 15 | MP remaining: 35/50]
“Amazing...” Sean ran his hand over the new armor's soft yet sturdy leather, marveling at it. A lifesteal passive that restored HP upon killing a monster was practically a god-tier property for a solo player build in the early game. If he put it up for sale now, guild leaders would definitely pay an exorbitant price for it.
But just as Sean was enjoying himself while experimenting with forging his next item, several voices shouting and the heavy stomping of multiple feet rang out from the shop's front door again!
Bang!
The wooden door was shoved open with tremendous force. This time, it wasn't the same two lousy Players from before, but a group of five Players dressed in gleaming iron armor, with golden lion emblems stitched onto their chests. A dark-blue name appeared above the head of the large man leading the group.
‘Player: Iron Lion (Lv.8) - Leader of the Golden Lion Guild’
Iron Lion swept his sharp eyes across the tiny shop with open contempt before striding up to the counter and slamming his palm against the wooden table with a thunderous bang.
“Old man! I heard from Optimus Gale's group that this trash shop sells C-rank weapons, right?!” Iron Lion demanded harshly, undisguised greed glittering in his eyes. “Bring out every C-rank weapon you've got! The Golden Lion Guild is buying them all!”
Sean looked up at the group of Players before him with an impassive expression. He secretly used Appraisal to scan every member of the group at once, revealing that most of their equipment was still only E- and D-rank. But reaching Level 8 while the game's System was malfunctioning meant they were probably a group of power-hungry Players who had been relentlessly hunting monsters.
“C-rank goods aren't exactly easy to come by, Player...” Sean replied lazily, staying in character as an NPC. “Other than that sword, there aren't any C-rank goods left in the shop.”
“Don't try to play games with us, you old bastard!” The young mage standing behind Iron Lion pointed his wooden staff at Sean. “We know the monsters outside the city are getting tougher by the minute. How are our guild members supposed to go level without good equipment?! If you don't bring out the good stuff, we'll smash this trash shop to pieces!”
Silence descended over the shop for a moment. The atmosphere grew tense in the blink of an eye.
Sean narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold glint showing beneath his brown hair... These Players probably thought that now they'd been thrown into the game, they could use force to threaten NPCs however they pleased. But they had probably forgotten that in this world, the Rules of Game—the old rules they knew—had already collapsed!
“So you want something good...” Sean smiled faintly before opening his hand and placing the C-rank Bloodthirsty Leather Armor on the wooden counter in front of everyone.
A purple-black aura radiated visibly from the armor, making every member of the Golden Lion Guild draw a deep breath in astonishment!
“That... That's C-rank armor, and it even has a lifesteal option!” Iron Lion reached out, intending to snatch the armor immediately.
Grab!
Sean slapped his hand down on the armor first and pulled it slightly toward himself, looking Iron Lion in the eye with the superior gaze of a merchant who knew exactly what he had.
“This piece costs 2 gold coins...” Sean said evenly. “Or, if you don't have gold coins... I'll accept three medium-grade monster magic cores, along with exclusive rights to all the junk items your guild drops each day. You deliver them to me—and only me.”
“2 gold coins?! Are you insane, NPC?! That's highway robbery!” the mage behind him immediately shouted.
“If you think it's too expensive, you can walk right out of the shop.” Sean shrugged, utterly unfazed. “But I'll warn you first... A huge swarm of monsters east of the city is going to invade within the next few hours. Without this armor, your guild leader won't be able to tank the damage.”
Sean's words made Iron Lion freeze in place. His face immediately turned pale! Only a few major guilds had just received an alert quest about the monster invasion, so how did this trash-merchant NPC know about it?!
Iron Lion's arrogance crumbled in an instant. He immediately realized that the merchant in front of him wasn't some ordinary brainless NPC, but a ‘special entity’ who might hold his guild's survival in the palm of his hand!
“Deal! 2 gold coins... I'll pay!” Iron Lion gritted his teeth and pulled out his personal money pouch, setting it on the counter. “And as for the deal on all the junk materials... My Golden Lion Guild will absolutely deliver them to you and you alone!”
Sean swept the gold coins into his pocket with a sly smile and handed the armor to the young guild leader, watching his big prey leave the shop with hope in his heart.
“The first prey has taken the bait...” Sean murmured softly to himself, a deep glint in his eyes. “Your junk will become the weapons with which I conquer the world!”