ALL NOVEL chapter 17
new colleague (3)
“Brother, this is it.”
Smiling brightly, the little boy handed over the coin. Come to think of it, he was always playing Monster Apocalypse.
Since my older sister goes to the workshop and the kid spends a lot of time alone, I always see him playing games on the rooftop.
I stroked the little boy’s head and used my wisdom eye.
*Yoo Ha-jin Lv 1
[Occupation]: Merchant (rare)
[technology]:
-Call the food vendor (advanced)
[Ability level]: Normal
-Strength 1, Dexterity 1, Health 0.8
this is true
What should I express?
I’ve never even been 5th in the lottery in my life.
‘Why is my luck so good?’
What is the probability that a spirit sage and a merchant live right next to me?
Probably lower than the odds of winning the lottery.
‘No, is this too strange?’
The closed beta test mail sent only to a small number of people, as well as the magic bomb given by the administrator to open a hidden scenario, are also very strange.
It’s like someone is helping me…
‘Are you helping me because I’m ranked #1?’
No, I sent you an email before.
I’m curious about the reason, but honestly, there’s no way to know… Anyway, help like this is always welcome.
I thought about my merchant job.
As time goes by, the supply of food and daily necessities cannot keep up with the demand during the primary target period of zombies and villains.
The places where you can get these daily necessities are limited, and you can get them from miscellaneous goods cards and public shelters of high quality or higher, but the price of the latter increases over time.
In addition, private shelters had to be rare enough to be visited by merchants, so they had to move to public forts in order to obtain these items.
It was just a hassle in the game, but the reality is different. Because the outside of the shelter is full of dangerous zombies.
It is the merchant who can solve these problems right from the beginning.
Even in the game, it’s hard to get tower achievement points, so there were almost no jobs, so it’s even harder to find in real life.
Of course, the current level is low, so only food vendors, but if the level goes up, you will be able to summon various merchants.
To be honest, it’s not enough even if I give you a coin and take you there, but this cutie wants to be with me by giving me a coin as well.
“I’ll give you the coins back.”
“hehehehe, it’s okay. Brother.”
Then, when I saw my sister packing up, she whispered to me very softly.
“Buy me dinosaur jelly with it. My sister won’t buy it because it rots.”
“Is that right, sister?”
“Chi~, everyone else eats dinosaurs, but I can’t.”
The little boy’s cheeks swelled up. Even in this situation, the guy who complained about snacking was cute, so I stroked his head again.
“I’ll tell my sister so she can eat sometimes. Trust me.”
“really?”
Ha Jin-i’s swollen cheeks went back in and he hugged me.
“okay. this guy.”
“Ah, I can summon a vendor that sells delicious food, but I’m afraid I haven’t called yet.”
“Summon me. My brother will be by your side.”
Ha-jin touched something in the air, and a merchant appeared in front of him five minutes later.
“Hey, thank you for summoning users. Do you have anything you need?”
A convex protruding belly.
Bright colorful attire.
dark skin.
The appearance of the merchant was like something out of an Arabian Nights novel.
“My brother tells me.”
The little boy took my hand and said.
“Show me the list, please.”
“Then let me show you the list I brought to your inventory.”
The merchant snapped his fingers and a holographic shop window appeared.
There were only four types of food.
1 apple 5 coins.
1 banana 5 coins.
Pizza (L) 20 coins.
Dinner for 1 20 Coins.
Coke (500mL) 5 Coins.
The price is quite expensive. Probably because of the buff attached to the food.
“The price is a bit high.”
“It’s probably because you don’t have any details.”
If that’s the case, if a kid with skills buys it, he’ll be able to buy it at least a little bit cheaper.
“Uh, I have a trick.”
said the little boy.
“okay? Then buy an apple.”
He handed over 5 coins and said.
“It only takes 3 coins.”
After buying an apple, the kid handed me 2 coins and said,
“Hey~ Compared to me, there is a whopping 40% price difference.”
Honestly, I thought there would be a difference of about 20%, but I never thought it would be this much.
“hehehehe, I got a discount from my job.”
“I will leave it to you to buy things from now on.”
The little boy looked up at me and smiled, as if he were asking for a compliment.
“I bought everything, so I’ll send it to you now.”
“huh! Brother.”
“No way, did you buy them all?”
The face of a devastated merchant!
“yes.”
“Oops, it’s ruined.”
The merchant sat down on the floor with a bewildered expression.
“Why is that?”
“I came back with 50 coins for the round-trip portal to Earth and 200 coins for goods, and I came here with all my possessions, and I only have one apple…”
The merchant said with tears in his eyes.
“Oh, my wife told me not to do that, so now what? When I go back, I will definitely ask for a divorce.”
I looked at the merchant without saying anything.
“Hey sir, can you please buy me some more?”
“We already have a lot of food, so we don’t need it.”
“Oh, sir, I won’t be able to eat that food for a while.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm, I shouldn’t tell you about it because it’s top secret…”
The merchant looked at my face and said with a puzzled expression.
“Then you don’t have to say anything. Please go back.”
“If I tell you a secret, will you buy me something?”
“I heard you.”
“Shortly after the apocalypse begins, all food on Earth will be gone.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Do you know Dark Eater?”
I remembered for a while.
Come to think of it, I think I heard that there was a monster that suddenly appeared in the place where the NPC who gave the sub-scenario lived and ate all the food and then disappeared.
Perhaps the merchant is talking about Dark Eater.
“I do not know.”
I pretended not to know to get a little more accurate information.
“Oh, this is very top secret, but you must buy it. Sure.”
Again, the merchant looked at me with a desperate expression and opened his mouth.
“Darkeaters will warp the plane and appear wherever there is food and will eat all the food.”
“Then can I just kill it?”
The merchant shook his head and said.
“Unless it is the priest’s holy magic, the Dark Eater cannot be attacked by any means of attack.”
“If what you are saying is true, shouldn’t we be buying more food?”
“Like Iron Eater, other Eaters cannot touch things that are made into items.”
When will the food disappear? If they disappear within a week, there is a high chance that people who cannot be saved will turn into villains.
‘It’s a big deal.’
Players will procure food through general merchandise cards or shops in the tower, but ordinary people will definitely starve.
Of course, you can procure food through the merchants of the fortress created in the safe zone, but if the price is too high, it will be quite burdensome.
In the end, like all the zombie movies, we’ll end up killing each other for a piece of bread.
“Of course you can buy it through a safe zone merchant, but the price won’t be as cheap as mine.”
When I was in trouble for a while, the merchant gave me information that I didn’t even ask if I wanted it at this time, and emphasized that his goods were cheap.
That would be correct.
It took 10 points to make one chopstick into an item.
‘Probably the food is similar.’
In the end, like the merchant said, it is to my advantage to buy as much food as possible now. check it before that.
“I’m going home, so please wait a moment.”
Came home and fortified one banana.
[Enhancement succeeded.]
[10 coins have been consumed.]
[Banana has become an item.]
*banana
[Classification]: food
[Expiration date]: None.
The food I fortified was more expensive than what the merchant brought, and there was no buff. I guess I’ll have to buy all the merchant’s stuff.
‘Let’s see.’
20 Bananas, 10 Cokes.
20 pizzas, 20 apples.
10 dinners.
The total price is 850 coins.
510 coins if a kid buys it.
It’s expensive though.
A good idea just occurred to me. I brought another banana and handed the item, banana, to the merchant.
“Take a look.”
“Oh, is it an item?”
“yes.”
“How did you get this?”
The merchant asked for the bait I threw.
“I made it.”
“yes? You said you made it?”
A merchant with an expression of disbelief.
“You look like you can’t believe it.”
“Honestly, it’s hard to believe. Didn’t you bring it from the Tower of Salvation?”
I handed an ordinary banana to the merchant.
“Is it a regular banana?”
“Yes, I see.”
I reached for the banana in the merchant’s hand.
[Enhancement succeeded.]
[10 coins have been consumed.]
[Banana has become an item.]
“Take another look.”
“Ah~, it’s true.”
The merchant saw the banana transform into an item with a small light in front of him and sat down on the floor again.
“Ah, why the hell did you call me when you have such a skill?”
When the merchant’s resentful eyes turned to the kid, he quickly hid behind me.
“Please calm down and listen to me. I make a banana into an item, and it costs 3 coins.”
“You only take 3 coins?”
“yes. I can make as many as I want if I want to.”
“You can’t make buffs, can you?”
The merchant gave strength to the word buff and said.
“No, if you invest 1 coin more, the buff will also go in.”
“Then, what is the purpose of saying this even though you are not buying anything?”
The merchant glared at me with an annoyed face without even checking whether the buff was available.
“I’m sorry about that. Instead, if you answer one question, I will buy all the items you brought today.”
The merchant paused as if pondering for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“What is it?”
“When does the Dark Eater appear and when does it disappear?”
“Ha, that’s what you want after all.”
I nodded and said.
“Did you say the cost of the items is 200 coins?”
Of course, the merchant’s words may not be the truth, but it doesn’t matter.
“Yes, it was.”
“If I don’t buy it, should I keep it or sell it cheap?”
The merchant frowned and nodded reluctantly.
“My entire fortune is 251 coins.”
At my words, Harin Yu glanced at me, but didn’t say anything.
“I am willing to buy all the items you brought for 251 coins if you give me information about the Dark Eater.”
50 for moving costs and 200 for the cost of goods. Honestly, it would be against morality to say that you would buy for 251 coins.
However, I am not naive enough to protect commercial morality from those who make money by taking advantage of our crisis.
“No matter how hard it is, I can’t pass it up to 251 coins. Then, won’t my labor costs come out?”
“Well then, I can’t help it. Stop going back.”
“No, don’t do that, give me a little more. Isn’t 251 coins too much?”
“It was a lot of 251 coins.”
The merchant’s expression hardened again, probably taken aback by my words.
“If I handcraft all the items you brought, it will cost about 200 coins.”
Of course it’s a lie, but as a merchant, there’s no way to know. Of course, under normal circumstances, I would leave in anger, but I am not the one who regrets right now.
“251 coins is the price of goods plus information.”
“No, but 251 coins is too much. Please give me a little more.”
Got it, man.
“Then let’s borrow some money.”
I winked at Yuharin and conveyed my intentions.
“What should I do? I don’t have any coins either.”
I turned my gaze to the merchant, barely restraining myself from laughing at the sight of Yoo Ha-rin, who realized my intentions and put on a very sorry expression.
“ah···. There are cases like this kind of dog.”
The merchant let out a deep sigh as if the ground would collapse, pondered for a moment, then continued.
“Instead, you should definitely call me the next time you need to buy something. Of course, you have to buy enough to cover the labor cost.”
“It is.”
“Dark Eaters appear on the 6th day of the end and do not appear after that.”
After hearing the information, I bought all the goods the merchant brought.
[251 coins have been consumed.]
In addition, the merchant gave the little boy a seal with the merchant number of the dimension he could call, sighed deeply, and disappeared.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, that’s all right.”
Now it’s time to go back to the shelter and open the lab.