Chapter 4

Hayato arrived at the town closest to the base.

The town's name is "Grandbell."

It's not a large town, but it has all the necessary facilities, which Hayato finds very useful.

Since it's more of a frontier area, there are fewer players. Most players live and adventure near the capital or the imperial city, so they rarely come here unless they have a specific reason.

Hayato actually wanted to build his house near a town with more players, but at the moment, there was no such land available.

(The previous clan base was in a good location. I don't know if they would have given it to me, but it might have been better to get the clan base. After all, I was the one who built it. But that's water under the bridge now.)

The location of the clan base where Hayato used to be was right next to the capital, along a road that players frequently traveled.

The in-game store system has a product search function, so players can find out about items and prices no matter where they are. Plus, with teleportation, the location of the store doesn't really matter. However, having customers browse items in the store also contributes to sales.

This time, Hayato built his log house in a frontier area. He had resigned himself to the fact that only players who specifically came to buy items would visit.

(Even with teleportation, it's still a hassle to come here, so some players might prefer to buy things nearby, like at a convenience store. I'm offering a 10% discount from the market price, but will anyone come to buy? Producers can't start without money, so I need to earn some. But it feels like everything is going wrong... I don't really want to work, though.)

While thinking about these things, Hayato walked through the town and arrived at his destination.

This is the facility where the auction system can be used.

It looks like a small coliseum, a circular building with reception windows evenly spaced around it. Each window has the function to handle auction procedures.

Sellers set the item, the minimum price, and the maximum price. They also specify a time, which is often 24 hours but can be up to 72 hours, or three days.

When the specified time is over, the player who set the highest price wins the auction, but if the seller's maximum price is paid, the auction is won immediately without waiting for the time to expire.

(Auctions incur a fee if there are no bids, so the maximum price is often set to a price that will definitely sell. I'll check here first before listing in the store.)

Hayato moved to the reception area.

He displayed the auction menu and searched for bone-in dragon meat.

(The minimum price is 10,000, and the buyout price is 25,000... That's high. I expected it to be expensive since it's the ingredient for dragon steak. It's a relief that some players are listing multiple items at the same price.)

In this game, cooking provides temporary positive effects. Some items, like coffee, have no effect, but most benefit the player.

Meat dishes, which increase attack power, are popular among warrior-type players. Among these, dragon steak boasts an exceptional increase in attack power and is said to significantly affect the win rate in clan wars.

Bone-in dragon meat, being the ingredient for such a dish, is quite expensive due to its difficulty in obtaining.

(If I were still with the previous clan members, we could take down a dragon, but now that I'm alone, there's no way I can win. I could ask for help, but they seem busy preparing for the clan war... I guess I'll have to solve this with money.)

Hayato decided to treat this as an initial investment and bought four pieces of bone-in dragon meat at the buyout price, paying a total of 100,000G.

(If the success rate is 25%, I should be able to make one in four tries. It's possible that it won't work even after four tries, but I want to believe in my luck. Even if I fail, if the attack power boost is high, it might still sell for a good price. Even if it's low, there are collectors of rare items who would buy it.)

Similarly, he bought four dragon eggs, which also cost 100,000G.

Hayato then bought the finer ingredients from an NPC store to complete all the materials.

Having achieved his immediate goal, he decided to head to the mercenary guild next.

He thought that if NPCs could be sent to clan wars, it might be possible to hire mercenaries as well.

The mercenary guild is where escort quests are received.

Quests are requests from NPCs, and completing them earns money or items. Until now, it was thought to be a place to receive such quests.

Hayato also thought so, but now he had a different idea.

(If NPCs can request escorts, maybe I can request an escort from them. I think it's quite possible they can participate in clan wars.)

After walking for a while toward the center of town, he saw the mercenary guild building.

It was a three-story brick building that looked new and quite large. At the entrance, NPCs who looked like mercenaries were coming and going, and many of them had tough faces, which made Hayato feel reassured.

The first floor of the building was like a cafeteria, with a reception counter at the back where several receptionists were seated.

Hayato approached and spoke to one of the receptionists.

"Excuse me, is this the reception?"

"Welcome to the Mercenary Guild. What can I do for you today?"

"Um, how do I hire a mercenary?"

"Hiring a mercenary? Please check this menu. It lists the currently available mercenaries and their prices. By the way, the prices are for one day of service."

"Thank you."

(So I can hire them normally. I thought it was just a place to receive escort quests... No, I remember mercenaries and adventurers can be hired. I've heard you can pay them to retrieve materials. What I want to hire them for is to fight in a clan war. I should check just in case.)

"Can the mercenaries here participate in clan wars?"

"Yes, they can. However, the pricing system is different for clan wars. Also, if there are no available slots in the clan, you can't hire them. Is that okay?"

"That's fine. Can I see the pricing system?"

The receptionist said, "Of course, here it is," and handed Hayato a piece of paper.

Hayato's face twisted when he saw the content.

(No way, at least a million for one participation? I can afford it now, but if I hire several, I'll run out of money. Even if I get through this, I'll be ruined in the next clan war... What's this? Free of charge?)

"Is this person on the list free?"

"Ah, that mercenary can be hired under special conditions. It seems they want the highest quality elixir. If you can provide it, they will work for free."

Elixir. Known as the ultimate healing potion in the game, it can fully restore HP and MP, as well as all status abnormalities. The only drawback is that it cannot be used consecutively.

Magic and items have a recast time or cooldown, which limits their reuse. You can't use the same magic or item consecutively in a short period.

For items, the higher the quality, the shorter the cooldown. The highest quality elixir has a five-minute cooldown, which is a bargain compared to the one-hour cooldown for the lowest quality elixir.

(I have a few elixirs, but not the highest quality. The probability of producing the highest quality elixir, even with the best skills and production assistance items, is only 2%. If it could be mass-produced, no one would lose in clan wars, so I guess the probability is fair.)

Moreover, the materials for elixirs are rare. Even if he could gather the materials from the auction, producing the highest quality elixir would likely bankrupt him, so Hayato quickly gave up.

(The highest quality elixir could sell for ten million on the auction. If I could make it, I would sell it.)

Just as Hayato was thinking this,

"Hey, did I hear you say free? Are you trying to hire me?"

Hayato turned around at the voice from behind.

There stood a tall man with a large sword on his back, wearing black armor and sporting blonde hair.