Chapter 71

Each of my friends went to sleep or engaged in production before bed, and I returned to Jears.

The eldest Oak's straw, the second eldest Oak's wood, and the youngest Oak's brick seemed to be materials for redecorating shops and clan houses. When I told the ochazukes about the offer to recruit for a shop, they said it might have been a condition to defeat the boss on the 5th floor of the dungeon. Naru thought for a moment that it might be floorboards, but upon calm consideration, it was probably just the material for a staff.

Many people check the items for consignment sales and organize their belongings before bed. I was also asked for recovery potions by the ochazukes. I bought materials for production and updated my consignment sales. Since I was there, I decided to check if any new stalls had opened.

Previously, only five stalls were occupied, but now there were no vacancies. After a few early producers like Elias opened stalls, many more efficient producers followed suit.

Some stalls handled various items with the names of more than four producers, suggesting they were either consigning others' products, had procurement contracts, or were joint ventures. Although it was close to noon in the game, it was late in real time, so many shops were already closed. However, the variety of shops was impressive, including a shop specializing in ability-enhanced accessories, one for thief-class leather armor and shields, another for full plate armor, and separate shops for staves and swords, reflecting the specialization of production.

One interesting stall was a material buyback shop. They bought materials that were not yet widely available at slightly higher prices than the consignment sales limit and bought materials that were abundant at the lower limit of consignment sales prices. They then resold the accumulated materials to producers in bulk. This stall was quite popular with people who wanted to sell quickly, check the bottom prices, or sell while visiting the stalls.

I impulsively bought a belt from an accessory shop, only to discover that there were both armor and accessory belts. The belt I bought had fire resistance +1 and STR +1. I learned that two different abilities could be added to a single item during production, and I decided to try it out with jewelry later.

By the way, I had been wondering why production wasn't related to accessories, but then I realized that Garganos made not only wearable items but also jewelry boxes, figurines, letter openers, and staff handles.

As I was browsing, I came across Elias's shop and peeked in. She seemed to be serving a customer. I was about to leave when she called out to me.

"Ah, good afternoon!"

"Hello, are you a customer?"

At first, I thought she was asking if I was a customer, but it seemed she wasn't.

"Hello, yes, well."

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for that matter."

She greeted me with a smile, then lowered her voice and frowned apologetically.

"No, it's not urgent."

I have the 'Dexterous Gloves' anyway.

"Your specialty is light armor made from monster drops, right? Do you need it?"

I didn't want to seem like I was pushing her, so I showed her materials she might use, such as the Anger Oak Chestband, Anger Oak Hide, and Black Iron. I could have shown her the actual items, but since an unknown man was nearby, I only displayed them in the shared window for negotiation within the stall.

"Oh, this is the stuff Gil said he would bring later yesterday."

"Yes, from the Flame King's place."

Elias and the gender-ambiguous Gilvaitza seemed to know each other. I couldn't tell if the legs she exposed were female, but it didn't really matter.

"Are you acquainted with the top raiders?"

The man asked.

"Just a chance encounter."

"Do you at least exchange greetings?"

The man persisted.

This was my mistake for mentioning the Flame King, whose name is often announced in the world.

"Wens, don't bother my customer."

Elias narrowed her eyes and tilted her head with a smile, her hair falling over her bare shoulders. Her smile seemed genuine, but the temperature around us dropped.

"U, sorry. Well, think about that offer."

Wens, who had been staring at us, quickly left.

Elias sighed and apologized to me.

"I'm sorry, he seems to be one of those people who are obsessed with top raiders and producers."

"It's fine, I shouldn't have mentioned the Flame King. I try to be careful, but sometimes I forget."

"Those types are not common, but they are intense."

"Still, 80,000 for a round trip is a waste."

Elias said, looking at the negotiation window again. I understood she was referring to the transfer fee, so I just shrugged. Gilvaitza probably didn't come just to sell because of the transfer fee.

"I'll buy everything. Since it's my first time with these materials, I'll pay a bit more than Gil, so please keep the price a secret. I don't know when he'll be back."

"Understood."

My gold returned to 7 million with the addition of the consignment sales I had just collected.

"About the gauntlets, I'll take the job now."

"It's fine, but what changed your mind?"

She didn't seem like she was going to accept the job a moment ago.

"I was asking friends and acquaintances to buy or lend me a Dexterity Ring +3, but I just got an email confirming they all failed. Wens also offered to lend me a ring, but the conditions were unacceptable, so I decided to make it myself. I've done all the other preparations, so I'll just make it. Sorry, but I can't guarantee a rating of 7, but 6 is certain."

"A rating of 6 is sufficient, and I doubt the ring would make much difference."

"You should always maximize your stats. If you can maintain a certain value, you can consistently get high ratings."

I recalled that all the rings I had put up for sale had been sold. The producers are quite diligent.

"Anyway, here."

I had just added a Dexterity Ring +3 to consignment, but I still had some left.

"Oh, you managed to get one, lucky you."

Elias stopped me from giving her the 'Gauntlets of Strength' and the ring from the Griffin.

"I'll borrow the ring, but I'm scared to handle the gauntlets, so I'll give you other materials and you can place a production request. Should we match the design and color to the previous chestplate?"

"Sure, I'll do that."

I followed her instructions and opened the production request window.

"This way, the item remains yours during production, and it prevents rating fraud."

Rating fraud involves receiving materials, producing an item, and then swapping it with a lower-rated item of the same type.

"Quite convenient."

"It's a stall function. I usually don't accept brought-in production requests because the transactions are too troublesome."

"Thank you. By the way, the Circle Moss chestplate modification was just a swap with a pre-processed, rating 6 chestplate."

"In exchange, I added extra materials, and I only accepted requests that would improve my level, so the result was almost always a rating 6."

"Wait a moment."

She started eating an omelet. It might be a game mechanic to boost dexterity, but it felt strange.

I decided to drink some tea while watching her eat.

"Good."

She welcomed me with a slightly colored voice and gesture, but I remained calm and followed the steps she had taught me to place the production request.

After a while, the gauntlets, similar to the chestplate with a white base and calm green vine decorations, were completed. The green vines spread from the hand to the arm, gradually fading. The gauntlets inherited the STR bonus from the Griffin gauntlets and had a rating of 7, surpassing the original ability.

However, they didn't match the belt I was wearing. I might have to put the belt away, or at least get it changed to white.

"Your armor is delicate."

"Thank you. I actually want to add gold accents here, but adding a second color still lowers the rating."

Adding colors or decorations with minerals can destabilize the rating.

"There are also producers who specialize in decorating finished items. They can add + values to basic abilities, grant low-level resistances, and even change abilities from STR to INT, though I only know one person who can do that."

"I remember seeing a stall that offered embroidery and ability enhancement."

I recalled a stall from my last visit.

"Yes, I'd like to do the design myself, but if the original ability is compromised, it's counterproductive. So, feel free to modify it elsewhere if you don't like it or get bored."

"I like it, so I have no plans to change it. Maybe I'll change the color to match a new robe. How much is the fee?"

"Oh, my level has improved, so the material cost is free, like the Circle Moss."

She received some good materials.

"Well, let's do a barter. You can keep the ring."

"That's very generous, but it's too much. Regardless of the original price, I can't get these now."

I'm sorry, they are easy to obtain and much cheaper than the original price.

"I won't use them, and I expect to ask you again in the future."

"Hehe, you're very generous. I plan to open a shop soon, not just a stall. I'll email you when it's ready, so come visit."

She threw me a kiss with a smile!

I was impressed that some people can pull off a kiss without it being a gag, and I left the shop.