Chapter 45

I landed in my own shop, Atelier. My game cycle begins with crafting items in this place.

"Good afternoon, Kyoko."

"Good afternoon, Yun. You're late today."

"I had some business to take care of. How are sales going?"

"A few people came in the morning. But most of them were buying beginner potions."

Kyoko shrugged her shoulders. Those people are probably from the second wave. It would be great if repeat customers or word-of-mouth could spread the word about the shop.

The high-level potions and MP potions are piling up due to the lack of customers. I'm selling Blue Potions to Magi because there's demand, but I'm considering whether to sell other items as well. I shake my head immediately.

No, no. Why did I open this shop? I'll continue to rely on consignment sales, but Atelier should be the main focus. I remind myself of this.

"What's wrong, Yun?"

Kyoko looks at me with concern, and I feel a bit guilty. To change the mood, I try to sound brighter.

"Nothing. Could you buy more herbs and materials for beginner potions tomorrow?"

"Sure. Here's today's harvest."

I look at the items she hands me. High-quality herbs would be very effective if used as they are, but there isn't much demand for Overheal. So, I use the lower-level alchemy sense to double the quantity.

"Alchemy is amazing, isn't it? It doubles the amount."

"I used to struggle with it. Hahaha."

Before, I had trouble increasing the quantity, but now, my synthesis sense is the one that's struggling.

I start producing items with the increased herbs and materials. It takes no more than five minutes. However, the item rank is low, so my alchemy sense level doesn't increase. I consider setting aside time to research alchemy.

First, I need to upgrade my alchemy kit.

"What should I do today? Maybe I'll focus on making money again."

"Why don't you visit Magi's shop while delivering the items? There are things to talk about."

"Good idea. I'll go then. See you later."

I leave the shop with the items. Today, the street is crowded, so I decide not to run. People are forming parties and preparing their equipment.

Street vendors are loudly calling out to customers. Hmm, I don't do much to attract customers. Is it really necessary?

While thinking about this, I arrive at Magi's shop, Open Sesame.

"Magi, are you here?"

"Hey, Yun. It's been a while. I was worried since you haven't come by much since you started using NPCs for deliveries."

She says she was worried, but she's smiling. It seems she looks forward to our conversations.

"Sure, let's talk. That's what you suggested, right?"

"NPCs are quite independent. The other day, I accidentally made a mistake, and the shop assistant gave me a good scolding."

"My condolences."

"Yeah, I appreciate it."

We chat while I deliver the items. Blue Potions are cheap to produce and highly effective, so they sell quickly at Magi's shop. Maybe I need more advertising.

"No one comes to my shop. What should I do?"

"I haven't seen your shop yet. What's it like?"

"Ah, I have a screenshot. Do you want to see it?"

I show Magi a screenshot of my proud shop and field.

The lush herbs, the Vitality Tree that now bears four fruits, and the small wooden shop are my beloved place.

"Wow, it looks like a background."

"…Yeah, I guess."

From a regular person's perspective, it might look that way. The sky is so blue.

Seeing me lost in thought, Magi panics.

"N-no, it's good! It has a certain charm."

"It's fine. The shop is a shack, and I've set purchase limits on items. I've left everything to the shop assistants and haven't advertised. Only my sister's party members come. Consignment sales make up a larger portion of my income."

"Yun, I have a suggestion. Why don't you place Enchantment Stones here?"

"Enchantment Stones? You mentioned it in a message."

"Yeah. I'll explain how to use them and advertise your shop. My shop mainly deals with metal products, so we only need to enhance attack and defense stats."

Hmm, that's an attractive offer. If people know about such items, they might come to Atelier for other magic attack or defense items. Since we're the only shop selling them, we could get more repeat customers, and maybe even sell MP Potions to backline players.

"…But…"

"Is something bothering you?"

"Not really. It's fine to make them, but Enchantment Stones feel more like casting a spell than crafting."

"What do you mean?"

"If I have a hundred herbs, I can turn them into beginner potions with one skill use. But for Enchantment Stones, I have to select each stone individually and cast a spell. It's time-consuming and tedious. It takes about a minute per stone, including polishing and dyeing."

I won't compromise on the appearance. It should take half the time if I skip those steps.

"Sure, I'll handle it. I'll give them to the right people."

"Then, can I start delivering them tomorrow? I'd also like to hear your feedback."

"Got it. A customer just came in, so see you later."

"Okay, see you."

I leave the shop and head straight to the portal to teleport to the second town.

The scenery changes to a pastoral landscape in an instant. Hunting monsters for money is good, but I also think it would be nice to spend the day basking in the sun.

"But, I don't have money. Plus, I need to gather the stones."

I head to the town center. I could immediately enter the surrounding forest, but that's also a way to make money.

"Hello, Martha."

"Oh, Yun. Hello."

I greet a plump middle-aged woman with a basket. She's Martha from the bakery, a quest NPC.

"Do you have a delivery today?"

"I wish. Most of them are done by morning."

"Ah, I see."

Martha's delivery quest is a daily local resident quest. In the first town, there's a similar quest where you deliver items around the town and get money. In the first town, it's 1,000G, but here, it's 2,000G.

...What? You think it's too little? A little can add up. Plus, the NPCs you visit sometimes give you various items.

In the past few days, I've received a sheepskin notebook and ordinary vegetables. These items reflect the local area.

"Actually, I do have one, but the location is…"

"Where is it?"

"I need you to deliver a lunch sandwich to Hystel, who's by the river. He uses insect repellent, so it's safe to go there, but I don't have any, so I can't deliver it."

"Does that mean I have to go through the forest?"

"Yes. Yun, you're an adventurer, but be careful."

She's worried, but if I just run away, I can easily escape from slow-moving insects. Besides, they usually target me.

"I'll take it. I'll deliver the sandwich."

"Thank you. Here you go."

The quest starts the moment I take the paper bag. I put the lunch in my inventory and run towards the river.

I leave the town and enter the dense forest.

The forest's mobs include Paralyze Caterpillars, which are as big as Gray Rats and have paralyzing attacks, and Bullet Locusts, which charge at you like bullets when you get too close.

From the Paralyze Caterpillars, you can get silk and insect meat. From the Bullet Locusts, you can get their bodies and legs.

The silk and insect meat are useful for sewing and alchemy. The locust bodies are ingredients, and the legs are alchemy materials. There are even recipes for locust tempura, so it's not unusual.

The most troublesome enemy is the Bull Beetle, which is as large as an adult male and has a hard, shiny black shell. I once fought one and decided to run away.

Its shell is so hard that arrows bounce off. It can also charge through the trees at high speed, and the trees it hits fall down.

But that's not all. The trees don't just fall; they rot and fall due to the poison it sprays from its horns.

Attacks don't work, and it has status effect attacks. Running away is the best option. The insects are slow if you don't provoke them, and they sometimes self-destruct with inaccurate attacks.

I haven't seen the forest's boss mob yet, but according to Mew and others, it's too strong for now. My skills aren't enough to even damage a stag beetle, so I have no intention of fighting the boss.

I take out the distant enemies while heading to the designated location.

A clearing in the forest where light shines through. I recognize it as my destination and quicken my pace. The moment I leave the forest, I feel the cool, damp air of the river. It's wider and faster than the river in town, fitting the description of a mountain stream.

I see an old man sitting on a large rock by the stream, fishing.

"Hello, are you Mr. Hystel?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"I'm here to deliver your lunch sandwich."

When I say this, Mr. Hystel turns around with a pleased look.

"I completely forgot about lunch. Thank you, young lady."

His manner is very gentlemanly and likable. However, I'm a bit disappointed. Mr. Hystel, I'm a guy.