Pride Online-Chapter 6: Updating Jinnie and Chaotic Trade Part II

“What about the map, Jinnie,” Wisana asked.

“The map was disposable. It would disappear once you used it, and I had already downloaded it to my database, so it could not be used again."

“What a shame.” He said scratching his cheek. “Hold on.”

The brown eyes gazed at the floating screen closely again when he noticed some ugly green slump that he was pretty sure that he already shoved down the cliff!

Rare green mushroom spore, 1

“Ew. I already threw the nasty thing away. Why is it here? You did this, Jinnie?” He went fully disgusted, not even wanting to touch its picture on the screen.

“Yes, I did, master.” She replied.

“You can pick up things without my order?” He asked, more curiously, than angrily. He never thought AI could act on its own.

“My apologies. I just thought this item was rank C rare, and it could be useful for master later,”

“Huh? This mushroom spore’s rare?” His eyes widened.

“Yes, it is. According to my information, this item is rare, and the selling price with NCPs is 15,000 coins.

“Really?!”

“I am sorry for acting without your command and making you frustrated. I will not do it again.”

“No. It's okay.” He raised his voice. “You’re the best, Jinnie! Say, don’t forget to remind me to kiss you when you have a body, okay? I’m serious!”

“...Thank you.”

Wisana grinned. Even just the minimum selling price of this ugly spore was up to 15,000 coins! Who knew how much more it would be worth if it was sold to a merchant. Well, how could something so ugly be this expensive? Guess he could not judge things by how they looked in a fantasy game, right?

“Where should we sell it?”

“A potion store, sir”

-----------------

“40,000 coins.”

!!!

The pair of brown eyes widened like they were about to pop out of their sockets when the price was being estimated by the owner of the potion shop. This disgusting spore placed on a stainless tray was worth a ridiculous price.

“Are you serious?!”

“Yeah. The floor price of it is around this rate. What? You want a higher price? Hell nah. This is the highest I can buy. Take it, or you can leave.”

The young man waved his hand quickly. At first, he was expecting that it would be about twenty thousand. Who would have thought that this long-breaded uncle who looked like he walked straight out of a Chinese martial arts movie would offer him this high?

“Will you take it or not?” the uncle repeated.

“Of course! I’d be stupid if I won’t!”

The older man laughed at the overjoying gesture of a child in front of him.

After Jinnie told him to go to a potion store, the map just highlighted the location of a store with a red cross icon by the next second. It turned out that there was only one potion store in town, so the young man did not have to waste his brain cells picking one. But what was really bugging him, though, was not the number of potion stores, but the store's decoration.

The store looked just like a clinic in his neighborhood! Like, damn! You were in a virtual fantasy game. At least followed the theme. Seeing it contrast with the surroundings really made him annoyed.

Wisana thought as he forced a wry smile, looking at the shop owner, the bearded old man with a receding hairline in a worn-out apron and white pants, adeptly typing on his transparent holographic window.

“Your name is Wisana, account 122387ABR, right?” The deep voice asked.

“...Right, Jinnie?”

“That is right, Master.”

After her confirmation, Wisana nodded to confirm it again to the potbellied man who let out a laugh, amused with this awkward newbie and thinking that he should have offered him less if he had known that this boy was a new player. Well, who would have known? With his smart-ass looks, the owner could not help but doubt his experience.

“Player Wisana earned 40,000 coins.”

Jinnie’s voice announced a few minutes later, bringing a smile to her master’s face.

“So, did you get your money?” The potbellied uncle asked.

“Yes, I did,” Wisana replied happily. “Hey, big brother, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” the much older one said, carefully scooping the spore in a blue plastic box with his hands.

“Is that mushroom spore always this expensive?”

“Yeah. With this small piece, I can make about 500 bottles of Berserk potion.”

“Berserk potion?” the newbie repeated.

“Uh...” The uncle looked like he was figuring out how to explain, then he decided to shrug. “In short, it’s the potion that higher levels need. Currently, the price in the market is around 2,500 per bottle.”

“Woah, there’s a lot of profit.”

“Profit my ass. To compound this potion, you'll need a lot of ingredients. Also, there’s a very high chance that it would fail. Commerce doesn’t always make a profit, you know?”

The uncle explained as his face creased. And Wisana realized at that moment that this class was definitely not for him. He had always been bad at math, since forever, leaving alone the trading, investment, making a profit, he sucked.

“Well, would you like to buy something else?’

The shop owner raised eyebrows. “What do you have for sale?”

“Well, I have an angel’s feather, some water potion, and... rocks.”

Hearing that, the old man sighed.

“I offer you 15,000 for the feather. But the others are just trash, not interested.

Wisana frowned, getting the feather out for sale. Then he realized that there was another item in his inventory, too.

“Say, I also have a Gold star treasure.”

“H... huh?” the shop owner's ears twitched.”

“Here, it’s a treasure chest or something. Would you take it, too?”

As he finished, he placed the box on the shop’s wooden counter. It looked like a golden chest the size of a hand, securely locked with a bolt. In Wisana’s eyes, this seemed to be something useless. Unlike the shop owner, who widened his eyes, pressed his lips together, sweat started to drop from his shocked face.

The old man took a long pause, gazing back and forth between Wisana’s face and the small chest. And the young man started to look like a brainless pigeon, every time he looked at him.

“So, will you take it?” The pigeon repeated with a clueless face.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll take it.”

The uncle put on his merchandise smile, rubbing his hands together.

“Yeah? How much do you offer for this one?” he asked.

“Thirty... no, forty.”

“Woahh, another forty?!” His eyes bulged again. This small box was sold for forty coins?! This was crazy!

“What’s it used for? Why are you offering me that much?” Wisana asked, curiously.

“Uh... well, it’s kind of used for potion compounding.”

“The treasure box can be a potion ingredient? How? You can squeeze the iron out of it or what?”

“Yeah, wait... no! I mean... it’s a tool for making a potion.” the old man jerkily said.

“Really?” Wisana drawled. The pair of brown eyes narrowed. “I think you’re being a bit strange.”

“Damn! Strange how? I’m offering you forty thousand, max. Take it, or you can sell it somewhere else. They would offer you just twenty!”

His words made Wisana think twice. He just had a lesson that he could not judge items by how they looked. Things might look trash and worth a lot, like the spore. So, this box could be a lot more useful than selling it for coins.

He reconsidered as he blankly stared at the old man who was nervously sweating.

(Sigh,) forty thousand coins, or whatever. He did not care.

He would not use the item, anyway.

“Okay. I’ll sell it.” Wisana said, finally.

“Really?!”

“Yeah.”

“Great! Quick, transfer it now, and I'll give you the coins.”

The old man commanded with a big smile, beckoning Wisana to rush the younger man, making him sigh. He picked up the golden chest, intending to hand it over to the buyer to complete the sale while thinking about a nice ram he could use to upgrade his AI.

GRAB!

At the second before the chest was sold, there was a small hand squeezing around Wisana’s wrist, making the trading process pause. The brown eyes glared at the interrupter with annoyance.

“Are you crazy?!”

However, the hand’s owner was the first one that yelled. The fair-skinned girl was about Wisana’s shoulder height. She was wearing a cropped t-shirt that matched her slim body. The knee-length shorts and the sneakers made her look energetic. And the most obvious thing was her cute face that frowned like a child being displeased.

“What’s up with you?” Wisana asked, sounding a bit pissed.

“That’s my question!” The newcomer raised her voice. “What do you think you’re doing? Are you actually selling an S-ranked treasure for just forty thousand coins?!”

Her words got Wisana to raise eyebrows, turning to the shop owner, even though he was not sure why the ‘S ranked’ mattered. But something he was sure about, he almost got fooled!

“Big brother, you were trying to trick me?!”

“Trick what? No, I wasn’t!” the old man yelled.

After the shop owner’s defense, Wisana turned to the girl again, even then she was still grabbing his wrist. The big eyes looked back at his before she chinned up like she was about to take someone down.

“I know what you’re trying to do.” the sweet voice said, putting herself between them. “You’re swindling this newbie, right, uncle?”

“I am not! I was just normally offering my price, and this kid accepted it!”

“Oh, is that how you normally do it? You old scammer!” Wisana raised his voice, then the girl put her hand up to stop him.

“Is that so?” she said with a smile. “Then you don’t mind if I report you to the association of merchants about offering to buy an S ranked item from a new player for forty thousand coins.”

She said as she opened a smartphone-sized hologram, ready to make a call. The old man saw that and raised his hand to protest.

“Okay, okay, okay. I’m sorry that I was tryna trick this man!”

“Yeah, you really were.” Wisana creased up his mouth.

A satisfied smile appeared on her cute, sweet face before she stared down at the fraud.

“Uncle, you know it wasn’t right.” She started lecturing him with arms akimbo. “The game’s community is already full of scumbags, and you decided to become one by scamming other players like this. The game always preaches to help and support new players, why don’t you listen to it? See, you’re not helping them at all, you’re swindling them, and it’s not okay.”

“I am sorry.”

The old man said as he hung his head, looking pale like paper. Then, the girl sighed and smiled with satisfaction.

“If I ever catch you doing it again, I'll report you.”

“Okay. I won’t.” The uncle raised his hands, giving up.

“Good.” She nodded, looking so proud of the old man’s promise that Wisana was quietly amused. Then he noticed the shop owner looking at him anxiously.

“I’m sorry that I tried to fool you, boy.”

“It’s okay. Just don’t do it again with the others, or I’ll report you to the... uhm...” Wisana paused there, looking at the girl beside him for help.

“...the association of merchants,” she completed his sentence.

“Yeah, the association of merchants.”

“I won’t. I won’t. I’ll trade at a fair price. And don’t worry about the spore. I didn’t trick you with that one. I swear!”

Wisana smiled as he nodded before quickly putting the treasure back in his inventory. That was close. He was not really smart for making a trade, even Jinnie did not say a word to warn him. He guessed that she was not smart for this, too.

Sigh, he was lucky that the girl saved him in time, though.

Realizing that, he turned to thank her.

“Uh... Thank you, very...”

“Come with me.”