The birds' chirps signaled a new day. I was awoken by the sunlight shining onto my bed from the window.
Yawn. Day 2 of life in another world I guess.
I take my time to get out of bed. After all, what’s the rush?
15 minutes later, I get down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. As I reached the first leve, I saw my Vampire Bats waiting for me.
“You’re back. Found anything?”
Squeak!
“You did? Is it a village?”
Squeak!
“Nice!”
Now I can finally put my plan into action. I had initially expected this recon mission to go on for days before a village is found, but to find one on the first night is a good bonus.
“I’ll eat breakfast first, then lead the wa— it a minute.”
It suddenly hit me that the Vampire Bats cannot survive under sunlight.
“Shit… Guess I’ll have to wait till night then.”
I decided to enjoy my day in the oasis leisurely then.
As the sun begins to set, I conduct a final check.
“Cloak, check. Dagger, check. H1 Potion x10, check. H2 Potion x5, check. Looks like I’m ready to go.”
It’s best to have emergency items on hand rather than in item storage. It takes a second or 2 to pull out items from item storage, and those few seconds can very well be fatal. I knew of people who learned the hard way.
“Ok then, lead the way!”
Squeak!
The vampire bats begin flying northward. I follow along. I have everything prepared: weapons, potions, mana… but why do I still feel so uneasy?
It took 20 minutes, but I eventually arrived at the village. Or is this a town? There were many tall buildings, made of a material that I have not seen before. Each building was about… five stories tall? I assume those are inns, unless people here are able to live in five-story buildings on their own.
In the town, streetlamps were placed at regular intervals, providing illumination to the area.
The street lamps aren’t using magic either… Could it be another relic?
What surprised me most is that the city had no protective wall or any visible form of city guards. How are they going to defend themselves against monster attacks?
Unless… They do not face monster attacks here?
A ridiculous thought floated into my head.
Impossible. If this world was so safe, why were those two soldiers holding such dangerous relics?
As I was lost in my thoughts, I wandered deeper into the town. As it was late, there wasn’t anyone around. I decided to explore this town first before the sun rose.
“Excuse me, may I ask what are you doing so late at night?”
I turned my head and saw two men dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt with blue pants. They both wore similar hats, and hat a coat of arms on their sleeve. I presume they are the city guard patrolling the area.
“Eh… I’m just a humble traveler who just entered this town. May I know where I am? I’m a little lost.”
Most city guards I encountered are pretty friendly and are more than happy to help when you have inquiries.
“Well, you’re currently in Khanbogd, Omnogovi. More importantly, how did you come here if you didn’t know where you were?”
The two guards had suspicious looks on their faces, as they continued questioning me.
“Sorry, the map I had wasn’t too accurate, so I kinda ended up here by accident.”
“Hmm? I’ve never heard of anyone wandering here because of a wrong map before. But I guess there are some who don’t use GPS. Come to the station, I’ll print out a map for you.”
Satisfied with my explanation, the city guards led me to their base. It’s nice to know that the city guards here are friendly as well.
As I entered their base, a blast of cool air hit me.
Eh? Ice magic?
The relic they had installed in the base ensured that the temperature was cool and conducive, something only the rich could afford in my world.
Does this mean that I stumbled into the richer part of this world?
“Here’s a map I printed off Google.”
He handed me a sheet of paper with a general map on it. He marked several spots on the map.
“This is where we are now, I’ve circled the hotel here. If you need, the Khan Bank is slightly out of town. You can also call a taxi to get you somewhere else.”
Hotel? Taxi?
Even though I was confused by unfamiliar terms, I decided to stick to my objective.
“May I know if there is a market here? Or if there is a library?”
“There is a supermarket here, and three other stores in this town. A restaurant is on the northern side of the town if you’re hungry.”
“As for the library, there isn’t a public library in this town. There is one in the high school nearby though, but you need special permission to access it.”
That should be enough info for me to get through.
“Ok, thanks for your help!”
“Sure, enjoy your stay.”
I exited the base and began forming my itinerary for the day.
First, I need to visit the market. Can’t survive if you don’t have money. I’ll have to check if I need a permit though.
Afterwards, I need to visit the library. Knowledge is important after all. But judging by how it is in a school, I probably have to sneak in.”
Pumped up by my new plan, I sit at a nearby bench to wait for the sunrise…
BEEP!
The sudden loud sound jolted me awake. I didn’t intend to sleep, but I guess the boredom tired me out. Anyways, what was that loud sound?
BEEP! BEEP!
“Eh…? Am I going crazy”
I questioned my sanity as I saw multiple carts traveling across the road.
“Carts… with no horses? How in the world does the cart move?”
I sat there, stunned by the sight.
Could this be a new relic?
This world didn’t have any magic users, but it seems that the relics they created far surpass the ones I’d seen.
Enough with being surprised. If I did this every time I saw a new relic, there would be no end to it.
With that, I took a breath and carried on. But at this rate, I might even find out that they have a weapon of mass destruction or something.
First stop, the “supermarket” the city guard was talking about.
I used the map I was given to locate the “supermarket”. Soon, I arrived at a two-story building. Outside the store had many horseless carts that I saw just now, including huge ones which I can only assume transports goods for this market.
I stepped into the market and was greeted with the sight of rows and rows of products, lined up neatly for sale. From drinks to food, the store had everything a general store needed.
So a “supermarket” is a general store, but with many more products? I see…
The market had many different products that I had not seen before. Not just many different kinds of products, but there were many variations of each product as well.
Fanta? Red Bull? The store sells many different drinks, very unlike bars in my world where they usually sell at most three kinds of alcohol.
I strolled along to the back of the store and saw a huge metal box. The box contained another relic of some kind, which I assume to be the same as the city guard’s base. It helped to keep the products cool, preventing them from spoiling. In my world, we had to use ice magic for it, and it was expensive. But here, it looks as if it is commonplace, which then again affirms my speculations that this world is filled with highly advanced relics.
“Looking for something?”
I turned my head and saw a man I assume to be the shopkeeper.
“I’m just having a look around.”
“Oh ok, take your time.”
He then walked away to tend to another customer who had just entered the store.
As I continued looking at the wide variety of products, I started to feel increasingly disheartened.
With this many products, there isn’t much that I can sell here…
My original plan was to sell some products I had to obtain the currency, but it looks like the products here are either as good as or possibly even better than the ones I have in stock.
Think! You were one of the best merchants in Agau, you can definitely make do here as well!
I was racking my brain when suddenly a thought flashed through my head. It was as if a lightbulb appeared on top of my head, and my eyes sparkled at the wonderful plan.
They have many different products and even powerful relics, but one thing they do not have is magic! If I can sell magic items that they do not have here, I will be able to make a killing for sure!
I glanced at the shopkeeper, who had just finished helping his customer with their purchase. As the store was now empty, I walked up to him.
“Excuse me, may I ask for your help? I came from a land far away, so I’m not accustomed to his area yet.”
“Sure, what do you need?”
As I shot off many questions, the shopkeeper patiently explained and answered my queries. From my many questions, this is what I found out:
- The currency here converted to the currency in my world is roughly 1 bronze coin = 3,325 MNT. For context, one meal is roughly 5 bronze coins.
- A permit is needed to sell food, but not for handiwork items. So I assume magic items would be counted as handiwork and would not need a permit.
- There are no such items as potions in this world, and when one gets injured they have to go to this place called a “hospital” to heal. In my world, we usually go to a healer, or the chapel if the injury is not too serious.
With this information, I decided on my next plan of action and decided to head out of the store. I found a slightly crowded area and sat in a corner.
I took out the Roaring Ring, a small ring made of gold, and fitted it onto my middle finger. The artifact helps increase the volume of my voice, which is especially helpful when merchants want to sell their wares in a crowded marketplace.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! MAY I PRESENT TO YOU THE INVENTION OF THE CENTURY, THE H1 POTION! IT IS ABLE TO HEAL ANY SMALL WOUNDS THAT YOU MAY HAVE BY SIMPLY DRINKING IT PLEASE OBSERVE AS I DEMONSTRATE!”
Many heads turned in my direction at the sound of my voice.
But why are they looking at me as if I’m a scammer?
To prove them wrong, I’m going to demonstrate.
I pulled out a small knife and slashed my arm. Blood spurted out of the wound, painting the floor in front of me red. Looks like I cut it too deeply…
Shocked by my performance, the people stood with their mouths gaping. Before they could react, I picked up the potion and gulped it down. In an instant, my wound began to heal, and my arm stopped bleeding immediately.
Murmurs started appearing, with a good majority of them commenting on how I’m faking the performance.
It looks like this is not enough to convince them.
“Anyone wants to try? How about this, if it doesn't work, or if anyone can prove that it is fake, I will give him or her this gold ring!”
I show the Roaring Ring on my finger. The gold ring glinted in the sunlight.
More murmurs are heard, and finally, a man wearing street clothes steps out.
“I’ll try. But if it doesn’t work, you’d better give me that jewelry, you hear me?”
“Of course, of course.”
The man took the knife from me and made a vertical slash on the plan of his left hand. Blood started flowing out of the wound. He winced in pain, as if he hadn’t expected the knife to be so sharp.
With his right hand, he accepted the H1 potion from me and gulped it down. Just as before, the wound started healing, and blood no longer flowed out of the wound. His eyes widened, as he did not expect the potion to actually work.
“I… I can’t believe it. This thing actually works! How much are you selling it for?”
I did the calculations in my head, converting my currency into theirs. Finally, I gave my price.
“332,500 MNT.” (USD100)
In Auag, each H1 potion costs five small silver coins or 50 bronze coins. Which in this world is 166,250 MNT, effectively earning me twice as much as I would have earned in Auag.
When they heard this, the crowd started getting into a frenzy.
“How much for one?”
“Is there enough stock?”
“Do you do bulk orders?”
…
Just as I had expected, sell something this world doesn’t have, and you charge any price you want. After all, there isn’t any supply of potions in this world. But instead of charging sky-high prices, I opted to make a smaller profit so that there would be a greater demand for the potions. Gradually, I can claim a lack of supply and up the price, once it gets famous enough
“Calm down, I have a limited supply of 100 bottles for now, each person is limited to one each. Ah, make that 98, I did use two as samples after all.”
The crowd grew wild and started passing me stacks of notes in an attempt to buy the potion first.
I leaned a while ago that this world uses these papers called “notes” to signify larger amounts of money. It is certainly much more portable than coins and does get the job done.
Anyways I arrange the people in neat rows and manage to sell the 98 potions in less than an hour, a personal record. As I gather the stacks of money I’ve just earned, I use the Roaring Ring again and shout:
“I’LL BE COMING BACK HERE TOMORROW WITH ANOTHER STOCK OF 100, SO DO BE HERE!”
With those words, I packed up and muttered the spell.
“Haste.”
Mana: 800 → 780
A now familiar strength fills my legs as I sprint away. There’s no chance of anyone catching up, as they had not expected me to get away that quickly. Before they started to give chase, I had already run far away and hidden.
As I stood in an alleyway, I took out the cash from my pocket and began to count it.
Nice, this is more than enough to sustain me for the next few days. I’ll keep it and then-
“Hey, drop the cash.”
A deep voice sounded behind me. I turned my head to see balaclava-wearing men wielding machetes.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said drop the cash before you get hurt.”
As he spoke, two similarly dressed men walked up behind me from the other side of the alley, blocking my exit and cornering me.
So this world has robbers as well… Haiz….
I let out a sigh of annoyance.
“Summon Ice Wolf.”
Mana: 780 → 580
A dark figure in the shape of a wolf formed out of my shadow.
The four men were clearly shocked and didn’t know what to do. Before they could react, Ice Wolf already began acting. It leaped towards the first pair. With a “SNAP!”, Robber 1’s head disappeared within its gaping jaws, never to be seen again. Blood sprayed out from the hole where Robber 1’s head was a second ago. Robber 2 was painted red with the blood of his former comrade. Only then did the screaming start.
“AAAHH-!”
His scream was cut short as Ice Wolf turned its attention to him. With a swipe of its paws, Robber 2 was separated into six parts, one between each claw. The divided pieces of Robber 2 fell onto the ground with a “SPLAT!”
Robbers 3 and 4 had already started running for their life. But once again, they were no match for Ice Wolf. It caught up to them effortlessly and caught Robber 3 between its jaws. Ice Wolf swung Robber 3 left and right like a ragdoll, and tossed him aside once it was done playing. The corpse of Robber 3 was flung away, where it flopped onto the ground.
Ice Wolf then turned its attention to Robber 4. Looking towards the fleeing Robber 4, Ice Wolf opened its mouth and blew a strong icy gust of wind. It was much weaker than the one used to attack the soldiers, but more than enough to finish off a single human.
However, as if having a sixth sense, Robber 4 jumped to his right just before the icy wind hit him. He ducked and rolled onto the floor, avoiding the cold blast of air that certainly would have instantly killed him. However, the small and sharp needles of ice created as the freezing gust contacted the floor were sent flying toward Robber 4’s direction. Fortunately for Robber 4, the little icicles were too small to cause significant damage immediately.
Unfortunately, Robber 4 was pinned to the floor by the many icicles, where he slowly bled to death.
Robber 4 started to resemble a porcupine, with hundreds of needles sticking out of his skin. The needles that were embedded in his throat were too fine to cause damage to his windpipe, just hit accurately to disable his voice box. The hundreds of sharp ice in his legs ensured that walking was impossible without causing significant pain. With him not able to move, or call for help, he bled out and finally perished. Robber 4 spent the last few moments of his life hoping that he hadn’t dodged the icy blast earlier.
“Return.”
With the command, Ice Wolf, whose fur was matted with the blood of the robbers, turned darker and soon melded into my shadow.
Time to escape before I get caught up in anything troublesome.
And hence, without removing the evidence, I returned back to my own base without being seen.
