NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: Merchant
[Congratulations, you have become a "Merchant"!]
[As you have chosen to become, you can learn the "Merchant" skills.]
[Please follow the path of the merchant and become the greatest merchant on the continent!]
Merchant.
This was the job he had chosen.
While it lacked romance and realism, Mizuto knew that everyone needed money.
Some might have said that money can't buy you happiness, but without money, you will die.
If in the past the people gained everything with their power, in this current era, the people gained everything with money.
While not many things can be bought with money, many things can be solved with money.
Mizuto knew the importance of money, especially when he felt awkward using his father's money. Nevertheless, money wasn't his obsession, as his dream was to become a government employee and live by relying on the tax of people, becoming a parasite of the nation.
Joke aside, if possible, he wished to become independent, and the fastest way was to get money.
However, at his age, the only thing he could do to get money was to work a part-time job. Even worse, during middle school, he knew that he couldn't work as most places would only hire a high school student, so his only source of income was his father, who gave him monthly money to take care of the household.
Using that money, he reduced the cost of everything within the house and took the rest for himself. His father didn't care about this, and sometimes, he even gave him a bonus. However, such a method was no longer possible as his father remarried, and he knew the household money would be given to his stepmother, which made him helpless.
Still, it wasn't that he was in a truly helpless situation as he also had a new source of income, which was to create a thesis for a university student. With his brain, it was easy to learn, but he limited the thesis to economics and law as he was too lazy to learn the other knowledge. However, even with those two subjects, the money was great as those were popular faculties at the university.
Moreover, his reputation was great, so one needed to pay at least 5,000 yen for each thesis page.
If one thesis requires at least 50 pages, then he will get 250,000 yen for one thesis, which is the average monthly salary of a new employee.
Naturally, this is a gray area, so he needs to be careful.
Nevertheless, at his age, there were few things that he could do, and he also couldn't write a novel to make money like the protagonist usually does.
As for stock and other financial things?
You are joking.
Instead of doing such a thing, he might as well save his money quietly and stably.
Maybe some companies in the world were similar to his previous world, but he was still a student, and watching the screen to check the price of the stock every day was simply a burden for him.
Making a thesis was good enough for him.
No, that wasn't enough since his dream was to buy a house and retire before age 25, so he chose a "Merchant."
Yet, he realized this job change was more impressive than he had thought. He didn't have an idea before as "Novice" didn't give him anything, whether it was skills or benefits, except for the ability to open an "Inventory," which made him able to put or take out something from space storage like in the MMORPG game, but the moment he became a "Merchant," he gained seven skills.
Two passive skills and five active skills.
He gained two passive skills the moment he became the "Merchant," but for the five active skills, he needed to put the skill points, which he gained after he leveled up.
Moreover—
"The level limit is level 50, huh?"
He is at level 10 now, and he gained ten skill points.
If he became level 50, he would gain 50 skill points.
By then, he was able to complete a full line-up of Merchant skills.
"But how long do I need to become Level 50?"
He wasn't sure, so he knew he needed to treat those skill points carefully. Moreover, this was different from the game, so the useless skills in the game might have given him the most benefit in reality.
Nevertheless, he decided to check the description of the skills from the passive skills first.
Golden Luck and Overtime.
Those were the two passive skills of the Merchant.
---
Golden Luck.
A fate that attracts the life of the user to be filled with riches and continuously attracts wealth.
---
"...."
Mizuto fell in silence and wondered whether he would be showered with a rain of money later, but luck or fate was something ambiguous. It was impossible to check whether luck really existed since one couldn't see it.
"Should I try the horse racing gamble?"
He felt it was a waste of time, and he might as well continue checking his skills.
---
Overtime.
One's body will recover faster after a tough time working beyond one's scheduled working hours.
---
In other words, his body would recover faster, right?
It was a simple skill, but somehow, it was beneficial.
Nevertheless, it was time for him to check his five active skills.
Identify, Overcharge, Discount, Brainwash, and Store.
Those were the five active skills that he gained after becoming a "Merchant."
"..."
He wanted to say that those skills were interesting, but the word "interesting" might not be appropriate as those skills were too impressive.
Anyway, let's check them one by one.
---
Identify.
A skill used to appraise anything.
---
What was the use of this?
Frankly, there were many, especially when one tried to detect the fake or not.
Mizuto knew that there were many strange things in the world, and for money, many people dared to do anything, such as selling food with used dirty oils or selling someone a fake egg.
While he might not work in the food industry in the future, it wouldn't hurt to have this skill. However, he needed to figure out to what extent something or someone could be appraised.
Was it only their names and gender? What about the other things?
Many questions were on his mind, but he wanted to check the next skill first.
---
Overcharge.
Get more money after you sell your item.
---
"...."
He was speechless at how amazing this skill was.
If he went to sell something, and someone bought it from him, then he would get more money. At level 1, the "Overcharge" would give him 10% more money from the sales, and when it was level 10, it would give him 100% more money; so in other words, if he sold a 1,000 yen item, he would get another 1,000 yen!
He would get a double paycheck!
This skill was terrific, but he felt it was challenging to use it as he was still a student.
"Wait, then the price of the thesis can be doubled!"
With this skill, his customers would practically pay him twice the price!
There was no doubt he would get more money, but he didn't want to put all of his skill points on the "Overcharge," especially when he hadn't checked the other skills.
However, if there was a question that he wanted to ask, where would that money be sent?
Would it be sent to his inventory? Or his bank account? Also, could he transfer the money from his inventory to his bank account? Lastly, was this money even legal?
There were many questions, but he decided to think about those things later.
---
Discount.
Gaining a discount as long as you buy something.
---
"In other words, as long as I buy something, I will get a discount?"
"....." Mizuto.
However, it didn't mean the shop owner or the shop where he would shop would give him a discount straight away. Instead, the system would compensate him with the amount of discount and send him the money right away after he bought something.
If he gave an example, at level 1 of "Discount," he would get a 10% discount, so when he bought tea at the convenience store for 100 yen, he would get 10 yen in return from the system.
Naturally, if the "Discount" was at level 10, he would practically get something free since as long as he bought something, the money he used would be returned to him.
Similar to "Overcharge," this "Discount" skill was terrifying.
Then, what about the next skill?
---
Brainwash.
Manipulate someone's mind.
---
"...."
He felt that he had become a fearsome being somehow. If he didn't use his power well, he was afraid that he might really become a Demon King. Nevertheless, even though this skill gave him the ability to manipulate someone's mind, it wasn't as scary as it was said. Moreover, at level 1, this ability could only enhance someone's desire.
It might be difficult to understand, but if he gave an example, it was like when you wished to buy something, but you hesitated due to various reasons, but with this skill, those hesitations disappeared, and you would buy the item you wished for immediately.
Frankly, this skill was amazing, especially when it could be used to attract a customer, especially when he owned a restaurant, as he was sure that many people would be attracted to visit his restaurant.
While he knew that it was wrong, as long as it was for profit, many merchants could do anything, right?
"...."
Was it?
How about we check the next reward first?
---
Store.
The ability to open a store.
---
"...what is it?"
It felt strange, or was it like how the description was?
Anyway, he fell in silence for a moment and made a decision to add one skill point to all five active skills to check the effect of each of those skills. Frankly, he was glad that he was in the room alone, so it gave him leeway to check about this system thoroughly, but after he put one skill point on each of the skills of the "Merchant," he heard a knock from the door.
"Who is it?"
He felt confused but decided to check who knocked on the door of his room. Walking from his bed, he opened the door and saw the person who had knocked on his door. He was familiar, yet also unfamiliar with this person, but for one thing, he wondered why she came to his room.
"Yume-san?"