Chapter 254 I Picked Up Trash on the Battlefield of National Fortune (10)
The flea market is located on the very edge of Player Town. Unlike the glamorous and high-tech feel of the main square, it's more like a chaotic underground market.
Zhou Jue pulled up his hood and walked along a narrow passage.
"The newly forged 'Ripper' Claws, with poisonous properties, are priced at 1000 points, no bargaining!"
"We recycle all kinds of damaged equipment at fair prices, and we treat everyone honestly!"
"Any bros want to team up for Ruins #4? We're missing a tank, looking for someone with B-grade physique enhancement!"
The sounds of hawking, bargaining, and players bragging and joking blended together, creating a chaotic yet vibrant atmosphere.
Zhou Jue discovered that eight out of ten stalls here were occupied by players.
They spread out the items they found during the mission that they didn't need on the ground, hoping to exchange them for points to supplement their household income.
However, there were very few actual buyers; most of them were just wandering around the various stalls, hoping to find a bargain.
She stopped in an inconspicuous corner, which faced a fork in the road and had a decent amount of pedestrian traffic.
She took out a gray cloth from her storage space and spread it on the ground. The surrounding players glanced at her, but after seeing her completely covered NPC outfit, they looked away with little interest.
NPC vendors are not uncommon here, but most of the things they sell are standard items that can also be bought in official stores, and they are ridiculously expensive.
Zhou Jue had just laid out the cloth and hadn't even had a chance to display the goods when a figure blocked the light in front of her.
She looked up.
An NPC dressed in a silver-gray uniform stood in front of her, his face expressionless, like a metal statue.
The uniform had the words "Market Management-03" printed on the chest.
"Show me your stall permit and merchant number," the administrator said in a flat voice.
The attention of several players nearby was immediately drawn to this, with a hint of amusement in their eyes.
"Hey, this new NPC is going to be in trouble."
"They definitely dared to set up a stall without a license; they're going to get fined."
Zhou Jue's heart skipped a beat; this was the first test of her new identity.
She didn't speak, but silently raised her left hand, revealing the black bracelet on her wrist.
The screen lit up, and a line of clear characters appeared:
【NPC - Itinerant Merchant - 1024】
[Scope of License: All Free Trade Zones]
The administrator extended his hand, and his wristband emitted a red light that swept across Zhou Jue's wristband screen.
"drop."
With a soft click, the indicator light on the administrator's wristband turned green.
"Identity confirmed. Wishing you booming business."
The administrator delivered a formulaic blessing, turned around and left, the whole process clean and efficient, without a single unnecessary movement.
The players who had been watching the spectacle immediately lost interest and dispersed.
Zhou Jue lowered his hand, feeling completely at ease.
The backdoor the system opened is now secure.
Without further hesitation, she conjured three strands of "shadow essence" resembling black hair, which appeared out of thin air on the gray cloth.
These three strands of black silk lay quietly, emitting no energy fluctuations, looking ordinary, just like three strands of hair.
"Heh." A soft laugh came from a nearby stall.
It was an NPC vendor dressed similarly, but he was selling bottles and jars, and looked like a potion merchant.
He glanced at the items on Zhou Jue's stall and said in a tone of someone who had been there before, "Young man, is this your first time setting up a stall?"
Zhou Jue's face was hidden in the shadow of his hood; he merely turned his head slightly and did not respond.
The medicine merchant didn't seem to care and said to himself, "If you want to make money here, you can't sell this kind of 'polluting residue'."
He pointed to the "Shadow Essence" on Zhou Jue's stall: "Battlefield cleaners collect countless amounts of this stuff every day. You can buy a bunch of it for one point in the system shop. It's all treated as industrial waste. Who would buy it?"
"We need to sell some hard currency." He patted the potion bottles on his stall: "See these? Stamina potions, antidotes, these are what players need. Although they always complain about the price, when it comes to saving their lives, they won't haggle over a single point."
Zhou Jue ignored him, only nodding slightly as a greeting.
She knew perfectly well that the "polluting residue" the other party was referring to were the most basic and worthless recyclables in the system store.
The "Shadow Essence" in her hand is a core material extracted from the B-grade contaminant "Shadow," and the two are completely different things.
However, she doesn't intend to explain.
Information asymmetry is the biggest business opportunity.
Seeing that Zhou Jue remained silent, the potion merchant NPC became even more talkative. He lowered his voice, as if he were imparting some secret.
"Brother, I see you're new here too, let me tell you a few more words."
"We set up a stall here to serve players, so we have to understand their mindset."
He pointed to a bottle of potion bubbling with green bubbles on his stall: "See this? 'Basic Antidote,' it costs 80 points a bottle. Is it expensive? It is quite expensive. But if a player gets 'Corpse Poison' in a quest, will he buy it? He has to buy it! If he doesn't, he'll have to watch his health drop and the quest will fail."
"So what we're selling isn't just things, it's a basic necessity, it's life itself!"
Zhou Jue obediently turned his head, his gaze from under the hood toward his stall, and asked in a hoarse voice, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, "Does your medicine sell well?"
This question seemed to please the other person.
The apothecary puffed out his chest, a hint of pride on his face: "Of course! My title of 'Pharmacist-44' carries some weight in this market. Every day after the missions are over, there's always a line in front of my stall."
He then changed the subject and pointed to the black stockings on Zhou Jue's stall.
"I advise you to put this thing away. The system only buys it back for 1 point. It's taking up space and makes you look unprofessional. You look like a newbie."
"Why don't you come to me and get a few 'Stamina Recovery Potions'? I'll give you an insider price: 40 points per bottle. You can sell them for 50, making a profit of 10 points. How about that? Much better than selling this junk, right?"
Zhou Jue was secretly amused. This guy, after all that talk, was actually trying to recruit others.
Instead of pointing it out, she followed up his question by asking, "Thank you for the guidance, but besides potions, what else sells well?"
“There are plenty,” Pharmacist-44 started talking: “Equipment repair scrolls, one-time attack items, amulets that can increase temporary resistance… In short, anything that can help players survive longer on the battlefield will sell.”
"I understand." Zhou Jue nodded again, his voice still hoarse.
Seeing that she wasn't paying attention, Pharmacist No. 44 also got bored, pursed his lips, and started tidying up his bottles and jars, muttering to himself, "Those who don't listen to their elders will suffer the consequences. They'll be starving soon."
As time passed, the flea market gradually became more crowded.
Most of them were players who had just returned from the battlefield. They were in a hurry and went straight to the equipment shops or potion stalls that looked reliable. Few people stopped in front of these scattered stalls.
Occasionally, a few players would pass by Zhou Jue's stall, only glancing at the three inconspicuous black hairs before walking away without any interest.
"What's this? Hair?"
"Probably some NPC picked up some junk and came here to try their luck."
"Let's go, let's not waste time. I still need to fix my arm armor."
Zhou Jue's stall stood in stark contrast to Pharmacist No. 44, whose stall was constantly attracting inquiries about prices.
Pharmacist-44's mouth was practically stretched to his ears, and he kept glancing at Zhou Jue, his smugness and mockery in his eyes undisguised.
Zhou Jue didn't care at all; she was very patient.
She was waiting for someone who knew what they were looking for, and also to take a look at the flea market.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com