DeokuTeima ~ C10

 

Chapter 10: The Information Broker

 

 

"Hey, Onii-san! Would you like to take a look for a moment?"

 

When I turned around, I see a female beastman. There is a blue marker above her head. She seemed to be a player.

 

"Onee-san, are you a player?"

 

"Yep."

 

"Eee! I thought it's only NPC's store."

 

"Well, player stores are still rare. You can get a stall at reasonable price. Some specific jobs can get it as an initial bonus."

 

"Really? Well then, since I'm here, let me have a look."

 

And then I noticed something.

 

The prices are different from the NPC store. For example, the wound medicine is 10 G cheaper than the NPC store. But the poison is 150 G more expensive.

 

"Do you decide the prices, sister?"

 

"Oh, you noticed?　Yes, I did. That's the advantage of a player's store."

 

"Why the poisons are  so expensive?"

 

"Ah, it's a Player's Made product. It's a bit more effective."

 

"I see, it has ★3 quality."

 

"Well, sometimes it is better to buy from an NPC store. There are some greedy players who will cheat you."

 

I feel that I can trust this Onee-san's words. At least her prices are not too much different from the NPC stalls.

 

"Do you have any armor?"

 

"Oh, I don't have any armor at the moment. This store mainly sells tools. If you're looking for armor, I recommend Ruin's Armor Shop in the west small square."

 

"Certainly, a lot of medicine stores and other stores there. Ruin's Armor Shop, I'll remember it."

 

"Then, can I sell this?"

 

"Oh, you made that?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Hmm. A ★3 low-grade potion. Good. I'll buy this for 200 G."

 

"Ee? That expensive? OK, deal!"

 

The selling price of a ★3 low-level potion is 200 G.　If the purchase price is 200, how much is the selling price?

 

"Well, herbs prices are the same as NPC stores. But for low-level potions, we usually sell them at a higher price. In the next town, the prices are going up. If I sell there, they are always sold out like hotcakes. Especially the ones above ★3 are still rare."

 

"Really? But wouldn't it be cheaper to buy two cheap potions?

 

"There is a cooldown time. If you want to use a potion at the last minute during a battle, you must use a potion with a stronger effect."

 

I see. Potions have 10 minutes of cooldown time. You can't use them too often during a battle. If that's the case, it's better to have a stronger recovery effect.

 

"Anyway, do you know the prices in other towns?"

 

"Yes, I do. That's our specialty too."

 

"Specialty? Is there such a job?

 

"Nope. I'm just a merchant, but our clan is an information broker. Well, it's more like a hobby. "

 

A clan is a group formed by players who are close friends or have the same goals. The purpose is to help each other.

 

"Our clan, the Sharp Ears Cat, is a self-proclaimed information brokers clan."

 

"You're already forming a clan at this stage?　Are you a beta tester?"

 

"Maybe I am, I can't tell you. We're information brokers, you know. But...if you give me some information, I'll tell you."

 

Wow, an information broker!　As expected from LJO, I'm starting to enjoy watching her wicked smile.

 

"My name is Yuto. My job is a Tamer. In real life, I'm a company employee. My initial bonus point is 186."

 

"Pfft. I rarely meet someone who even tells me their bonus points!"

 

Oops, I think I got carried away.

 

"But are you sure that my information is enough?"

 

"Yes. It's OK. You look interesting."

 

"Interesting?　Why?"

 

"Because you're a tamer, right? Besides, you have 186 initial bonus points, so you're not a beta tester. But you already can make ★3 low-level potions. That's not normal, right?　And I don't know why, but you didn't bring any monster."

 

I never expect her to understand that much with just a little information from me. Information brokers are amazing. If you're not reading this novel at the lupus sensei dot com site, that's mean you are not supporting my translation. Please only read at lupus sensei website.It means that their information is also reliable.

 

"Well, let me tell you about myself. My name is Alyssa. This is Alyssa's Shop. And indeed, we Sharp Ears cats are a clan made up entirely of beta testers. Plus, we're all former attackers."

 

"That's great. So why are you setting up a stall in the beginning town?"

 

Normally beta testers would have moved on to the next town on the first day.

 

"Well, there are lots of things."

 

"A lot of things--oh, I see......."

 

"I guess you want equivalent information for exchange. But I want to keep this between us."

 

"I won't sell your information without permission."

 

"Yesterday, I earned a title."

 

"You're good. You can understand quickly. I see, so you're The Silver White Pioneer."

 

She immediately figured it out after seeing my appearance.

 

"That's right."

 

I'm a little embarrassed. It's a dishonorable title. However, Alyssa's smile is not unpleasant. She seemed to be amused, but I didn't sense any ill-feeling in her smile.

 

"Fufu. Well, now it's my turn. We were on the front lines. We had different interests and hobbies, but we all have one thing in common: Curiosity. We all want to see every inch of this LJO world. We want to go to places we don't know and learn things we don't know. That is our motivation, our purpose."

 

"Well, I understand what you mean."

 

"You get it right?　But then we realized something. You see, we had worked so hard for two weeks and only managed to capture less than one percent of this world.　We can't understand this world if we only move in the front lines as a conquering group. That was our clan's conclusion."

 

"Is that why you become an information broker?"

 

"Yes. We used to act as information brokers. But since the official service started, we decided to take it more seriously and extensively."

 

"Is it profitable? There are also bulletin boards and other similar stuffs."

 

I don't think that many people bother to buy information. If there's something they want to know, they'll probably check the bulletin boards.

 

"Well, we're not trying to make money. Besides, there are a lot of people who want to play without checking the bulletin boards."

 

"I see, that kind of romantic play exists. I guess I can't do that. Anyway, I'm getting excited hearing about the information brokers."

 

"Those kinds of people actively use information shops. Also, many people want to know more accurate information faster than others, so they will buys information from us and they're also checks the bulletin board. So I think it will work out fine. During the Beta, we had a similar experience."

 

 

Their goal is not to make money by exchanging information but to get the information itself. I guess it's OK, as long as they don't lose money.

 

"So, if you have any interesting information, I'll buy it?　And I can sell you any information you want."

 

"Well, I do have one question. How does your market work?"

 

"Hmmm. We are the only information brokers in this world. So, the market depends on us?　It goes up, and it goes down."

 

I guess that's true. Information is like water. The price will change from time to time.

 

"Whether you think it's a reasonable price or not is also up to you."

 

The question is whether they can be trusted or not, but I feel that they can be trusted. If a rumor spread that their information is too expensive, they won't be able to continue their business as information brokers. I'm sure their prices are not that outrageous.

 

Hmmm... Information broker is interesting. I'd love to sell or buy information. There's a lot of information I'd like to buy....... Oh yeah, I have some information that I could sell!

 

"Can I sell you some information?"

 

"Hoho. You're a beginner, and you think you have some information to offer? Well, I know what information you might offer."

 

"Yes, it's about my title."

 

"Great, so talking with you is worth it!"

 

"No, it's not really that great..."

 

It was just a festival title, and the ability isn't that great, but Alyssa's smile doesn't change.

 

"It's OK. Just knowing the details of your unique title is enough for me."

 

"If you're fine with that, then it's OK."

 

"I'll buy that information for 1,000 Gs."

 

"What?! Are you serious? Is it that good?"

 

I thought it would be around 100 G.

 

"I'm giving you a little extra for the first time, but it's great to have such unique information, and you are the only one who has the exact information. Also, with this information, I can guess the titles of the other two, so it's not a bad deal."

 

"Is that so?"

 

"It may seem expensive at the moment, but in the future, it will be like pocket money."

 

But right now, 1000 G is a lot of money for me. I immediately open my status and show Alyssa my title, "The Silver White Pioneer".

 

"So there are no status increases?"

 

"No, just money, bonus points, and skills. So the information is not that great, right?"

 

"No, that's not true. Thank you for your valuable information. I appreciate it. Besides, it would have been much more expensive if its important information that never been posted on the bulletin board.　It's not too expensive."

 

My money sense is going to collapse. I'll have to be careful.

 

"You still have any other information?"

 

"Information about the monsters, about the changes from the beta version."

 

"Hee?!"

 

"During the beta test, gnomes only appeared in the 3rd area, but since the official service, they'll also appear in the 2nd area."

 

"Really?　That's really good information.　I'm curious how you found out about that..."

 

Well, no wonder if she is curious. No one would trust a low-level player who has been dead three times.  It's impossible for such a player to have information about monsters in the 2nd area.

 

"Please take a look at this."

 

I showed my status to Alyssa again. Gnome is stated in the monster column,.

 

"I see. Did you select the Advance Tamer?"

 

That alone seemed to be enough to make her satisfied. Alyssa nodded her head.

 

"You really know a lot of things."

 

"I can't call myself an information broker if I don't know that much."

 

"So, do you trust me now?"

 

"Yeah, it's the perfect proof, and I'll give you another 300 G."

 

Just a hint that gnomes might appear in the 2nd area. That information turned into 300 G.

 

"If it's just a small change, I'll only give you 100 G. But Gnomes are pretty troublesome enemies. Their earth magic is strong, and they run very fast. They're also an instant killer. I'm sure a lot of players were killed by gnomes in the beta test. But their drops are also very good. I don't know if it will be the same in the official service. The fact that they appear in the 2nd area is very valuable information. If you had information on where they appear, I would pay you 3,000 G."

 

"Then, I want to buy some information from you."

 

"OK. What do you want to know?"

 

"About the gnomes. How's they attacks."

 

"That'll be 500 G."

 

"OK."

 

"During the beta test, they appeared in the abandoned mines in the third area. It was a troublesome enemy that attack using earth magic from a distance and wielded an earth stick at close range. They were most feared for their "pitfalls", which were earth magic that sunk your feet into the ground. Their most common attack pattern was to knock their enemy off balance and hit it to death. Their fatality rate at the first sight is over 90%."

 

"Wow, that's insane. But isn't that weird?"

 

"Ara, why?"

 

"It seems that my gnome doesn't know how to fight."

 

"He never used earth magic to attack from a distance. He also never used pitfalls."

 

"Oh, I see what you mean...that's what happened in Beta version too. Apparently, some monsters change their nature after they are tamed."

 

Wow, really? I'll have to be careful in the future. I thought Orto is just a production-type monster and not a strong monster.

 

"By the way, did you say their drops are very good?"

 

"Yes, especially their rare drop, called the Earth Crystal."

 

"Earth crystal?"

 

"It's a very useful item. You can use it to add attributes to your weapons or use it in alchemy. Moreover, it was much more effective than its lower grade counterpart, the earth ore, and every production worker wanted it. With a drop rate of less than 0.01%, it was even called a legendary item. Also, Gnomes drops ores at 100% rate, so many parties would hunt them."

 

"I see. That's good to know. I'd like to buy another piece of information."

 

"Sure."

 

"I want to know what plants I can gather and grow around here. Not just herbs, but trees as well."

 

At the same time, I will ask her. Aside from medicinal herb, poisonous plant, paralysis plant, wound medicinal herb, and edible grass, what else can I gather?

 

"That information would cost 300 G."

 

"Got it."

 

"In the western and southern forests, you can get blue acorns and red tengu mushrooms. You can collect green peaches in the western forest. Still, I don't recommend it because it's very deep inside the forest and difficult to find. Also, you can collect light walnut in the southern forest. Though, they're more difficult to grow than the green peaches."

 

"Light walnut?"

 

"Yes. It grows on ordinary walnut trees at a low rate. They look like regular walnuts, so it's hard to tell them apart. They glow slightly at night, so they are easy to spot. Unfortunately, the Southern Forest is much more dangerous at night. If you want to explore the Southern Forest at night, level 12 or higher is recommended."

 

"Level 12....... That is impossible for me."

 

"The Light walnut. I want it so much, but... I'm sure I'll die again. I have no choice but to give up."

 

"Thank you very much."

 

"OK, see you later~."

 

I greeted her lightly and left her stall. It was a short but fruitful conversation. Besides, I got 5850 G.