Before we start, I changed the time Dale set for the auctions from 18 hours to 14 due to time restraints caused by my own writting.
It does not impact much and I did it because the novel had this feeling of urgency, that if he wasn't fast enough, he may have lost the opportunity to trade, and I can't make Dale mistake the time since he can easily access the clock at any time…
And instead of creating some sublime plot for explaining how he got the time confused, I find it easier to go back and say I fucked up and overestimated things lol.
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Dale made his way uphill and arrived at the church that was currently empty.
"I forgot that here, people do go to bed very early… If it wasn't for me making a ruckus everyone would've been sleeping… I hope they wake up well tomorrow." He said as he got inside
'The same as before… Hm?'
Dale entered the church and realized everything was the same as last time, but on the altar now rested a single head… A golden head.
Next to it were several offerings of coins, Dale immediately realized they were Zulls of Iron and even the next grade above it… Copper.
"People in this village spare no money huh… But I guess they don't have anywhere to spend it so it becomes… Useless?"
'Money is nothing but a symbolical object meant to give these poor villagers. Something to hold onto…'
'The same goes for religion, so it makes sense for them to spare nothing of what little money they have in it since, at the end of the day, they will never use it.'
'Still… I don't know much about the continent, but I can see this village was truly wealthy at some point… If they still had contact with the outside, this money could've been used on something else…'
'But now it can only be used as an offering.'
"Who is going to collect the money anyway?" He asked out loud as he looked at the Golden head inside the altar
"Me of course." Said David, the golden head
Dale looked at David for a while and asked:
"... Isn't this risky?"
"Not at all, I can feel the presence of everyone within the village, one of the many features of being a holy artifact of my caliber."
"As for your question, let me show you…"
/GULP!/
With an incredible suction force, David opened its mouth and sucked the coins into its mouth.
/Munch munch…/
He munched for a little while before spinning the coins again, they were all shining and looked pristine.
"I didn't know you could also work as a cleaning machine, I do have some dirty clothes…" Said Dale with a smile
"FUCK OFF! I'm only doing this because this is an emergency so I have to get every single bit of power I can get my hands on."
"Hum, but the coins look the same, what was there to get from cleaning them?" Asked Dale
"Simple, in normal times, these coins would've been collected by the priests and used for their normal activities, after all, the gold and gems that once decorated my altar had to come from somewhere right?"
"..."
"Don't give me that look! I know very well priests can end up corrupt, but this only happens in those second-hand churches! This would never happen in a church under the direct supervision of my Boss!" Said David angrily
"COUGH!..."
"However, right now, this isn't possible, so I am using the coins in the best way I can… I am eating away the 'meaning' contained within them."
"Meaning?" Asked Dale in confusion
"As people live their lives, they attach meanings onto the things around them, and they eventually try and attach a meaning to their own lives as well, when in truth, it doesn't has any…"
"It's up to them to live their lives as they see fit and not by some nonsensical, and prone to change, ethical system."
"You spoke facts but in a very twisted way…" Said Dale as he thought deeply
"Anyway! Let's jump a few steps and go to the coins… What is currency?"
Dale looked at him with his eyes wide open.
"I think you jumped a few too many steps, buddy… What is a coin?... Damn…"
But David just scoffed, saying:
"Humph! It's really simple. In the end, currency is just a substitute to facilitate exchange of goods. A method created after thousands of years of human interaction and development."
"But this only works because they have a meaning, else, they are nothing but chunks of metal as you can see… Devoid of their original purpose."
"In the past, these coins would be quite a sum, but now, they are worthless as they lost their meaning since they can't be spent anymore… Currency loses its value when it can't be exchanged… When it doesn't flow."
"But alas, they still hold some meaning set by these villagers over the years… And that was what I absorbed."
"It's little, but it's something."
Dale had to think for a while before he asked:
"And how does this work?"
"Do you know how the mind can influence reality? It's subtle if not nonexistent for most, but for those of considerable mental fortitude, it's possible to add special characteristics to objects by using their mind…"
"And when groups of people work under one set of rules or dogmas, they can and will add values to objects and even ideas over time… Years will turn into Decades and from that centuries…"
"Even a simple object may become holy over time, or a simple well may give birth to a Demon... This is why simple folklore may become reality over centuries."
"My power comes from the prayers of people, but right now, I can barely even help them sleep well, far from my past glory... Worse... Now we have a monster looming on our asses, I need any power I can get. So don't make fun of me and help me recover!"
"I see… But what about those coins?" He asked as he looked at the small pile inside the altar
"Asking the real questions now you greedy bastard?... But uh… Urg… To be honest this is quite uncomfortable."
"In the past, these would be collected by the priests, but I see none around… So take it if you wish, to be honest, they are better off moving around than here."
Dale smiled but said:
"Sorry, no can do. I would be glad to make your shoulders lighter by collecting these, but I have a reputation to uphold, if these coins disappear within a night, people are going to get confused unless you start talking, and we both know that isn't a possibility."
David nodded, already expecting this situation.
"However, I can at the very least help you with the organization… And this" Said Dale as he helped organize the coins inside the Altar
"Well, thanks I guess, but my Altar only has so much space, one day it will get claustrophobic…"
"I didn't end yet…" Said Dale as he removed his coins from his inventory, surprising David
"Where did you take those from? Do you have an expanded space pocket? No, that doesn't seem to be the case... You took those from thin air… Magic? Hum… Too weak for that… I'm curious."
"I don't know how to explain this but… I can store things inside a pocket dimension, It's the best way I can think of to explain it."
'It's interesting to see a game character react to it, and I hope this won't have any bad repercussions… But hiding game features will only make my life harder.'
'Like, who would hide that they can access an inventory in an RPG? Makes no sense…'
"Well… I won't ask further… Just give me a minute to process these… You have more? Good! Just let me... Mo-more?! Ok-Okay I... How many coins do you have?!" He asked as he saw Dale take out more and more coins from his inventory
"Hum… About a few hundred Zulls of Iron?"
'I got all of this from my adventures in the Tutorial, especially from the Vault I raided, just a shame they didn't drop higher tiers of it and only Iron Zulls… Probably to balance things.'
'It makes me really greedy when I see several Copper Zulls in front me, knowing full well each is probably worth more than all of my coins combined…'
"Just make sure to collect them all afterward… Munch munch… I don't really like small spaces… I FUCKING HATE THEM TO BE HONEST!." He said in a loud tone
"... If you are so afraid of that, why don't you have a body?" Asked Dale as he stored his coins again
"..."
But David remained silent.
"Lets… Let's not talk about it…"
"..."
Dale looked at him with a curious expression, but he remained silent nonetheless.
"Anyway, what brings you here?"
"Me? I came here to… To make an offering."
"Ho? Do it then, I will give you the honor of hearing your prayers myself!" Said David with a smile
"It's not really for a prayer… Well, you'll see." Said Dale as he moved his hands in the air, opening the game menu
"What are you doing? I don't really understand those gestures, some sort of Hex?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows
Dale rolled his eyes and opened the church menu, a small icon under his Status sheet.
'Let's see… This is quite interesting… Alright, here it is.'
[To enter the trade market, 31 Zulls of Iron will be deducted]
'31?! Damn! That's 310K Wood Zulls!... In the Beta, that was enough to buy pretty much anything! The value of the currency may have changed since there are many players and the quantity of money on the market keeps increasing but still…'
'And I thought I was a bit rich for a lone player...'
'Fine, I'll pay it, I have more than enough anyway.'
[The fee has been deducted]
[Welcome to the trade market!]
Suddenly, a portion of the coins on the altar disappeared, making David open his eyes wide!
"OI! I felt something… Did you do something just now?! I felt… ?!"
It was then that David suddenly stopped talking, his eyes bulged and after a moment he had a sudden understanding as if he had been enlightened, so he shut up and continued to eat the coins and spit them out, shining clean.
"Did you say something, David? I was a bit focused so…" Asked Dale as he pushed the game menu aside
"No no I am fine… Continue with what you were doing I… I will continue with what I've been doing…"
Dale nodded, sitting in one of the chairs as he read through the messages in the trade center.
'It's been almost 14 hours huh… Time sure goes fast when you're gaming… Who am I kidding? I spent the entire day working my ass off as a community worker and in the end, I went to a Dungeon…'
'It were some tiring, 14 hours of gameplay...'
'It's currently a bit past 12 Am, I entered the Dungeon around 6 Pm a bit after the sun had gone down, and came back around 11 Pm in the middle of the night."
"Spending close to 4 hours to reach the bottom of the Dungeon and around an hour to climb back up including my little adventure after I reached the bottom...'
'After that, I had to wait for the villagers to be called up and I had to wait as well in the Guild, not counting the time I spent talking with the Elders… All of this adds up to now.'
'The auctions starts around 1 Am in-Game time, I didn't check at that time but that would've meant I set foot in the continent at around 9 Am.'
"I still have a few minutes to prepare… Not much but enough." He said out loud
'So first… Time to go through these messages… Damn.'
Dale looked at the ocean of messages on his screen and let out a loud sigh, but he had to do it.
He needed to learn what the players bought and their words about it as it would dictate how he should operate from here.
He also had to collect his items and see how much he gained from his setup… In short, there was a lot to do.
"Time to work my ass off… All for the sake of profit." He said with a smile
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Notes