Picture yourself in a world of dungeons and dragons, swords and spells, Epic heroes and evil rulers. In such a whimsical fantasy-like world, what is most important? What gets you the most power? Magic? noble heritage? Wrong. What's most important is money. From keeping a roof over your head to keeping food on the table, money is part of everything. That's why people work. That's why society functions.
This was common knowledge to Luka Randz, and if there's one thing he learnt, it's that there's no money in heroing. That's what motivated him to drop out of the Hero Academy. He trained himself to be the hero all his life, and with his unique skill, EXP multiply, levelling up and getting stronger was easiest for him. No one could hold a candle to him, whether in the academy or elsewhere. The role of hero, and main character, were practically his from the beginning, with everyone saying he would be the next hero to slay the demon king. But while there's fame and status to be found in such a role, there's more money in other paths, after all, why be the main character when the side character can make more profit? That's why he left his old path behind, and the title of main character with it. This was the beginning of a new story, the story of the greatest merchant in history.
After Luka left home, he decided his first order of business was getting a shop, so he went to the landlord. "Hey boss, I'm gonna need the best shop you've got" Luka demanded. The landlord looked at him with a disturbed expression before asking him "Are you sure you can even afford that?" In an obviously disrespectful tone.
Luka's expression soured before saying Luka then put 40 gold coins on the desk, much to the Landlord's surprise. Luka stood there and said "Do you doubt that I can afford it now" in his usual smug tone. The landlord's tone changed as he said "O-oh. I apologise for my previous rudeness. Unfortunately, I don't have many shops that match your high budget"
"Huh? What a waste of time. I'm out of here" Luka begrudgingly said to the Landlord as he prepared to walk out the door.
"W-w-Wait! Please wait!" The landlord pleaded
"Jeez. This guy's desperate" Luka sighed.
"What is it?"
"While I don't have anything that expensive we have cheaper ones if you're interested. It's even in the market central of Origionia City. It's yours for only 5 gold and 50 silver! Quite a deal right? Right?"
Luka thought for a moment before requesting "Drop it to 3 gold and we have a deal"
The landlord scoffed. "Give me a break!" He shouted "I gave you a bargain and your ungrateful ass can't even take I-"
"Selling a shop for that low implies you're desperate to get rid of it." Luka interrupted. "A standard property goes for 10 gold on average, and I'm lowballing it. So who's gonna sell that low unless they actually just want rid of it?"
The landlord tried to speak, but after being caught off guard like that, the words couldn't leave his mouth.
"Yeah. I know a thing or two about money, old timer. For trying to pick pennies off of me, I'd oughta leave the damn place right now…. Buuuuut~ as a money man myself, I can respect a man who tries to maximise their profit. So I'll buy the place"
The landlord started to grin before Luka said "-for one gold"
The landlord's face changed from uplifted to upset. "You damn cheapskate!"
"Aye don't get angry at me. You're the one who wants to get rid of the place. If anything you should be paying me" Luka said, condescendingly.
This interaction was somehow enough to get Luka the place for a single gold coin. But when he got to the shop, he quickly grew disappointed.
The shop was relatively large, but the exterior was terrible. The double doors were on the floor, the windows were barricaded or broken, the sign on top was hanging on for dear life, and that wasn't even the worst of it. The inside was even worse somehow. The walls were discoloured, some of the floor wasn't even there, and those were only a few flaws on the list.
"Ugh. No wonder that money-grubbing landlord tried to sell it for cheap. 5 gold and 50 silver for this place was even generous.
"Hah! No way that guy managed to sell that joint" A neighbouring shop owner said.
"There's no way someone bought that run-down place!" Another said as they laughed. This annoyed the short-tempered Luka.
"Huh. Simpletons. This place only needs a few light touches" Luka confidently proclaimed. He then began to construct a series of magic circles.
"Paint magic. Wood magic. Metal magic. Cotton magic." With merely a few simple incantations, Luka was able to transform the raggedy place into a fully-fledged shop. The neighbours quickly changed their attitudes after seeing this. Luka turns around with a large, notably arrogant grin on his face before saying
"Weeeeeell~, Good thing I didn't buy any of your run-down places, huh?" Which already put him on bad terms with neighbouring merchants, not that he cared.
After a while stock was in, and the shop had food, as well as basic gear and weapons, but Luka still remained unsatisfied.
"No one's gonna buy this basic stuff. Run-of-the-mill equipment like this will always be a dime a dozen. I'll never make a real profit with this junk".
That's when an idea hit him.
"I know. I'll just go and beat some dungeons and get their loot. From there it's easy loot. The dungeons nearby aren't that difficult to beat, at least for me".
From there, Luka set off to beat some dungeons.
Meanwhile, in a dungeon, a party of three adventurers were exploring a dungeon. A male mage named Zaine, a swordswoman named Rebecca, and a male berserker named Viktor all arrived at the entrance to the boss's domain.
"Well, this appears to be our boss's gate. Through here we should reach the boss room and clear this dungeon…. Or die trying I guess" the mage said, in a shy voice.
"Was the pessimism really necessary, Zaine?" The swordswoman enquired.
"W-well I'm just highlighting the possibilities here. Sorry…" the mage replied.
"Stop bickering you two" the berserker demanded. This caused the other two to settle down.
"We knew what we were getting into the moment we agreed to come here, but even so, we won't lose today. I'll make sure of it" the berserker confidently said.
"Alright captain, you lead the way" Rebecca said. And with that, they entered into the boss monster's territory. The fight against the Giant diamond crab boss monster then began. With Zaine giving the team buffs, their attack power was boosted as Zaine used ranged attacks Rebecca used her powerful slashing attacks and Viktor utilised his strength-based magic techniques and skills. However, their onslaught didn't even get past the crab monster's shell. Its tough exoskeleton made it resistant to their attacks. Zaine began to panic.
"No no no no no! This isn't good guys! Even with my buffs, we couldn't make a dent in that thing!" He cried.
Rebecca shouted at Zaine. "Pull yourself together! We can still take this thing down if we just formulate a strategy"
"She's right," Viktor said.
"Alright, we're launching an all-out, 3 pronged assault. Zaine put all the power you can spare into the buffs and ready your ranged magic attacks from behind us. Becca will attack from above it. I attack from below".
"Got it," the others said as they got into position.
As Zaine began to charge up attacks, Viktor shouted "We begin on my mark!" The crab fired a barrage of diamond shards at Zaine, but Viktor blocked them. This was the window they needed.
"Now!" Viktor cried as he and Rebecca started to run towards the beast. As Rebecca jumped in the air, Zaine began to use a chant to further boost the power output of his attacks.
"Tempest. Bird Song. Cloud. Sunrise. Wings of Storm"
The three then poured all their power into one attack
Zaine called out "Wind Magic: Sylph's Call"
Rebecca cried "Slicing Magic: Fang of the Wolf"
Viktor shouted "Physical Enhancement magic: Great Breaker"
And yet, even with all that power out together, they could only cause a slight crack in its shell. The crab then flung Rebecca into a Wall, shot a beam of crystals at Zaine and smashed Viktor into the ground. Viktor was the only one conscious and saw his comrades slumped on the ground.
"No… we're all gonna die," he said. But right as he said that they heard a voice from the system:
"A new challenger has entered the boss room"
That's when a blonde man with a suit jacket and sunglasses walked into the room. It was none other than Luka.
"Well. Looks like some adventurers beat me to the punch here…" Luka says before looking around the room. "Seems like I got here just in time too. This crab thing is mopping the floor with the poor things"
Viktor struggled to speak due to his injuries but was able to push some words out. "I don't know how you got here… but you need to get away… you have…no gear… that thing will kill you …if you don't run" he grunted.
Luka raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Don't you think you should take a page out of your own book, big guy? Look, I can take this crystal-clad crustacean on my own so you just sit pretty and watch"
"Give me a break… " said Viktor "My group and I got pummelled by that thing... you think… someone like you… can ta-"
"Uuuugh dude do you ever shut up? I told you just sit your ass down and watch"
Zaine and Rebecca woke up and witnessed the situation, confused as to what was happening. After that, Luka pointed at the crab, who began rushing towards him, prepared to attack.
"No…" whispered Viktor
"Run!"
Luka broke a smile and said "Simple magic: Slash"
A white, crescent-shaped slash attack flew across the room and cut the crab clean in half. The trio were shocked beyond belief.
"The Boss has been defeated. Dungeon Clear" said the system.
"Impossible!" thought Viktor. "He cut the thick and durable shell of that monster with a single strike? All with a mere simple magic spell?!"
"Tell me…" he pleaded "Just who the hell are you?!"
Luka smirked and said, "Who? me? Well I'm just a common merchant trying to make a name for himself". Luka then immediately turned his attention to the loot drops as well as the boss's remains.
"Ooo the shell is actual diamond? And this purity? Yeah, this could make some damn good armour and it would fetch a pretty penny too! Actually, upon closer observation, it actually contains magical properties that allow it to be more durable, no wonder those other guys had such a hard time dealing with the shell despite their skill level. All the more reason for me to make it into tools I guess. With swords and shields made of this, I could be selling gear for 70 silver to even one gold a piece! Oh, I can smell the money already! Oh, the dungeon reward gear is good too. This sword has magic properties that allow it to increase the power of impacts which probably makes it B tier at least-"
As Luka was blathering on, Viktor tried to interject.
"Cut the crap!" Viktor exclaimed "No mere merchant could one shot a beast that powerful with simple magic of all things! You must take me for a fool! Who are you really?"
Luka kept talking to himself, completely ignoring Viktor.
"Hey! Answer me! You owe me an explanation since you already stole our kill!"
This got Luka to stop before he turned around with a sour expression.
"Huuuh?" He shouted
"What a laugh! In a fight, whoever wins gets the glory. Who cares if I 'stole your kill'? I still reap the benefits of the kill. Only someone naive would expect me to think I owe you something just because you saw it first. That's not how the real world works. You seem older than me, but you still have a lot to learn it seems"
Viktor got upset and shouted "Cut the bullshit, we were here first"
"Which doesn't matter since I got the kill first," Luka replied, much to Viktor's dismay
"If two people have the same business idea, but the one who thought it second implemented it before the other guy, he can cry and cry about how unfair it is, but that doesn't change the fact that the other guy capitalised on the idea first. When all's said and done, one's making money and the other isn't. Like I said, this is the real world. But even then, you should be grateful I'm even taking this, because had I gotten here later or not at all, the lot of you probably would've got killed by the damn thing anyway. If anything, you should be thanking me instead of accusing me and asking me dumb ass questions. Now if this conversation is over I'll have the system hand me over my money and I'll take my goods and get out of here"
"Money has been split amongst the 4 participants equally" the system said.
"Say whaaaaaat?!" Luka screamed. "Like hell I'm splitting it! All of you! Give me the money you just got right this instant! The damn lot of ya!"
"Like we're giving you our share!" Rebecca retorted "We almost died in here. If you're not gonna share anything else, we're at least taki-"
"And your sorry asses would've been smears on a wall if I hadn't intervened" Luka interrupted "You should be thankful you're even getting out of this alive you damn leaches!"
"Damn cheapskate" Rebecca said.
"Alright then. Let's make a deal." He said to the adventurers.
"A deal?" The three said?
"Yes. I just said that." Luka responded in a condescending voice "Anyway, the terms are I will pay you the 3 gold coins you just got every month, on the condition that the three of you work for me"
"Screw that!" Viktor said "We're adventurers, not employees. We couldn't be bound to such work"
"You can do field work sometimes like getting materials for me and such" Luka responded "but it for sure beats almost dying like today, right? You even standing here right now is by the luck of me coming to this dungeon at that time. Such a thing isn't likely to happen again. Wouldn't you rather play it safe with a reasonable income, even if it's only for now?"
The three think about it before eventually agreeing to do it.
"We agree," they said
"Good," Luka said before smiling "It's the deal then. Contract magic: Soul-Binding Vow!"
Purple magic chains appeared behind Luka which attached to and went onto the skin of the three adventures, taking the form of purple chain-shaped tattoos on their bodies.
"W-w-what's going on?" Zaine enquired "W-what did you do to us?!"
"Oh, nothing much. I just made it so that if any of us attempts to break our end of the agreement we suffer a large electric shock" Luka responded
"What the hell?!" Rebecca shouted
"What? No breaking deals, no problem." Luka said. "Don't worry you three. I'll be sure to put you to good use"
And with that, Luka gained his first 3 workers, this being the start of many meetings of friend and foe alike, as our side character moves forward. What other things await him?