It's way past midnight once I can squeeze myself through the crowd. This place is crazy, and it's one of the smaller markets. What would Taji look like, or the other big trading hubs? The FAQ said that to rent a stall there, you'd have to pay twelve golds.
The Origin Market charges only one, so does that mean that place is twelve times larger? It could be even more since they mentioned how standing and fame influence the cost. This market belongs to the Adventurer Guild's Origin branch.
Running this many tasks must have bumped my standings so this price might include a discount. The minimap's counter already can't handle this crowd. The number drops to a manageable count around the edge since players avoid the NPC merchants.
That default multiplier sounds rough until you realize the market's prices are worse. If she sells something for a silver, she'd buy it for at least ten coppers. Nothing keeps the player's prices at bay though, it's simple supply and demand.
So let's see what Annelise offers for the skeleton's gear. It might be leagues higher or lower than what the players ask for them. She's in the westernmost stall, close to the Pharmacy by the alley leading to the Training Grounds.
It's separate from the player market, the huge trading window is gone before reaching her. The groove where my fists almost broke is to the north and the zombie spawn beyond the fence is northwest. Not exactly the best memories.
After questing for a day, my head finally understands the village's layout. Even without the minimap or the hand-drawn sketch Selena gave me. Early on I could only follow the arrows, which didn't help with planning the route.
Sometimes they would point at a home but in reality that was one street beyond, and the player had to go around. Now I remember where the roads meet and how best to cut through them, it's not exactly a labyrinth.
Origin is way smaller than the Container Park and that place is dense. Without the players, only a few hundred villagers might live here. Their homes are low-density though, so it takes up a kilometer across every direction.
The layout is a simple circular grid with shorter streets towards the center. The Guild and the marketplace to the west occupy most of the space there. Beyond the Pharmacy and Training Grounds, it's all single homes until you reach the fence.
No wonder all players come to this area; unless they're running a mission, there's nothing to do for them there. This also explains why the gankers chill in front of the Guild's hall. Every traffic that touches Origin must pass them, whether they go to the market or the Guild itself.
The Pharmacy's the last building handling larger traffic. Even the Training Ground is always empty, whenever I see it. These guys don't know what they're missing, if it's not for Tank, my progress would be zero, and I would have died many times.
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They could be using the auto-attack and defend functions that are Premium only. My poor soul has to do everything the hard way. Come on, Arnim, who's to blame for this? Baldie even gave you ten credits to pay for the game.
Whatever, it's more impressive to win with a handicap. That's my Jazz, to show them who they're messing with. It's not going great for now, but that ratting plan should help with their quest. After that, chill, or whatever their next mission will be.
Annelise is alone as expected and did she get a haircut since yesterday? Or was it two days ago? It's pointless to pretend to remember, I don't know what the dinner was an hour ago. Or two? Let's rest my case.
"Hey, Anne, can I interest you in a few bows and arrows?" I called out to her like a boss. She doesn't waste time to start staring a hole into me, complete with a creepy smile. Come on, game, you can do better, she'd be such a cutie otherwise.
"Welcome back, Noob. I can buy off your unwanted gear, but I still can't give you quests." Oh, so she remembers our last conversation too? Why does she seem so familiar? A better look at her face in the torchlight reveals a few freckles across her nose.
She has purple eyes like me; was it the same the last time too? The long blonde bob cut with the messy bangs also looks way more detailed than you'd expect from a throwaway NPC. It's rather difficult to take a good look when she stares into my face though.
When I checked out Little Red down to the nitty-gritty details, she acted more natural. She wouldn't look straight at me while talking, so it was easy to steal a glance at her makeup and everything. Annelise doesn't make my job easy with that look.
Still, that messy blonde hairstyle and the unique eyes make her even prettier than that chick. She's more of a fantasy character while keeping it natural, and not using makeup. Her clothes are simple, like you'd expect from a merchant, and won't steal my attention from her face.
Focus, Arnim, you came to trade, not to get a girlfriend.
"Right, how much would you pay for seven bows from the skeleton archers?" The question opened the trade window, and coming to her was the right call. She sells the thing for one and a half silvers, so buying it from her wouldn't be worth it.
This also means she'd pay me fifteen coppers though; five times the price I'd get on the marketplace. Well, it's still shit. It's much less than I expected, but a little over one silver to purge the clutter is better than nothing.
The arrows might be a different question. She offers a single copper for twenty-four of them, and who didn't remember to check prices on the market? That's right, let's head back to compare them. At least it's close.
The seven bows disappear from my inventory, replaced by one silver and five copper coins. Should I visit Selena to exchange all those heavy coppers for a gold piece, or would that finish the quests? It would be an embarrassment if she completed them without asking.
Let's hold off on that now, get rid of the arrows at the best price possible, then farm a few more rats. Annelise still smiles after our transaction, and I can't tell when she blinked the last time. I mean those purple eyes are pretty, but for fuck's sake, don't let them dry out.
"Thank you for the business, haha." Let's get out of here before she stares a hole in me. She knows how to make someone uncomfortable and my heart rate is in the sky. Like when the zombies overwhelmed me; how can a random trader NPC have the same effect on me?
"I look forward to doing more with you." Ugh, what's with that phrasing? I bet you do, with those profit margins. Calm down, Arnim, she meant nothing by that. Not everyone's a horny teenager like you. But she reminds me of someone, making this all the worse.