The three new quests take me past the Pharmacy, which is convenient since I'll need more potions. Selena might have calculated with the jobs escalating already and it feels like she can read my mind. She must know more than she lets on.

Especially when she hands out contracts matching every condition before I can say a word. What would my character even do without her? Die trying to finish a mission in the middle of nowhere that doesn't even pay anything. Yeah, this seems likely.

"Good hunting, Noob!" She dismisses me with a smile.

It's almost scary, so let's hope she stays on my side. The Assistant works like a machine, sorting out three more players before I can leave. It's still a bad sign that the stack of jobs on her desk gets even thinner. Without Escalations, how many ratting quests would I need?

Is that all, or now that more NPCs work the reception, they split the work between them? There are those dumb new errands as well, to make traps for the villagers, does that stack include them too? What did DragonSlayer say about the A-rank job we did?

It might kick off the rest of the event, but when and how? No, the most important question is, on what level? My character can't take on quests like that bandit camp alone, nor would the Guild trust me with those. How far is the next rank?

The only option is to grind these ratting jobs while they last. How many will escalate in this round? Should I stock up on potions before the missions or after them? That's at least an easy question since there's only one left.

Expect the best and prepare for the worst.

That was my motto before getting dragged into the Boss' circle, so why not apply it to the game? If the antidotes can run out, they will; in this case, that's even a good sign. The dead bandit's purse is already teeming with copper and silver coins, so put them to good use.

The way the gankers follow me with their eyes tells me it's best to keep spending on stuff they don't want. How many people do they kill every day? So far there was only that one incident, - that I saw, - and it would suck to be their next victim.

What would Tank recommend to keep them at bay? He waves as usual, reminding me about resetting the tutorial. How many times did I run by him until now? And with the in-game browser, a Boogle search can answer most of my questions without him anyway.

This is another thing to use more, instead of pondering on random questions. Boogle is your friend. There's an opacity setting for that window which seems useful. I could even watch YouCube videos and tutorials while running around.

It's too bad those fetching and delivery quests changed. Taking those racks loaded with potions in front of these guys was scary but they paid well. They were fast and simple errands that built up my relations with the Pharmacy and the Guild.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Now I could only take them with the appraisal skill even if they wanted plants from nearby. And why would they offer such quests, when they could collect those themselves? This update threw a wrench into my plans.

It was to patch some exploits, but why couldn't they do it a day later?

As if to confirm my thoughts, the male pharmacist leaves the store with a large rack. He must have taken over the delivery duties from me. Selena kept doubling them thanks to that bug, but how will I get more discount from the staff now?

[Welcome to the Origin Pharmacy!]

What decides which player-owned companies get their system messages and which won't? It could be another drop in the endless sea of options that COTTONEYEJOE couldn't figure out. He did the standing and the discount things by hand too, and that shop looked ridiculous.

If only I knew the players who ran the pharmacy and convinced them to give me some extra. Come on, don't be greedy, Arnim. Their stuff became more affordable since my character runs higher-level jobs. The female pharmacist runs the store alone anyway.

"I'd like to buy some more antidotes." Greeting the shopkeeper is still challenging, yet she won't start a conversation. Or would she now? Wasn't that price multiplier something the NPC merchants used? She isn't a trader in that sense, she's the player's employee.

"Right away, Noob." She smiles like usual, without offering me work to do. If you think about it, this is a shop selling potions, not buying them, which explains the low buy prices. At least the fifteen percent markoff is still valid. "This five would be 425 coppers."

If the players set the store's prices, including the buy orders, it would make sense to keep them low. Adventurers with too many potions can sell it for a few coppers, but gankers won't turn a profit by killing for them. This is a relief.

"Thank you, um... Do you have a name?" Let's hope the NPC won't freak out or break the system. There are too many questions in my head, and it's easier to ask them if you know who you're talking to. She blinks a few times before answering this first one though.

"It's Petra." She smiles as the text floating above her head changes, spelling Petra The Pharmacist now. Did the game generate it on the spot? Did nobody want to know her name before? That's both fascinating and depressing. "What else can I help you with?"

"I see you'd buy some items but not everything in my backpack has a price on them." The automatic mute function works overtime to keep my question free of meta phrases. The wording is still weird, but she understands it.

"We can no longer order ingredients through quests so the owner added exotic plants on buy orders. We also buy back potions or empty vials at a discount, but this shop doesn't trade other goods." Empty vials? Don't they disappear after you drink the potions?

This makes sense, although there are no buy orders in the window.

Thinking about them changes this. As usual, the game hides everything until you want to see them. This feature is genius and super annoying at the same time. It helps by keeping things simple for the rookies, but how can you navigate these windows if they don't show up?

At least give a fixed settings menu with a simplify option on top. Make it more obvious, so we don't have to stumble upon everything by accident. Where do you leave this kind of feedback? The crime prevention program makes me a playtester anyway.

Does Baldie expect me to write reports or something? Why bother, when they could be reading my mind all the time? This kicks my paranoia into overdrive. The slots expand below a new subdivision, showing a few elements with a green background.