Chapter 1: It’s just a peddler, Part 1

At the continent’s center, Vagus, often called the City of Wanderers, serves as a haven for travelers.

Peddlers always return here, and many guilds and trading companies use it as their base.

Even adventurers, whose profession is hunting monsters, forget their work and relax here, or prepare for their next adventure.

And now, a rumor is spreading amongst these wanderers.

A secluded alleyway, a dilapidated building tucked away within.

Inside, defying its outward appearance, is a surprisingly clean interior and a girl running a shop, strikingly beautiful yet with a disconcertingly sly smile.

Actually, it was less a rumor and more practical information.

The disconcerting yet beautiful girl frequented the dining district every mealtime, strolling leisurely.

The alley’s lack of foot traffic was simply due to its distance from the main road, turning rumor into fact.

Its usefulness stemmed from the girl’s diverse inventory.

From food ingredients and monster materials to expertly crafted swords, she offered it all.

One could argue her wares were more suspicious than her appearance. However, the wanderers didn’t mind.

They were content to purchase what they needed.

Some, captivated by her beauty, tried to make advances, but they disappeared without a trace.

If anyone were wary, it would be the other shopkeepers, but within Vagus, a non-aggression pact was the norm, preventing conflict.

And so, another customer entered the quiet alleyway.

Clink, clink.

“Welcome~”

A girl with brown hair reaching her lower back greeted the newcomer with a smile that would startle any stranger.

It was beautiful, yes, but the smile in her half-closed eyes seemed oddly suspicious.

“Lynn, you always seem suspicious. Are you secretly the head of some organization?”

“Oh, I’m just a peddler.”

The girl replied as always.

“…What the…”

My first feeling was, naturally, confusion.

Like a cliché from a novel, the ceiling was unfamiliar and exotic.

The unfamiliar texture of the sheets differed from the soft ones I was used to, and there was a strange weight on my chest.

An odd awkwardness in my limbs as I sat up. The sensation of long hair trailing behind me like an afterimage. Everything pointed to the strangeness of my current situation.

Creaking wooden floors and uncooperative limbs as I moved from the bed.

The absence of familiar sensations against my lower body, normally in contact with clothing.

Each piece of information clicked into place like a puzzle, revealing a truth I tried to ignore as I walked to the mirror.

Finally, I faced reality.

“…”

“Huh…”

The reflection showed the character I always saw in my favorite game.

In the early stages of the game, I’d considered her wares expensive and ignored most of them.

But in the late game, after consuming everything else, I lamented the daily exchange limits.

I was now ‘Kairin,’ the shop NPC.

One might argue that it’s hard to recognize a game character in real life, but even the outfit was identical.

I had become the suspicious peddler character, subject to countless speculations about her true identity.

It had been about three weeks since I became Kairin, and while there were still inconveniences, I had adjusted.

Wearing underwear, seeing my naked body while washing – these were things I could now manage with my eyes closed.

Not that it was easy, but rather that it was embarrassing to keep my eyes open.

With those issues resolved, the remaining problem was money.

Where was I? Where was the protagonist? What point in the story was this?

There were plenty of questions, but this wasn’t a game. Food wasn’t just for restoring health; it was essential for survival.

Sleep wasn’t just for refilling the stamina bar; it was crucial for staying alive.

Everything came down to money.

And so,

“So, what are you buying today?”

“Hey, already in work mode? It’s been months since we last saw each other!”

“Don’t exaggerate. It hasn’t even been a week.”

Like Kairin in the game, I was running a general store.

I woke up in Vagus, the neutral city called the wanderer’s haven, appearing in the early-mid game.

Also known as the City of Merchants, it was the perfect place to start a business.

I frequented this place in the game to use the ‘auction’ system, so I was familiar with the geography and systems.

I asked the merchant guild about vacancies and got a free spot in a rather unfavorable and shady location.

Optimistically thinking that simply starting a business would solve everything, I foolishly overlooked something.

If I was going to run a general store, how would I get merchandise?

Surprisingly, that problem was quickly resolved.

“Four Barbar flower petals and one Ash Gray flower. Do you have them?”

“Making potions yourself? Hmm… Two Trade Silver coins.”

I pulled out a notebook with an antique design from my waist pouch.

As I thought of Barbar flower petals and Ash Gray flowers, letters magically appeared, displaying their price. Two Trade Silver coins in total. One Trade Silver coin was worth twelve Trade Copper coins, so it was equivalent to twenty-four Trade Copper coins.

Other novels estimate the equivalent value in real-world currency… but I didn’t fully grasp the market prices here, and the setting wasn’t modern, so I only knew it was enough for six consecutive nights at an inn in this world.

“Eh…?”

“What? Is it expensive? I already gave you a discount…”

She looked momentarily bewildered, then shook her head and offered me two silver coins.

“No, no. It’s too cheap.

Barbar flower petals… their habitat burned down recently, so they’re hard to find… and the places that do sell them usually inflate the price.”

“…Is that so?”

I tried to hide my surprise and went behind the counter, into the curtained-off area.

I put the silver coins Ray gave me into my waist pouch.

As the coins went in, the glowing letters on the notebook flickered and disappeared.

Feeling something inside the pouch, I reached in and pulled out what I needed.

Four blue, flowing petals and a single ash-gray flower.

This was how I solved the merchandise problem.

I thought Kairin’s ever-present pouch was an artifact like a player’s inventory, able to hold a vast number of items. I was wrong.

Using the accompanying notebook, I could look up the desired item and its price, and then place the corresponding currency into the pouch.

This bypassed any issues of rarity or origin; the item would simply appear.

It was incredibly useful, but naturally, it had drawbacks.

Only a certain number of exchanges were possible per day, and I couldn’t determine the prices.

For example, even with the increased rarity of Barbar flower petals, I could only access the original set price.

However, I wasn’t part of the merchant guild, so I didn’t receive information on market fluctuations.

Even with price changes, I could only sell at the set prices, potentially higher or lower than the market value.

This meant losing out on potential profits from price differences.

Well, I wasn’t exactly putting in the effort to acquire goods, so I couldn’t complain.

Besides, if this artifact was discovered… Forget trading companies, a pouch that produces anything you pay for would attract a lot of unwanted attention. Keeping it secret was a necessity.

I should have charged more, knowing this would happen. Sighing at the pointless regret, I packed the items into a sack and tied it tightly.

“Here. Check it.”

“I don’t think you’d lie, so I’ll skip the check. It’s called trust, right?”

Oh?

You and trust?

You don’t look the type.

Besides appearances, adventurers weren’t known for their loyalty.

Sending a search party for a lost comrade only happened if that person held a certain status or played a crucial role in the party.

A rescue with purely altruistic motives… I only remember seeing that from Amadeus’s protagonist.

“W-why are you looking at me like that… It’s scary…”

Ray visibly flinched and backed away as I stared at her.

“Sigh. Ray, is there something you want?”

“Well, I, uh… Hehe… Was it that obvious?”

“You’re not exactly known for your loyalty.

Remember ditching, what was his name, Kalt? in that dungeon and running away? He came looking for you here.”

Furthermore, Ray had clearly demonstrated her lack of loyalty, making her even less trustworthy.

Her current behavior undoubtedly meant she wanted something from me.

It was something I’d learned in our short two-week acquaintance.

Last time… right. She wanted a half-price experience potion…

“Do you, by any chance… buy things too?”

“Sigh…”

Was this about getting rid of something?

“See ya, Lynn! And open your eyes sometimes!”

“Yes, yes.”

What could I do? It was a peddler’s fate.

Even in the game, general stores had terrible exchange rates, but you could at least sell junk items.

However, if Ray had tried to sell ‘Goblin Claws’ or ‘Shining Stones’ – the ultimate junk items – at a regular general store, she would have been slapped and thrown out.

But I had the ‘Pouch,’ and she was a regular, so I made a special exception.

Sighing again, I looked out the window. The sky was tinged with orange. It was almost closing time.

As I got up from the counter to lock the door, a strange sensation washed over me.

A feeling that I needed to go somewhere, immediately.

“Hmm…?”

I didn’t know where, but I felt like I knew the direction. As if possessed, I repeated the thought inwardly and reached for the doorknob.

Then, the scenery outside the window transformed.

Instead of the familiar alleyway, I saw a lush forest with tall trees and overgrown grass.

It was somehow familiar.

And then, a girl, dragging herself along with bloody wounds, appeared.

“Haah… Haah…”

Her moans reached my ears. A familiar voice, or rather, a familiar voice actress…?

“…Who are you…?”

Our eyes met.

Desperation and underlying hostility emanated from her gaze.

Clear blue eyes that seemed to see right through me, and golden hair reaching her shoulders.

A young girl, perhaps middle school age, wielding a glowing sword that didn’t suit her, facing me, the suspicious-looking shopkeeper.

In that moment, the girl’s gaze shifted to somewhere beyond me. Then,

“Tutorial… shop…?”

She muttered.

And inwardly, I marveled, “Aha, so this is how Kairin moves to the protagonist.”

I was witnessing the tutorial stage, encountering the childhood version of Amadeus’s protagonist.

With the default name and female appearance… was it Lucia?