Friday morning found Winston sitting on a stool behind his new stand. The half-elf had gouged him a bit on the price but he was happy with the work. It was in eight big pieces and could be disassembled and reassembled in seconds. It was basically just a table with two upright boards slotted in that held up the sign. He’d done the sign himself and although it wasn’t professional work he’d done a decent job on it.

The top read ‘Quality Vegetables’ In big letters, while a smaller signboard was off to the side with the price list. He’d set out two of his superior pumpkins for display pieces and more than a few NPC’s had come over to buy until they’d seen the prices.

[Pumpkins: 1000g]

[Flour: 150g/lb]

[Onions: 30g/lb]

[Carrots: 30g/lb]

The NPC’s had yelled at him for quite a while before they got board and wandered off, but most NPC’s might only make thirty of forty gold a year.They couldn’t imagine why someone would pay 1000 gold for a pumpkin but a player would. Winston had thrown out the bait. He just had to wait for the right fish to show up.

He was feeling glad to be in game. Yesterday had been Thanksgiving and he’d been trapped at his grandma’s all day with all his idiot cousins. It hadn’t been pleasant. Luckily he didn’t have school today, so he’d decided to set up his stand. Winston didn’t expect to make any sales until tomorrow but he was more than happy to just set in the sun-shine. He had a browser window in his interface open and was reading a web novel as people wandered by.

There were quite a few players milling around. It was Thanksgiving vacation, at least in the US, so lots of students who’d normally be in school were free to waste the day online. It was nearly 10:00 when the first player noticed his shop and came over to mock him.

“1000 gold for a pumpkin are you a retard?” Shouted a high-elf in fancy scale-covered armor. It was probably wyvern hide or some dragon-knock off but it likely still cost of fortune. Winston hated elves. Not because of any racial type bigotry but because it was such an unoriginal character design. The silver-wood bow on the elf’s shoulders didn’t improve Winston’s opinion of the idiot.

In a game with such open character design anyone who picked an elven archer needed punched, or at the very least made fun of. Winston could understand wanting to stack class and race bonuses but High Elves got bonuses to magic. The guy could have at least picked a Wood Elf, but he’d chosen a weaker option just to feed the stereotype. In a game with 500+ unlockable classes a player should at least do something interesting.

“If you don’t want a pumpkin, then don’t buy one. It’s not like i’m forcing you to.” Winston said, without closing his novel.

“You're never gonna sell these to anyone. 1000 gold, that's a hundred dollars, you want someone to pay 100 dollars for a pumpkin? Who would even buy that?” The belligerent elf continued to mock.

Winston closed the window on his interface and sat-up on his stool, finally meeting the elf’s too-blue eyes. “Look man, Are you getting something out of this? Don’t you have someplace to be? Or something better to do than stand here and yell at a complete stranger over something so stupid?” Winston said seriously.

That comment seemed to piss the elf off even more, lucky his return shot was cut off as Casey walked up to the stall. The two high-elves looked almost identical in terms of build and coloring, but Casey was wearing simple clothing, his hair was wild, and he looked like he needed a bath. It was a stark contrast to the other elf in his expensive immaculate armor.

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over this god-forsaken city.” Casey said. “You got the goods.”

Winston waved to the pumpkins on the table. Casey smiled.

“Excellent, but there’s not way in hell i’m paying those prices.” Casey said.

“We already had an agreement. These are the last minute prices.” Winston said. He reached into his pack and started handing over all the vegetables he’d grown for Casey. The process took a while but Casey was cheerful and Winston was happy since he was finally getting paid.

“We’ll call it… 3k?” Winston offered.

“Sold.” Casey said. The elf waved at his interface and Winston’s message box chimed as the funds were deposited in his bank.

“Please doing business with you.” Winston said as he sat back down on his stool. Casey snorted and turned, bumping into the archer still standing there watching the trade play out.

“Move plebeian!” Casey shouted as he walked around the elf.

“You’re right…” Wiston said to the elf. “No one is going to buy these.”

Winston ignored the elf as he spluttered and popped back open the web novel he was reading. It was a odd military sci-fi novel about a soldier with super mining powers. It was odd but not bad and Winston had been working through it for a few weeks.

“Are you just going to ignore me?” Winston heard the elf ask..

“That’s the plan.” Winston said without looking up. Winston heard the elf growl but the sound of too light footsteps let him know he’d at least won this round. The day heated up as the sun climbed over-head burning off the morning mist and amplifying the dead fish smell that permeated the city.

“Why are we even out here Trist?” Said a female but oddly deep voice.

“Because, I need to feel the ambiance.” Said a male, but much higher pitched voice. Winston didn’t bother too look up.

“That’s stupid, all I smell is dead fish. How is this ambiance?” The female voice said.

“The world does not arrange it self to the whims of man. That is why you’ll never surpass me as a chef. You do not understand the essence of cooking.” The male voice said righteously.

“Not this idiotic rant again….” The female voice whined, but the male raised his voice to talk over her.

“THE FIRST STEP…. Is to harmonize with nature. When you food complements itself, complements its surroundings, and is complemented in return. Only then can it reach the next level. When the food and the world became one. Only then can you see the true height of the craft.” The male voice said. Winston finally closed his web window and looked up. He had a feeling he had to see this.

A female minotaur was standing next to a male halfling while the much smaller man waved his arms around in dramatic gestures.

“Once your food has became the world and the world has become your food can you truely be called a master.” He said as he continued his monologue.

“Please just stop.” Said the female. She was wearing a mage robe so large it could have acted as a five person tent but she looked like she’d like nothing better than to pull it over her head and hide. The halfling ignored her and continued.

“Your food then has to transcend the world. It must break free of worldly shackles. Fire must beget water and the air much beget earth. All things must be spawned from nothing. Then your food will shake the very heavens. The earth will tremble and the skies will fall. I will surpass legendary! I WILL CREATE A DISH SO DELICIOUS IT WILL DESTROY THIS WORLD!” The halfling shouted, making everyone in the square stop walking and turn to look at him.

The minotauress walked away from the halfling as if pretending she didn’t know him. Her retreat brought her closer to Winston stand so he called out to her. Looks like he had some crazy chefs inbound. It was time to wiggle the bait a bit.

“You guys are chefs? Are you here for the big contest. I’ve got some last minute ingredients here.” Winston called to her. She didn’t have the human-face or exaggerated female proportions of most manga or light novels. Instead she looked almost completely bovine, albeit with a slightly more human face and a patch of hairless human-looking skin around her stomach. Other than that, she just looked like a big upright cow but with arms and thumbs.

The minotauress walked over and looked at the two pumpkins then at the price list. Then she picked up one of the pumpkins and looked closer. Her bovine face wasn’t really great for making human expressions but Winston got the feeling she was at least paying attention now.

She bent down to look at the price list again then made a a sound between a low and growl. “Well. This is interesting.” Said the minotaur.

“I don’t have the money for a pumpkin but it’s tempting. Is the flour superior as well?” She asked.

“Yeah, although the onions and carrots are only high-quality. My vegetable skill isn’t as high as my grains.” Winston said.

“Give me three pounds of flower.” She said finally. Winston smiled and took out his pack. He pulled out the scale he’d bought especially for this and the sacks of flour he’d gotten form the mill. He measured out three pounds and handed it over.

“That’ll be 450 gold.” Winston said.

The minotaur waved her hands at her interface and Winston’s message box pinged again.

“Gretchen what are you doing?” The halfling said as he jogged over.

“You should buy one of these pumpkins Trist. It’s just what you need for your pumpkin-pie milkshakes. Shame he doesn’t have any cinnamon.” The she-minotaur said and Winston gaped at her. He should plant some cinnamon trees. He didn’t know how he’d harvest them but the bark should grow back eventually. He could also plant some tea trees or almond trees. He had so many tree-based options he hadn’t considered. He wondered if nuts would be a seperate sub-skill. Probably not… most nuts were part of the fruit after all.

The halfling walked over but his steps slowed as he looked at the pumpkin then his eyes widened comically. “You’re just selling these on the street are you crazy?” He shouted.

“You buying or not?” Winston asked.

“I’m buying, I’m buying, but hell. I thought this was just a vegetable stand. You should probably just close this up before tomorrow. You’ve got the right idea but you’re going about it the wrong way. You should have just slapped them up on the auction house here in the city and bought a advertisement on the forums.” The halfling said.

“Why, it’s just vegetables.” Winston said, honestly puzzled. “And I wanted to meet some of my customers do some networking.”

“Do players ever need a reason for being assholes to one another? You’re old enough to know better than that. All you’re doing here is sticking your neck out.” Winston could see the logic but he wasn’t sure he agreed. Yes, players didn’t really need a reason to be assholes to one another but it wasn’t like he was a strategic resource or anything. Maybe once he reached journeyman, or hit level 20 and upgraded his class but for now he was just a solid farmer.

“Lemme guess, you’ll buy all my stock now and worry about selling it tomorrow?” Winston said dryly.

“Well, that might be better for everyone.” The halfling said. Winston rolled his eyes at the small man.

“ I’m not really opposed to you buying out my whole store but I’m not giving you that much of a discount.” Winston said. He did some math. He still had four pumpkins and 12 pounds of flower. That was 5800 gold. “You can have it all for 5k.” Winston said.

“Five? Are you kidding me?” The halfling complained.

“Five.” Winston responded.

“How about four.” The halfling offered. Winston was actually a bit tempted by that but he stayed firm. He did have some shopping to do.

“Five.”

“Don’t be like that, I’m saving you from an entire day of setting out here doing nothing.” The small man countered.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I gave you an 800 gold discount.” Winston said.

The halfling chef had to reign in his temper but he gritted his teeth and said. “Four and a half then and if not you can stay out here.”

“Sold!” Winston said smiling. His plan to meet and greet with the chefs of the world seemed to have fallen though, but he had saved himself time and sold all his product. That was good enough. Now he could get to shopping and as his interface beeped again with the exchange of gold Winston’s spirits improved. It was time for a shopping spree.

Winston headed towards the center of town where the auction house was as he opened up his interface and messaged Troll.

Win Mills: Hey man you alive?

Trollogistics: Yes….

Win Mills: You find us a ride out of here yet? I sold out of everything already so we can leave early. Heading the the AH now for my big shopping spree.

Trollogistics: Hmmm, well that actually makes things easier. There’s a portal heading out tomorrow at noon, but I wasn’t sure you’d be done fooling around yet. I’m guessing you’ll need me to pick up everything from the auction house when you’re done?

Win Mills: That would be the plan. What’s the portal going to cost me?

Trolloistiics: 3k

Winston grimaced but the price but it wasn't too far outside of his expectations. Unlike the trip from Valor’s Crossing to West River it was a much less traveled route.

Win Mills: Alright, sign us up and I’ll be there.

Winston closed the message window, and took the next left bringing him into a street with tightly packed brick shops. The place was overflowing with NPCs and players, especially as he made it to the auction house. Groups of players walked into and out of the massive building and Winston queued up and slipped inside. The inside looked nearly identical to the one in Verith, but it was at least five times as big and instead of being empty the place was packed. Winston found himself a free cubical and slipped inside.

His UI came to life and brought up the AH search window as well as his current bank balance. He had 22354 gold. Wiston switched to the shop window and started to buy. First he needed supplies for building and clearing.

He bought 4 shovels, two lumber axe’s, two pickaxes, some basic hoes, a grindstone, 6 different sizes of hammers, saws, a hundred pounds of nails, some iron brackets and braces, 1000 feet of rope, and two tones of good dried and seasoned wood planks.

All of it was fairly cheap and Winston would have liked to buy more but space on Troll’s wagon was limited. He was sure he could get more wood once he got there. He’d been planning out his new farm in his head for a while but he knew his plan would require a lot more lumber than just one wagon load. He’d have to talk to Jason about some temp work when he got back to school on Monday. He moved onto seeds and farm supplies next.

He knew the land he’d be on was tropical but he didn’t think it would be thick jungle. The problem was until he got there he didn’t know exactly what would grow. So, he tired to cover most of the bases, he brought two bushel of oranges, apples, pears, bananas, coffee cherries, and cacao beans. Then he tossed on some tea tree seeds, black pepper corn, and sugar cane before grabbing a couple papaya and coconuts. He brought some almonds, and pistachios as well, but he was pretty sure those grew in the middle east and not the tropics so he didn’t have much hope for them.

Winston checked his bank balance and still had over 17,000 gold. All of that had only cost him around 4500 gold. What else did he really need? Winston tried to wrack his brain. What did one need in an orchard? He flipped through some basic tools as he thought about it. He added two wooden ladders and two wheelbarrows to his order. Those he didn’t really need, but would make things a lot easier. Having to carry everything around by hand had really annoyed him at his old farm. He’d like a wagon of his own and he might try to pick one up once they teleported. Bog would have to pull it so he’d need a harness for her.

Then he picked up two dozen barrels and casks in a few sizes as well as some massive storage crates to store harvested crops in. Next was a few real brewing supplies including a glass tube with a true one-way valve for managing CO2, A few air tight casks, and a magical thermometer with a real dial a player had whipped up.

Then it came to him. Bog. He was out of cloudberries. They were only supposed to grow on Lunari, but he might be able to get passed that with a high enough farming rank. Winston decided to buy three bushel. He’d try to plant them but if they didn’t grow he’d just feed them to Bog as snacks. That cost him nearly 2000 gold but Bog was worth it.

Winston couldn’t think of anything else. He was sure he was forgetting things but he wouldn’t know what until he really needed them. He had his sprinklers still, but he doubted rain would be a problem where he was going. Then it hit him, rain. He swapped changed sections of the AH menu and brought two-tons of clay roofing tiles.

Winston called that good enough for now. He still had most of day and tomorrow morning to think of more things to buy. Then he looked at his gold again and decided to sell some of it for cash. He’d keep 10,000 gold in game as his emergency funds but having 500 more dollars in the RL seemed more useful than just setting on a giant pile of gold in game. Winston got up from the bench he was sitting on and headed back out to the street.