"Well this place isn't spooky at all." CM was the one who spoke up first, identified by his tight fitting shirt and cargo pants I'd seen in the group photo. He was smaller than JelloBelly who was leaning on him while replying. He was also completely bald. "That's the aesthetic of all these backroom deals man, gotta get used to the spook factor. Wait till a skeleton jumps out at us and rattles his bones at you." She chuckled a bit while they both separated and walked forward, with me just watching them the whole time, three candles lighting up the room.

I'd chosen them partially for their proof of identity and reasons, but also because they included a video of them throwing rocks and other trash at Lion's Mane members, shouting obscenities even as they ran away. This promptly got their guild a small bounty as well, though I figured nobody would actually try to take it while they were here. Fifty credits per kill was rather worthless.

"Welcome. Since you so generously provided me with thorough proof of who you are, let's skip the pleasantries and talk business. I've got a selection of firearms here, each of them needing a new home. The first gun I show you might not give off the best impression, but I assure you it will serve you just as well as any other." I picked up the rusted Cobra, twirling it around my finger via the trigger guard. Having fully grabbed their attention, I continued on.

"While this little firecracker may be a bit rusty, I'm selling it cheap enough that you could give it a nice fix-up at any decent establishment. After that it'll shine and shoot like new. Should you just need a cheap little popper though, its price is perfect for someone willing to deal with a few little quirks. You may have to pull the trigger once or twice to get the bullet out the barrel and into your enemy, but I promise you it's just as good as all the rest." Stopping the spinning hunk of metal by grabbing the frame, I put it back down and grabbed the normal Cobra.

"Should you not want to deal with any quirks though, there's this beauty. Clean as a whistle and able to shoot perfectly fine with each trigger pull. Double action so you don't have to pull the hammer back every time you wanna clip someone, using three-fifty-seven magnum rounds, this party starter is perfect for a night out on the town. It carries six shots like the other model and has almost no chance of jamming. You buy this and other players will know you're serious even when just starting out." I spun the firing cylinder once for effect, before moving on to the P850.

"This lovely little number is even better for when you want to be armed yet innocent. Lightweight, compact, perfect for any quiet operations you got going on, especially if you slap on a suppressor and some subsonic rounds. Bad guys won't see you coming until it's too late. Also works great for home defense." I pulled back the slide a bit as I spoke, also ejecting and showing off the magazine. My voice felt a bit stretched at this moment as I spoke, though it was definitely getting easier to do so as I used my voice more frequently.

I grabbed the hornet in my other hand, letting the candlelight flash off the metal frame. "This beauty however ain't for the faint of heart. Big barrel, big rounds, big damage. That also means costs are gonna be higher. She'll punch through normal armor with no issue, but don't count on her against anything rated for rifles. You'll get bruises there and not much else, but since nobody has any real armor at the moment, you'll find this able to one tap just about anyone you come up against so long as the recoil doesn't knock you off target." I had no idea how you chambered the first round so I didn't mention it, hoping they wouldn't ask.

"Now we move on to the fun stuff." I ended up changing my mind about keeping the Recycler Rifle at this point, feeling like I was on a roll. "First up is a solid Echelon Blackout here that'll put down soft targets with ease." Neither of them had said anything as I just went on and on, though I noticed that CM was paying more attention to the Blackout than Jello, who was eyeing the P850 and likely ignoring me at this point.

It felt good to verbally sell the things I'd worked my ass off to get, talking up their advantages to get a good price for them. "Only a little bit used before I managed to acquire it, though it'll still shoot far better than your average rinky dink lead spitter. Full polymer stock for recoil reduction, smooth trigger pull, fairly simple sight for easier operations, and slick magazine release. Perfect for if things go wrong and you need to make a quick exit. Pick this one up and nobody'll be messing with you while you run around the Ruined Zone."

I demonstrated various features of the gun as I spoke, twirling the extra magazine between my fingers as I set them both back down.

"We'll take them. How much for everything?" Jello was the firs tto speak, before I'd even begun to walk over to the spare bag. I grinned before responding. "For everything you see here, that'd run you about nine hundred credits. Five hundred for all the handguns, four hundred for the submachine gun. However, I haven't shown you what I consider to the be cream of the crop yet. Before deciding on making any purchases, I'd love to tell you what this lovely lady can do." I walked over to the duffle bag while keeping an eye on them, pulling out the Recycler Rifle by the barrel, holding it lovingly in both hands.

"The Recycler Rifle. A beautiful piece of gun manufacturing. A fully wooden frame with a beautiful muzzle brake, and best of all, it doesn't require a single credit to be spent on ammunition, though you may want to spend a little on maintenance to keep it running in perfect shape. This rifle uses a kinetic energy exchange via the bolt to fire a compressed bolt of energy, strong enough to tear straight through any soft targets." I spun the rifle around in my arms as if doing so would make it look better than it was.

"Since energy is the main form of projectile, you'll find that there should be no bullet drop with this weapon whatsoever, though it does lack the power that most cartridge based weapons have. I wouldn't recommend this rifle against heavily armored targets, though if you slap a scope on top of her, she'll become your new best friend for targets normally out of your range. Buy her and you'll save more on ammo costs than you'd ever save with a normal rifle. Have any questions for me?" By this point I'd spoken more in the past few hours than I had in the past two years. It was a strange feeling, though not an unwelcome one.

Jello asked the first question, looking at the rifle now instead of the P850. "If it doesn't require ammo and shoots with less power, won't it not do much when up against people using decent armor? What about some of the monsters people have been posting about on the forums? Won't it do nothing to them?" While normally I wouldn't be able to answer a question like that, my salesman mindset took over for me and began rattling off a response.

"You're absolutely right that it won't last long against those who get their hands on solid armor, but so long as you have a steady aim, and land headshots on those not wearing full helmets, there's no target that won't go down when it comes to people. As for monsters and other things you might encounter outside the walls, it comes down to what you're facing off against." I laid the rifle down on the table behind me, keeping it close enough to grab just in case.

"Like I stated before, armored targets aren't the specialty of this rifle, but when you come up against soft targets it'll shoot just fine. As for anyone with armor, there's always the chance that it hits them hard enough to at least stagger them while your teammates line up a shot, or until it finally overwhelms them. I don't know about you, but I'd love to have that half second opportunity to aim for the perfect shot at taking down my opponents in the field." I grabbed the rifle and stepped away from the table. I was glad they had no armor, allowing me to give them the chance to take a closer look while I could still protect my wares.

"If you'd like to purchase any of the other guns I have on offer, go ahead and go on up to the table and peruse at your leisure." Both CM and Jello took the opportunity to pick up the guns they'd both been eying earlier, inspecting them for themselves. Jello seemed to be the one in charge as she muttered to CM about which guns might fit certain guild members.

I forced the 'salesman smile' off my face while I watched them. It was a bad habit of mine to smile a lot when I sold anything. I leaned against the wall, doing my best to look non-threatening despite the fact that I was holding one of the only loaded weapons in the room, the other one tucked into my waistband.

A few minutes of private conversation between them went by before they put down nine hundred credits, buying every gun except for the Recycler Rifle. They probably wanted to haggle a bit but decided against it, considering the fact that I was visibly armed. It honestly surprised me that they didn't even try, especially because I'd tacked on an extra one hundred fifty credits to the Blackout.

They thanked me for allowing them to buy the guns, and I let them go with the backpack I"d been using after I'd emptied it out. The duffle bag I had worked better for everything I had now that I wasn't carrying so much.

Not wanting to stick around forever I packed up everything quickly and slung my one remaining bag over my shoulder, heading out through one of the holes in the building and taking the scenic route back to the market.

I ended up sitting at the edge of the fountain after getting there, not sure what my next goal was. I'd sold off most of the guns, but getting through the gate again wasn't a likely possibility with my new bounty. I drummed my fingers on the edge of the stone frame as I started going through the next possible tasks I could undertake.

"More scavenging would deepen the animosity between me and Lion's Mane, but could be profitable. Mercenary work would be tricky, and I don't even have any contacts to get work from. I should wait until the heat dies down before attempting either one, so that leaves theft and crafting as the only two options. Theft doesn't fit who I'm trying to be, so that leaves crafting. I should get a workshop, something cheap enough to suit my needs." I rubbed at my chin as I spoke, my words almost coming out as a jumbled mess.

"Fabricators are expensive, so I should try to buy something else if it exists. If it doesn't exist, make what's needed for it." I stood up abruptly only to see the time displayed in my menu, reminding me that it was time to log out for the night. I was about to ignore it, wanting to get to work on finding industrial machinery and cheap buildings for sale.

Sighing a bit, I pulled up the menu and logged out of the game, finding that my stomach was growling painfully.