"Do you know you've committed a sin worthy of death?"

"Yes, I've really reflected a lot on it. Something was wrong with my head when I suddenly rose to success after spending my earlier days so deprived. If you would just give me one more chance..."

"And to whom do you owe your success to?"

"Of course, it's thanks to Master. I was impudent without knowing your grace."

Dedric shed large drops of tears.

'Look at the rascal.' Ark laughed to himself.

Ark had lived while unwillingly receiving affected sympathy from many people. Thanks to that, he gained an unwelcome ability; by simply looking at the other person's eyes, he could tell if the words coming from their mouth were sincere or not.

Dedric's words were not sincere.

He was just an NPC, but he knew how to cunningly trick someone.

'It seems I shouldn't have thoughtlessly evolved him.'

Bat also had a bad personality, but he wasn't cunning. After evolving into Dedric, he learned how to be crafty. It meant ego also increases with each evolution. He wasn't sincere, but it seemed Dedric had yielded this time. However, there was no guarantee it would be this easy if it happens again.

Skull was the same. Though it was a faithful Familiar now, there was no way of telling how it would change when it evolved.

'Summons are also intelligent beings.'

This incident changed how Ark viewed his Familiars.

Each Familiar had a different personality. Even so, Ark tried to treat the Familiars equally. He didn't favor one and neglect the others. That was the problem.

'Seems like I have to use control; the carrot and stick approach."

Just as there are fellows who do better if you praise them, there are those who get cocky. In addition, there are those who perform properly only with the use of violence and threats.

Granted, even a good medicine can be counterproductive if overdosed, he would need to regulate it.

This was why Ark had beaten Dedric to the point where it seemed overboard. Even the highly loyal Skull or Snake might change personalities one day. To prepare for that day, he set an example with Dedric. In other words, Dedric had been severely punished because he was unfortunately chosen to set an example.

'Whew, it isn't easy taking care of 3 Familiars. I think I can finally understand how hard it is for teachers who have to teach dozens.'

"Alright, since you contributed, I'll forgive you this time as promised."

"Ahh! Thank you, Master."

"Repeat after me, vow one!"

"What?" Dedric tilted his head but quickly raised his hand when Ark pierced him with a glare.

"Vow one!"

"I will always obey Master no matter the situation. I will always serve him with a smiling face, fight when told to fight, and die when told to die. My life and death only belong to Master."

"Vow two!"

"I will gratefully accept and eat the food given by Master. Also, I will never complain."

"Vow three!"

"If I cannot follow the previous two vows, I will soundly receive some form of punishment."

Dedric's face paled at the continuing Familiar doctrine.

"You've memorized it all, right?"

"Yes..."

"Good, then return to the Netherworld and stay there and write an apology letter until I call you again."

Dedric returned to the Netherworld looking as if he'd stepped in poop.

With this, the coup d'etat that started with the evolution was hopelessly suppressed. In addition, he even formed a slave contract.

The Child Protection Agency or the Animal Welfare Organization would be appalled if they knew about this. But this was a game, and Ark was truly a dictator.

* * *

Not far from the shore where the dolphins dropped him off, Ark saw a village. It was a bustling village, with quite a lot of users coming in and out. Snake wasn't a problem since it was disguised as a belt as usual, but Skull or Bat would attract a lot of attention from the users, so they were no good. After sending the Familiars back, Ark walked towards the village.

'Huhuhu, how long has it been?' As he headed to the village, Ark had a delighted smile on his face.

The store in Nodeless didn't purchase the items he'd obtained in the ocean. Thanks to that, his bag and, of course, Snake, were chock full of items from the ocean. Since his Magic Restoration reached Intermediate, all the items had 100% durability. Still, though they were rare, they were still japtem. They couldn't be sold for a lot of money.

There was something else that made Ark feel good. It was the bag of pearls he earned in Nodelesse. He had earned a colossal amount of at least 800 pearls from item sales, his food stall, and repairs. Although it was a low-class jewel compared it others, it was still a jewel. So, how could he not be happy!?

After entering the village, Ark immediately sought out the General Store.

"Welcome! What can I do for you?" A pleasant-faced store owner greeted Ark.

"I wish to sell all these things. How much would you give me?"

As Ark took out the mountainous pile of japtem, the owner's mouth opened wide. There was leather from all sorts of marines monsters, coral, and underwater equipment. Even though they were japtem, they were items hard to see on land.

The store owner calculated the prices one by one and proposed an amount. "For all of it, it's 34 Gold. You won't find a better price anywhere else nearby."

The market value wasn't bad.

'If it's this much, I won't make a loss even if I sell the pearls.' Ark nodded as he held out the pearls. "How much can you give me for this?"

"Ohh, these are pretty good quality pearls, and there's 800 of them... Where did you get them from?"

"I can't give you the specifics."

"Well, there's no need for me to know."

The store owner carefully inspected the pearls and flicked the beads on an abacus.

"I'll pay 25 Silver a piece. So in total, it'll be 200 Gold."

A look of slight disappointment spread across Ark's face. He had expected 300 Gold; it was 100 Gold short.

'Should I just go to Harun or Jackson to sell them?'

If he were to go back to Harun or Jackson, where he had high Intimacy, he could get the expected 300 Gold, but it would take a full week to return to Jackson. The monsters he would encounter while going were only level 40, so a round trip meant he had to give up on a fortnight's worth of EXP.

100 Gold or a fortnight of experience. There was no contest.

'I'll have to go sometime because of the 'Envoy of the Merpeople' quest, but I don't have time to do that right now. Since I've come this far, I have to at least visit a few cities. It's regretful, but it's better to just sell them.'

"Ah!"

At that moment, a user looking at goods in the shop saw Ark and made a shocked expression. Then, with a somewhat angered voice, he pulled Ark by the arm and said, "How could you sell the items without even consulting me? Even if you do sell, you have to sell it after settling the problem of distribution first. Mister, we'll return a little later."

[T/N: The other user is pretending Ark is his party member, which is why he's offended Ark would try to sell the items without figuring out who gets what first.]

"You do that."

Ark who was dragged out without being able to say anything, freed his arm.

"Who are you? I think you have the wrong person."

"Ah, I'm sorry. You were surprised because I suddenly butted in, huh?"

The man was a Hobbit. He was short and had rounded ears. Since he was covered with many bags, he looked like he was a Merchant. Actually, Ark had let himself be dragged out without a word because he thought it might be some kind of event. But after coming out, the manner of speech and behavior showed he wasn't an NPC.

"They call me Sid. As you can see, I'm a Hobbit Merchant."

"I'm Ark, but, do you know me?"

"Nope, this is the first time we've met. But it was a pity to watch you, so I intervened."

"What do you mean by a pity?"

"This village's store is famous in the area for having a low market value. The more you sell, the more you lose. Earlier, you figured the japtem you were selling was at market price, but you can't find out the true market value like that. If items with high and low values are mixed, there are lots of times when you feel it's generally an alright deal since the sum is similar to what you expect on average. Plus, the value of pearls is low because this village is close to the seaside. If you take them to a city two days away from here and sell, you'll get about 40 Silver a piece."

"40 Silver a piece! It that true?"

Didn't it mean he could get a whole 120 Gold more just by investing two days into travelling? Cold sweat ran down his back. He had been about to squander 120 Gold from a momentary mistake.

"Of course, and if I help you a bit, there's a way to earn another 48 Gold or so." Sid laughed as he implied more profit.

At this point, Ark was more wary than surprised.

"There's no such thing as 'free' in this world though?"

"Of course, it's give and take. There is something I want. Don't you want to hear the details?"

The profession of Merchant was rather vague. Merchant was the sole profession who could carry 6 bags. In addition, they were able to learn all sorts of production skills, and they received a considerable bonus when dealing with NPCs. Even if their Intimacy was at rock bottom, they could gain a 20% profit from buying and selling with high trading ability. Thanks to that, they could grasp a fair amount of money from their beginning days.

The problem was combat. Since they carry a lot of luggage, they didn't have a single combat-related skill, and even received a huge penalty in combat. Even if they were over level 50, defeating a single level 20 monster on their own was too much. Additionally, the EXP they could get from defeating a monster was only 50%.

A Merchant raises their level through trading. They use the market prices of goods between various village and cities. They sell goods they bought at a cheap price in a place where it has a higher market value. This was the basic growth method of a Merchant.

Of course, they couldn't raise the EXP and earn money simply by trading, because the market prices constantly changes. For a Merchant, information is their lifeline. If they weren't able to constantly keep their ears open and accurately predict the market value, they would suffer sorely. Even if they traded successfully, there were cases where they actually succumbed to bankruptcy. It was a complex profession, in its own way. It was hard to raise, but the growth factor had its own kind of fun.

They traded while carrying bags in the beginning, but, later, they could buy a wagon or a merchant ship to ferry more trade goods. Moreover, they could ply the top ranks and take the lead in trade between Kingdoms.

The larger a single transaction, farther they go, and more they trade while passing through more dangerous places, the greater the EXP and skill proficiency they can gain.

However, New World was a place with poor public safety. The travels of a Merchant, with their nonexistent combat ability, was an adventure gambling their life and fortune. If they encountered a powerful thief monster while traveling, they would suffer a huge loss. If it was really bad, they would even have to declare bankruptcy. Therefore, they needed to hire mercenary NPCs or high-leveled users as guards for long distances. This was also what Sid proposed to Ark.

"Giran, a commerce city, is two days away from this village. It's like a capital for Merchants and production-class users. And the pearls you have, Ark-nim, are a material greatly sought by production-class users. Many Beginner and Intermediate production items require pearls, you see. Of course, since the supply is always insufficient at Giran, the market price is at its highest. Honestly, if I could afford it, it's to the point that I'd want to buy them right away."

"Basically, you're asking me to escort you to Giran?"

As Ark Made an unreadable expression, Sid quickly added, "You definitely won't regret it. I have the skill to trade jewels, so if I trade in your place, I can get 15% more. Considering the market price of pearls in is 40 Silver, then the current total is 320 Gold. 15% on 320 Gold is 48 Gold. So, in conclusion, you can make 168 more Gold than the store from earlier. If I also sell the japtem, you can receive a bit more. It's good for me, since I'll raise my EXP, and Ark-nim gets to make more money."

'168 Gold.'

Though he didn't use Eyes of the Cat, Ark's eyes glowed golden. He could earn an additional 168 Gold by investing two days of in-game time, 16 hours.

Although he made a rule of not trusting users, it was a different story for this much profit. 168 Gold was 1,680,000 won. It wasn't an amount he could easily ignore when living a life that required even a single penny more. Moreover, he'd already been thinking of looking for the surrounding cities anyway. If he went with Sid, who knew the road, he could cut down the time.

However, Ark still felt uneasy about readily accepting. Reselling the pearls, didn't that actually mean Ark would have to hand over all the pearls to him? How could he trust him and hand over the pearls?

As if he knew what Ark was thinking, Sid laughed as he pulled out parchment and a pen. Then, when he wrote a few things down and passed it to Ark, a new information window popped up.

Merchant's Contract

This is the contract for recording when a Merchant's profession specialty skill is used for the business of re-selling, exchanging, or acting as the proxy of another user.

If you sign the contract, the Merchant will be validated to make deals, has the right to act as the proxy for the other user's business, and is obligated to return the promised sum. If the Merchant violates the contract, the Merchant Guild will be alerted, the Merchant's reliability stat and fame will plummet, and you can charge twice as much as the contracted amount. When the contract is complete, the contract will be automatically discarded.

Contract Contents: Resale of Ark's pearls, the contract will come into effect the moment the pearls are handed to Sid in Giran. Sid must give all the money obtained from the sale of pearls to Ark.

"Now, you can believe me with this, eh?"

A contract can be set up from a normal trade to a loan, bill, special trade, or almost any situation. It was like a document certifying that if there was a problem by any chance, all the responsibility would fall on the Merchant. The reason Merchants had high reliability from other users was exactly thanks to this unique contract skill.

'Definitely... if there's a contract like this, there won't be any chance of getting backstabbed.'

"Okay, I'll accompany you."

"Great choice. Since you were able to obtain so many pearls, you should be over level 60, right?"

"I'm level 65."

"That's acceptable. Since we've finally gotten 3 people, we can be on our way."

"Huh? There are other companions?"

"There are two ways to get to Giran. The long way would take about 3 to 4 days. But if we want to get there in 2 days time, the only way is to cross Grey Ridge. However, high level monsters like Trolls and Stalkers are camped out on Grey Ridge, so we need 3 level 60 players."

"But I'm..."

"The other people are waiting at the inn. Let's go, I will introduce them to you."

Sid dragged Ark to the inn without giving him any time to say a word. Two men, named Leo and Hargen, were sitting in the inn. Seeing as they were wearing plate armor, both seemed to be in combat-related professions.

Once Sid introduced Ark, they expressed looks of obvious dislike.

"Sid-nim, you didn't mention your intent to find another companion."

"We can pass the Grey Mountains with just the two of us."

"I'm sorry. We met by chance inside the store, so we decided to go together. I know the two of you are enough, but as I've said before, I have a reason to get to Giran as soon as possible. Three is faster than two."

"And the escort fee?" asked Hargen, who had an axe tattoo on his face, as he glanced at Ark.

"I will pay the escort fee we first agreed upon, since Ark-nim is also going to Giran with the intent to sell goods. I decided to make the sale on his behalf as payment in exchange for escorting me."

"What did you agree to sell for him that would substitute for the escort fee?"

"Pearls. Perhaps because he wasn't able to visit a village for long time, he collected quite a lot."

Sid was boundlessly talkative. Whether it was in-game or real life, there are many humans who will cluster if it seems like you have some money. As expected, as soon as they heard Ark had items worth quite a sum, the two warriors examined Ark with gummy eyes.

Though their appearances were unlikable, their actions were just as disagreeable. However, it would be no good for him to withdraw when he had already agreed to accompany Sid just because he didn't like them.

'I won't see them after 16 hours anyway, so I'll endure.'

After finishing his conversation with the warriors, Sid took out a scroll. It was a [Low-Level Inspection] scroll.

"Then before we go, I would like to do a basic check up. Please understand."

The very first thing a Merchant did when choosing a player mercenary or an escort was to check their information. If they were chaotic players, then there was the chance of being backstabbed. Since the scroll was low level, Ark couldn't check the information. Therefore, Sid explained for Ark.

"Leo-nim is level 64 and Hargen-nim is level 62, both of them job-changed to Warrior."

Warrior was an open profession, but it was a special profession that required 150 Strength.

If you didn't raise your character while intending to become a Warrior from the beginning, it would be difficult to job-change even at level 30. In other words, they were players who had prior knowledge before they began playing the game. They were users who knew much as information as Sid.

"Wow, Ark-nim is really level 65. With this party, 10 hours will be enough to cross Grey Ridge. But your profession is Dark Walker. This is the first time I've heard of it. What kind of profession is it?"

"It's an ordinary thief," Ark answered lightly.

Perhaps it was the image of the name 'Dark Walker', but Sid and the Warriors nodded without thinking much about it. Thief-related professions weren't popular, so there were almost no people who knew the details behind them.

"Ark-nim is the highest level-wise, but it'll probably be a bit difficult to take the lead since you're a Thief. Please leave the front to Leo and Hargen and cover the back. Is that okay?"

"Yes, that's comfortable for me too."

"Then, we'll leave after another 20 minutes."

"We're not going to go right away?"

When Ark, to whom every minute and second was precious, asked that, Leo snickered and asked, "Perhaps you've never rested in an inn before?"

The cheapest inns took 1 Silver and the expensive places took up to 1 Gold.

Heath can be recovered while resting on the ground, so why would you pay money to rest at an inn? That's why Ark had never entered an inn.

But Sid explained with a surprised expression.