The reason Half-Elves were the first to enter the tertiary city was straightforward: their balanced abilities and skills made them the best equipped to handle the Level 100 monsters. For a time in the previous timeline, when the first tertiary city entrants appeared, there were rumors that the Half-Elf race itself was overpowered due to their excellent all-around stats and strong skill power.
'That sounds funny,'Lokan thought.
They didn't understand that every race had its own characteristics and strengths. Gnomes excelled in dexterity and intelligence, making them ideal for casters. Dwarves had outstanding strength and stamina, making them naturally inclined toward warriors. Humans…
'I mean, it's possible, but…'
Their advantage was a bit vague. Compared to other races, humans lacked significant racial bonuses, aside from fewer class restrictions and a greater number of starting cities.
'That's too far in the future. Hmm, if I had to guess, it must be the training centers.'
The ability to reinforce stats outside of free points through special Training Centers and Advanced Training Centers might be the key human advantage. Other races had very limited access to similar stat-raising methods.
But none of that mattered to Lokan right now; he was the one setting the pace.
"No, don't. The price will be a little higher…"
"Tch! These little ones only pretend to listen. I can't quite turn it off."
The Half-Elves, unaware of Lokan's presence, were dealing with the Merchant NPC and were promptly dismissed. Though not as scorned as humans, they were just fearless newcomers who didn't understand the city's ways. The merchants of the Crossroads were not warm or kind enough to sell to—or teach—such brazen newcomers. If the secondary city was a cozy, provincial town, the Crossroads was a cold, pragmatic urban area.
"Why the hell are they doing this? Did someone do something wrong?"
"As soon as we got to the Crossroads, you know well that we came here without leaking our presence anywhere else. Who would we have offended?"
"Hey, that's BS. Then why are they doing this?"
"Calm down. Maybe this store is just weird. Let's go somewhere else."
"Damn, you know how many times this is?"
"I know. So, let's go somewhere else."
Since they didn't know about the Recognition Quest, they had nothing to gain but insults. Moreover, they didn't even qualify for the recognition quest yet. If they wandered around the city carelessly, they could be dragged into the Garrison or kicked out of the city altogether, forcing them to earn reputation by hunting low-level monsters outside.
'Oh, I see…'
Watching them suffer, Lokan, who had been internally criticizing them, suddenly remembered a key fact he had forgotten.
'I'm a garrison member, too.'
He had skipped the garrison recruitment quest in his past life and forgotten about it, but he was currently a legitimate member of the Crossroads Garrison. This meant he could exercise their authority. Recalling this, Lokan smiled meaningfully.
"Identity Camouflage."
Changing his appearance and name, he began to follow them. He reappeared just as they were being driven out of another store empty-handed.
"Who is making a fuss!"
Although his name and appearance were changed, his identity as a garrison member was not erased. The mark of the Crossroad Guards appeared on his shoulder, and the faces of the Half-Elves immediately turned white. They had been scorned several times and heard stories about the garrison, so they were terrified when one appeared right in front of them.
Holding their breath and waiting for a reaction, lest they be kicked out of the city, Lokan's stern tone tightened the tension.
"Hiccup!"
"Oh, no. We just intended to…"
"Noisy! If you want to keep making a fuss, get out of town right now!"
[Are you sure you want to drive the target out of the city with the authority of the Crossroad Guard?]
A plausible notification window appeared after the threat. With the power of the garrison, he could genuinely drive them out. Of course, this was a limited ability that could only be used until they completed the recognition quest, and even if he kicked them out, he couldn't touch them directly until they caused trouble again after earning some reputation.
'Not like that.'
Lokan never intended to kick them out.
"No! We will fix it!"
"I will keep my mouth shut!"
At the sight of Lokan's wide-eyed glare, they quickly bowed their heads, desperate to avoid being ejected.
'I can do this.'
Seeing their terrified state, Lokan added one more thing, acting as if he was reluctantly sympathetic.
"Tch! You smell like baby puppies. If you want to be treated here even a little, do your part! Yeah, a Gyropole would be perfect for your level. I heard that the shop in the center of the downtown area has a shortage of hands, so they also accept items from kids like you. Well, maybe five hundred or so."
"Aeg… five hundred?"
"You can't even do that? After all, you're just kids…"
"No. I have to, I will."
They were completely taken in by Lokan's method acting. They quickly lowered their bodies and disappeared, fearing he might give them further orders. They would either head to the downtown store Lokan mentioned, or go catch the Gyropoles wandering outside the city.
'Yeah, work hard instead of me! Cuckoo.'
Watching them leave, Lokan smiled wickedly.
The Gyropole was an armadillo-like monster with the characteristic of 'physical resistance'. Without magical attack power, they would have to deal with them using greatly reduced physical damage. The problem was that few magic-type users would be in the tertiary city for a while. The third job advancement quest heavily favored melee classes, so magic and ranged classes needed far more research and strategy to succeed.
'Do they really need to catch about five hundred to be able to do it?'
Lokan mentioned the Gyropole's name not as a real quest, but to slow down their progress in the Crossroads. It would take a long time to build reputation by catching the hard-to-kill Gyropole, which was also one of the lowest-experience monsters nearby.
'Half that alone would be quite profitable.'
But the biggest reason was money. The 'Gyropole's Leather' dropped by the monster was valuable. If made into armor by the Gnomes, it had a high chance of gaining a physical resistance option and could be sold to a shop for a whopping 50 silver per piece.
Lokan's 'vending machine' would buy it for 5 silver. It was a 10x profit, but he realized something crucial: the users wouldn't know the shop owner was a player, nor would they have any other shops to buy from or sell to. They would have no choice but to use his shop to raise money for essential consumables like potions.
'For the time being, the warehouse and Integrated Auction House are unavailable to them, so it is not easy to purchase and use items in bulk from other cities.'
If they could use either of those facilities, they'd have options, but that wasn't possible yet. They couldn't always have a full inventory of consumables, either.
'This is fine.'
Then an even better idea struck him. They wouldn't easily divulge hard-earned information, so he needed to solve that problem himself. If everyone was earning money and hunting low-experience monsters under the guise of a quest, 'I can make money and widen the gap.'
Having made his decision, Lokan immediately went to the general store to buy pens and paper. He began writing 'A Guide for Visitors'. It didn't have to be long; in fact, it was better if it was short, since he planned to mass-produce it.
"It's done."
This is what Lokan wrote in his fake visitor guide:
If you catch certain types of monsters designated by Lokan, 'rumors' will circulate in the city.
If you continue to hunt after that, your reputation will rise, and the city dwellers will start giving you quests.
If you receive and carry out the quest, you can receive their recognition and become a member of the city.
This process is essential in order to use the city's major buildings properly.
Looking back, none of this was entirely false. The only difference was that the monsters Lokan named were the money-makers that gave little experience or reputation, and that they couldn't receive 'acknowledgment' through ordinary quests. Since the heads of each race were members of the Crossroads, that last point wasn't entirely wrong, either.
After completing the guide, Lokan immediately commissioned the transcription. Since the garrison also requested flyers for request papers and wanted bounties, it didn't take long to mass-produce them.
"Sales Setup."
Lokan registered several bundles of 'Guides for Visitors' as sales items for the Vending Machine. Once a vendor was hired, they could sell even stones rolling on the street at the employee's will.
He then left the store with some of the promotional flyers.
"It would take a long time to go around the whole city."
This was his advertising campaign. He created a simple shop promotion flyer for hanging on village bulletin boards and blank walls. The phrases 'Trade items with visitors' and 'Sell guides for visitors' would be enough to attract users.
If he posted them randomly, he could be forcibly removed or called to the garrison, but Lokan had already paid his dues. 10 gold a month was by no means a small amount, but he would earn much more than that. Once the rumors spread, he wouldn't need separate publicity for later users.
'It would be more convenient to use the bulletin board, but…'
That would make his actions 'doubtful'. However, if he promoted with posters in the game like this, who would doubt that it was a user's store?
Thanks to that little misunderstanding, Lokan would be much more comfortable moving forward.
Lokan ran, sweating, until nightfall, putting up promotional flyers all over the Crossroads. Finally, when night came, he led his weary body back to Baron Truell's villa.