Versatile: Alternate World

I log back into the game after all the incidents that happened in the real world. Even if I am still thinking about the things I am a little bit curious about, I decided to just let it be for now and focus on the things that are more important at the moment.

Tina is still guarding the room where Cotton is currently evolving. No major changes according to her so I didn't bother with it at the moment. As for Gobu and Lina, both are fighting monsters left and right in the forest, enhancing their battle styles as they rarely have battles done with me so having the opportunity to fight, and even if they are already maxed level, they still found the fun in killing monsters and discovering many combinations in their battle styles.

At the moment, not only Lina and Gobu are fighting monsters but other players are as well. I even saw a few players try to recruit Lina and Gobu to their parties but the two declined as they are not capable of forming parties with others unless they are party members of mine or if they want to party up with me.

But as expected, there are many enemies now in the forest and most of them looked like they are "zombified as they are more mindless compared to how they acted before which made me wonder whether they are indeed zombified or not. As for the reason they are like this, there is no other than the main enemies in the upcoming war which is the parasites.

Parasites are capable of controlling their hosts once they latch on to them. Some are just bloodsuckers and do not contribute much to the host until they die, but there are some that control their hosts, giving them extra buffs while also giving them detrimental debuffs as well which can be abused or can be used to your advantage.

Still, seeing many of these monsters coming fast in every corner of the forest makes it a bit dangerous now.

As for the area, I made the cabin in, since it is a bit relatively safe and out of monster's reach unless they invade, it became a spot where players can go and heal up their wounds, party up with other players, or just a place to hang out with while resting. It also became a trading hub for some players as well.

I didn't chase the players out. In fact, I found a good opportunity.

When the players thinned around the area, I claimed the area next to my cabin and started building myself a little shop that is connected to the cabin now. Naturally, the players started growing curious about what I am doing. Many of them don't recognize me, but that is fine.

One of the female paladins approached my little shop checking out it.

"Hello? Um, am I seeing this right? Are you making a shop right now?"

"Yes. A little shop I made for players who are around. Although I am not present always, I am here to buy and sell stuff for everyone. Potions, weapons, ammunition, and other stuff are present here. So, girl, you wanna buy something? Don't worry if they are expensive for you, if you can't afford them, you can trade me some materials you don't need here."

"W-well, might as well see what you are selling then?"

I nodded and pulled out the menu for selling and trading. This is the best part of Alternate World as you can be a merchant if you wanted to be one and the UI for trading is simple and effective enough for anyone to understand.

Displaying all the supplies I sell, the paladin girl didn't expect to see so many potions and other stuff that she needed.

"XL Health Potion for 50 gold!? That's a steal! Even the Full Restore Potion that costs 1000 gold is just 500 gold here! Hey, wolf head mister! Are you sure I am seeing things right?"

"Nope, not in the slightest. Whatever you see there, is what the prices are as well."

"No way I am gonna pass off these! As a tank, I needed all the recovery potions I needed! Give me 10 of every potion available!"

"Thank you for your purchase!" I happily hand over the merchandise and she took one bottle of the Large Health Potion and drank it in one go.

"Wha- what is this?!"

I don't know what she saw there so I decided to ask.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes! What is going on? This potion of yours is twice as effective as the potions in the market?! It shouldn't have made me heal in full health knowing I have so high HP values and I needed to drink 3 Large Health Potions just to refill myself back to full and yet just drinking one of them made me heal full! Are you sure this is just that cheap? You could sell it for a higher amount of gold and players would still buy this much!"

"Oh. I thought it would be negative stuff. No, not really. This stuff is just the same potions you normally take. The only difference there is the way it was made, which resulted in more effective healing. Not only that, the ingredients are not that expensive so giving this amount of gold is fine for me as that is enough for me to at least gain a marginal profit. Oh, and don't throw away those empty bottles from the potions. If you buy on me again, I will gladly refill it for you and you gain a discount based on what size of an empty bottle of potion you brought back to me."

"SWEET! Alright, I will spread this news to my other party members. Make sure you stock up, maybe it will go sold out immediately later on!"

I nodded in response as she left happy with her purchase. As for me, I doubt I will be selling out of them. Not only do I can make so many potions while entertaining customers but the fact that I have so many supplies in my inventory does help stop me from having my stock sold out. Of course, I don't plan to go sold out, so it's craft, craft, craft, and more craft.

As I continue to decorate the little shop on displays, a few other players came by and crowded the front of the store.

"Hey there man, I heard from our Paladin here that you sell good stuff?"

"Yeah. Come and browse for them. Perhaps you would find a few cool stuff that you might like?"

The players started to gather and check out stuff. Many of them started buying stuff after seeing the price and I get to sell a lot. Then, one of the players who is a Necromancer started asking me.

"Hey, Sir Wolf-Head! What is this Material Trading here? I have a few stuff here that I am interested in but they don't need money?"

"Oh, that one. That is the special stuff I put there. If you got the materials I specify there, I will hand over the resulting product from the materials you give to me. You don't need to bring me gold, just bring me the specified materials listed and you get the product promised. It doesn't matter what item it was, whether it's a potion, weapons, armor, or other stuff, as long as the stuff I am looking for is present, then I will be handing them to you."

"Nice! Hey, I want to exchange this stuff. I have the necessary materials stated here. Can I get it?"

I checked the number of materials he bought over and after confirming that they are the right amount I specified, I handed him the Voodoo Doll item, an accessory item that enhances the capabilities of the Necromancer and increases the amount of summons they can have and the stats of their summons as well.

"Good choice! Here it is. Treasure it well!"

I handed him the item and he was happy enough to equip it.

"I wasn't expecting much boost but this is way better than what I expected! Damn, since some of the stuff he got, there is quite good, perhaps I should go and hunt some of the materials he needed!"

The moment the Necromancer made his claims and went on to hunt for stuff, the others quickly scroll on the material trading and started taking notes on the items that they wanted to get.

"Damn, he has this as well! I think I have... ah damn, I am lacking 5 more. Looks like it's hunting time huh?"

"Wow, I can't believe this is also up for an exchange. Sir! I would like to have this one!" One of the Druids pointed to the Druid's Dreamcatcher, another accessory that increases the amount of potent magic they possess, control over animal companions, and increased stats when they transform into any animal they wanted.

"Good eye right there! This is a good item for you! Be sure to treasure it!"

Seeing how useful the items I started exchanging for, they are now eager to find the items I needed. And with all the equipment I am making these past years, it's a big win for me.