“Wait, are you sure there’s no mistake with this price?” Qing Yu asked again, incredulous. The number was criminally low—practically cost.
Like a seasoned pro at customer service, the native clerk girl—hired to mind the stall—kept her smile even under what looked like nitpicking. Her tone held zero trace of annoyance.
“Yes, that’s the price our head set.”
The firm reply hit the stall’s crowd in waves. A couple impatient types muttered curses and stormed off. But most sank into deep suspicion.
They weren’t idiots, and neither was that fire mage (someone: actually, she totally was). No way she’d go through all that hassle just to lose money. There had to be a trick.
As they mulled it over, a bubbly female voice cut through the stall. “Huh? Why can’t I buy anything from your side?”
“Sorry. We only open for sales in the afternoon.”
Qing Yu glanced instinctively at the girl by the shelves nearby. She looked kinda familiar…
Like the fire mage they’d been tailing.
But seeing her thief outfit killed the idea. Looks could change with items, but classes didn’t lie.
Qing Yu lost interest after a few looks and was about to bounce ideas off Bebe. But the next second—not just her, but everyone in the stall—turned to the girl.
It was her blurted question and the clerk’s reply.
“Wow, you guys sell glowstone lanterns too?”
“Yes. We plan to sell the ones we’ve acquired here to boost the chamber’s name.”
“If I sell some, can I buy them back?” The girl asked what seemed like a dumb question.
The clerk didn’t mind, nodding with a smile. “Of course. If you’re willing to cover the price difference. And to prevent abuse, you can only buy back up to what you sold—and only once a day.”
That’s basically a weird mortgage setup, right?
The thought hit them all. But no one would pull something that stupid.
The sell price the clerk quoted was a bit higher than the buy price—merchants wouldn’t slip up on basics like that.
But someone spotted a different angle.
“Wait.” The girl muttered to herself, oblivious that the whole stall could hear. “So if you raise the buy price and drop the sell price…”
Raise… drop…
Everyone sank into thought like they’d been tipped off. Bebe suddenly recalled something from before—a lightbulb went off. She tugged Qing Yu and whispered her idea.
…
Qing Yu’s eyes lit up. She was about to test it when Bebe’s look stopped her—other guilds were around. She got it and nodded.
But their secret plan got shattered the next second by someone who couldn’t read the room.
“You guys have a membership program? If I join the chamber, do I get discounts on buys? Or extra subsidies when selling?”
The girl asked the clerk excitedly, like she’d found new land. Someone followed her gaze and spotted the wooden membership board by the counter.
“Yes. Silver members get 10% off buys, gold get 20%. Buy prices get a 5% or 10% boost on top.” The clerk’s reply came quick.
Everyone caught on. Quick math folks crunched it in their heads.
Silver members’ sell price barely broke even on buy, but gold could fully recover costs—and the profit looked solid?
Assuming you ignored the cost of joining, of course.
Qing Yu and Bebe were a bit exasperated at the girl’s bluntness, but no time for that now. With the secret out, they jumped in. “How do we become members?”
“Just complete the chamber’s membership quest.” The clerk smiled. Then, a system prompt popped for everyone.
System: Do you accept the quest [Rhine Chamber Membership Proof]?
Almost no one hesitated—they accepted. Then they opened their quest logs to check.
The objective was simple: acquire some special fire resistance potion recipes. Submit quantities to earn silver or gold membership proofs.
“So that’s it.”
Qing Yu recalled a few days ago, someone had bulk-bought these potion recipes on the exchange. She’d thought it odd then. Now, it was probably the fire mage after spotting this hidden stall.
She knew these recipes. Going gold would cost a dozen silver or so, but the profit from selling and rebuying glowstone lanterns dwarfed that.
And it was a one-time spend. If the chamber stuck around in town, they’d rake in solid daily cash.
What Qing Yu thought, everyone else did too. In a flash, they all sprang into action.
“Mu Ying, get out here!”
“You didn’t actually get arrested, did you?”
“Focus!” Qing Yu choked but knew it wasn’t time for jokes. She gave him the rundown.
“How much profit?” Mu Ying replied after a pause, his tone turning serious even in text.
“Based on what we’ve stockpiled, gold membership should net around 430 silver.”
He sounded surprised. “When’d you get so good at math?”
A faint vein throbbed on Qing Yu’s forehead. “I used a calculator, okay? Focus on the main thing, the main thing!”
“Alright, alright. Don’t worry. I told the guild leader—he’s okay with us pulling all the glowstone lanterns. I’ll have someone bring potion recipes too. Just in case, wait there for now.”
“Is it that serious…”
“It’s not a small sum. Looks like we need to snag as many loose glowstone lanterns on the market as we can.”
Mu Ying was right—nearly four gold in profit wasn’t peanuts. Big guilds’ daily earnings topped out at 14-15 gold. And as long as the chamber stayed, this could run daily. No way they’d ignore a cash cow like that.
Qing Yu nodded and added, “Bring more people. Grab a few dozen recipes too. There’s a sales limit here.”
“Got it. I’ll tell Wrench and the others. When we arrive, you can direct them.”
Neither sweated it. The sales cap meant more members, higher costs—but max a few dozen extra silver. Pocket change next to the profits.
After hanging up with Mu Ying, Qing Yu saw Bebe still on comms and didn’t interrupt. She glanced around, a bit curious, and noticed the scatterbrained girl from before had vanished.
Weird. Where’d that girl go?
Qing Yu frowned, a vague unease nagging at her, but she couldn’t place it.
But her attention quickly shifted to the goods on the shelves.
What Qing Yu would never guess was that the girl she’d noticed was now in a very familiar outfit, standing at a corner outside the stall. She was smugly showing off to someone else she knew just as well.
“How’s that, Demon King? My acting was killer, right?”
“Pretty impressive.”
I answered honestly. “Perfectly captured the clueless idiot who can’t read a room. Or more like typecasting.”
I ignored her deflated little face and kept watching the stall.
The commotion Satahia and I stirred on the commercial street had hooked seven or eight guilds. Their big internal pulls would tip off spies from other guilds, spreading the word. Soon, we’d scoop up most of the glowstone lanterns on the market.
The membership quest was a side gig I’d set up. Better to let them do the work than camp it myself—and no extra cash outlay.
The sales limit was tuned to their psychology. A sudden hit of dozens or hundreds of recipes would feel too steep. Splitting it across more people was smoother—and the total cash was the same.
The goods were special items I’d bought from the hidden shop. Made the stall look legit, and I figured I could flip a little profit too.
Seeing folks eyeing the items with interest, the plan seemed solid.
Of course, I’d set the prices 10% above the mental benchmark I’d planted. That offset the gold membership discount.
The classic “jack up then discount” tactic. Don’t ask where I learned it—shop around on Taobao enough, and it clicks.
“Alright. Now we just wait for the seeds to sprout. Let’s go, Satahia—back to burning bones.”