1 Overture

White clouds move along the wind currents of the blue sky. The air was very hot as the sun shone very bright.

The ruins of the fallen Aquilonia Empire, was overgrown, where plants grew wild became the habitat of savage beasts.

One can discern the former glory of the empire's society and culture from the remains of their sophisticated structures stood at the capital.

On the outskirts of the ruins, there was a catacomb named The Great Tomb of Nazar...

Ahem, I mean, The Great Catacomb of Aquilon where the fallen empire's citizens laid to rest forever.

This labyrinthine subterranean catacomb was overrun with countless rotting and putrid living dead.

Inside the catacomb, a party of three tirelessly cut down waves of undead as they grind towards the staircase, so they can access the lower depths.

The vanguard of the party was a tall lad donned with brigandine armor. He pierced a zombie and swung his halberd to use the corpse as a projectile.

As he threw the zombie, it flew away. The zombie hit and crashed to the horde. They fell down as the impact deals massive damage.

A young woman with white hair tied in a high ponytail and equipped with black and stylish leather armor slashed the fetid flesh and rends the undead with her swords.

She was a dual wield swordswoman. Her right hand had katana and her left hand had wakizashi. The blades cut easily to the walking dead.

Her movements were smooth and graceful as she swiftly dodged the attacks.

A man in his twenties had spiked quiff haircut and wore black dyed jack of plate for protection.

He brandished his scimitar on his right hand and slashed as he behead an undead.

His left hand wielded a hammer, he swung it to smash the skulls and bones of the skeletons into pieces.

"Damn! I ran out of health potions! I really hate the realism of this game! Ugh! So painful!" The vanguard roared to make sure his teammates heard him.

"Argh! Let's retreat! We need to quickly find a safe place!" The young man with scimitar led his party.

"Here take this!" The young woman opened her inventory and gave her last potion to the vanguard.

'Gulp'

"Thanks." The vanguard immediately drank the potion.

"This way! Follow me! Quick!" The party leader pointed with his hammer to an open door at the end of the corridor.

They tried to escape and ran quickly while the horde of undead chased them closely from behind.

Hopefully, the corridor of the catacomb where they went was narrow. The movement of countless undead was hindered.

The party entered the door and shut it tightly with haste.

The undead couldn't do anything and slammed their rotten bodies forcefully. The iron door didn't even budge, it was locked.

The party was relieved and take a brief rest. The leader with scimitar observed the surroundings.

They were inside a huge chamber. It was very dark, they couldn't see the other side of the wall opposite to the iron door.

Suddenly, a snap sounded from the darkness. The torches attached to the walls lit up one by one.

The chamber was actually empty. One can only see the cobblestone walls and sturdy hardwood beams.

"Sharpen your senses, be alert. Don't be careless. We might activate a trap." The leader reminded his teammates.

"Oh no! I don't want to lose my levels again!" The cool yet attractive young woman had worried expression.

A youngster appeared. He wore a dark purple hooded robe with fancy embroidered sides.

He also wore brown boots. His hair was orange, but his bangs covered his eyes.

"Who are you?" The party leader pointed the stranger with his scimitar.

"Khajit sells wares if you have coin... Ahem. Ahem. I am Nox! The Mystic Merchant! Welcome adventurers to Nox's Bric-a-brac! I have everything you need as long as you pay!" Nox smiled as he snapped his fingers.

Floating purple carpets displayed with a wide array of useful consumable items appeared.

There are convenient magic scrolls, health potions, and mana potions.

Aside from the items on the carpet, there are wooden weapon stands and armor stands with a variety of well made and high rarity equipment.

The party had their own powerful weapons and armor with higher rarity. They didn't saw something unusual and interesting, so the party turned a blind eye and didn't care about them.

"Oh! Thank goodness! An NPC dungeon merchant! I had thought it was a boss." The vanguard wiped off his sweat from nervousness.

The party was totally gleeful. They could survive in this forsaken catacomb.

A wooden stool popped up as Nox snapped his fingers again. He sat down.

"Now, now. You can check the items that I sell." Nox smiled as he crossed his legs.

The vanguard inspected the items, he picked up a Grade III health potion.

"How much is this potion?" The vanguard inquired the price.

"Oh, that was worth 5 silvers." Nox smiled he was friendly to his customers.

"Huh? This is too expensive! The price of this Grade III health potion on Portus Naonis was only 1 silver!" The leader heard Nox and he complained.

"5 silvers. Take it or leave it... Oh, I'll correct myself. Take it or die in this place." Nox was smiling.

"DAMN IT!" The vanguard was angry.

"I think we should buy it. We don't have any choice." The dual wield swordswoman was reasonable.

"2 silvers each is okay?" The leader tried to haggle.

"Nope." Nox shook his head.

"3 silvers?" The leader didn't give up.

"Hmm..." Nox scratched his head.

"3 silvers, each of us will buy 10 potions." The leader negotiated.

"4 silvers for each Grade III health potion. If not, you could just scram." Nox was stern and adamant.

"Sigh... Okay. 30 Grade III health potions." The leader decided to yield. He opened his inventory and handed over 1 gold and 20 silvers.

"Nice having business with you." Nox smiled as he handed over the Grade III health potions from his inventory.

As the party leader received the potions and placed it inside his inventory.

He noticed something was wrong and became dumbfounded.

He was puzzled how an NPC in front of him had an inventory.

The party leader opened and checked the status window of Nox.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

ー 〔 Nox 〕 ー

〖 Sui Generis 〗Mystic Merchant

〖 Level 〗20

〖 Title 〗Bric-a-brac Shopowner

〖 Guild 〗---

〖 Rank 〗Iron

〖 HP 〗

〔 --- 〕

〖 Status 〗Normal

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

The party leader gasped, his expression became grim. Meanwhile, his teammates were curious about their party leader's actions.

"This person was not an NPC! He was a player! Hoax! We have been duped!" The leader bellowed furiously.

"What?!" The two were shocked.

"Oops. Hmph hihi hihi." Nox covered his mouth and suppressed his laugh.

"Take our money back swindler!" The party shouted in unison.

"I'll tell you guys something. I didn't fool you. This is a business. You knew that you ran out of items to restore your HP. You were in dire need of health potions. I'm the only one here who can sell what you need! The demand was high, but the supply was low. Did you know that right? I can tell that you are older than me. You should know it!" Nox was acting like a righteous person.

"You should stock more potions next time when you go to grind. Tsk tsk. A 'grave' mistake." Nox shook his head from disdain.

"..." The party was silent.

"If you don't want to buy anything, then... Bye bye!" Nox smiled as he waved his hand.

He snapped this fingers. Suddenly, Khaji... Nox and his wares had vanished to thin air.

"Ducking mischievous brat!" The party leader roared.