First Customer

Although Juanito isn't erudite in the field of economics, he fully knew how absurd his statement was. By declaring that the price of his goods will be immutable no matter what, he was basically rejecting the principle of Law of Supply of Demand that governed the ever-shifting curves of the market.

He may sound like a raving madman from the perspective of others, but he was confident he could achieve what he pledged by virtue of his System.

The man's stoic face crumbled upon hearing Juanito's absurd declaration. After all, all goods and commodities were affected by several underlying variables. For its prices to be fixed was a ludicrous notion far removed from reality.

"Is there any matter?"

"No, nothing.."

The man calmed his perturbed emotions by banishing the nonsense he just heard from his mind.

He then arched his back forward, leaning to closely scrutinize the display before him. He took his time browsing every ware in the store which took barely half an hour.

After perusing the scarce display, he moved in front of Juanito, his expression impassive as ever.

"..Two dozen White Bread, a dozen Cibiatta, 3kg Banana, and a kilo of Potato," the man said methodically.

"You can make use of those baskets over there. After you're done, bring them here to finalize the purchase.."

Pointing at a corner of the room just an arm's length away from the shop's entrance, a stack of rectangular baskets made of plastic was tidily piled on top of each other.

"It's kinda small so feel free to utilize more if needed..we will add a more sizeable variant in the near future.."

"Gotcha.."

Without standing on ceremony, he began dumping all the goods inside and ultimately had two baskets brimming with assorted goods.

"Give me a moment, please.." Juanito then began checking out each item using the scale scanner near him. 'No barcodes, no anything..' he silently praised, 'What a handy feature..heh'.

The man, despite his efforts to control his expression, was struck dumb at the sight. His words caught in his throat, all he could muster was a gaping mouth which he forcibly shut close.

"That would be 34 coppers in total.." Juanito said while masterfully organizing the items inside a canvass bag which was widely used by grocers in modern earth.

The man who just recovered from his dazed state pulled out 4 pieces of silver and placed them on the counter. "Here you go.."

"Please insert the coins here," Juanito advised as he pointed to a peculiar contrivance on the counter.

"What kind of apparatus is this?" The man asked while pointing at a circular tool that was lodged on the countertop, unable to suppress his raging curiosity.

"This one? it verifies the amount of payment and dispenses the exact change if the inserted amount exceeds the total cost of the transaction. If the amount is lacking, the transaction wouldn't be processed," Juanito explained patiently, and continued with a smile, "You can give it a try.."

Heeding the shopkeeper's words, the man tossed the four silver onto the device, and almost instantly, the lid of the device sunk into the unknown. After mere seconds, the lid resurfaced with six glinting coins.

"You can now take your change," Juanito reminded.

As the man scraped the coins from the counter, a prolonged electronic sound startled the man awake from his tumultuous emotions.

*Beeeep! Beep!*

Then, the cash register that was connected to Juanito's smart screen ejected a tiny, rectangular paper with words printed in an impeccably uniform font.

"Kindly take your receipt."

"Receipt?"

"It is the proof of your purchase.." Juanito stated, "Simply, it is a summary that details the transaction we just had. It outlines the goods you purchased and their corresponding prices. You can check for yourself.."

The man grabbed the thin paper and gave it a serious look as if he was appraising some kind of ancient scroll. After some time, he gently inserted the receipt inside his coat's inner pocket.

'Man, it's just a piece of paper,' Juanito thought derisively.

From this exchange alone, Juanito could guess that this world's concept of receipts was not universally adopted. It was most likely limited to dealings that involve large purchases or services, or trades that necessitate a high degree of importance. And if the paper was a scarce resource in this era, which was highly likely, then its provision for every minor transaction would be unrealistic and impracticable.

"Would that be all?" Juanito asked.

"...."

"-Yes," the man answered.

"Thank you for your patronage.."

As his agenda came to a close, the man inched closer to the store's exit, his stiffened motion reflected the unquelled inner turmoil within him. And just after a few steps, he spun on his heels and turned to face Juanito once again.

"Pardon for my rudeness," the man said apologetically as he arched his back in a bow, "Although it's long overdue, allow me to introduce myself. The name's Luke, Luke Scissors."

In response to the man's gesture, Juanito beamed a genial smile with his hands behind his back and said, "Juanito Bezos. I hope will you visit again, friend."

Juanito postured himself in a dignified manner, a picture of a lofty yet affable handler.

Luke nodded as he shoved his ragged hands into his mittens, and strutted out of the bizarre yet exceedingly fascinating store.

*Cling clang cling!*

*Clang cling cling!*

The clattering sound of the shop's doorbell echoed once again, marking the inception of Juanito's venture into a completely different world.

***

Juanito made 34 coppers in a single transaction, 50% of which was pure profit. Opening his UI, he could see that his daily income had reached 17 coppers, and the quest, [Upstart Hurdle] only required 2 gold which is equivalent to 200 coppers.

This first quest requirement was frivolous compared to the second which requires a number of clients to patronize his products at a regular interval. If one analyzes the quest at its face value, then having 30 customers was an effortless endeavor, however, the challenge lay in consumer retention.

With his otherworldly wares, securing an audience was a non-factor as he would unfailingly attract the curious and the needy given how cheap his products were. The source of complication would be this world's external forces that command a degree of power over the populace.

Was he prepared for a head-on collision against this world's big shots, you ask?

The answer was a resounding NO.

'I'll cross that bridge when I get there,' was his lackadaisical take on the matter.

He then summoned his UI while chomping on a slab of ciabatta with gusto. On his other hand, a leafy green plant materialized into existence, and without any mercy, gobbled the whole vegetable raw.

Juanito had only one gripe against the System and that was all purchasable items were in their raw state. No ready-to-serve dishes or pre-packaged meals like on modern earth.

For example, if he wanted to eat fried chicken, then his only choice was to prepare all the required ingredients and cook it himself.

He couldn't wait for that resplendent day to come when a vast array of compound goods would grace his system. Although that would entail his store had achieved a degree of repute, huge enough to warrant peddling more complex products.

For now, he had to manage with the selection available to him.

[Profile Page:]

Proprietor: Juanito Bezos

Class: Shopkeeper

Store Grade: Otherworldly Booth

Store EXP: 34/1000

Number of Employees: 1/3

Accolades: Rookie Entrepreneur

Abilities: <Negotiation> <Supervision>

Income per day: 17 copper

Juanito noticed that the increase in Store EXP was based on gross income, "So basically, I need to acquire 966 more coppers to reach the threshold and advance to the next grade.."

'I can't say I'm not excited. If quests reward various stuff such as items and unlockable features, then what about store advancement?' Juanito thought, thrilled at the prospect.

He then peered outside the window, lamenting about deadened land covered in whiteness as darkness started to seep in.

A prolonged sigh then spilled from him, 'Where..the fuck…are those twins?'

'If they won't be back till dusk tomorrow, I'll step out and check what's holding them up,' Juanito decided reluctantly.