Greatest Streamer System

"Welcome."

A deep, clear voice rang from the figure. Based on it, Max guessed that it belonged to a man, even if his figure was not clear and ambiguous.

"Customers, step inside, and let's do the trade."

— No matter how I see him, I can't trust this merchant

— How shady. This is why he's called a shady merchant.

— How come all shop owners in this game have this getup? Are they connected somehow?!

— They are an anonymous group and have many different people running shops. I bet their group is called SHADY with capitals, though

— I really like this NPC! It gives me a mysterious vibe!

Shady merchant. From how the shop owner looked, that name really fit and described it quite well.

Max entered the building, and the merchant pulled the string hanging near his head. Some mechanisms worked. Gear turned loudly, closing the door and locking it safely.

"Hehe, worry not. Just a little measure to keep the pests away when we are trading." The merchant chuckled weirdly and spread his arms, "So, what do you need? Weapons? Antidote? Herbs? Or building material?

We have them all."

Looking around, Max noticed nothing was displayed on the wall or behind the counter. But that might be a security measure the merchant took in case the visitor wanted to rob him or something.

Intelligent NPC's AI was way more advanced than a superior enemy. It actually was closer to real humans but not quite, as all its responses were already programmed, so it didn't stray from its function and job.

'It's as if I am talking to a real human, though. The green flames took my attention immediately, but I saw that he had a weapon hidden beneath his cape and probably some hidden turrets in the dark spot of this room. Well, it's better not to mess with a merchant NPC.'

"I want to get building materials for the level 1 Shelter."

"Oh, materials, I see. Please, take a look at our list."

Ding!

A half-transparent red window with a list appeared in front of Max, from which he could choose. Once again, it made him realize that it was a game, even if the graphic was close to real life. Not everything was the same as IRL, including this system window.

'Maybe not that different, considering we use floating hologram screens now.' He was slightly amused by his own thoughts but scrolled the list nonetheless.

However, just as he found material for level 1 Shelter, he came to a stop.

"It's so expensive!" He exclaimed loudly, "Why does a material for level 1 Shelter cost 20 Scraps?! It's just 5 woods and 15 planks! Are they rare materials?"

— Not really…

— You can find them easily, like… really easy

— Those are the most common loot items. Rather, Scrap has only a 15% chance of appearing, while woods and planks have a 50% chance of appearing in the loot.

— Kekw, that's why he's a shady merchant

— no one knows how he put the price

— suffering from success… I think it's better if you just find more loot

"Tsk!" Max clicked his tongue and looked at the smiling merchant, "Can you lower the price, somehow?"

"No can do, customer." The merchant chuckled eerily. "But you can always sell your items. Hehe, I am a merchant and not a street vendor. We are on a different level!"

"Isn't that the same?!" Max retorted in reflex due to how ridiculous this merchant was. He quickly realized that and coughed, "I mean, I have no items I can sell to you. There is only Scraps."

The merchant lowered his head slightly. Even if his eyes were covered in the shadow of his hood, Max could feel that he was looking at his knife and gloves.

"This?" He tried to ask while raising his gloved hand.

"Indeed." The merchant nodded, and his smile widened. "I can pay 25 Scraps for that. Hehe, the metal on the back of the gloves is really important. That's titanium, I believe. It's certainly worth buying."

He rubbed his hands together and leaned closer slightly, "So, how is it, dear customer? Are you buying? Or are you selling? Or could it be… You want to have time to think about it?"

Max chose the third option. He certainly needed that building material. The problem was his Scraps weren't enough to buy a complete level 1 material.

'Should I sell the gloves?' He wondered.

There was actually a more important problem. And that was his hunger and thirst bar. Looking at it made Max grimace slightly.

[Hunger: 72%

Thirst: 67%]

He needed to get food and water soon, or he would get a penalty for his movement getting slightly restricted.

Where, though? Was looting even possible? If he entered a building and stumbled upon many enemies, those bars would be filled up pretty quickly.

The answer was simple. This shop also sold food and water for Scraps.

'Yeah, I should just sell it. The gloves aren't as useful as I thought it would be. I can just dodge all attacks and survive without any problem. Besides, I still have an antidote.'

Sighing tiredly, Max decided on his course of action.

"Fine, I'll sell them."

Clap!

The merchant clapped his hands and laughed happily, "Hehe, thank you! It's nice to have business with you."

Max felt like he was being scammed right now and groaned. But he could do nothing, so he proceeded with the transaction.

It was his only choice. The transaction was done easily.

On top of the level 1 Shelter building materials, he also bought 5 breads and 3 bottles of water for 11 Scraps. The bread cost 1 Scrap only, but the water cost him 2 Scraps each, which was clearly more expensive than the food.

In the end, he only had 10 Scraps in his inventory and was left with no defensive equipment.

"The 5 woods and 15 planks are outside. Hehe, it's nice to have business with you. Hehe, thank you!"

The merchant saw Max off with his usual chuckle.

Finding the material outside the shop was easy. It was tied with a sturdy rope just right near the entrance. Moving them away was also easy, although he needed both hands for it.

He wondered how the merchant moved the materials while staying inside, but Max decided not to think too hard about it.

'This is a game. The material probably just spawned using a certain mechanic or something like that. Also… My gloves… I kinda miss it already.'

He shrugged his shoulders, lamenting his decision. Soon, he shook his head and threw useless thoughts away.

"Alright, let's move to that empty space and build our shelter. After that, I think I will rest for the day."

Max said as he exited the gate and began to walk toward the empty lot, which was just a hundred meters away from the shop.

— Pfft! Yes!

— lololol, building shelter is so easy

— An hour stream like before? I thought you were better than this already, Breeze!

— What a shame. I want to watch you suffer longer.

— So quickly? It's just around an hour since you started live streaming

— That describes you pretty well ^^ Quickshot

— Oh, the usual Breeze's pace. I hope you can stream longer next time

"I hope so, too. Well, after the Knight's Journey program, I think I would be able to stream longer." Max responded to the chat. "And you guys didn't even hide your real thoughts anymore, huh? Even so, I still love you guys. No homo."

— I mean, it's useless…

— We also love watching you suffer… Cough– I mean, struggling

— We love you too, Breeze. And your suffering!

"... I want to take back my words almost immediately now."

After walking for a bit and joking with his viewers, he arrived at the place where he wanted to build his shelter. He dropped all the material on the ground and punched his palm.

"Alright, let's get to work!"

— Shelter-building time, baby!

— Woohoo! Though he just needs to place the materials according to the blueprint he could bring up, building a shelter always excites me!

— Level 1 shelter, acquired!

"Yeah, me too!" Max exclaimed.

Just as the viewers had said, building the shelter was pretty easy. Bring up the blueprint, place the material, and it was done. It only took him around 10 minutes to build up the level 1 shelter while talking to the viewers.

And… He soon learned he needed to be more careful before making a decision.