4: Chapter 4 The First Business Deal

To the west of the Novice Village was a dirt road leading to the Qingshi Mine. On both sides of the road grew crooked willow trees, and several players were squatting under their shade to set up stalls.

Chen Ergou found a conspicuous spot—under the large locust tree at the village entrance, right next to the path that everyone had to take to get to the dungeon.

"Set up stall."

With a hum, his shabby stall system appeared before him.

Chen Ergou took five bottles of regret potion from his system inventory and lined them up neatly on the stall.

The potions actually looked quite nice. They were contained in small glass bottles the size of a thumb, and the liquid was a glowing, pale blue that gave them a high-quality feel.

But just having goods wasn't enough; he needed a sign.

Chen Ergou looked around, found a discarded wooden board, and asked an elderly NPC woman by the roadside for a charcoal pencil—she rolled her eyes at him, but she gave it to him anyway.

He lay on the wooden board, bit the end of the pencil for a long time, and finally wrote a line of large characters:

[regret potion — Don't fear mistakes, do it over!]

After thinking about it, he added a line of small text underneath:

[Slipped up while fighting a BOSS? Used the wrong skill in PK? Drink one bottle, and turn back time! You deserve it!]

After he finished writing, he stepped back two paces to look at it and nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, it's got that vibe now."

The system clicked its tongue in wonder in his mind: "You wrote these characters like a chicken scratching at the dirt, and you call that 'having that vibe'?"

"What do you know? This is called artistic lettering; it has personality."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say."

Chen Ergou propped the wooden board up in front of the stall, sat on the ground, and began waiting for customers.

He had indeed picked a good spot, as all the parties heading to the Qingshi Mine dungeon had to pass by here. Before long, squads of players walked past him, but most just took a glance and kept moving.

After all, a level 1 noob squatting behind a shabby stall, selling goods of unknown origin, looked like a scammer no matter how you sliced it.

"System, this isn't working, no one is coming to look." Chen Ergou was getting a bit anxious.

"Don't rush, don't rush. Business is all about fate. When the fate arrives, the customers will naturally come."

"Cut that out. Can't you give me some practical help? Like getting me a megaphone or something?"

"What are you thinking? I am a stall system, not an advertising agency. Figure it out yourself."

Chen Ergou sighed.

That was true; mountains crumble, people run, and when doing business, you still have to rely on yourself.

He stood up, cleared his throat, and prepared to shout for customers.

Just then, a burly player walked over from the dirt road.

This person was nearly 1.9 meters tall, wearing a suit of heavy iron armor, and carrying a greatsword wider than a person on his shoulder. He walked with a "thump, thump, thump" sound, like a tank. His ID was displayed above his head—[Iron-Head Qiang], Level 6, Class: Warrior.

Iron-Head Qiang walked to the village entrance and was originally going to walk straight past, but his peripheral vision caught Chen Ergou's sign, and he paused.

"regret potion?" Iron-Head Qiang read the words on the sign and turned around. "What is that?"

Here we go!

Chen Ergou's eyes lit up, and he immediately put on a warm smile—a smile he had practiced thirty-seven times during job interviews. Although he had never used it once, it finally came in handy now.

"Big Brother! Hey, Big Brother! Are you heading to the dungeon?" Chen Ergou greeted him enthusiastically.

Iron-Head Qiang looked him up and down: "You're level 1 and setting up a stall here?"

"Hehe, Big Brother, don't look at my low level; I have good stuff here." Chen Ergou patted the potions on the stall. "regret potion, ever heard of it?"

"Never heard of it."

"Then let me introduce it to you!" Chen Ergou stood up, picked up a bottle of potion, and waved it in front of Iron-Head Qiang. "Big Brother, you're a Warrior, the one tanking the BOSS, right?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Then when you're doing the dungeon, have you ever encountered this situation—the BOSS slams a skill at you, you want to dodge, but your hand slips, the directional key is pressed the wrong way, and you run straight into the BOSS's face?"

Iron-Head Qiang's expression stiffened.

"Or, you want to use a skill, but you mess up and throw a healing skill on yourself, and your teammates all stare at you?"

The corner of Iron-Head Qiang's mouth twitched.

"Or maybe, you finally got the BOSS down to low health, but the last strike misses, the BOSS heals up, and the whole team's effort goes to waste?"

Iron-Head Qiang fell silent.

He was silent for a full five seconds.

Then he let out a heavy sigh: "Brother, did you install surveillance on me?"

Chen Ergou was overjoyed—it seemed he had spoken to his heart.

"Big Brother, I didn't install surveillance; I've been there myself." Chen Ergou looked sincere. "This regret potion has a simple effect—after you drink it, time rewinds five seconds, your previous mistake is directly undone, and it's equivalent to doing it over!"

"Really?" Iron-Head Qiang was half-believing.

"Big Brother, what benefit is there for me to lie to you? Look at the quality of this potion, white, common, the real deal. And look at this glowing effect, this color, this texture; does it look fake?"

Iron-Head Qiang leaned in to look; the potion was indeed glowing and looked quite legitimate.

"How much?"

Chen Ergou held up one finger.

"One copper coin?"

"Big Brother, you're joking." Chen Ergou shook his head, looking serious. "What can you buy for one copper coin? Even the worst primary health potion costs more than that. This is my exclusive product, available only here on the entire server; you can't buy it anywhere else even if you spend gold coins."

"Then how much do you want?"

"Five copper coins per bottle."

"Five copper coins?!" Iron-Head Qiang's eyes widened. "Are you robbing me?"

"Big Brother, do the math." Chen Ergou counted on his fingers for him. "You go to the Qingshi Mine dungeon, what is the first clear reward for the BOSS? Fifty silver coins! Fifty silver coins converted to RMB is four hundred yuan! If you wipe the team because of one mistake, those fifty silver coins are gone; wouldn't you lose out?"

Iron-Head Qiang thought about it; it was indeed a loss.

"Besides, you are a Warrior, the core tank of the team. If you make a mistake, the whole team will wipe with you. Won't your teammates scold you? Can you save face?"

Iron-Head Qiang fell silent again.

Chen Ergou struck while the iron was hot: "Five copper coins, that's only four yuan in RMB. Four yuan to buy insurance to ensure you don't flip the car in the dungeon—would you say that's worth it?"

Iron-Head Qiang hesitated for a while, looked at the potion, then looked at Chen Ergou, and finally gritted his teeth: "Fine, give me one bottle!"

"Alright, Big Brother!" Chen Ergou nimbly took out a bottle of potion and handed it over. "Here you go. Drink it when you need to, and it will rewind within five seconds. Remember, it can only undo the last action, don't waste it."

Iron-Head Qiang took out five copper coins, slapped them on the stall, picked up the potion, inspected it carefully, and stuffed it into his inventory.

"Brother, if your potion really works, I'll recommend some customers to you later."

"That's easy to say! Take care, Big Brother, and good luck with the dungeon!"

Iron-Head Qiang shouldered his greatsword and strode off in the direction of the Qingshi Mine.

Chen Ergou watched his back disappear at the end of the dirt road, looked down at the four copper coins on the stall, and grinned from ear to ear.

"Four yuan in the bag!"

"Don't be happy too soon." The system's voice rang in his mind. "Your potion has side effects. Once that guy drinks it..."

"We'll talk after he drinks it." Chen Ergou waved his hand. "At worst, he just won't buy it; I didn't force him."

"Fine, your mindset is pretty good."

"That's a must. In business, you have to be thick-skinned."

Chen Ergou put away the four copper coins, sat back behind the stall, and continued waiting for the next customer.

Not long after, a few passing players stopped to look at his sign, but they all just asked the price and walked away—five copper coins was still a bit expensive for them.

Chen Ergou wasn't in a hurry. Anyway, it was the first day, and selling one bottle counted as a good start.

He leaned against the large locust tree, humming a little tune, in a good mood.

Just then, the system suddenly said: "That Iron-Head Qiang has entered the dungeon."

"Oh?"

"His team has a total of five people and is currently fighting the second BOSS of the Qingshi Mine—the Stone Giant. This BOSS has a mechanic where it releases an 'Earth Tremor' every thirty seconds. Players must jump at the right time to dodge it, otherwise, they will be knocked into the air and take massive damage."

"Sounds like it tests your controls."

"Iron-Head Qiang is the tank, responsible for tanking the BOSS head-on. Just now, he didn't dodge the first Earth Tremor and lost a third of his health. The BOSS has 20% health left and is about to release the second Earth Tremor."

Chen Ergou sat up straight.

"Will he drink the potion?"

"Don't know, it's up to him."

Chen Ergou suddenly felt a bit nervous.

It wasn't that he was worried about Iron-Head Qiang—he had no relations with that guy, so why worry? What he was nervous about was: if Iron-Head Qiang drank the potion and it actually worked, then his reputation would be established. Would he ever have to worry about not having business again?

But if it didn't work...

Then his stall would probably never be able to stay open again.

"System, can you see what's happening in the dungeon?"

"No, I can only sense the usage status of the goods sold by the host. The moment the potion is consumed, I will get a notification."

Chen Ergou waited for about two minutes.

Suddenly—

Ding!

[System Notification: The "regret potion" you sold has been used.]

Chen Ergou stood up abruptly.

He drank it!

Iron-Head Qiang drank it!

Now comes the moment to witness a miracle—or, to witness a disaster.

Because Chen Ergou knew that the potion's side effect was about to come.

He only cared about one thing now: when Iron-Head Qiang spoke his true feelings, would he give up his stall?

"System..." Chen Ergou swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Do you think he will leak my information?"

"Well..." The system's tone was gloating. "The side effect is 'involuntarily speaking one's true feelings,' not 'involuntarily live-streaming actions.' At most, he'll just say it out loud; he won't expose you."

"But what if he says, 'I bought it at a place called Ergous Stall at the village entrance'?"

The system was silent for a second.

"Then you might just get famous."

"Famous?"

"Yes, famous. But in a different way."

Chen Ergou: "..."

He suddenly had an ominous premonition.