Master Salesman Xiao Yang

He was back in the Myriad Worlds Trading Area, and this time Xiao Yang was full of energy. But enthusiasm was one thing; actually getting down to business was still no easy task.

He headed for the same spot as last time and found a familiar face: Redbeard, the kindly old-timer. The man was arguing with a knight, his face red and his neck bulging.

"Get lost! Get out of here! If you can't afford it, don't touch it! I don't haggle!"

His temper was as fiery as ever. After a heated argument, the two parted on bad terms, and the tall knight let out a grunt before striding away.

Redbeard was still grumbling to himself. As Xiao Yang watched the commotion, he pulled all sorts of odds and ends from his backpack: a Large Bone Club, Zombie Viscera, piles of unidentified books, candlesticks, coins, and tin plates.

Honestly, Xiao Yang's stall was by far the most pathetic one in the whole trading area.

There was no helping it. Life was hard, and a newbie could only shake his head and sigh!

After rummaging around, Xiao Yang brought out the only things that might be worth much: a pair of Zombie Flesh Boots and a heavy-strike Skill Scroll.

He'd actually considered giving the boots to Little Bone. He wanted to see if Little Bone could wear equipment, and hoped to put together a set for him.

In the end, Little Bone could wear equipment, but he didn't seem to like the Zombie Flesh Boots much. Once Xiao Yang put them on him, he paced back and forth uneasily, like a nervous little quail.

Of course, Xiao Yang could understand. Even putting aside the boots' negative effects, they were still downright ugly.

They were a pair of bizarre boots, bloodred with a faint greenish tinge, constantly writhing and threaded with veins. They were the sort of thing that could give you nightmares if you looked at them for too long.

He'd better sell them. Just imagining Little Bone wearing those boots made Xiao Yang's eyelid twitch.

Just as Xiao Yang had finished laying all his wares out on his stall, Redbeard—who'd only just finished arguing with a customer—finally noticed him standing nearby.

Redbeard looked surprised, then blurted out bluntly, "Why are you still selling all this junk?"

Xiao Yang's expression twisted. If he could help it, he wouldn't spend all day selling things like a skeleton's Large Bone Club and Zombie Viscera, or even hauling candlesticks and plates out of dungeons to sell. But he had no choice. Life was tough!

Redbeard realized he'd said something wrong and turned his head, changing the subject. "My weapons are obviously so well made! These people just don't know quality!"

Xiao Yang didn't dwell on the remark. He smoothly moved closer to Redbeard.

But as soon as he got close, Xiao Yang saw that Redbeard really hadn't been boasting.

Lava Battle Axe

Quality: Excellent

Type: Heavy Weapon, Polearm Battle Axe

Damage: 35

Requirements: Heavy Weapon Mastery, Polearm Mastery, Strength 25

Effect: Attacks deal additional Flame Damage and build charge. Once fully charged, releases Lava Field.

Description: A labor of love by a Dwarf Artisan nearing master rank. A fine axe, suited to warriors with fire resistance.

What a great axe! Of course, Xiao Yang could only admire it from afar.

Thinking about what he'd just seen, he asked Redbeard, "Redbeard, do you always sell your wares like that?"

Xiao Yang posed the question.

Redbeard fell silent, lost in thought. After a long while, he hesitantly answered, "I guess... not?"

Xiao Yang slapped his forehead. With a temper like that, even the best wares would be hard to sell.

It didn't take Xiao Yang long to figure out why Redbeard struggled to make sales.

The reason was simple: Redbeard had three unwritten rules.

First, no haggling. Second, no asking the same question over and over. Third, don't compare anything he'd forged with the gear at other stalls.

With rules like those, it was no wonder his business was terrible.

But to Redbeard, they were perfectly reasonable. He wouldn't haggle because he didn't price his weapons all that high. At least compared with the other stalls, where sellers demanded outrageous prices and expected buyers to bargain them down, his wares were much cheaper.

As for not asking questions repeatedly, that was because of his explosive temper. The third rule came from his pride as a craftsman.

A good craftsman wasn't necessarily a good salesman. But that gave Xiao Yang an idea.

Xiao Yang made Redbeard a suggestion.

"How about this, Redbeard? Let me give it a try. If I manage to sell something, you can give me some Spirit Coins, okay?"

Xiao Yang said this to Redbeard, who regarded him with suspicion.

In the end, Redbeard agreed to let Xiao Yang try. After all, if it didn't work out, he wouldn't lose anything. Xiao Yang wasn't sure he could pull it off either; he didn't have much sales experience. Still, he might as well give it a try.

It wasn't as if he had no experience at all. His first job after graduating from college had been going door-to-door selling milk. He hadn't lasted long. Then his self-important manager had told him to carry milk up and down the stairs, knocking on every door in an old campus building with no elevator.

Before long, Xiao Yang had put together a price tag. Redbeard had priced the Lava Battle Axe at 500,000 Spirit Coins, but Xiao Yang raised it straight to a million—doubling the price.

That left Redbeard completely dumbfounded. But what really stunned him was the banner Xiao Yang held aloft.

"Premium sale! 30% off! A masterpiece! Don't miss out!"

"Step right up, don't miss out! For truly good weapons, look no further! Certified by the God Game! A master craftsman's painstaking work! Come take a look!"

Xiao Yang began shouting at the top of his lungs.

His sales pitch worked surprisingly well. Before long, a crowd of players gathered around, and some of the melee players even started considering the axe.

Redbeard had never seen anything like it. Not every world had been subjected to clickbait headlines, after all. And those sensational slogans weren't even Xiao Yang's final trick.

As soon as someone asked the price and showed interest, he launched into a stream of patter: "Don't miss your chance! It's a true masterwork. Tell you what, you look familiar. You must be a great hero who's saved countless lives. I'll take a painful loss and knock the price down a little more for you."

If 30% off was still too expensive, that was fine. He could do 40% off. If that still didn't work, 45% off was perfectly fine too!

All in all, he wasn't worried about people falling for the pitch—only about them not being interested. Master Salesman Xiao Yang had officially made his debut.