Arms Dealing Is Where the Real Money Is (Please Donate and Vote)

"All right, here is your payment—fifteen Gold Coins in total. Please take them." Receptionist Miss paid no attention to Lin Yun's question. She counted out fifteen Gold Coins from a cabinet beside her and placed them on the counter.

Yes, that was why so few people took Goblin extermination quests. One mission only paid as much as a single Lantern Staff, and if there were teammates, the money had to be split. Then there were equipment repair costs and everything else.

In fact, this was already considered decent. In some poorer little villages, it would be good enough if they could scrape together ten Gold Coins.

"Even though I already knew it, it really is very little. If we split it evenly, that'd be three Gold Coins each." The Young Warrior looked at the Gold Coins on the counter, unable to hide his disappointment, but he still spoke up.

"No... I don't want any. I practically didn't do anything this time." The Female Mage turned her head away as she spoke.

"Then... then I don't want any either. If it hadn't been for Mr. Silent, I... I probably wouldn't have put on my Chainmail in time." The Goddess Priestess spoke timidly from the side as well.

"Then I don't want any either. Mr. Silent was the one who saved me." The Female Fighter hesitated, then suddenly blushed?????? and gave up her share as well.

"I..." Seeing that nearly everyone was refusing their share, the Young Warrior's expression became somewhat... pained. Still, he said, "Then I—"

"Wait. Your younger sister is still studying at the Magic Academy. She needs your money." At that moment, the Female Mage turned around and stopped him.

"But I... Mr. Silent saved my life too." The Young Warrior clenched his fists tightly.

"Since you have other expenses, just treat it as charity from me. Just make sure you pull your weight in future battles." At this moment, the drama king Lin Yun came online again. He definitely intended to help this Young Warrior, who was clearly struggling, but he had to play the part properly. Otherwise, the director would not pay him.

"Thank you, Mr. Silent. Thank you." The Young Warrior bowed to Lin Yun several times in gratitude, his emotions running high.

It was only a few Gold Coins, but small amounts added up. If he kept giving up his pay for one reason or another, the Young Warrior would truly be working for nothing.

The others might still have a little money to spare, but as for this Young Warrior, that was hard to say.

"All right, let's call it a day. Gather here again at eight tomorrow. I'm going to the Blacksmith Shop." Lin Yun accepted the bow as a matter of course. On one hand, it suited the personality on Lin Yun's character sheet. On the other hand, it was even more natural because, without Lin Yun, based on the plot—or rather, based on this altered Goblin lineup—the Young Warrior would have died in that cave.

From a certain perspective, ninety percent of the people in the world would gladly pay three Gold Coins to buy back their lives.

So Lin Yun felt perfectly at ease. And then, twelve Gold Coins GET. Added to the last Gold Coin he had left, that made thirteen Gold Coins in total.

And that was not even the biggest gain. The biggest gain was—

"Completed an outstanding rescue and performed suitably. Reward: 1 Inspiration Die." This message rang out in Lin Yun's mind.

Luckily, Lin Yun was wearing a helmet right then. Otherwise, he would probably have been grinning from ear to ear.

This was an Inspiration Die—a miraculous thing capable of reversing cause and effect and bringing the dead back to life.

Inspiration Dice were also called Hero Points. Each character sheet could possess at most three. Before any D20 roll—note, any D20 roll—you could decide to use one, adding +8 to the result. You could also use one after the result had been rolled, though it would only add +4. You could even use one on a teammate, though the effect would be halved.

They could also let you react in time as though aided by the gods when caught in an ambush, allowing you to counterattack.

They could also make you act like you had taken steroids, letting you perform one extra action or movement in a short span of time.

Or you could use them to sweet-talk the DM and see how the plot should continue.

Of course, you could also use one Inspiration Die to directly restore any usable Spell Slot.

You could also reroll a die, though you had to accept the second result.

Most mysteriously, you could spend one Inspiration Die to ask the GM for something normally impossible. For example, casting magic one circle above your usual level—or letting a non-spellcaster cast 1st-Circle Magic—completely bypassing a monster's DR in one attack or blinding it, negotiating for a dragon to stop attacking, and so on. If the GM considered it carefully and agreed, they would generally impose a harsh check or an attack roll with an enormous penalty. But at least you could do it.

And the final ability was the strongest of all. As long as you had two Inspiration Dice, when you were about to be reduced to 0 HP, you had one chance to survive. Maybe lightning that should have knocked you unconscious instead struck while you happened to be standing in a special spot, letting the current flow through your body without harming you at all. Maybe an axe was swinging toward your neck when someone nearby suddenly called out, drawing the axe wielder's attention and stopping the blow from coming down. Simply put, it was the legendary ability of: I am the protagonist, I cannot die, wahahahaha!

Because the effects of Inspiration Dice were far too powerful, the DM generally would not hand them out lightly unless someone performed exceptionally well. Yet now, Lin Yun had received one.

After bidding the others farewell with flair, Lin Yun carried the somewhat shabby bundle on his back... Though no matter how he looked at it, that did not seem very stylish. He arrived at the Blacksmith Shop.

"It's you, esteemed sir." Though Lin Yun was not a dwarf, his status as a Clan Craftsman was there for all to see, so the Dwarf Blacksmith was exceptionally attentive.

"Mm. I've come to deal with these things." As he spoke, Lin Yun set down the bundle on his back and opened it. Inside were four daggers, one broad shortsword, five battleaxes, one short spear, and six longswords. All were normal iron weapons. As for the stone weapons, Lin Yun had not brought those. Although some of these were worn, in the eyes of Lin Yun, a Clan Craftsman, they only needed a little reworking before they could still be sold at their proper prices.

Of course, there was more besides these. There was the magic wand the Goblin Shaman had used to activate magic, the giant venomous snake Lin Yun had killed, and a somewhat damaged suit of scale armor. The scale armor had belonged to the player Adventurer whom the Goblins had killed in the cave. Well, with only one hundred Gold Coins as starting funds, scale armor was all he could afford.

"Uh... these..." The Dwarf Blacksmith looked awkward. He ran a weapon shop, but he did not collect junk. This... this was indeed a bit much. Reworking them would also require a processing fee, so it was rather troublesome.

No, rather, if it had been anyone else, the Dwarf Blacksmith's temper would have flared up. This was the price—take it or leave it, and if you did not want it, get lost. But the person before him was a Clan Craftsman, after all, and the Dwarf Blacksmith wanted to learn a trick or two from Lin Yun's hands. He had to curry favor somehow.

"How about this? I won't ask for much. Find me somewhere to stay, with food and drink. When I have time, I'll show you a few tricks. What do you say?" Lin Yun might have only been a shut-in, but he had minored in psychology. He knew what would tempt this dwarf the most, so he got straight to the point.

"No problem, absolutely no problem! Mr. Silent, you can stay as long as you like. Just stay at my house. My place is huge, and there's a forge downstairs. As long as you want to use it, you can do so anytime. You can even use my materials. I only have one request: I hope I can watch from the side. Oh, right, and I can't just take all these weapons for free. Here—boy, take 214 Gold Coins from the cabinet and give them to Mr. Silent." The Dwarf Blacksmith shouted excitedly.

At market price, each dagger was worth two Gold Coins, so four made eight. The broad shortsword was fifteen Gold Coins. Each battleaxe was ten Gold Coins, so five made fifty. The short spear was one Gold Coin. Each longsword was fifteen Gold Coins, so six made ninety. The scale armor was fifty Gold Coins. That came to 214 Gold Coins exactly.

So... selling equipment really was more profitable. Look at this dwarf—just like that, he had paid out so much money. And those newbie Adventurers... sigh, who knew where quests could possibly be worth that much? As the saying went, arms, arms dealing was where the real money was.

Though Lin Yun figured that a large portion of these things had been contributed by those player Adventurers. Still, this Dwarf Blacksmith was truly impressive. He had actually bought all this junk at full price, as though it were brand-new. Normally, getting one-tenth of the price for used equipment would already be decent.

It seemed Lin Yun would have to find an opportunity to repay this straightforward Dwarf Blacksmith. Otherwise, his conscience would not be at ease. The man was too honest—it made one's heart ache.

Though Lin Yun had no idea how exactly he was supposed to teach a Dwarf Blacksmith how to forge, well... he would just forge more often in front of him.

He was not afraid at all. Ahem, especially now that he had the Forging Master Gloves.

The young assistant carried a large bag with both hands. It was obviously filled with Gold Coins, and he brought it straight to Lin Yun.

And just like that, Lin Yun received 214 Gold Coins. Considering that one Silver Coin could pay for one night at an inn, Lin Yun was, from a certain perspective, now a rich man.

That evening, after Lin Yun followed the Dwarf Blacksmith back to his home, well, speaking of which, while he was a dwarf... the saying that dwarves loved big things was absolutely no joke. It was clearly a dwarf's home, yet Lin Yun felt that even a Giant Goblin would not find it cramped here in the slightest.

It had two floors, a living room, a kitchen, three bedrooms, a cellar for alcohol, and even a room with a forge. It was simply incredible.

The room given to Lin Yun had originally been a guest room, but it now became Lin Yun's room outright. Since dwarves liked making everything large, the bed was enormous too. Lin Yun did not even need to change beds. It was wonderfully comfortable.

Out of gratitude toward the Dwarf Blacksmith, Lin Yun naturally showed off a few skills to properly thank the man for giving him a place to stay.

Conveniently, Silent's background included cooking proficiency. Lin Yun picked up the Dwarf Blacksmith's cooking utensils, which had not been used in a long time, sent some poor fellow to the market to buy ingredients, and began showing off his skills.

"D20+3+2=16, success." Mm, under normal circumstances, a cooking roll of ten or higher meant the food was edible. A sixteen only counted as fairly tasty... That was a little subtle. Lin Yun said he had nearly used an Inspiration Die. Ahem, just kidding.