What Has Zane Brought to Ordinary People?

The Adventure Supplies Commercial Street is undoubtedly one of the most bustling areas in any city teeming with adventurers.

Blacksmith shops, item shops, potion shops, enchanting workshops—no matter which city's adventure supplies commercial street, familiar shops will inevitably appear as if following a formula.

The various shops work together to form an invincible logistical support team for the adventurers.

Although it may seem peaceful, the competition between shops can be quite fierce, both overt and covert.

"Business has been getting worse lately."

A middle-aged shop owner sat dejectedly at his shop entrance, looking at the scattered passersby on the street, and called out:

"Where have all the adventurers gone since a few days ago? Where are they?!"

His name is Ka Peng, and he owns a pharmacy in Bede City.

Although he only had a superficial understanding of pharmacists, he was rich, and with money, he could hire pharmacists with sufficient expertise to prepare the potions.

There are three pharmacies on this street, and there are other pharmacies on other streets, so the competition is actually quite fierce.

But he seized an opportunity: he defined his target audience and sold potions specifically to low-end and ordinary people. Their core requirement was cheapness, and sometimes they would even dilute low-level potions with water. So Ka Peng sold diluted potions with a clear conscience and even had a good reputation.

On this entire commercial street, it's considered a fairly successful shop.

However, all of this changed after the appearance of the Zane Dungeon.

At first, a new anomaly occurred in the old dungeon, which prompted everyone to enter and explore. Naturally, the demand for potions increased, and his potion shop business became booming. He would also silently praise Sain in his heart.

This phenomenon continued until the emergence of the Farron Keep.

The emergence of Farron Keep signifies that the Zane Dungeon has transitioned from ordinary to prosperous, with rewards no longer needing to be controlled in quantity and becoming more generous.

Meanwhile, the large-scale appearance of Farron Keep's specialties—red Moss Ball that inhibit bleeding from wounds, Purple Moss Ball that neutralize common toxins, Deep Purple Moss Ball that neutralize deadly poisons—has crippled the antidote and coagulant business of all the apothecaries in Bede City.

Ka Peng berated Thane for several days because Thane had just purchased a large quantity of antidote, which had nearly bankrupted Farron Keep.

He recovered because he was able to sell other potions. Life- Healing Potion and mental-restoring potions have always been essential for adventurers and have the highest sales volume. It was thanks to these that he survived that crisis.

But after only a few days of peace, he suddenly discovered something else:

The life- Healing Potion isn't selling!

He traveled all over the city to investigate and found that the sales of all shops, not just pharmacies, but all shops that dealt with healing items, were declining. The decline in business for shops that catered to mid- to high-end adventurers was not too significant, but the sales of low-end shops like He Ka Peng had been halved.

Why? Aren't Healing Potion a necessity for adventurers? What can you do without Healing Potion?

He only discovered the reason when he asked a regular customer.

That period coincided with the reduction of the Spirit Power required for adventurers to revive at the campfire in the Zane Dungeon, and it was also the time when the Zane Dungeon truly entered a prosperous phase, with multiple portals opening, a surge in the number of adventurers, and a large variety of ingredients appearing in the Gourmet Area.

The regular customer from Ka Peng, while munching on his grilled Life Perch, scratched his slowly healing wound and said:

"Now when we get injured, we usually just go to the Gourmet Area to find some ingredients to eat. We don't need too many Healing Potion when we're on adventures."

"Why? What if there's no time to find food? So you won't drink potions during battle?" Ka Peng was completely baffled.

A long-time customer said earnestly:

"For someone of my strength, it's either avoid getting injured in the Zane Dungeon or die directly. The monsters there are too strong; there's no way they could leave me in a situation where I'm injured but not fatal and just need Healing Potion."

"Ah?"

"And boss, if I were to actually encounter that kind of situation, I would actually prefer to commit suicide."

"Ah??"

"You can resurrect at the campfire by committing suicide, and all your injuries will be healed. Although the price might be that you can't sleep at night because of a headache, you can get through it by having Priest pray and drinking some diluted mental recovery potion. All things considered, suicide is much more cost-effective than using Healing Potion."

"Ah???"

Even after returning to his own shop, Ka Peng's mouth was still agape.

It took him a long time to realize that his main customers, the low-end ones, had found a "shop" that offered better deals than his.

No matter how shockingly low he lowers prices, no matter how ingenious his promotional activities, his opponent is an entire vibrant dungeon.

Ka Peng felt uneasy because a ghost named Thane was hovering over the Bede City.

Later, the Bede Family used Colorful Moss balls and even ingredients produced in Sain to develop corresponding functional potions. The price was on par with potions of the same quality and function, but the effect was on average about 20 percent higher. All the potion shops in Bede City joined the franchise, which helped them survive the winter of the potion industry.

But Ka Peng's situation remained difficult, as he suffered the most significant loss of his low-end customer base, and even switching to selling Sion's products made it hard to win them back.

If they can't sell, they can't sell. They can make a living just by selling mental health medications. They should take advantage of this time to invest in other industries, such as the currently popular gourmet restaurants.

After a period of relative calm, sales of the psychotropic drugs declined somewhat, but thankfully they didn't become completely unsellable.

This time, Ka Peng learned to calmly accept reality, but upon learning the reason, he still couldn't help but exclaim:

"What is this Kindling Secret Ritual to strengthen the spirit?"

He hired adventurers to perform a Kindling Secret Ritual for him, and after experiencing the mental enhancement effects of the ritual, he couldn't help but exclaim:

"It's no wonder I can't make money."

After this incident, Ka Peng's apothecary became unremarkable.

Like all the other apothecaries in Bede City, he displayed potions related to Saine in his shop. Business was not as booming as before, but life had finally returned to normal.

The carriages loaded with potions stopped and left in front of the shop. Boxes of potions were carried into the shop, and baskets of empty bottles were taken away by the recyclers. Adventurers came and went in the potion shop, and time passed peacefully. Days went by, and life was relatively Tranquility.

Ka Peng liked to sit at the entrance of the apothecary and greet customers. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder: what has the appearance of the Zane Dungeon brought to an ordinary person like him who would never be able to clear the dungeon in his lifetime?

Bards on the street were singing songs they had written for the Farron Undead Legion to beg for coins, while little kids wearing masks of Curse Frog and Ghrū jumped out of the alleyway to scare people.

A servant from some household was arguing about whether Furious Rajang or Bazelgeuse was the strongest. A butcher nearby chimed in, saying he still thought Herbivore Dragon meat was the most delicious and Felyne was the cutest.

The housewife, who was selecting ingredients, skipped over the special effects ingredients for adventurers and discussed with the shopkeeper whether the somewhat dry Trumpet Lion sponge cake could be sold at a lower price. Her daughter, wearing Little Pot flower wreath, ran over and hugged her affectionately, thus receiving a dessert of cocoa sauce mushrooms as a small reward, as well as a kiss on the forehead.

It seems like life has just become a little more interesting, hasn't it?

The time for reflection is over.

"So where have all the adventurers gone these past few days?!"

While Ka Peng can tolerate a drop in potion sales, he can't accept having absolutely no customers!

The shop owners all came out to respond to him, complaining about the decline in customer traffic these past few days. Where have all the adventurers gone?

As if in response to them, a cacophony of sounds came from the end of the street, followed by a thunderous thud of footsteps.

The shopkeepers were so frightened that they thought robbers had broken in to rob them. Only the bolder ones took a closer look and realized that the torrent rushing towards them were actually adventurers!

"What are they doing? A running race?"

"But their faces are terrifying!"

The adventurers who rushed over were all pale-faced, like undead who had just crawled out of the ground. Some of them were emaciated as if they had been tortured, and their bodies swayed as if they were drunk and listless. However, the remaining Spirit Power in their bodies supported them to run back to Bede City.

A sharp-eyed shopkeeper immediately recognized them as the adventurers who had disappeared in the past few days.

There are rumors that they seem to have entered that... Anor Londo? Is it some kind of Painting World or something?

While other Painting World appear individually, Anor Londo appears in large numbers, sparking much discussion and a consensus that Anor Londo must be an extremely special and precious Painting World!

There must be some extremely rare secret and treasure hidden inside, otherwise it wouldn't attract so many adventurers. This unusual situation deserves everyone's attention!

"That adventurer running on my head looks familiar... Hmm, isn't that Lu Lu Wo from the Skyrim Strategy Team?"

In that instant, Ka Peng and Lu Lu Wo met eyes, and the latter dashed into the apothecary, grabbing Capone's shoulder and asking:

"Psychotherapy drugs! I need psychotherapy drugs!"

Lu Lu Wo had very dark circles under her eyes and looked like she had lost weight. Her eyes were filled with a thirst for the mental healing potion.

If she doesn't drink something soon, she might not be able to hold on any longer.

After dying in the Painting World, she was still suffering from a terrible headache. She was completely out of supplies and didn't even have the humanity to start a fire. So she quickly ran back to Bede City. When she returned, all the hospitals and churches that provided mental health services were full. She and those who couldn't get a seat could only get some medicine to drink.

Judging from what will happen next, it seems the medicine will soon be gone.

There was a rush to buy mental healing drugs throughout the entire street, and Ka Peng was no exception.

He was stunned when business suddenly picked up after several days of no business, and then the amount of business was so exaggerated. He was then shaken awake by the anxious adventurer.

"Okay, just a moment, I'll go to the warehouse to get the medicine."

"Don't move it, we'll go with you!"

Once all the potions in stock were sold, the adventurers, having recovered somewhat after drinking them, could only run out again to look for more opportunities.

It was at this moment that Ka Peng had time to ask what had happened and what the adventurers had encountered.

Lu Lu Wo touched her belly, which was swollen from the medicine, sighed, and said with deep resentment:

"An unprecedented and inhumane ordeal."