[ DISTRICT 1 - CITY HALL - MAYOR'S OFFICE ]
Mayor Sterling rubbed his temples. The headache was pounding behind his eyes.
"The Golden Scale Guild is on line one again, sir," his Chief Secretary, Kael, said. Kael was a retired D-Rank mage, working administration now. "Merchant Prince Aurum says if you don't sign the ban within the hour, he's pulling his funding for the District 4 reconstruction."
"Tell Aurum to shut up," Sterling snapped. "I'm signing it."
He looked at the document: [ EMERGENCY DECREE 809: RESTRICTION OF UNAUTHORIZED SYSTEM COMMERCE ].
"It's the only way," Sterling muttered. "We can't tax this 'Shop.' If the Hunters stop using Credits, the city goes broke. We have to scare them back into the legal market."
He picked up his heavy fountain pen. The tip hovered over the signature line.
Suddenly, Kael gasped.
It wasn't a normal gasp. It was the sound of someone seeing something impossible.
Sterling looked up. "What?"
Kael's eyes were wide, staring at empty air. His pupils were tracking text that Sterling—a normal, unawakened human—couldn't see.
"Sir..." Kael whispered. "A System Announcement. A Global one."
"What does it say?" Sterling demanded.
"The Shop..." Kael swallowed hard. "It just updated. A 10% discount on all items. For a limited time."
Sterling dropped the pen. It rolled across the desk.
"A sale?" Sterling asked, his voice flat. "The System launched a sale right now?"
"Yes, sir. The prices... they just dropped in real-time." Kael tapped the air, scrolling through his private interface. "Health Potions are down to 45 SP. Weapons are cheaper. Sir, the mana stones... they're cheaper than the wholesale price the Merchant Guild pays."
Sterling stood up and walked to the reinforced window overlooking the Central Plaza.
Down below, the reaction was immediate. But it was a split reaction.
The normal civilians were walking normally, looking confused. But the Awakeners—the Hunters in armor, the guards, the mercenaries—had stopped dead in their tracks.
"Yes!" A Hunter in the plaza pumped his fist into the air, shouting at nothing. "I can afford the breastplate!"
"Hey!" A civilian shouted at the Hunter. "What's going on? Why are you screaming?"
"The Shop!" The Hunter yelled back, his face beaming with joy. "Everything is 10% off! I can finally buy the cure for my leg!"
Sterling watched as more Awakeners began to cheer. City Guards high-fived mercenaries. A group of mages started manifesting new staffs right there on the sidewalk, testing them out.
The Awakeners were celebrating. The civilians were looking at them with a mix of confusion and envy.
"Sir," Kael said, his voice trembling. "If you sign that decree now... if you tell the Awakeners that using this discount is a crime..."
Sterling looked at the Hunters in the plaza. They were powerful. They were armed. And right now, they were happy.
If he signed the ban, he wouldn't just be fighting an economic war. He would be telling the city's super-soldiers that the Government was stealing their discount.
"They'll riot," Sterling whispered. "The Hunters will tear City Hall apart."
"Merchant Prince Aurum won't like this," Kael warned.
"Aurum doesn't have a fireball spell," Sterling snapped. "The people outside do."
He walked back to his desk. He picked up Emergency Decree 809.
Slowly, deliberately, he crumpled the paper into a ball and dropped it into the wastebasket.
"Scrap the ban," Sterling ordered, pouring himself a drink. "We can't touch it. The Shop just bought the loyalty of every Hunter in the city with a coupon."
[ DISTRICT 1 - THE GOLDEN SCALE GUILD HQ ]
While the Hunters cheered, the atmosphere in the Merchant Guild was funereal.
Merchant Prince Aurum, a man whose silk robes cost more than a house, stared at the financial ticker on the wall.
"What do you mean 'sales are zero'?" Aurum hissed.
"I mean zero, sir," his analyst said, sweating. "The Hunters aren't buying our potions. They aren't buying our swords. They are converting everything they have into SP to use the discount."
Aurum slammed his fist on the table. "I told Sterling to ban it!"
"He can't, sir. Not with the discount. It would be political suicide."
Aurum's face turned a dangerous shade of purple. He walked over to the window, looking out at the city he used to own.
"So the Shop wants to play a price war?" Aurum sneered. "It thinks it can undercut me? The Golden Scale has controlled this economy for twenty years."
He turned back to his analyst, his eyes cold and calculating.
"Get me the Crafters Guild. Get me the Alchemists."
"Sir?"
"If the Hunters want to use the Shop, fine," Aurum said, his voice dropping to a low growl. "But they forget one thing. You can't pay rent with System Points. You can't buy groceries with a magical sword."
He sat down in his leather chair, steepling his fingers.
"We control the Credits. We control the liquid cash that keeps their families fed. If they want to play games, we'll cut off their allowance."
"Are... are you suggesting an embargo, sir?"
"I'm suggesting we stop buying," Aurum smiled, but there was no humor in it. "We stop buying monster parts. We stop exchanging their loot for Credits. Let's see how much they love the Shop when they can't turn their loot into real money."
[ DISTRICT 2 - THE MITHRIL FORGE SHOWROOM ]
Kaelen, a B-Rank Fire Mage, stood at the counter of Valoria's most prestigious weapon shop. The air smelled of hot iron and grease.
"Five hundred thousand Credits," the Master Smith grunted, polishing a staff made of red wood. "That's the price. Take it or leave it."
Kaelen winced. "Five hundred? It was four-fifty last week."
"Iron prices went up," the Smith shrugged. "Plus, the enchantment is custom. This staff increases Fire damage by 5%. You won't find better craftsmanship in the city."
Kaelen looked at his bank app. He had the money, but it was his life savings. He remembered witnessing that strange Level 1 boy—the "Dermit"—sell a single Goblin Core to Lady Seraphina for this exact amount.
It took me three years to save this, Kaelen thought bitterly. And that kid made it in ten minutes.
"Can you do four-seventy?" Kaelen pleaded. "I'm a regular."
"Not a copper less," the Smith said arrogantly. "If you can't afford quality, go use a twig."
Kaelen sighed, reaching for his credit card. He felt trapped. The Crafters Guild controlled the supply, so they controlled the price.
DING.
A sound resonated in Kaelen's skull. It wasn't his phone. It was the System.
He blinked, and a golden window overlaid his vision of the grumpy Smith.
[ SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT ] [ SPECIAL EVENT: SHOP DISCOUNT ] [ 10% OFF ALL ITEMS ]
Kaelen froze. He mentally opened the Shop interface, a reflex he had developed over the last week. He navigated to [ WEAPONS > STAVES ].
There it was. [ ITEM: Ember-Core Staff (B-Rank) ] [ EFFECT: +12% Fire Damage. Auto-repair function. ] [ OLD PRICE: 45,000 SP ] [ DISCOUNT PRICE: 40,500 SP ]
Kaelen did the math instantly.
The Smith's staff gave +5% damage for 500,000 Credits. The Shop's staff gave +12% damage for 40,500 SP.
He currently had 38,000 SP saved up. If he went and killed maybe fifty wolves in the E-Rank dungeon... just a few hours of work... he would have enough.
He wouldn't have to spend a single Credit. He wouldn't have to beg this arrogant blacksmith.
"Well?" the Smith barked, holding out the card reader. "Are you buying it or wasting my time?"
Kaelen looked at the Smith. Then he looked at the wooden staff that suddenly looked like garbage compared to the glowing image in his mind.
"Actually," Kaelen said, putting his credit card back in his wallet. "I think I'll pass."
The Smith scowled. "You're making a mistake. You won't find another Fire Staff in stock for weeks. Prices are only going up."
"Maybe in your currency," Kaelen smiled. A genuine, relieved smile. "But not in the real one."
"What are you talking about?" the Smith demanded. "Who is selling it cheaper? The Golden Scale?"
"The Shop," Kaelen said.
He turned around and walked out of the store.
"Hey! Wait!" the Smith shouted, realizing he just lost a massive sale. "Fine! Four-eighty!"
Kaelen didn't even turn around. He pushed open the doors and stepped out onto the street. He saw other hunters checking their interfaces, stopping mid-stride, smiling.
He pulled out his phone and opened the group chat for his party.
[ Kaelen: ] Guys. Don't buy anything from the shops. We're going to the Wolf Dungeon. Right now. [ Tank: ] Why? [ Kaelen: ] Because the Shop is having a sale. I'm getting that B-Rank staff today.
He pocketed his phone and started running toward the gate.
As he ran, he thought about that Level 1 boy again. The boy who had demanded 500,000 Credits for a core.
He knew, Kaelen realized. That kid knew Credits were going to be trash. He cashed out while the market was high.
Kaelen grinned. He wasn't going to be left behind this time.