Chapter 22: Art might not be so bad.
Back home, Volkner visited the item transaction site before connecting to Royal Pokemon Online.
Although Volkner Aslan had only traded one item there so far, his account position was triple diamond. This was due to the account from the previous game, which he had sold.
She alone elevated him to prestigious VIP status.
[Buy] Iron Sword +10 Strength for $30,000.
[Buy] Barry anti-venom. offers.
[Buy] Firestones for $5,000 each. Negotiable.
[Buy] Black Belt for $100,000 and more.
[Buy] Chamander for 5 million dollars.
The in-demand list was thousands of pages long and keyword search yielded millions of results, but few of them actually closed a deal.
A number of users were eager to get items like good pokemons and the demand was insanely high. Basically, the suppliers couldn't keep up with the demand.
Especially pokemons, it was incredibly difficult to find a charmander. Those who managed to capture it would naturally not sell it if they were in their right mind.
The system favored sellers, and when one of them placed one of their items, the auction was full within minutes.
[Seeing] Casteliacone - Heals all status effects and conditions! Consumables 20 thousand dollars each.
[Seeing] Fast Pokeball - Shoots with lightning speed! 500 thousand each!
[Seeing] Choice Scarf - Retain item: Raises Speed, but only one move can be used / $200,000 permanent!.
[Seeing] Damp rock - Hold item: A Pokémon held item that extends the duration of the Rain Dance move used by the holder. PERMANENT 500 THOUSAND DOLLARS!.
[For Sale] Zubat Lv.13 50 thousand dollars. More private information.
Items in the top 10 of the auction boasted exorbitant prices. They were followed by smaller items below, which were still worth at least $50,000.
This inflated market signaled that items were in short supply.
If Volkner hadn't been lucky enough to obtain the iron sword early on, he would have repeated common quests here and there to collect a few copper coins at a time, and then later rushed to a blacksmith's workshop to buy an imperfect sword beforehand. to go to the hunting ground.
Which would probably break after a few hits from a pokemon.
There were countless players who died to pokemon stealth and equipment breakage. Pokemon were smart enough to try to kill the user first, prompting players to seek out stronger weapons and protections!.
Otherwise, he would have to punch the monsters or run for his life while his pokemon fought. most pokemons are not stupid, some tried to attack the pokemon owner.
Compared to weapons and equipment that were highly molded, items created by a blacksmith or tailor were cheap.
Royal Pokemon Online had only opened fifteen months ago and users were still immersed in leveling up and adventuring. Until now, Volkner was unaware of other professions.
Many initially didn't even know how to get a pokemon or level up. It took a long time for them to get used to the game.
Seventy percent of the continent was still unknown, so many dungeons were still unexplored and many quests unsolved. With an endless opportunity presented before their eyes, only a few users dreamed of becoming artisans.
The Continent of Kanto and Johto was a relatively new portion of the world that had only been discovered about a few months ago to players.
Kanto was located further away as per the available map, but uncharted territories and unexplored dungeons were scattered throughout, as well as strong monsters that were plentiful. This was the main reason why Volkner chose Kanto to start his great adventure.
'They said there was a fire dragon in kanto...'
'Did I start too late? No, I still have a chance to catch up.'
he said to himself.
Volkner shook his head. While the contestants were leveling up and going on adventures, Volkner had been exercising and gathering information for an entire year to prepare. He didn't want to sell his account anymore.
"Information is power"
The transaction procedure for an online game account was more complicated in a virtual reality game where an iris scan was used to verify the player's identity. Also, Volkner had to stay in business rather than make quick money.
Royal Pokemon Online had to support its family financially for at least the next five years.
'At this rate, Royal Pokemon Online will give my family something to live for for the next five, no, ten years. So I can afford to send Elesis off to college. Stability comes first. I dropped out of high school, but Elesis deserves a better life.'
he said to himself.
*ring*
The phone suddenly started ringing.
Volkner looked around and noticed that Granny and Elesis were outside, so he reluctantly picked up the phone.
"Hello, who's speaking?"
"Volkner, is that you? You still sound rough on the phone, man. It's me Paulo, ."
"Oh, it's you, paul."
Volkner hadn't heard this voice for a long time.
'Since I left school.'
he thought bitterly.
"So, what happened?"
Volkner asked.
"We have an alumni meeting tonight..."
"I don't give a shit about it. Isn't it supposed to be attended only by the seniors? It's not even funny if a dropout like me shows up at the meeting."
"But..."
"No buts. You know why I dropped out of school. I have nothing to do with school right now. That's it."
"....."
"Do me a favor. Never call me again."
*slam*
Volkner hung up the phone and took a deep breath. It was a phone call he didn't want in the least.
If only he had a memory eraser like the one from the MIB movie, then without a doubt he would have erased all three years of his high school... the worst memory and one of the lowest points of his life.
At that time, Volkner had been beaten and threatened by loan sharks. He had to sneak out to school. He had gone to school at dawn and left at midnight, as if he were playing hide and seek.
For a couple of days, Volkner had avoided loan sharks, but they were smarter than he thought. They had hired street gangsters to pressure the teachers at the school.
Volkner had even been told by his homeroom teacher to pay off his debt, right in front of his classmates. The professor had knelt before the lost student, pleading through tears that he didn't want to get involved in this madness.
"It was the last straw. I dropped out of school the next day."
He muttered to himself.
Volkner was a little curious about what his old school friends were like in college, but showing his face at the meeting would only relive those embarrassing moments.
'The inescapable truth is that the only thing left for me to do is play the virtual reality game.'
Volkner finished his lunch and entered the game again.
***
Volkner never missed his daily routine of settling down in front of Will's mansion from dawn to dusk. Who else would be able to handle dull days like these?
"What do you think about going hunting in the forest? Spearows have a high level, but if we team up, they'll be easy."
"I hear you've joined an escort mission for the caravans bound for Viridian?"
"The price of Pidgey feathers has lately increased by almost triple the usual value."
An abundance of conversation entered Volkner's ears.
Horses neighed, carriages passed. Sitting on the main avenue, Volkner could pick up a lot of information. He learned what was happening in the world. Without this kind of fun, he would have given up by now.
When Volkner hit the scarecrow, he was at least enjoying a sense of becoming more powerful. It was self-torture to have to sit still under the scorching sun.
'Mewoth is also very fast, but its defense is low. Should I treat you like a murderer?'
'Didn't Buddha stare at a wall for several days, meditating?'
Volkner wondered. He was going through a similar experience, determined to see Will.
In the last two days, Volkner had found Parker and Vanessa to go hunting together. They weren't as strong as he was, so they gained experience more slowly. Still, they could hunt monsters as they pleased, day and night. Thanks to their flexible hours, they've reached Volkner's level.
'I started after them and already surpassed them'
'tsk'
The thirty percent bonus on experience in the night part was technically nullified by the fact that the monsters were fifty percent stronger than during the day. For the most part, daytime hunting was more efficient for low-level users.
However, the risk was drastically reduced, as your pokemon Meowth had a unique characteristic. They could see the night as if it were day, almost like second nature!.
Also, Volkner was penalized for being undecided as to class, so he couldn't learn any skills. Someone without a class couldn't go around learning the skills of all classes.
Last but not least, this tested his patience as he was wasting precious time waiting in the middle of a street.
'What can I do now? Mastery in drawing... pictures... sheets'
Volkner looked around and found a shop that sold single sheets, he simply bought it with a few bronze coins.
Taking some, Volkner activated the ability to draw.
"draw this."
*Fwish*
As Volkner's hand moved, the wood was cut here and there.
"What the#$#..."
When the skill finished drawing, volkner sighed. The piece, almost using the entire sheet, was designed several stick figures and a stick house.
"I'd better do this alone."
"Even an 8 year old is better than this useless system"
Volkner took another sheet and began to draw calmly using the brush he was given. With his past experience working hard for some counterfeiters, which focused on manual labor, counterfeiting was like second nature to him.
The brush was so fast that, with just two strokes of touch, he carved through the paper. After some trial and error, he finally drew the piece into an image of a tree.
*Ting*
– Artistic Mastery skill proficiency has increased.
– Craft skill proficiency increased.
Two message windows cascaded.
Volkner learned something: he didn't need to have confidence in his ability to draw an object, moreover, when using the skill, he had to recognize exactly the way he was working.
I better practice drawing skills more often.
Bored, Volkner gathered several pieces of wood for framing and plucked several leaves as well.
'It's fun in its own way.'
Then it suddenly came to Volkner that when he was in school, his art teachers had praised him for being good at getting things done. What Volkner drew normally turned out to be useless, but some of the pieces looked acceptable even to his eyes.
He spent five hours drawing. It felt strange to see a man sitting on the floor drawing with a brush, but he felt it was better than wasting time in vain.
*Ting*
– ♦️Leveled Up: Art Mastery (Beginner Lv: 2 | 0%):
Allows you to produce more complicated jobs.
Decreases the failure rate with the skill.
Volkner's 'Crafting' and 'Art Mastery' skills leveled up quickly because his comparatively low level needed a small amount of experience to reach the highest level.
"Wow."
Volkner was impressed.
As his Artistic Mastery level increased, several windows appeared while he was cutting a piece of wood.
Visual clues were given, such as where to cut in a circle or what patterns were available. Volkner could choose one of the hints, which were automatically processed. Even if he made a mistake, Mastery Paint would complement the drawing to refine the final product.
Now he was doing high quality statue design. Volkner drew a Persian he had hunted the other night, which was easier than he thought. He placed the completed drawings that emanated to life beside him.
Volkner's skill level was currently at 2, but Sacha's sketch brush doubled it to 4.
The brush was a unique item that any artist would die craving. The problem was, no one cared.
The artist class was close to extinction. Even though there were a few aspiring artists left, their levels were mediocre, so it was impossible to expect a good price for Sacha's brush.
When Volkner finished one of the art pieces...
*Ting*
– New Attribute: Art
"Art?"
*Ting*
– ♦️ Art Attribute:
A gift in the understanding and practice of creation. Art creates elegant products in an aesthetic and practical sense. It increases when you see, hear, smell, taste or touch beautiful things, or when creating works of art.
"....."
Volkner was silent, calculating the infinite potential promised by the art attribute. Then he made a quick decision:
"Delete the Art attribute!"
*Ting*
– This attribute cannot be deleted!
"Curse!"
"Fucking game, I'm going to curse the makers of this game! you ..#*@*@**&"
A user could not create attributes infinitely. The maximum number of attribute slots was fifteen.
Volkner found it unbearable that one of the spaces had been wasted on art. After all, he planned to fill them only with the absolutely necessary ones.
'This cannot be avoided!'
he thought bitterly.
Volkner, who didn't care about stats in art, swore he would never dole out any stat points on her. He was relieved to learn that the stat would automatically increase, but he was skeptical about how it would work.
Volkner continued drawing here and there, although he was more interested in the extra effects than the Artistic Mastery itself.
"Art Mastery is useless, but the crafting skill is worth the effort in many areas. It will increase the attack power of swords and bow and arrows, which are hand-based. I can work with sensitive crafts as well."
"And there is also pokemon nursing skill, it must take nimble and steady hands with high dexterity to do something complex"
The craft skill was a necessity that influenced everywhere.
– You gained a specialization fee in the Crafting skill.
*Ting*
– Leveled up: Crafting (Beginner Lv: 3 | 0%):
Allows you to learn cooking and tailoring skills.
Increases attack power with melee and ranged weapons (+2% ATK).
Increases fist attack power (+3% ATK).
Volkner's craft skill level has reached 3 with art helping him get experience faster.
'She's really worth it.'
Volkner was pleased with a rapid increase in his Craft skill level. It was partly because the artworks he had produced were, in fact, at level 4 thanks to the weeding brush, but Artistic Mastery was the main factor.
Cooking and Tailoring skills, for example, greatly affected the Crafting skill, but they could not rival Artistic Mastery in finesse and proficiency.
Simply put, Artistic Mastery was essential to improving the Crafting skill. Needless to say, no one would bother learning Artist Mastery in order to improve their Crafting skill.
"Shit, I'll never learn the Tailoring skill. I hate it!"
Volkner found it positive to master basic cooking skills so he could enjoy delicious food with the recipes online. Not to mention, buying ingredients straight from a grocery store and cooking them with his hands was cheaper than ordering a dish at a fancy restaurant.
Likewise, Volkner could better preserve stamina by using home-cooked meals when he went on a hunting mission for a week or more without returning to civilization. Instant food couldn't restore maximum stamina.
Furthermore, he was so haunted by the memory of working hard in a textile factory that he was determined to refrain from learning the tailoring skill.
'I hate sewing more than anything else. I will never, ever touch the damn thing again.'
Absorbed as he worked on his drawings, Volkner didn't realize he was surrounded by shadows until his ears picked up strange conversations.
"Wow, this is so adorable!"
"Looks like they're real."
"I've never seen artwork so vivid and good before."
Volkner looked for the direction of the shadows. There was a group of people looking at their statues in awe.
A tiny, pretty girl pointed her finger at the rabbit statue.
"Hi Uncle, is she for sale?"
Volkner would have kindly corrected her that he was just a teenager, but that was how a single woman in her thirties would react to a 'lady' label.
"But..."
"Yes. What can I do for you, young lady?"
Volkner said, smiling politely as he smelled the money.
"I want that one. How much does it cost?"
Handing over the drawing of a Mewoth, a passing thought came to Volkner.
"IT'S..."
Volkner was pressured to give a fair price.
Get rid of those drawings at a profit now or let them sit there forever, ending up in a garbage can. He showed two fingers and said:
"It will cost this much."
"Two pieces of silver? It's cheaper than I thought!"
The girl paid two silver coins and took the statue.
"This kitty is really cute. I'll keep him as a souvenir."
Stunned, Volkner looked at her back as she pleasantly departed. Two fingers meant two copper coins. Only two coppers, but the girl paid a hundred times the asking price.
"Hey, I want to buy one too!"
"Same here. I'll take the two persians from there."
Volkner's small drawings sold well.
The small ones were priced at two silver coins and the large ones at three. The Persian and Mewoth designs that he had hunted in the area around the City were more popular than the sword or shield designs.
The animals looked cute and customers preferred them as a memory of their time as rookies.
A level 70 user could easily make a few gold coins a day. For them, two pieces of silver were a bargain.
The stock of drawings quickly sold out.
"Can you please draw us a picture of a rabbit? It's yellow. A yellow rabbit called pikachu. Can you do that?"
Volkner contemplated and nodded.
The order wasn't as difficult as it looked. The model could be seen with the prints of the players taking off and the girl was kind enough to make some available.
"Yes sir. However, you have to pay extra for a custom version."
"How much does this cost?"
"Five silver coins would do it."
When the word "five" left his mouth, Volkner lamented that he might have overdone it, but buyers were quick to respond:
"Fine. I want to. So you should make her look really pretty. Please?"
In the City, there is an art shop, but it specialized in life-size art for nobles' halls, sometimes adorned with gold and precious stones, which were not accessible to most users. Since no one else was interested in Artistic Mastery, those drawings that volkner drew had collectible value.
"Wow, this is so cool!"
Those who bought the cartoons were excited, loving their recent purchases.
"Can I get your name? Then when I want to buy another one, I'll look for you."
"Volkner... Volkner Artist. If you want to have a beautiful drawing to your liking, don't hesitate to call me."
"Thank you see you soon."
Before sunset, rumors of the painter had spread to the other ends of the City and people had come to visit Volkner.
"Oh, there he is!"
"I want you to do some drawings for us."
Volkner had won four pieces of silver from the hunt last night and the day before yesterday, but a drawing or two made more money now. It only took 10 minutes to draw something. As the materials cost next to nothing, it was a very profitable trade.
The next day, Volkner stopped at a miscellaneous store and bought papal in bulk and some cardstock as well. He began to mass produce drawings.
Especially Pikachu, the girls loved how cute he was.
As Crafting skill and Artist Mastery improved, more beautiful and delicate pieces were resulting. Needless to say, blessed by his greater mastery of skills, they were being sold at a higher price and at a faster rate.
Successful masterpieces, one or two in a thousand, were even put up for auction. His opinion of Artistic Mastery changed a bit in the process. A part-time job to ensure a satisfying amount of money in your pocket.
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