"Give me two soaps, please!"
"I want that shampoo too!"
"Do you still have the deodorant?"
Hello, it's Motegi here, and I'm currently selling toiletries in the streets.
A WEEK AGO
After the sudden transport, the first thing I did was to understand my current situation and recall any information from that voice earlier before it disappeared.
"Okay, I get it. Now, let's remember what he said again. If I'm not mistaken, he said something like "Status Open.""
And suddenly, a screen popped up in front of me.
Motegi Sekino
Age: 21
Race: Human
Level 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 10/10
Strength: 1
Durability: 1
Speed: 1
Agility: 1
Intelligence: 1
Charisma: 1
Willpower: 1
Perception: 1
Luck: 1
Skills:
[Appraisal]
[Language Comprehension]
[Storage]
[Copier]
[Resistance]
BONUS SKILL AVAILABLE, TAP HERE
"Shit, I'm weak..."
That screen showed me RPG-like stats of mine, and I only muttered how weak I was. Apparently, I also could use magic, but my MP was very low. I wondered if I used magic, it could cost my whole MP. Since I also didn't know how to use magic, I decided to put that aside.
"Alright, let's check the skills now."
From those five skills, I already knew the functions of [Appraisal], [Language Comprehension], and [Storage] skills since I also played games in my limited free time. So I only focused on the last two skills.
[Copier]
Duplicate anything with the same quality as the original. Including items, materials, magic spells, skills, fighting styles, etc.
[Resistance]
Complete immunity to any diseases, paralysis and similar status effects, and poisons.
"Whoa! These skills are nuts, aren't they?"
Even though I was weak, I was given such powerful skills. One prevented me from sickness, and the other one allowed me to copy anything.
"Ah, here it is! The bonus skill!"
I also remembered that I could choose a bonus skill, so I was happy when I noticed it on the bottom of the screen. With that, I tapped the button, and then the window changed, revealing a lot of horizontal flowcharts of square skill icons, each floating in a straight line from left to right like a sideways tech tree. I clicked over each one to know what they could do.
"Umm... [Basic Farming], no. [Minor Foraging], no..."
Strangely, there were no skills for enhancing stats or making me stronger. What was available were skills for mundane survival instead, and there was even a weird one called [Wanderer] that allowed me to rest in any environment without any dangers, like you could sleep outside with invisible barrier or something that could erase your presence.
Then, I saw a skill that caught my interest. It had four adjacent skills beside it that were still locked and dimmed behind "???" symbols. And the function itself was quite helpful in my opinion.
[Hygienics]
Create hygiene products.
"Hygiene products, huh? Like soap? Is that what this skill does?"
My gamer instinct kicked in. I thought [Hygienics] might be the best option for me because I could sell toiletries as a way to make a living in this world. And with the [Copier] skill, maybe I could use it to reduce the production cost and time by duplicating the raw materials or the product itself.
"Well, I've decided. Let's go with that one."
Then, I selected [Hygienics] and after that, I saw its adjacent skills hadn't unlocked yet.
"Yeah sure, it will take time, I guess."
Then, the screen changed into a display of my status again, and I noticed a change there.
Motegi Sekino
Age: 21
Race: Human
Level 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 10/10
Strength: 1
Durability: 1
Agility: 1
Intelligence: 1
Charisma: 1
Willpower: 1
Perception: 1
Luck: 1
Skills:
[Appraisal]
[Language Comprehension]
[Storage]
[Copier]
[Resistance]
[Hygienics] NEW
"Nice. And now..."
With my eyes set up to the walled city in front of my eyes and a growling sound from my stomach, I decided that I would start my new life right there.
REMANTIA EMPIRE, A HUMAN COUNTRY
When I arrived, I was amazed by the sights and the surrounding atmosphere. There were so many impressive buildings and lots of people, making it a very lively place. I walked around the city and saw so many stalls with plenty of products sold there.
Thanks to a kind guard, I figured out that I was in the human country called the Remantia Empire.
When I walked through a market, my nose caught a delicious aroma. It came from a stall that sold some skewers. That smell made me gulp, and the growling sound of my stomach got stronger.
I remembered that I still had some money in my wallet, so I reached for my tracksuit pocket. When I opened my wallet, I saw many types of unfamiliar coins had replaced the banknotes I had, and out of curiosity, I tried to use my [Appraisal] skill to check something.
"[Appraisal]."
Then, a screen popped up in front of me, showing how much each coin was worth in yen, just like what I wanted.
10 bronze coins = 100 yen
3 large bronze coins = 300 yen
8 silver coins = 8,000 yen
1 large silver coin = 10,000 yen
Total amount = 18,400 yen
"As I thought, it worked. So basically, 1 bronze is 10 yen, 1 large bronze is 100 yen, 1 silver is 1,000 yen, and 1 large silver is 10,000 yen. But hold on, it also means there are gold coins, right?"
With that, I asked people around and found new information. There were two more coins in this world; 1 gold coin, which was equal to 10 large silver coins, and 1 large gold coin, which was equal to 10 gold coins.
"So, 1 gold coin is 100,000 yen, and 1 large gold coin is 1,000,000 yen. Okay, I think I'll get them someday."
After the full understanding of currency, I went to the food stall that had caught my nose earlier.
"Hello, brother. Do you want some skewers?"
"Yes, give me two, please."
"Okay, it's 1 large bronze."
"Here you go."
"Thank you very much, brother!"
I gave him the coin, and finally, I got my first meal in this world.
"Hmm... it's delicious!!!"
When I took a bite of it, I could taste the bold seasoning and tenderness of the meat. It made me unable to get enough of it. Even though two skewers made my stomach full, I felt like I still wanted more.
After my stomach was full, I spent the next half hour wandering around the city, looking for a place to stay. After asking a few people, I found a decent-looking inn at the corner of the street. Arriving there, I was greeted by a woman with a beautiful smile.
"Welcome to Rosell Inn. How many nights do you want to stay, sir?"
"I'll be staying for one night."
"Do you want to include meals or not? It's 1 silver coin per night without meals and an additional 5 large bronze if you include meals."
Well, 1,000 yen per night was incredibly cheap, you know?
And adding 500 yen for meals wouldn't be a problem either.
"With meals, please."
"Understood. Here's your key, sir. Your room is on the second floor."
"Thank you."
After I paid the coins, I received my key and headed to my room. The room was very simple, 3 tatami mats in size with a single bed, a small table, a small chair, and a mirror. Then, I immediately went out again because I had some observations and shopping to do.
At the market, I took my time to visit some stores and gather as much information as I could about toiletries in here.
Apparently, the only hygiene product that existed here was soap, and it was expensive too, so only nobles could afford to buy it. They were sold at high-end stores with a price around 2 silver coins per bar, or 2,000 yen, which was shocking for me because I could buy it for below 100 yen back in Japan. The expensive raw materials and limited soapmakers available were the reasons why the price was so high, even this city only had one soap store, and it was run by a very old man with no successor.
And here came the next part, people in this world had never heard of shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, or hand sanitizers. To wash their hair, commoners mostly used herbal waters, or soap if they were nobles. To clean their teeth, they used a kind of ash or bone powder, which they would rub with twigs or cloth. And when I asked them about how they remove their body odor and how they clean their hands, they tilted their heads in confusion.
"Those things are parts of daily hygiene and affordable in Japan. So if I can make and sell them for cheap, people will come and I can make money, right?"
With that conclusion, I went to purchase the materials I needed. I also grabbed a few potion bottles of various sizes and a roll of clean cloth with some twine. And along the way, I also asked some people on how to open a stall. I found out that I should register in the merchant guild and I could set a place immediately, so I was more fired up by the additional information.
"Okay, that should cover it."
The sun was setting when I finished shopping, so I returned to the inn.
"Welcome back, sir."
"Ah, yes. I'm home..."
GROWL
When the inn lady welcomed me, a loud growling sound came from my stomach. She smiled at me, and it made me embarrassed.
"Should I prepare your dinner now, sir?"
"Ah... yes. Thank you, but... I have to go to my room first..."
"Yes, sir."
I quickly left and entered the room in embarrassment. Then, I spread everything I bought on the table.
"Okay, let's do this first. I wonder if I do this right..."
I decided to try the [Copier] skill, and because I didn't know how to use it, I just put my hand above the materials. Then suddenly, a shining light came, and after the light was gone, each one of them had doubled the amount.
"Whoa! It worked!"
With that, I did that a lot of times until they had become many. Then, I activated my [Storage] skill to put almost all of them inside my dimensional inventory and left the rest on the table for production.
For the first step, I wanted to make the soap, so I picked rose water, olive oil, tallow, and ash. Then, I brought my hands above them and began to concentrate as I imagined them turned into a soap.
"Okay, now I guess I have to do the same, right? Here we go, [Hygienics]."
And just as I wanted, the ingredients shimmered and vanished, replaced by a perfectly shaped bar of soap. My first try was a success.
"Woohoo! I made it!"
Well, that skill was really amazing indeed. I didn't stir or boil anything and didn't even need a mold, I just imagined a bar of soap, and voila.
"Alright, time for the shampoo and sanitizers."
I picked out milk, crushed herbs, rose water, castor oil, and a bit of distilled water for the shampoo. Then, I picked out alcohol, and distilled water for the sanitizers. After that, I placed two potion bottles, one large and one small, nearby as I put my hands above them.
"[Hygienics]."
The ingredients vanished, and the potion bottles instantly filled. The larger bottle had a white-colored, fragrant shampoo liquid inside, while a transparent, strong-scented liquid appeared inside the smaller bottle.
"Alright, another success. Now, the toothpaste and deodorant."
I took some salt, mint leaves, oil, natron, charcoal, and distilled water for the toothpaste. Then, I took oil, natron, rose water, and alum for the deodorant. After that, I placed a small square of cloth and a bit of twine beside them as I put my hands above them.
"[Hygienics]."
The ingredients transformed into white pastes, the deodorant was slightly smaller, while the toothpaste had a minty scent. Each of them landed perfectly in the center of the cloth, which is wrapped tightly and tied at the top with a twine.
"Okay, there's no stopping for now. Let's continue."
With that, I repeated the same process to make variations of each product. After about ten minutes, I looked at my handiworks that were all lined up on the table in front of me.
"Soap, shampoo, sanitizer, toothpaste, and deodorant. Who would've thought I made a living with them, huh?"
I still couldn't believe what I saw. In this new world, I didn't even think that I would start my life with selling toiletries. But one thing for sure, I was ready for this.
"Well, for the final touch. [Copier]."
The skill was activated again, duplicating all the products I made, and after that, I stored them all in my dimensional inventory. But then, when I looked down at the tracksuit I currently wore, an idea flashed inside my mind.
"Oh, maybe this one will work too, right?"
With that, I decided to duplicate my tracksuit into many, freeing my worries as I could change anytime I wanted. I knew I couldn't wash my clothes since I still lived in an inn, so that's why I had to be prepared in case this one I wore was dirty. And soon after, my dimensional inventory was also loaded with an army of carbon-copied tracksuits.
Then, I heard my stomach growl again, and I went downstairs to eat dinner.