Counter-Productive

> Lock the door, and anything else that can be locked. You can never be too careful with inventory

That guy seemed pretty suspicious. Maybe you should block the door until morning comes. Don't want no sneaky thieves stealing yo wares.

> Lock the door, and anything else that can be locked. You can never be too careful with inventory

Check one last time for cats

Check one last time for cats


You lock the front door to prevent any more early customers and head up to the balcony. No more cats. You decide to leave the food out for it in case it comes back during the night.


->


Time for bed. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day.


->



->


>_

> Retrieve arms from dreams.

Alternatively.

> Have a questionably-prophetic dream/vision about your Gran.

Show Content

P.S.Loving the cute dithered sunset gradient! And glad to see you back.

(Welcom bacc!!)
>seconding gran dream

oh man this seems pretty cool!

>dream about shrimps

Wake up.



->


It's the start of a new day! Time to get to work!


Cat status?


It looks like you were visited during the night. The food dish is empty. Sadly, there's no cat in sight.

Your pumpkins are starting to sprout, though!


->


You unlock the front door and get ready for your first customers.


->



->


Your first customer enters. Looks like a local farmer.


->


"Hello there. You must be Pip."
"Oh! Yes...how do you know me?"
"Your Grandma is an old friend of mine. She told me you were comin'. Said to welcome you to the neighborhood."
"Thanks."
"Shame she had to leave. Those robots were really givin' her trouble."
"Wait, the robots came to the store?"
"'Fraid so. Don't worry, it'll be a bit before they realize it's reopened. Though on the bright side, it looks like you're going to have some good business in the meantime."
"There was some teenager in what looked like cultist robes that came to the store yesterday. He mentioned 'others'. There isn't some weird cult in the area, is there?"
"Ha! Not that I know of, but I did see the young man you were talkin' about loitering outside. Maybe he can tell you what's goin' on in that building. Buncha weirdos in costumes as far as I can tell."
"Could you send him in for me?"
"Sure thing. Oh, and I'd also like to buy one of those HP potions before I go."


->


He buys the potion and leaves. You now have J60.00.


->


Your first sale! You gain 1 JP.


->


That cultist guy from yesterday enters.


->


"Uh, hi. I was told you wanted to see me...?"
"Yeah, I have some questions for you."
"Oh. Um. Ask away, then, I guess."


>_

What's your club all about and can I join???

whats inside ur robe are u hiding spooky stuff

>where can I get a kickass robe like that

Is your cult a bad one? Like, do you do sacrifices or scam members etc? I have a strict no evil cults policy. Well, I will if I need to.

>Ask him if he's currently single and if he'd like to get a coffee sometime if he is.

What's your club all about and can I join???

whats inside ur robe are u hiding spooky stuff

>where can I get a kickass robe like that

Is your cult a bad one? Like, do you do sacrifices or scam members etc? I have a strict no evil cults policy. Well, I will if I need to.

Ask him about the cult



"All right, what's with the creepy robes? Are you hiding something?"
"What? N-no, I..."
"Are you part of a cult?!"
"Ah-!"
"I don't want any trouble with cults. You better not try to sacrifice or scam me!"
"No it's-it- It isn't a cult!"
"Well, what is it then?! You don't see a lot of people walking around dressed like that!"


->



"I-it's just a cosplay convention!"
"...A what?"
"People dress up in costumes of their favorite characters and...uh...meet...people? Buy stuff? I just...it's just a costume."
"So the big event in that building is...?"
"The convention. There's uh...a lot of people there, and they let us through to go there...but...then they wouldn't let us go back. The monsters I mean. They...they won't let anyone go home through the passageways."
"Oh, uh...gosh, that's awful."
"Yeah, so a lot of people are gonna have to go home the long way...and they'll need, like...potions and weapons probably. So I thought I'd...tell them about the store."


->



"Gosh, I'm so sorry for overreacting. I just saw the robes and-"
"It's okay...I guess it is a little weird for people who aren't part of the...uh...culture, I guess."
"Well, I still have a few more questions, if you don't mind answering them?"
"Oh, uh...sure. Ask away, haha..."

Start with introductions? Ask his name.
And maybe get some market research? Have him look over your stock, and ask him if there was something he was interested in, but you didn't have available yet? Maybe offer a small discount for his opinion?
You gotta know what the teenagers think is cool.

Ask if there's anything you should stock up on



"Is there anything I don't have in stock that might be useful?"
"Well, uh...you have a lot of daggers and a short sword...but people might want other weapons that do more damage. Some decent rings might be good too..."
"I see...anything else?"
"Armor would be good...um...you probably want a lot of higher-tier crafted stuff and less uh...raw materials. A lot of people don't have the MP to craft anything fancy."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for your input!"
"No problem... Was there anything else you wanted to ask me...?"



>_

"So, what is your costume? Which one are you?"

"So, what is your costume? Which one are you?"

Ask him about his costume. What character is he, and how does he fit into the culture? He'll be happy to have a chance to talk about it, and have an outlet to geek out to. Customer satisfaction.

Ask about his costume



"So what are you dressed as?"
"Oh, uh...I'm a cultist. I mean...I'm dressed as one...uh...so I guess you weren't wrong? Haha..."
"Is that a character from something or...?"
"It's just...there's this old book, about a monster from space and a cult that worshiped it..."
"..."
"Though I uh...guess that's not really...appropriate anymore..."
"...So what do you do at the convention?"
"I just like to dress up...walk around...look at other people's costumes...It's fun, you know?"

OMG -> Ask if he wants his costume to be enhanced and enchanted to *become* armor? Fashionable armor. Form and function! Cosplay armor -> It's the next big thing. Capitalize on this.

Ask if he wants his costume to be enhanced and enchanted to *become* armor?



"Hey, thanks for the advice, you've been a big help."
"I have?"
"Yeah, and telling everyone at the convention about my store was really nice of you. How about I enhance your costume for you for free?
"Wow, uh, really? That would be awesome!"
"Just give me your robe and I'll see what I can do."



->



He hands you his costume. You have to shuffle your inventory around a bit to make it fit.



->



Now, time to make this robe into something amazing!



>_

>Pajamas. Pajamas with bunny slippers.

I know what it need. Ribbons! Not bows, but ribbons.

A) I'm wondering if a dagger + Reverse Rune would make a property of being able to resist damage, then fusing that with the armor. Don't want to screw it up and make the armor stab the wearer

B) Using an accelerate rune would probably make the armor just good right out - but we'll run out of Accelerate runes if we just use them for everything.

C) Could we just shrink rune some metal (to make it lightweight) and fuse it or craft it into the armor?

Dagger + Reverse Rune + Costume = Armor?



Good puzzle logic, but you're worried that a Reverse rune might just make the dagger rusty and blunt. You wouldn't want to combine that with anything wearable.



Using an accelerate rune would probably make the armor just good right out - but we'll run out of Accelerate runes if we just use them for everything.



That might work, but you're already out of Accelerate runes, remember?



Could we just shrink rune some metal (to make it lightweight) and fuse it or craft it into the armor?



Now you're on the right track!

Although shrinking the components doesn't affect the weight of the final product, and there's also the bigger size difference = more MP cost to consider, you could probably combine any article of clothing with a ring or some other smooth metal to craft makeshift armor.

You're going to need a Grow rune for this.



->



You combine the Grow rune with one of the rings. This should reduce the MP cost significantly, although it will still probably take all your MP to combine with the robe.

You wait for your MP to regenerate to full.



->



It took your entire MP bar, but you managed to craft the CULTIST BATTLEMAGE COSTUME. This should provide more defense than a flimsy robe, in addition to looking just a bit cooler. You hope your customer likes it!



>_

Nice.
>Well, let's see if our customer approves, shall we?

How long does it take for a full MP bar refill? Does food or drink help it recover?

Does food or drink help your MP refill faster?



If you had an MP potion, you could drink it to recover MP faster, but aside from that the only way is to wait for it to slowly refill on its own.

S . l . o . w . l . y . . . . . .

How do you find / buy more runes?

How do you find / buy more runes?



The store comes with a handy little catalog that you can order new ingredients and merchandise out of. All orders arrive the next day, so this is a good way to make sure you always have a good amount of stock to sell. Assuming, of course, you have the money to buy it.

You put the catalog in your inventory to flip through later.

Nice.
>Well, let's see if our customer approves, shall we?

Go show it off to your Customer!

Show the customer his new threads!



Of course! You just know he's going to love it!

Do you need to tailor it to their shape, or do they auto size?

Do you need to tailor it to their shape, or do they auto size?



Shape? Size? What?

You don't understand.



->



"Here you go! Your new, upgraded costume!"
"OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD"
"Haha, I'm glad you like it! Uh, be careful though, it's still a costume. It's not as protective as actual armor, so try not to get into any fights."
"Ohmygodthankyousomuchyou'rethebest"
"I'm sorry, what? I didn't catch that."
"AAAAA I'm going to go show off to everyone in the convention!"
"Um, okay? Did you hear me about the--"



->



--And he's gone.

He'll probably be fine.



>_

If your MP recovers enough before a customer comes in, combine a Blind scroll with a sharp dagger. Go ahead and combine some scrolls with rings, again, if time permits. Fireball and Ice Spike seem like good choices.

You've done a good thing. And hopefully, it'll boost business enough that you'll have to take backorders.

Cook some shrimp to celebrate!

Cook some shrimp to celebrate!



No! You must resist temptation!

That shrimp is for EMERGENCIES ONLY!

After your mp recovers combine some of your spells with rings I think that using a magic projectile, a blind, and a hp steal spell might make for useful magic rings.

Also if you can fuse potions it might be worthwhile to fuse a hp & mp potion into a single potion, the more inventory people save the more they can carry and buy after all.

If your MP recovers enough before a customer comes in, combine a Blind scroll with a sharp dagger. Go ahead and combine some scrolls with rings, again, if time permits. Fireball and Ice Spike seem like good choices.

->



Your MP's still a bit low, but you can probably do a bit of low-cost crafting before your next customer comes in.

You grab the SHARP DAGGER, the FIREBALL SCROLL, and the BLIND SCROLL from the shelves.



->



You also grab a bunch of scrolls from the back room.



Try combining an HP potion with an MP potion



You don't know how to make MP potions, but you can try combining an HP potion with a JP potion. You make one of each at the chemistry set.



->



You've discovered how to make a SMILE POTION.

...You have no idea what a SMILE POTION is.



Combine a Blind scroll with a Sharp Dagger



You've crafted the SHARP DAGGER OF BLINDING. Not only will it do more damage to your foes than a regular dagger, it also has a chance to blind them, making them more likely to miss their target or even attack their allies.

You'd like to use the rest of the scrolls to craft magic rings, but which rings should go with which scrolls? You have five rings remaining. Three are copper, the cheapest and most basic type of ring. One is iron, which is more expensive but channels magic better than copper. The last is brass, which is more expensive yet, but an even better conduit for magic than iron. You're pretty sure most of the scrolls cost the same amount, except for one.

You can combine the rings with the scrolls as-is, keep them affordable or try to maximize profit, or try combining scrolls together to make new ones.

What will you do?



>_

Combine Parasitic Plant and HP-Steal. If that's not impressive enough a result by itself, further combine it with Magic Projectile to make a really scary ring! Put it on the Brass Ring.

Shock Lance and Blind sounds like it might make some nice flashbang lightning bolt kind of result, no? Iron Ring.

Fireball on one of the copper, Ice Spike on another, and, uhhhhh.... What do we have left after that? Magic Projectile?

> Clearly combine the outlier expensive scroll with the Brass Ring.

Heads up guys, updates may be spotty for the next couple months. I'll try to keep updates consistent, but I've got a lot going on right now so I can't make any promises.

---

Brass Ring --> HP Steal
Anyone who is using a HP stealing fighting tactic is in that battle for endurance and attrition. They will want max performance out of their attrition and repair engine.

Iron Ring --> Shock lance
Standard high offense.

Copper --> 1 Parasitic Plant, to see what happens, 1 blind, as a debuff secondary option, 1 magic projectile because that spell is perfect in ring form.

Of the remaining Poison scroll and HP steal scroll - can you combine scrolls directly? They'd be good candidates to try.

Combine Parasitic Plant and HP-Steal. If that's not impressive enough a result by itself, further combine it with Magic Projectile to make a really scary ring! Put it on the Brass Ring.

Shock Lance and Blind sounds like it might make some nice flashbang lightning bolt kind of result, no? Iron Ring.

Fireball on one of the copper, Ice Spike on another, and, uhhhhh.... What do we have left after that? Magic Projectile?

> Clearly combine the outlier expensive scroll with the Brass Ring.

->



You grab up the rest of the scrolls in the back room. Any you don't use, you can just sell normally.



->



You combine the HP STEAL SCROLL and the PARASITIC PLANT SCROLL to create the LEECHVINE SCROLL. On their own, these scrolls steal HP from an enemy and put them into your own HP bar, and summon strong but easily destructible roots from the ground to prevent the enemy from moving. The LEECHVINE SCROLL summons a vine which wraps around the target to hinder its movement, while also slowly draining its HP. Not only that, but the vine is harder to destroy than the roots, and as it drains more HP it gets even harder to destroy. You may have just created something horrifying.

You also combine the SHOCK LANCE SCROLL and the BLIND SCROLL to create the BLINDING BOLT SCROLL. While SHOCK LANCE and BLIND create a damaging bolt of electricity and blind the target, respectively, BLINDING BOLT creates an electric blast that does less damage but leaves the target blinded and CONFUSED. You're not an expert on MOOD EFFECTS, but you're pretty sure there's a way to use that to your advantage.



->



The HP STEAL scroll is the most expensive base scroll, so you combine the LEECHVINE scroll with the brass ring.

You combine the BLINDING BOLT scroll with the iron ring.

Finally, you combine the FIREBALL, ICE SPIKE, and MAGIC PROJECTILE rings with the copper rings.

And that's all the MP you have. You should probably rest for a bit before doing any more crafting today.



->



You head into the shop to put your wares on display, only to find that a customer has come in while you were distracted!



->



"Er, hi there!"
"Oh? So there is someone working here. I thought that cultist guy just walked in here and took stuff."
"No no, sorry. I was just working on something in the back."
"Mmkay. I was hoping you could help me with something.
"Of course! What do you need?"



->



"Well, I'm headed west, and I'll need one of these levitation potions to get home. But I don't want to be attacked while I'm floating around, so I need some kind of weapon to deal with flying monsters. What do you recommend?"



>_

>Melee would not be very good for air-based defense, scrolls are one-use making them terrible for extended defense. A spellbook or a ring would be best.
>Heyyyyy, I just MADE some nice rings. If you want cheap and easy, how about this Magic Projectile Copper Ring?