Chapter 18. Crafty Moves

"Hehehe, heavy work, huh? Uncle Ronald is so endearing. If even after getting crushed under the car and coming into this barbaric world I do what others do, then I might as well hand myself to the goblins. At least they can feed their stomachs... Muahahaha, finally, now I can experience the feeling of cheating in broad daylight which no one else can do, and taking credit without blinking," Ash cackled maniacally, like a deranged individual, as he gleefully rubbed his hands together.

The first thing Ash did after calming down was gently close the workshop door and put a few heavy objects in front of it, so he wouldn't get any unwanted surprises in the middle of his cheating process. After that, he looked at the scattered iron orbs, ingots, and tools on the ground and without thinking, casually started tossing them into his inventory.

Yes, this is the cheat Ash was so excited about. His plan was quite simple: put half of the items inside his inventory, use the inventory auto-sorting function to separate them, and put them back in their respective places. That's it, easy as f*ck. Then he could use the remaining time to do various exercises to build up his body, which wasn't in good shape as he had already discovered. His strength and stamina were pathetically weak. If he had to have sex with a girl now, he might not even last two rounds of a few minutes before leaving the battlefield, For a man, nothing could be more embarrassing and shameful than this. So, for his better future and the happiness of his women, he had to exercise, at least until he could use his system to increase his various stats points.

Also, if he just cheated to finish the work, then it would be very obvious to Ronald during his "snack-giving" inspection. After all, how could anyone clean half of a dirty and messy workshop without getting a little bit dirty and sweaty?

"Sigh, no wonder those main characters in novels can become powerful in a short amount of time, leaving hardworking villains eating dust. Although I don't have a godly overpowered cheat like them, I can still see thousands of possibilities to become powerful and wealthy with my not-so-useful system. If I were in my previous world, I'd definitely start a smuggling business and transport all sorts of things between various countries right under their noses," Ash joked with a smile and shook his head.

...

"Hmm, as expected of someone who caught my eye, you did marvelous work today. Not a speck of dust can be seen anywhere, and all the orbs and tools are in their original places. To tell the truth, I haven't seen my workshop so clean in years. Simply wonderful!"

Ronald, with arms folded across his chest, nodded and praised Ash without holding back in the slightest. It's good that Ash is a humble (shameless) guy who rarely cares about useless things like empty praise. Otherwise, if anyone else were in his place, their ego might have skyrocketed, and they might try to work even harder next time just to impress the boss.

"Kiddo, always work hard like today," Ronald said serious tone but his expression showed his true thoughts. "You have a great future ahead of you. I like hard-working youngsters like you the most. Here's your reward for your hard work: 20 coins. Use them wisely."

"Also, if you don't mind, I want to give you some free advice..." He paused after handing Ash his wage, who wore a (faux) excited expression and was sweating buckets due to the heavy workout, which was quite challenging for a newbie like him. Of course, from Ronald's perspective, Ash was in such a state because he was working like a donkey with a carrot dangled in front of him.

Hearing that his cheap but excited boss wanted to give him free advice with unknown credibility, Ash, who had worked with many not-so-good people in his previous life, knew one fact very well when your boss is genuinely happy with your work, they definitely give useful advice. He transformed his fake excited expression into a serious one and spoke while nodding his head. 

"Please, Boss, I am all ears. Just say it."

"Hahaha, no need to be so polite. It's actually not a big deal. I just wanted to suggest buying good quality leather armor and gloves," Ronald said with a chuckle as they both walked out of the workshop. 

"It will not only protect you from harm or heat during smithy work but also, if one day you encounter any goblins, at least it won't be easy for them to hurt you. Of course, if they hit you directly on the head, not even God can save you. Also, your current clothes are just too fragile for this kind of heavy work and might not last a week. That's also the reason why I'm wearing leather clothes. Otherwise, just the simple expense of clothes is enough to make a big hole in my pocket." Ronald explained while pointing at his leather apron and pants.

"I understand, boss. So, how much do the leather armor and gloves cost?" Although Ash knew that what Ronald said made sense and that those two items were a must-buy if he really wanted to work at the smithy, otherwise his fingers would soon be crying blood because unfinished metal was not something to touch casually. But then, remembering his own poor financial condition, he couldn't help but ask hurriedly.

"I know this would be your next question. Although local leather armor and gloves made from cows or sheepskin are not expensive—only 250 coins for armor and 50 coins for gloves—considering your, ahem, unfortunate situation, I am willing to sell both of them to you for 200 coins. What do you think? I am a very generous boss, right?" Ronald, who was shamelessly praising himself with a prideful smug on his face, spoke puffing out his chest.

Ash, who was hit heavily by the price of the most basic leather armor and gloves, could only muster a forced smile and a weak nod at his poverty before bidding farewell to his shameless boss and exiting the shop.

"Sigh, an entire day of hard work and I could only earn 35 coins at most, which is not enough to buy me a pair of gloves. Too poor. Life is really hard. If this goes on like this, then my dream of wearing full-body magic armor, carrying a runic sword behind, raiding fire-breathing dragons with beautiful women in both my arms, and going on legendary adventures might not become reality anytime soon," Ash exhaled deeply, with a depressed look plastered on his face.

"Let's save the fire before going home. Ahh, my body is hurting so much. If simple exercises have such a strong effect on my body now, then tomorrow morning I might not be able to get up from bed. That previous bastard owner of this body definitely never suffered any hardship. Otherwise, how can this body be so fragile?" Ash grumbled angrily while clenching his fists and walking toward Linda's house.

[ *Ding:- No.1 File Saved.

Location:- Woodworth Town

Day:- 2

Total Saved:- 4

Death Count:- 1

Coins:- 45 ]