ASS 1

~Prologue~

Two men stood in front of a two-story building. One of them was dressed in a professional business suit, while the other wore jeans and a black hoodie.

"Here is your key and documents for the building, Mr. Roberts," the finely dressed man offered the referred objects to the younger man, who accepted them with a nod.

"I wish you success in your business endeavors," he continued and offered his hand. The younger man's brown eyes were glazed for a moment, staring at something only he was able to see.

"Mr. Roberts?" Questioned the finely dressed man.

"Um, yeah, thank you," the younger man recovered and shook hands with the local government worker.

Left alone, he entered inside his newly acquired building. The place used to be a shop, so it was spacious inside, though it was empty, with just a simple counter and a few shelves.

"So, I wasn't thrown here without any cheats," William Roberts muttered.

Earlier in the previous day, he had been off to work. The night before, he had stayed up later than usual, so he had decided to take a nap on the bus. It wasn't the first time this happened to him, so William had trained himself to wake up just before his bus stop.

Unfortunately, when he opened his eyes, he was no longer on the bus. Instead, William found himself standing in the middle of a plaza, surrounded by unfamiliar buildings. He had no idea where he was or how he had even gotten there.

For a moment, William considered the thought that he was dreaming. Though that was quickly thrown away after pinching himself and feeling pain. Obviously, he panicked as he wasn't trained to deal with such a situation. They definitely didn't prepare him for that at his work.

More than a few people stared at him like he was crazy, but for the most part, he was ignored. It seemed weird behaviors weren't uncommon in his new location.

After calming down from his existential crisis, William quickly checked his pockets for his phone. Alas, it was nowhere to be found. Though he did notice he had an extra wallet instead. It was filled with bills he wasn't familiar with and a note with simple instructions on it.

'Buy a building and obtain a basic business operation license.'

Simple and straightforward. William had no idea who left this message to him or why, so he didn't immediately follow up on it. Instead, he researched where he was and what was going on.

The first thing he found out was that the people in the city spoke English. Or maybe William somehow knew their language. He still wasn't sure which it was.

The second thing he found out was that the city he was in was called Magnolia Town. It sounded familiar to him, but he didn't know where he knew it from. Until he found out that there was a magic guild located in the city, one that went by the name of Fairy Tail.

William was somehow transported into a fantasy world filled with magic. It's safe to say he panicked again.

Sure, lots of people had imagined themselves being transported over to a fantasy world, but they all envisioned themselves having some kind of power. William had none of that, only a single note with a simple message.

Briefly, he considered going over to Fairy Tail and seeking asylum there. Depending on the timeline, William might be able to provide them with some information about the future.

It was a good option, but they might think of him as crazy. Then again, Edolas did exist in this world from what he remembered, so they might believe his story of being dimensionally kidnapped.

William, however, didn't have that much to offer them besides his possible future knowledge, which might be obsolete depending on the timeline. He didn't have any special skills since he was a college dropout that worked as a cashier. William didn't even know if he was capable of using magic, considering his situation of not being from this world, to begin with.

As much as he wanted to visit the guild and see how some of the female members would look like in real life, he decided to follow the simple instructions of the message he had. There was always the chance that whoever kidnapped William would simply smite him out of existence if he ignored the note.

After asking the locals, he was pointed in the right direction. William was worried he might encounter issues with not having a local ID, but it turned out that wasn't a problem. The money he had was also enough for William to purchase what he needed with a little bit left to spend for himself.

The process of obtaining both a building and license was faster than he imagined, 24 hours to be exact. Apparently Magnolia Town was a merchant city, so it wasn't uncommon for someone to try his luck setting up shop there.

The only problem William encountered was when he was asked what he would be selling. He honestly had no idea how to reply to that, so he went with the vague answer of 'magical items.'

Surprisingly, that worked out, and he wasn't asked any more questions about his products. However, William was warned that there would be regular inspections of his merchandise to make sure he wasn't selling anything dangerous.

That seemed problematic since he didn't know if he was even going to be selling stuff. William just had a note instructing him to obtain a building and a license with no further information. For all he knew, the next step might be jumping in the river and drowning himself.

Nevertheless, William finished the deal and was now staring at the next step, so to say.

[The Shop System has been activated.]

[You have been granted 100 store credits to spend and one free crafting skill to choose.]

[Good luck, Shopkeeper.]

That was it. No explanation on how the system worked, did, or anything like that. William was left to his own devices to figure out how to operate it.

After some trial and error, he deduced a few things. His status was the first thing he figured out since it resembled a certain gamer system he knew off. Unfortunately, he was left disappointed there since he had no stats or levels. Only his store credits, personal, magical, and crafting skills were shown there.

The next thing he found was the store selection screen where he could use his credits. It offered pretty much anything related to this world, including skills, both mundane and magical.

One thing that stood out to William was that it specifically stated that it had items only from his currently residing world. Meaning there was a way for him to go to another world, possibly even returning to his home. Though, he wasn't aware of how at that moment.

And lastly, all his system options were voice-controlled. That's what he believed until he figured out he could bring them up with just a thought.

William also tried figuring out how he was supposed to obtain more store credit, but there was no explanation anywhere he looked. And he desperately needed more, considering the cheapest magic he found cost five times the amount he currently had.

From what William knew, Magnolia Town was destroyed or came close to ruin a few times, so he needed some way to protect himself. Magic was the obvious go-to, but he was nowhere close to purchasing even the cheapest one.

With a sigh, William turned to the crafting skills. That was the only hint that he had, plus he had a free one to purchase. He went through the selection, carefully checking each and every option available to him. The options were numerous, from something as simple as tailoring and gardening to things like enchanting and alchemy.

"I think this will do," William made his choice, ending up with alchemy. Whichever crafting skill he picked, he would still need to procure resources and then process them. Alchemy seemed like the one that would give him the best profit for the amount of time he would spend creating potions.

Just as William finished his selection, a book appeared in front of him and dropped on the wooden floor. One moment there was nothing, and the next, it just popped out of thin air.

William checked his status first, seeing no change there before picking up the book from the ground. It had a plain black cover with a simple 'Alchemy' title plastered on it.

"You have to be shitting me!" William let out a curse after no prompt came out. He expected it to be like a skill book in games, where the player could simply gain the skill in an instant. Unfortunately for him, he had to not only read through it but manually learn it.

"Yeah, no, I'm dealing with this later. I need to grab something to eat first."

Since the moment he had arrived in Magnolia Town, William hadn't had a single bite of food. He was too stressed to even think about that. Now that he knew he wasn't left to the wolves with nothing to help him, hunger finally overtook him.

The previous day, William spotted a few restaurants that caught his eye while searching for a place to stay for the night. He had about 50000 Jewels left, which equated to roughly $500. As long as he didn't just throw his money around, he had enough to last him for a month, maybe.

William had yet to explore the rest of his newly acquired building, but he could do that later. For now, food, but he first wanted to stash his Alchemy book. Then the harsh realization that he didn't have an Inventory hit him like a speeding truck.

"FUCKKKK!"

~Part 1~

The food William ate was one of the best he had ever been served. Then again, he hadn't really gone to restaurants before. He either ate junk food or ordered take-out from one of the fast-food restaurants in his area.

Despite how good it tasted, William was on the verge of tears at the end since the bill was 2500 Jewels. It wasn't that much, considering he had about 45000 more, but he still had no way of obtaining more.

Obviously, selling potions would be his source of income in the near future, but William didn't know how long it would take him to learn the skill. For all he knew, he might weeks or even months to get the basics down before he could even start brewing elixirs.

William's face turned ashen at the thought of that. 'With how things are going... I'm going to need more than just ingredients to brew potions, won't I?'

His dreams of just grabbing ingredients and combining them into a potion disappeared in a second. William shuddered at how 'realistic' his system was. 'Whoever designed or created this system is an asshole.'

Did his system have a way for him to be great and maybe even achieve godhood? It did, and he knew that since he saw some of the things he could buy in the store, but it wouldn't be an easy path. William didn't have the option of just slaying mobs over and over again before he outleveled even the strongest beings. It was like he was playing on not impossible difficulty, but the one below it.

William returned back to his newly purchased building, disheartened that he wouldn't have an easy life, though he was determined to make the best of it. It's not like he had many other alternatives available to him.

Finding a mundane job in the city was always an option. However, it wasn't one William was willing to take. There was always the possibility of being smitten out of existence for not doing his job as a shopkeeper. He still didn't know how he appeared in this place, after all.

And... William also didn't want to miss on the chance of becoming someone great. The items he could purchase with store credits were like a carrot and a stick.

As long as William found a way to earn more, he could obtain incredible rewards. But if William didn't, they would be forever in his sight but just out of his reach. Humans were greedy by nature, and he naturally wanted to grab all the incredible items in his store.

With that in mind, William had no other choice than to follow the hints given to him by his system. It made him purchase a building and obtain a license before it rewarded him with the Shop System alongside 100 store credits and a free crafting skill.

Naturally, the next step should be for William to make use of his crafting skill and start selling his product. And with how the system seemed to work so far, he would probably have to use his credits on his crafting profession as well.

That was still unclear, but William will shortly figure it out. First, however, he planned to inspect his building entirely since he only entered the main store area without going further in.

The first floor had three more rooms, all empty, allowing him to furnish and turn them into whatever he needed. One would probably be turned into a storage, with how he didn't have an Inventory, and another would become his alchemy room.

The second floor had four rooms, including a bathroom, which had a toilet and a shower. The other three were completely empty, with not a single piece of furniture inside them.

William just stared at the last room he entered, his eyes slowly blinking as realization struck him. He was informed the building was unfurnished, but he at least expected to have a bed.

"Fuck. Did those guys cheat me?" William thought he was provided with just enough money to purchase a building and have a bit leftover, but maybe they saw how gullible he was and overpriced it. After all, he didn't know how much it should've cost to begin with.

William thought he had maybe about a month before his money ran out, but sadly, that didn't seem to be the case anymore. 20000 Jewels went out of his pocket as he purchased a mattress since he refused to sleep on the wooden floor.

Feeling like a Japanese, William dropped on his 'bed' and opened up his alchemy book. The 300-page monstrosity looked terrifying in his hands, but after taking a deep breath, he started reading.

Despite focusing solely on the book, William didn't finish it that day but around lunchtime the day after. The first he did afterward was to check his status screen.

"Damn it! You really are making me work for it, aren't you?"

The alchemy skill hadn't appeared under his crafting section. William had sped through the book, hoping he just had to read it once before it turned into a skill. Obviously, that wasn't the case, and he needed to actually understand and comprehend the book.

However, William did learn a thing or two. Like, the fact that he wouldn't be able to grab ingredients and magic them into a potion. At the very least, he would require an alchemy table, which of course, he had to purchase with his credits. And ingredients, but there was no need for that to be mentioned.

Oh, and the 300-page monstrosity was just for beginners. William deduced that on his own, considering the book only talked about inferior potions despite how long it was.

"Retail is the worst job out there!" If he knew he would be given a system related to his job, he would've become a martial artist or something like that. That way, he would've had an easy-to-use cheat and not this!

With tears in his eyes, William started reading again, this time trying to comprehend and understand every single word. It's not like he had much of a choice.

One week, that's how much it took William to comprehend everything in the book. As a result, he was awarded with the alchemy skill appearing in his crafting section. On that day, tears of joy streamed down his face as he could finally start brewing potions.

During that week, William hadn't stayed idle. There was only so much reading he could do in a day before he overheated. He explored the city and got used to it while finding things about it.

For instance, Fairy Tail wasn't the sole guild in the city, but it was the most famous one. It turned out there were a total of four guilds located in Magnolia Town.

The city also wasn't known as a merchant hotspot and was filled with all kinds of stores. William visited one of those and made an important order for his future and currently had 100 glass bottles in his storage room.

He could've purchased those with his store credits, but that was a limited recourse William still didn't know how to acquire more of. Plus, he had to use them for the more important items he couldn't buy in the city.

Namely, an alchemy table that came along with a mortar and pestle. That one cost William 80 credits, which was the cheapest one available in his Shop System. The rest of his credits were spent on ingredients for the potions he planned on selling.

William intended to sell health and mana potions - both inferior, but the customers didn't need to know that - since he believed they would catch the interest of the people. Healing magic was very rare, so he expected the health potions to be very desirable. The mana ones, he wasn't sure how much they would be sought out, but he hoped for the best.

Since William was buying the cheapest ingredients in his Shop System, he could acquire a stack of 10 for just a single credit. He had four sets of 50 neatly arranged next to his alchemy table and ready for him to turn into potions.

"I can do this. I know I can do this," William hyped himself up before grabbing two herbs, a Mageroyal and a Silverleaf. He first processed both ingredients with the mortar and pestle. Then he started brewing water on the alchemy table before adding the ground herbs in the correct order to it. And as expected -

"God fucking damn it!"

- he failed his first try at alchemy and wasted two of the ingredients.

William didn't immediately try again. Instead, he opened up his book and read through the mana potion recipe once more. He studied it carefully for a few minutes before taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Okay, this time, I will succeed," William was sure of that. Though confidence wasn't enough for him to successfully brew his first potion.

He obviously failed once more.

For the rest of the day, William continued trying his hardest at the alchemy table. He failed multiple times. However, after each mistake, he examined his errors and fixed them on his next attempt.

In the end, William finally brewed a potion and held a glass bottle with blue liquid inside it while maniacally laughing.

~Part 2~

For the better part of the next few days, Williams kept on brewing potion after potion until he exhausted all his herbs. He was almost ready to open his shop, though he still had a couple of things to do before that.

The first was to commission a sign. No one would even come to William's shop if they didn't know it was a shop in the first place. The building he owned was plain, and only the windows on the front gave off the idea that it wasn't just a house.

And that was the second order of business he had to handle, the need to advertise his store. William's shop wasn't in the central plaza of Magnolia Town, nor was it on the hottest street of the city. Nevertheless, the road next to his building had enough traffic for him to work with.

William wouldn't have minded if he had the option to advertise his shop on something like the Internet, but such a thing didn't exist in Earthland, the name of the world of Fairy Tail. They didn't even have television there, only something that was a very bastardized version of that. That was something to keep in mind for the future if he could find a way to introduce it to this world.

With those limitations in mind, William had to improvise with the advertisement of his shop. He had an idea in mind - one he wasn't very fond of - but he didn't have many options considering his situation. He needed money, and he needed it fast.

After grabbing one more item, William returned to his building, planning on having an early night in preparation for the big day that awaited him. He washed his clothes to make sure he made a good impression since William was going to open his very own shop that sold magical items, err, just potions for now. Though he did one very important experiment before jumping on his mattress.

Excitement bubbled inside him, and William had a hard time falling asleep. He had never even imagined that he would become an owner of a business. At most, William thought he would maybe end up as a manager in the retail store he worked at unless he quit before that even happened. One could deal with customers on a daily basis only so much before he was fed up.

'Then again, I will be back to dealing with customers after tomorrow,' he thought with a grimace before shaking his head. 'This time, it will be different.'

William would no longer be a cashier forced to smile while customers screamed at him for this and that. He won't have to deal with their bullshit, unable to even express his thoughts due to "the customer is always right!"

No, starting tomorrow, William would be in a position of power. The shop was his own property, and he was the owner of the business. Therefore, William was the one that decided on the rules. If any Karens tried to ruin his day, then he was going to ban them from his shop, plain and simple.

In the end, William managed to fall asleep and peacefully dreamed of swimming in gold, feeling like Scrooge McDuck. It felt good to be rich.

In the morning, William hung the sign over his entrance to his shop. For a moment, he just stared at it, pondering over the name he chose. He wasn't sure if it was right or not, but he liked the abbreviation of WWW.

In a way, it reminded him of back home, and William dearly missed the Internet. Hopefully, there was a way to recreate it with magic. Magic was supposed to be able to do almost anything, so there had to be a way. He just had to figure out how to do it.

'Something for the future,' William shook his head with a smile. 'But I have to focus on the now,' he turned around, watching the few people walking down the road.

It was still early in the morning, so there weren't that many pedestrians. It wasn't the time for him to act, so he leaned against his store as he continued people-watching.

William waited and waited until the traffic peaked, and he finally made his move. A bundle of emotions swirled inside him, ranging from nervousness to excitement. He feared he might fail, but he steeled himself. 'It's all or nothing!'

"Everyone! Everyone! Gather around! I have something amazing to show you that demands your attention!" William announced, raising his voice so many could hear him, but not quite enough for him to be yelling.

People shot him inquiring looks, but very few of them stopped in their tracks to see what this was about. A part of him was disappointed by the number that seemed interested, but it was enough. Humans were curious by nature, so seeing even a small crowd gathering, they would stop to inspect what was going on.

"Today, I announce the opening of William's World of Wonders! And what a glorious opening it is!" William continued, doing his best to be as charismatic as he could possibly be.

Scoffs and chuckles were the responses he received. A few shook their heads and continued on their way, but some stayed, which resulted in more people stopping by.

After a brief pause, William smiled at the crowd and took out the glass bottle with red liquid from the pocket of his hoodie, showing it off to the people.

"I present to you, good people of Magnolia Town, a new type of medicine that has never before been seen!"

What William said was the truth. He had checked and asked around, but people laughed at him when he asked about Health Potions. There were medicines that slightly increased how fast a human healed, but it was nothing compared to his own creation.

"Get a load of this guy, 'a new type of medicine,' he says."

"A bunch of beastshit is what it is."

"Seems a new swindler has come to town."

People scoffed and laughed at his declaration, but a few looked curious. That's all William needed. People that denounced his claim, so he could prove them wrong, and some that took interest.

"This little bottle in my hand contains something I call a Health Potion, a mystical liquid that could heal injuries visibly to the naked eye!" William exclaimed, and the response he received was something he expected, outrage.

They called him a scammer, thief, cheat, swindler, charlatan, and etc. They denounced his claim, saying such a thing didn't exist. William smiled through it all, pulling on the experience of dealing with customers from his previous job.

"And to show you how miraculous this medicine is, I will give you all a first-hand experience!" William's words quieted down the crowd.

A few of them even stepped back in fear as they misunderstood his statement, thinking that William would injure them and force-feed them the potion. They doubled down on their beliefs when they saw him take out a pocket knife. William continued smiling, but he discreetly took a gulp.

'Do it! Do it! Do it!' He yelled in his mind. Injuring oneself wasn't easy since his self-preserving instincts worked against him. However, William was too far into his speech to back out now. He had to do it!

William plunged the knife in his palm and opened up a wound for all to see. Blood sprouted from his hand, and the people flinched back in shock. William winced and resisted the urge to yell in pain.

'Fuck, I overdid it!' He had tested it out the previous night, but he had only nicked himself. With his emotions running high at the moment, he ended up opening quite the wound on his palm.

Quickly, William removed the cork from the bottle and gulped down the red liquid. The potion had a bitter taste, but he barely felt it, considering how much pain he was in.

Nevertheless, William smiled at the crowd - or at least he tried - as he pointed his bleeding palm at them. He didn't get to witness it, but the people oohed and aahed in wonder. Even though his wound healed, William still felt the phantom pain from it. However, he still had to go on.

"As you can all see, this medicine is truly wondrous! And that's not even the end of its miraculous abilities. Not only could it quickly heal wounds, but it could also remove old scars if drunk by a healthy person!"

And the crowd went wild, firing question after question at him.

"Starting today, Health Potions would be available at William's World of Wonders at the low price of 5000 Jewels!"

William had thought over how much to price his potion and decided on that. Most wizards won't have a problem buying it, but they were just 10% of the world's population. The rest were humans with no magical power, and he wanted them to be able to afford it. They would make a majority of his customers, after all.

The only problem that William had was that he couldn't find the ingredients for the Health Potion on the market. They just didn't exist, and no one had heard about them, which royally confused him. After all, his Shop System specifically stated that the products available to him were of this world, so he didn't understand how that was possible.

However, William did find a few other herbs that could be used for the recipes he knew of. They weren't as amazing as the Health Potion and would limit his customer base, but that was still better than nothing.

"Come get them while you can because there is a limited stock available at the moment!"

William's eyes widened in fear as his words opened the dam, sending a floodgate rushing his way. The people charged at him, and he fled back in his store like a gazelle being chased by a pride of lions.

William had underestimated how sought out his potions would be, especially with their limited stock and affordable cost even for civilians. After all, this world wasn't a safe place.

There were beasts and demons that destroyed cities, dragons that removed countries from the map, and if he remembered correctly, even gods existed in this world, though he knew very little about them.

And even without all those beings in the equations, wizards were a danger to the people as much as they protected them. Having the ability to heal on demand was something invaluable in Earthland.

A part of William regretted that he priced potions at such a low cost since he could've probably made it 50% higher or even more, but this was fine. This would ensure that the customers would even have more reason to return and even spread the word about his shop.

Wizards would surely hear about it, and then William would be able to even sell his Mana Potions. He had no way to advertise those since he had no magic and no way to prove they worked. Now, his shop would be credible after his show, and people would be less inclined to doubt his words.

~Part 3~

"Get in line, no pushing or shoving, please," William said as he ran back behind the counter.

The store entrance room was barren and unfurnished. William thought it morbidly represented his current situation, so he wasn't a big fan of it. However, he was thankful it was empty at that moment since roughly two dozen people were squeezed inside it. And all of them were trying to reach him since his words of limited stock still rang in their ears.

"Please behave. Otherwise, I won't sell you my potions," that's all it took for the people to quiet down.

William smiled. He didn't need to mind his words since there was no manager to reprimand him later, no boss to cut his pay or even fire him. The power was in his hands, and he made the rules in his shop.

Once everyone quieted down, William turned his attention to his first customer, a plump middle-aged man dressed in fine clothes.

"I want five of those potions of yours."

The request stumped William. He didn't expect a civilian to ask for so many. If it was a wizard, he would understand since they did go on jobs that could endanger their lives if they weren't careful.

But why would a civilian ask for so many? William didn't understand why, but he didn't need to. He was just a simple shopkeeper, after all. Though he couldn't give away so much of his stock as much as he wanted to.

"Apologies, good sir, but due to today's limited stock, I would be selling only one type of potion per person," William informed loud enough for everyone to hear him.

The rule he just set was abusable, and he knew, but William just wanted more people to enter his shop. That meant more would see the traffic going in and out and would get interested. Which would lead to word about him and his shop being spread faster.

"When do you expect to get more stock?" The plump man asked with a grunt, unhappy with his rule.

"I can't promise anything for tomorrow, but do make sure to check in the next few days," William smiled, pulling on his customer service experience and saying what the customer wanted to hear.

Did he know for sure that he would be able to earn credits and purchase more herbs to brew more potions? No, but if he didn't, he could always say something happened with the shipment.

The plump man nodded, still looking unsatisfied, and looked behind William. The shelves built into the wall had bottles neatly lined on them. The Health Potions the man recognized, but there were also other bottles with blue liquid.

"You said only one type of potion per person? Mind telling me what that one over there is?" The man inquired, quieting down the people that were getting antsy at this taking so long. After all, they were also interested in what that second potion was. One already healed injuries, so what miraculous effect did the blue liquid have?

"The blue one is a magic potion that restores the exhausted magic power of a wizard," William explained, knowing that it won't catch the interest of most since only 10% of the world's population were wizards. Still, word will spread and reach the ears of the wizards, and that's all he needed.

"And how much does it go for?" The man asked.

"5000 Jewels! All of my potions cost that much for today due to it being the store's opening," William informed. He saw how they jumped at him when pricing them at that amount, so he could always increase the cost at least a little bit.

"I'll take one of both," the man said and placed 10000 Jewels on the counter without batting an eye.

"Here you go, sir," William handed them over and pocketed the money before freezing for just a second. A moment later, he smiled and looked at the next customer.

"And what would you like, mam?"

"Just a Health Potion," she replied and gave him the money.

They completed the transaction, but William frowned. He was staring at his status screen, which he brought up mentally a moment ago, and William wasn't happy with what he saw. He completed a couple more sales and let out a sigh of relief.

[For completing your first sale, you have been awarded 10 store credits.]

William's untalkative Shop System finally deigned him worthy of its presence. Though that was the extent of its words as no further messages followed. That worried him, so he brought up his status to check if he received more store credits from the sold potions. He hadn't.

'Does this system plan to suck me dry?' William was sweating on the inside, but he continued selling the potions with a smile, a fake one since he had the practice.

After the next customer in line purchased a potion, William's shoulders visibly sagged in relief. His store credit counter had increased by 1, and he couldn't express how happy that made him.

'Thank you for throwing me a bone!' The system hadn't forsaken him, after all.

Four more customers later, and William found out the pattern behind his credits gain. He earned a single store credit for every four potions he sold.

Whether that was a standard for all items bought from his shop or not was still up for debate. If it was, then he would have to start selling cheap products in large quantities. William would be swimming in store credit if he did that, but he had a feeling the system wasn't so benevolent to allow it.

People continued buying potions, some got only a health potion, but a few of them purchased a mana potion as well. William was fairly sure some of them would try to resell them at a higher price, but he didn't care...

Okay, William cared a little bit that those people would make a profit out of his product. However, at the end of the day, potions were a consumable item. Whoever bought them would soon find themselves in need of more, and they would end up coming to his store. That would just lead to word about his store being spread even more, alongside him getting more customers.

William continued counting money and selling potions as he thought of how to proceed in the near future. Obviously, he would be purchasing more ingredients from his system, but that wasn't as profitable as he wished it was.

If - and that was one big if - he brewed 50 potions and sold them all, he would gain 2.5 credits. Since William didn't have a 100% success rate, that number was even lower. If it dropped below 40 potions, he would even lose store credits.

'I have to find a better and more profitable way,' William mused. He opened up the system shop to check what other options were available to him when a haughty harrumph interrupted him.

"5000 Jewels? Don't you think that's too much?"

William focused on the older gentleman dressed in fancy clothes. He pretty much went into autopilot after the first few sales. That was a habit and a necessary coping mechanism developed from his previous job.

"Too much, you say?" William looked up and down at the man's attire. Fancy clothes, rings adorning his fingers, and an expensive-looking cane in his hand. The man obviously had money to spare.

"Why yes. 5000 Jewels for a medicine that might not even work? That's just outrageous."

William's first impulse was to apologize and explain that the Health Potions indeed worked and inform him of the demonstration earlier. His experience and instinct told him he should speak sweet words to the gentleman and try to appease him in some way. But then he remembered that he was his own boss and didn't need to do that.

"I'm sorry to hear you don't have enough Jewels to buy the potions. Please move away since you are blocking the line, sir," William told him with a sweet smile.

"What? I didn't say that!" The man was visibly offended by his words.

"Then what is the problem, sir?" William asked, his smile never leaving his face.

"I'm saying that you are clearly overcharging for those potions of yours!" A few people even agreed from behind him, and the man gained a confident smirk.

"I see, so you know of a place that sells those products cheaper than mine?" William questioned. Before the man could even answer, he continued. "Then please go and buy them from there and stop holding the line. Thank you."

"W-what?" The man deflated, unable to believe the response he received.

"Other customers are waiting, so please stop blocking the line, sir," William continued with his sweet smile.

The man just stared at him for a moment before letting out an angry harrumph. He then threw 5000 Jewels on the counter without saying another word. William took them and handed him a Health Potion, continuing to serve the rest of the customers.

No more complaints followed after the little show. Until the Health Potions were all bought out, that is. It happened faster than William had anticipated, but then again, he only had 40 of them in stock. He successfully brewed 43 and used 2 of them himself. One to test it out the night before and one for the demonstration. The last, he was keeping for himself just in case.

"I'm sorry to inform you all, but this was the last Health Potion in stock," William addressed the few customers that were still in line. They complained, but he continued undisturbed. "There will be a restock in soon, so do make sure to check up in the next few days."

Most of the customers left the store with unhappy frowns, but a few stayed to purchase his other potion. Soon, he was left alone, and William again turned his focus on his system store.

Health Potions were very sought out and would become a big hit in Magnolia Town. William was sure of that. Buying the herbs to brew more was definitely on the table, but the problem was that it wasn't profitable enough.

While continuing to look through the various items in his system store, a few customers came in to ask for Health Potions. William informed them all to check again in the next few days. Word was spreading about his shop, and that made him happy.

William got even happier when he found something that was important for his future in the system shop, seeds for the herbs to create Health Potions. If he could start growing his own ingredients, that would definitely boost his store credit profit.

"It seems I will have to pick up another crafting skill."

~Part 4~

A bit after noon, William was standing behind the counter and counting the Jewels he had earned for the day since there were no more customers in his shop. One or two would pass by every now and then to ask if he had Health Potions in stock, but they quickly left when he informed them to check in the next few days.

"310000... That's a lot of money for the first day," William whistled. $3100 in just a few hours was nothing to scoff at. He had to work for three months to earn that much in his previous job, and here he got that much in less than a day.

It felt good to have money, but... "I wonder how much I will be left with after I go out shopping."

William had to furnish his shop for one. He also had to buy more glass bottles since he had just a few left. The upper floor also needed to be decorated since sleeping in an empty room felt depressing. A chair for him to sit on while there were no customers also sounded nice.

"Damn, I'm going to have to use all of it, aren't I?" William let out a depressed sigh as he put it all in his wallet. "Might as well deal with it now."

There weren't any customers, and William didn't think many more would come, so he decided to close the store for the day. His first destination was a short walk away, and it didn't take him long to reach it.

"Geel's Glasswork," read the sign on the workshop two streets away from his store. The inside was quite cramped compared to his own shop, but the room was only there for the customer to place orders. It was in the back that the magic happened.

Behind the counter was an elderly woman with greying hair and wrinkles. She was reading a magazine and had a steaming cup beside her.

"Hello, Mrs. Geel," William greeted her. He wasn't quite familiar with her, but she was the one that took his order the last time.

"Good afternoon. How can we help you?" Mrs. Geel greeted him back after placing the magazine down.

"I'm looking to place another order for glass bottles with you," William started, and her green eyes lit up in recognition.

"Ah, you are the lad that ordered 100 glass bottles about a week ago, aren't you?" She asked.

"Yep, that's me. I'm in need of your husband's service once more," William nodded to her.

"I require a bit more this time. A lot more actually, and I also wanted to ask if we can form some kind of contract for your business to regularly provide me with glass bottles."

Having to constantly come here to place orders seemed redundant to him. It was just a waste of time. It would be much better if they simply sent him glass bottles on a regular basis.

"Certainly, I can get my husband right now if you wish to make the contract immediately," Mrs. Geel told him with a bright smile.

"No need, I just want you to keep me in mind, and we can do that in the next few days. For now, I just want to order 500 glass bottles, same design as the previous ones, to be delivered to 25 Rose Street, please."

Mrs. Geel happily started writing it down while humming to herself.

"I'm also willing to pay extra if they can be delivered as soon as possible. Today even if that is feasible," William continued. He had about a dozen glass bottles left, and he wanted to sell potions tomorrow if possible, eager to earn more store credits.

"Hmm, I don't believe that is possible. At most, 100 can be delivered today, while the rest can be delivered over the next two days. How does that sound?"

"That's fine with me," William agreed with the offer. It wasn't the worst, and he couldn't brew over 100 potions in a day either way. And that was another problem William would have to tackle soon. A better alchemy table should help, but even his current one cost him 80 credits, and he was nowhere close to that number at that moment.

"Great, I will just need your name."

"William Roberts."

"Okay, your order is 22750 Jewels with the express delivery, Mr. Roberts. You can expect the first batch to be delivered around 18:00 today," Mrs. Geel informed him, and William paid upfront. He trusted the work of her husband, so there was no reason not to.

"Thank you," they said at the same time, causing them to chuckle before William bid his goodbyes and left.

'Now I need to get a chair. Maybe a blanket and a pillow as well. I also won't mind a new pair of clothes. A clock, I also need a watch.' William was falling into the trap that most young people do after getting their paycheck. He was very eager to go out and start spending his money. And there was no one to stop him or tell him otherwise.

William returned to his building a very happy man. A new watch was wrapped around his wrist, and he carried bags in each hand with his new purchases. Tonight, he would be sleeping almost like a regular human with a pillow under his head and a blanket covering him.

However, the wide smile on his face disappeared once he saw a group standing in front of his shop. Wizards were easily distinguishable compared to citizens. They just had that specific aura about themselves. Whether it was due to the magic power coursing through their bodies or due to the experience they gained from going out on jobs, he didn't know, but he immediately recognized those fellows as wizards.

Taking a deep breath, William walked up to them calmly. A small part of him feared wizards since magic was scary. Sure, in the show, the characters often got blasted with powerful spells and just got up without issues, but this was real life, and he was a squishy human.

"Hello, can I help you, gentlemen?" William asked.

"You the owner of this place?" A wizard built like a brick asked him.

"That's me," William nodded.

"We're here to buy them Health Potions people be speakin' about," the same wizard, who looked like the leader of the group, said.

"I'm sorry to inform you that they were all bought out earlier today. If you-"

"When are you gettin' more?" The wizard interrupted him.

"In the next few days. You can come by tomorrow to check. I believe I should have some in stock," William replied, hiding his annoyance with a smile.

"Save them all for us then!" The man demanded, and William almost gave in. The guy was intimidating as he was a head taller than him and looked like a bodybuilder.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do that," William shook his head.

"What did you just say?" The man stepped closer to him. "Do you know who we are? We are wizards from Twilight Ogre!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but what if wizards from the other guilds come and demand the same?" William asked, trying his best to keep his voice steady and not quivering.

"You're gonna tell them no!" The wizard stated with absolute confidence.

"What if they are from Fairy Tail?" William's words brought down the man, and one other wizard tapped him on the shoulder. He took a shot in the dark with that question, but it seemed to have worked.

"Dird, we can't compete with Fairy Tail. You remember what happened last time, right?" He whispered to the buff wizard.

"I might not be able to specifically save them for you, but if you come in early and buy them before anyone else, then I can't do anything about that," William decided to say with a shrug of his shoulders. He might not like how they tried to strongarm him, but he also didn't wish to antagonize them.

Dird stared at him for a moment, and William was practically able to see the clogs moving inside his brain. The wizard suddenly turned around and growled at one of his friends, "Oxi, why didn't you think of that?! I'm gonna punch your brain out for making me embarrass myself!"

Nope, nope, William was having none of that. If they fought in front of his building, they might end up ruining his shop! He might've earned a good amount of money today, and even if it was enough for him to repair his store, it would take some time. He would be losing money!

The Magic Council was supposed to help with restoring damaged property by wizards, but from what he learned from the people of Magnolia Town, they took ages with that. He was advised it was better to always have some Jewels saved up to fix it on his own and ask for reparations from them.

"The Health Potions might've run out, but I do have Magic Potions in stock. They can restore your exhausted magic power," William quickly said before a brawl could start.

"Really? Why didn't you say so, bro?" Dird turned towards him and asked.

"Yes, and since it's still the opening day, they cost only 5000 each," William said, not mentioning he was interrupted before he could inform them.

"Awesome!" The group loudly exclaimed as they followed him inside.

"How many would you like to purchase?" William asked as he got behind the counter. The rule about selling only one potion a person was quickly forgotten since his customers were wizards. He was better off not offending those guys.

The wizards huddled together, whispering to each other before Dird gathered their money and placed it on the counter.

"We have 50000 Jewels. How many can we buy?" Dird asked as William just blinked at him for a brief moment.

'Do those guys not know how to count? I told them how much each potion cost, right? I'm not going crazy, am I?' William thought inwardly before answering.

"That would be 10 Magic Potions then," he took them off the shelf and handed them over to Dird.

"Wow, look at their color!"

"They are blue!"

"I wonder if they taste like blueberries?"

William looked them up and down, making sure they were adults. They were, yet, 'Why do I feel like I'm dealing with kids?'