ASM Chapter 3: Welcome to the [Shop] (Patreon)

I collapsed onto my bed after a hard day of work trying to not break my brain with the amount of bombshells dropped on it in the span of 12 hours.

So to recap, I died(Via Pipebomb), Pipebomb Express took me to another world, Apparently I am in Japan and know Japanese, people have coloured hair, and I live in an Anime now.

Due to that, I passed out the moment my body hit the bed. That much was too much for one person.

...

What the fuck.

Did I get reincarnated AGAIN? I clearly remember passing out on my bed so why am I laying on a cold hard floor right now? As my eyes adjusted to the light I noticed that I was in a wooden room, It had no windows, just a nice wooden door, and a counter for some reason but that was it. But suddenly I saw something concerning.

A translucent screen was in front of me.

[Welcome to your shop.]

My what.

[The shop: You are now the proud undisputed absolute owner of this establishment that sits between the border of everything.]

That does not answer me...!

Looking around the room I found a piece of A4 paper on the ground that had very neat fancy wiring on it.

[User manual: This shop that you own is connected to everywhere. You can buy things with credits and sell things to customers for credits. You can improve the shop and everything else related to it with credits. Try opening the menu by internally vocalizing it.]

'...'

*Sigh* Fuck it. We ball.

I already got reincarnated into what I can only assume is a world that is similar to if not the same as in anime. As myself no less.

So yeah, I can roll with this interdimensional shop shit. My day was already bizarre enough, this is just the icing on the goddam cake.

'Menu"

[ {Status} {Shop} {Catalogue} ]

Curious, I tapped on the Status.

----------------------<Status>----------------------

[ Name: Matthew Smith ]

[ Condition: Healthy ]

[ Race: Human ]

---<Abilities>---------------------------------------

None.

---<Skills>------------------------------------------

[  Mixed Martial Arts ( F )  ]

---<Perks>------------------------------------------

None.

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Huh. This looks better than I thought. I mean, I already come preinstalled with a skill, that's great. MMA was largely what I practised in my previous life so that makes sense.

Now let's look at that catalogue. But before that another tutorial popped up.

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[Catalogue]

The catalogue is only accessible to you as the shopkeeper. You can spend your personal credits to purchase whatever exists in the catalogue.

The selection in the catalogue expands over time depending on the amount of customers, the amount of credits spent, worlds visited, types of customers etc.

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I was about to look over what the actual catalogue contained I noticed another pop-up in my view.

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[Starter package is available!]

Choose a category:

[Mage]

[Production]

[Fighter]

[Ranger]

[Rogue]

The chosen category will affect the package received. All categories possess equal value and potential.

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So... like a class selection in a video game? Sure, let's go with that. So what should I choose?

Definitely not rouge, what kind of a shopkeeper chooses rouge? Besides, I am not really the sneaky little anke-stabbing goblin type.

Next off is Ranger. Don't get me wrong I like my guns as much as the next guy but I kinda do not like them over the other options.

Next down is mage. While I like magic and all it just doesn't speak to me. Just sitting down and studying spells or sitting back and flinging fireballs just isn't my style, especially when all of their potentials are equal.

...Next down is Fighter.

I know, very unexpected given how I have lived until now and the sole skill and talent I have. But it just doesn't feel right.

Besides, I was studying mechanics and engineering. It's only fair I pick production in this life to validate it. Besides, it's in the goddam name.

I also really want to make swords.

And my own weapons. It would be very cool to make my own weapons. Plus I can sell what I make. It is the most reasonable pick for a shopkeep no?

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[Production Starter package]

- [  Basic Forge Room  ]

- [  Basic Smithing set  ]

- [  Skill: Smithing (F)  ]

- [  Ability: Assembly (F)  ]

- [  Perk: Craftsman(E)  ]

- [  20x Deluxe Competence  ]

- [  500 Credits  ]

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I felt knowledge flow into my mind like a warm current. It felt like muscle memory was engraved onto my soul, I am fairly certain that if I had a hammer and the right tools right now I could probably pull off making a half-decent dagger.

How mystifying, this shop of mine truly had some insane powers it seemed. Now I was truly convinced this wasn't a dream as you just could not make this up.

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[Assembly (F)]

-->You can assemble materials together to form an end product you have already memorized.

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This was basically a magical ability that allowed me to skip the production process if I was familiar enough with it. For example, I have forged 5 iron swords and have completely memorized the process I can use assembly on the materials to craft one.

The craftsman trait essentially raised my affinity with anything related to crafting such as smithing, tailoring, weaving and such.

Also, the room that I can only assume was the shop part suddenly had another door added to it behind the counter.

Opening it I found what one would expect from the installed basic forge package. Inside was a room containing several chests, a work table, numerous shelves, a sharpening station, a cobble forge, a polishing station yada yada.

Basically everything needed for a basic forge. It's on the packaging.

It also came equipped with tongs, hammers, aprons, gloves, goggles and jazz. That was what I could only assume was the smithing kit.

I felt a childlike giddy excitement in me that I hadn't felt in a long long time. All of this was mine apparently, I could do whatever I wanted with it and no one would stop me.

This shop was my oyster, it was just my job to crack it open and see what was inside.

Exhilarating.

Sitting on the chair next to the workbench I found the last items given to me on top of the workbench. A bunch of violet vials were neatly arranged.

[Deluxe Competence]

-->Increases the efficiency of Physical Training by 1000% for 8 hours.

Ah, aren't these from that one Korean web novel? Good times. These were my ticket to getting buff in 20 days. Because thanks to the multiplier it will be like I had trained for 200 days instead. Insane.

Some might think this is cheating or something like steroids but to that I say.

Shut up.

If steroids did not have any drawbacks everyone would use them. Besides, just because you have a performance enhancer doesn't mean it automatically makes you good since you have to have a performance to enhance.

Anyway. I should peer into that catalogue to see if there is anything I should buy. Since I should have a lot of free time right now, with me being expelled and all I want to try smithing.

--<0>----<0>--[Catalogue]--<0>----<0>--

[Training Sword](15pt)

-->A wooden sword without any edge that is stronger than steel.

[Sturdy Dummy](20pt)

-->It looks like a simple straw dummy but is stronger than steel.

[Basic Competence](50pt)

-->Increases the efficiency of Physical Training by 500% for 4 hours.

[Guide to Smithing Vol.1](100pt)

--> A book containing insight and guide into basic smithing.

[Iron Ore 10kg](10pt)

-->10kg of good quality iron.

[Silver Ore 5kg](20pt)

-->5kg of good quality silver.

[Gold Ore 1kg](50pt)

-->1kg of good-quality gold.

Abilities:

[Hawk Eyes(E)](500pt)

grants the user a vastly increased level of visual acuity and precision, comparable to the eyesight of a predatory bird.

[Inventory(D)](1,000pt)

Spatial magic that allows you to store items inside a subspace only you can access.

....

Yep, it wasn't an exaggeration. That's a lot of stuff. There is even a gatcha part to it that I really do not want to touch at this moment. I want to look at the shop part first.

--<0>----<0>--[Shop]--<0>----<0>--

--[Decor]--

[Chair and Table set](5pt)

-->A small chair and table set.

[Coffee Machine](10pt)

-->A benchmark coffee machine.

[Oak Shelf](5pt)

-->An Oak shelf to display your goods on.

[Red Silk Curtains](15pt)

-->Soft and smooth red silk curtains.

...

--[Expansion]--

[Small Room](1,000pt)

-->Adds an empty 15 x 15 room to the shop.

[Storage Room](1,250pt)

-->Adds a storage room capable of holding numerous items, items in storage can be transferred to the shop anytime.

[Soon to be added]

--[Upgrades]--

[Time Dilation Current 1/1](1,000pt)

-->Slows down the passage of time between the shop and your own world.

[Soon to be added]

--<0>----<0>----<O>----<0>----<0>--

After sorting through I was impressed. I basically had no idea what I should do. So I decided to look around a bit more to get an idea of what I should do. And just now I saw a large post-it note stuck next to the entrance door.

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[The Shop Basics]

The shop itself can be visited by anyone relative in rank to the shopkeeper(that's you!).

Customers in the shop will be issued a customer card when they enter, listing their status and items. Customers can convert their belongings and abilities into Credits, converted abilities get added to the catalogue at the exchange price.

Customers can use Credits to buy anything the shopkeeper(that's you!) has for sale have for sale, whether that be items, abilities(you can convert into products), or privileges at the price you set.

You can start and stop receiving customers by flipping the sign at the entrance.

Good Luck shopkeeper(that's you!)

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I nodded as I understood the sign. I was very excited but I wanted to try something first. I needed something to sell, right?

I always wanted to try smithing.

A/N: Welcome to the Shop my dear Patrons! This is where you come in.

Want something in the catalogue? You can comment what you want added along with the description and price below!

Want a certain character to visit the shop? Sure, just comment who, (optional)when you want them to get added aka. when in their storyline, and maybe even what you want them to do.

Want his store to visit a certain world? Sure we can do that. Want him to interact with a certain character in that world? Probably.

This story is more community-driven than my other ones(I wanted to try something new) so please don't be shy to comment what you want to see in the fic. I will put polls for what happens in the fic after the first customer(Already written).

Next up: Necromantic Gamer.