Chapter 494: Piggy Bank Origins

Piggy Bank is now doing his best due to what his friend Equinox entrusted him with. He is given a bunch of rare herbs that could sell for a huge fortune if done correctly. His jiggling belly is vibrating with delight because of this.

Still, the path of a merchant is very arduous, and trust is a big deal. Once you lose someone's trust then you lose a potential customer, and it means that you also lose money. He might be a bit sly when it comes to prices, but he never cheats when it comes to goods.

For Piggy Bank, quality is better than quantity and he always live by that fact. That does not mean that he disregards quantity, but one knows that easy to acquire and numerous goods are not going to make you famous in the merchant world. 

A merchant must be known for the quality of his goods and not the quantity of it. How else would the price increase if goods like rare herbs are easily attainable. In reality, Piggy Bank is not from a rich family or graduated business school. 

When Piggy Bank first learned of the game Pandemonium, he only wished to play it but never actually believe he could. He is from a modest family in a slum area in South Africa. His family might not be rich in terms of money, but it is rich in love.

He always helped his mother in selling cheap goods so that they could be able to afford to eat for the day. He would be given money in exchange for the help he is giving. The first thing that he bought with his collected money is a piggy bank. 

It has always been his dream to move out of the slums and live with his mother in a better area. He could see that his mother is getting sick due to varying factors. He always put the money he earned in the piggy bank so that he could save up for a different house.

He manages to snag a scholarship which is why he is educated until high school, but college has always been a challenge for him. He always wanted to go to college and attend a trade school as he knows that becoming a businessman is a great way to make his dream come true.

Alas, he is refused by other scholarships, and he knew that being a working student is his only choice. It would have been fine to enter college as a working student, but his mother finally succumbs to a great illness. He managed to get her mother to a hospital using the savings he had in the piggy banks he collected throughout the years for preventive treatment.

The only problem that he had is the expensive medicine that his mother needs. Thankfully, the doctor gave them a month's supply for free as part of the first check-up, but they could not afford the second month of medicine. 

He started to think of what he can do to make sure that his mother survives and that is when he saw his last piggy bank. The piggy bank that started it all is left from all the expenses he incurred. It is then he saw the ads of the game Pandemonium and he immediately decided.

The ad of Pandemonium said that the players could be anything that they want inside the game as it is a new reality. Since Piggy Bank knew that going to college is no longer viable as he needed to take care of his mother. He cannot go to a college where he will be about four hours away from his mother.

He finally decided to take a risk in playing Pandemonium and earning money through it. He used the last of his savings to get a down payment for a gaming pod. Thankfully, the gaming pod does not require high voltages and even has a solar panel version. 

Piggy Bank chose the cheapest gaming pod that only offered 80% sync rate, but he knew that he could pay it back within a year and get money for his mother's medicine. He first chose a warrior character in order to hunt more efficiently and get money. 

He immediately knew that the gold earned in the game could be transferred into real money. It might not be advertised but it is known by every player. He is thankful that the game pod is also equipped with its own bank account if the player has yet to get one.

Piggy Bank is the name he set his avatar because it is what started his real journey. But not everyone is fated to become a great warrior and he noticed that he is lacking. The friends that he made inside the game also stopped partying with him after a few days and he cannot blame them.

Nevertheless, he did not give up, but he barely met ends meet. He sacrificed eating two meals a day to become one meal a day just to buy a second round of medicine for his mother and paying for the game pod. He noticed his lack in skill despite his terrible sync rate as even his other friends played worse than him.

He might be a bad player, but his friends still kept in touch with him and play whenever it is just grinding ad not important missions. He finally noticed what he is good at when he saw a merchant giving a big smile and selling drop miscellaneous items. 

He got enlightenment that he tried too hard of becoming someone he is not. He dreamed to become a businessman. He can be whatever he wants to in a game so why not become a merchant? Thankfully for him, he has yet to choose a sub job class.

He immediately searched for the merchant guild and applied for apprenticeship. He did not regret his decision as he wants to do this unlike when he is hunting that he felt no gratification. The smile on his face when he sold his first item is so genuine that it resonated with the village people that he sold it to.

He grinded blood, sweat, and tears just to become a rather high-ranking merchant in the association. He even got the chance to become a hidden class of a merchant called 'Invisible Hand'. He rose to the association because of his hard work, determination, and trustworthiness. He not only became successful in the game but also in the real world.

He managed to send his mother to a hospital for in-house treatment and moved to a better neighborhood in case his mother fully recovers. He did it by himself, but he still remained humble to this day. Now he met someone who put high expectations of him as he is given precious herbs. He does not want the trust he is given to be shattered or ruined.

"In exchange for the Guild Creation Emblem, I am willing to trade you three epic tier herbs. I am pretty sure the apothecary master wants to have this right?" Piggy Bank stated as he looked at the players with garbs worn by players that do Apothecary.

"Give us five epic tier herbs and the name of your supplier and you have a deal." The player replied.

"My supplier wants to remain anonymous now, but I can tell him to arrange a meeting with you if he accepts. Three epic tier herbs and a chance to speak with the supplier if he agrees. Do we have a deal?" Piggy Bank stated.

The players mumbled and eventually agreed as they needed the herbs. They did change the terms a little but Piggy bank still agreed.

"We choose what three epic herbs we want and a chance to speak with the supplier. Do we have a deal?" the player asked.

"Deal. A pleasure doing business with you gentlemen." Piggy Bank answered after acting like he pondered over it for a while.

"I finally acquired the Guild Creation Emblem that Equinox wants. He promised me that I will become his exclusive distributor of talismans if I succeed. I cannot wait." Piggy Bank stated as he smiled with great joy.