After going through everything, I’ve gathered 130 usable items out of what I estimate to be 231 bodies. There are a few more items, but most of them are broken. Armor, weapons, pendants, and the like all got wrecked by the arrows. But even those, I immediately sold to the system shop, though I only got a few hundred shards each.

The 130 gathered items are a mix of rarities, with the lowest being mid-rare and the highest being low arcane. There are 11 low arcane items and 21 damaged arcane, around 60 upper epic, and I didn’t count the lower rarities.

I sit down next to a boulder nearby, observe the pile, and try to ignore the constant pulses of mana coming from somewhere in the distance.

Coincidentally, that’s where my javelin went.

These pulses are followed by pulls of mana and gradually happen more often, to the point where it feels like a countdown.

It’ll be fine.

Anyway, in the system shop, you can buy a low arcane item starting at around 100 thousand shards, with some going up to 150 thousand or slightly more. Damaged arcane items cannot be bought and can only be found in the tutorial.

The problem, when selling to the shop, is that if the system is selling a low arcane item for 100 thousand shards, and I make exactly the same one, it will only buy it from me for 50 thousand. What sucks even more is if such an item is found in the tutorial, whether taken from a native, bought in a normal shop on the floor, or otherwise, the system will only pay 10-20% of its value.

I quickly go through all low arcane and damaged arcane items to check how many shards I would get, and the final number is around 250 thousand shards. The remaining ones would take too long to check, but I estimate around 150 thousand.

That makes the decision simple. I may as well try to sell them to one of the Locals.

Using my mana, I weave threads to tie the items together into a huge pile, which I then surround with more mana threads until it becomes a cocoon the size of a large closet.

I stop only when the pulses of mana from the distance cease and bright white light fills the horizon.

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 311]

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 341]

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 361]

[You have defeated Reanimated Remnant - lvl 351]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 314]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 333]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 314]

[You have defeated Reanimated Beast - lvl 349]

...

[Lvl 321 Lvl 322]

I see the shockwave heading my way. A single loud screech pierces through the area as a powerful presence stretches in my direction. It is easily comparable to the Harvester and likely stronger.

Without looking back, I create large arms of mana and throw the closet-sized cocoon through the portal before following after it, leaving the 1st floor behind.

I come to a stop with city buildings surrounding me, only to be bombarded with notifications.

Welcome to the second floor of the First Dungeon.

For a fee, you may utilize arrays to teleport to the first floor or to any safe zone you have previously visited on the second floor.

The second floor contains three safe zones. Each safe zone is a large city governed by a King.

I close that notification and open the next one.

2nd Floor Quest: ???

Rewards:

14-day Stay Token

???

Of course, it’s going to be like that. I wonder how many shards I’ll need to pay a Local for information on the floor quest without getting scammed.

As for the city I’ve found myself in, it's big, unlike any other safe zone in Beyond I’ve visited so far. The tallest buildings are two or three stories at most, and it's built in what currently seems to be a perfect circle around a mountain in the middle. The outer rim of the city is surrounded by simple stone walls, and a set of similar walls surround the mountain as well.

I stand on a hill that quickly gets steeper as it approaches the mountain, turned to place the mountain behind me and the city ahead.

Now that I’m looking at the mountain behind that wall, I notice some truly nasty arrays. There are people guarding it, and although it looks dangerous, it also seems pretty ceremonial. Most of them wear a combination of black clothes with bright yellow stripes and shiny silver armor. It’s probably safe to guess that they’re Locals.

Beyond the city, I can see the rest of the 2nd floor. Like the first, it’s one enormous cave that stretches miles upward and extends much farther into the distance, where I see a mountain range covered in snow. On the other side, there’s a black void filled with a near constant stream of red lightning.

All around the city, miles upon miles of plains stretch out, covered in soft yellow grass and patches of flowers that sway gently in the breeze. The landscape feels quiet and endless, as if it belongs in some long forgotten fairy tale.

Before I can look further, someone steps up to my side. A young lynthari boy in old, if fairly clean clothes. He’s probably somewhere around ten years old, and I notice him checking over my cocoon before looking at me. His hair is black, his eyes are gold, and his ears are a grayish color. Interestingly, instead of a single tail like other lynthari, he has two, both incredibly fluffy and the same color as his ears.

“Sir Beyond attendee, may I know your fine name?” he asks with a polite but energetic voice.

“No.”

“I see. It’s true, names are important, and I may have pushed too far in asking yours. I deeply apologize! Please don’t kill or beat me up!”

He lowers his face and lets out a bout of sobbing that’s more fake than a three-dollar bill. His shoulders tremble in exaggerated spasms, one eye sneaking a glance to see if the performance is having any effect.

“You want shards, right?”

“Yes! I mean, no!”

“So?”

“Maybe? You, dear sir, appeared in the zone where the most people who just finished the 1st floor tend to appear, and with so many items at that!” He steps closer and lowers his voice to a whisper. “Other guides like me wanted to come closer to offer their services, but they were scared off by your expression. But I decided to risk it, sir. You remind me of my father, who died long ago and whom I loved so much.”

“I see. If you lie to me again, I will hang you upside down from that lamp over there by your legs.”

“That would be a reasonable reaction, sir!”

“Your father?”

“I misspoke! He should be home from work by now!”

“It happens that one might forget things like that. So why did you decide to talk to me? Aren’t you too young to be a guide?”

“Maybe I, just a bit... overstated my qualifications! I don’t have any certifications. Yet. But everyone has to start somewhere, right? And I decided to talk to you because you seem like you might be rich, sir attendee!”

“Are you related to someone by the name of Duncan?”

“I don’t know anyone with that name, sir!”

“I see. And?”

“And I don’t think you would hurt me. Attendees very rarely do, and when they do, our King punishes them. At most, I’d get a kick in the ass or be screamed at and sent away. It’s only the other kids who are too scared.”

“You could be wrong, you know.”

“But we’re talking, and you haven’t gotten angry yet, so I’m not! Sir, would you like to know where you might sell those items? Or directions to the guild square, so you can meet with guild recruiters or have yourself tested? Any certifications you’re looking to acquire? I will say, though, that Guild Square is usually the first recommendation for most attendees.”

“It’s fine. Just tell me about the places I can sell these items. I don’t mind if you lead me to a merchant you have a deal with, I’m fine with you getting a small cut in exchange. But if you lead me to one that tries to scam me, I will get annoyed.”

“Indeed, my eyes weren’t wrong. You, sir, are surely very experienced, smart, glorious, and…”

"Are you stalling to buy time to think of a place because you planned to lead me to some suspicious merchant offering a huge commission in exchange for scamming me?"

“Yes!”

“Then keep thinking. Are you used to dealing with people who have concentration-type skills?”

“We call them Coldies, sir! They’re just like you. Empty expressions and sometimes they can be scary, but they tend to be very logical and rarely act with aggression.”

“You mentioned a King. Who is it?”

“I’m hungry, sir attendee.”

With a sigh, I transfer him 1000 shards.

At that, his eyes widen, and the tails stop moving. He nods quickly and says, “I’m not hungry anymore! Each city on the 2nd floor has a King that’s both a powerful Champion and one of us Locals!”

“Little jerk. Your name?”

"Lochi, sir! Shall I lead you to a very proper merchant who will give you a good price for the items you have?"

“Yes,” I confirm.

“May I ask for the rarities of the items in your possession?”

“11 low arcane, 21 damaged arcane, around 60 upper epic, and a jumbled mix of others. I already separated the items I will be keeping, so all of this is for sale.”

“Hehe, sir, you must surely be joking!”

Instead of answering, I just look at him, and he looks back at me.

I stay silent. His tails start moving wildly, and I sense his heartbeat speeding up as he keeps glancing between me and the cocoon at my feet. He gulps.

Then he nods once.

Not even ten minutes later, a lynthari merchant in one of the more expensive parts of the city, closer to the mountain in the middle, finishes going through all the items and moves to sit on the armchair opposite me. Between us, there is a small table where I’ve already been served a drink.

Lochi stays near the items and curiously continues to poke them, sometimes lifting up a weapon to swing it around a little.

The merchant lets the silence stretch a little before he says, “As a merchant, I will pay the systems cut myself.”

He waits for my reaction, so I nod.

"The system shop value of all the items, if you wanted to buy them, would be 2,545,131 shards."

Somewhere in the room, the sword falls from Lochi’s hands and rings against the floor.

I nod again.

The merchant continues, "If you wanted to sell them yourself to the system shop, you would get 381,770 shards. If I were to buy them from you, it would take me years to sell them all piece by piece. I need to pay for the shop, I need to pay for the employees, and with every transfer, the system takes 10 percent of the shards. Some of the items you brought are great, but some require work before I can sell them. Others are highly specialized, and I would either need to wait years for the right person to come along or cut the price. Usually, I buy items from attendees for 50 percent of their system shop value. In this case, that would be 1,272,565 shards. With me also covering the system fee, it would cost me 1,399,822 to pay you that."

He leans back slightly. Partially, it seems like he talks out loud to himself as well.

"I usually end up selling items to the attendees for 70 to 80 percent of their value. Then, subtract the system cut. Ten percent on every transaction. That’s around 180,000 shards gone immediately. It’s non-negotiable, automatic, and taken the moment the sale goes through. That leaves me with 1.62 million, if the items all sell for 70 percent of their value."

Second finger.

"Next, storage fees. Mana-secure vaults aren’t free, especially not for mixed arcane inventory. I’ll be paying around 15,000 shards per year minimum just for these. If it takes me four to five years to sell everything, that’s 60 to 75 thousand shards gone."

Third finger.

"Repair and prep costs. Even the damaged arcane items need some work, so it's not just cleaning. Some of the upper epic pieces will need enchantment tuning or rebalancing. That’s another 100 to 120 thousand easily. More if I have to hire local specialists."

Fourth finger.

"Staff commissions and handling. My apprentices get a cut of everything that moves. I can’t run a shop this size alone. I’m expecting at least 7 to 8 percent overhead here. That’s another 90 to 100 thousand shards eaten away over time."

He lowers his hand again.

"Then there’s the unpredictable drain. Customer disputes. Resales. Errors during the preparation of the items. One item flagged by a paranoid buyer as unstable, and I have to cover the loss or risk my merchant’ rating dropping. Factor in all that chaos, and I’m looking at a net return of somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 shards."

He looks me in the eyes.

"I am tying up 1.27 million shards of liquid capital to eventually make maybe a 10 to 12 percent return over the years. Of course, there’s a chance I might get lucky and make 5 percent more, or if I’m really lucky, 15 percent more. That’s something I always hope for, obviously, but I’m not the sort of person who relies on luck."

He pauses and looks at me with a questioning gaze.

Not once did I get the feeling that he is lying as I observe his heart, the vibrations his muscles cause, or the movement of his blood.

"I’ll take it," I say, standing up and reaching out a hand toward him.

He stands up from the chair and shakes it with me. "Pleasure doing business with you."