Jackpot

Really? She was picking mint and thought it would work wonders for his eyes? It suddenly dawned on Jackpot that he was probably in for a world if hurt if he let this facade to continue for too long. There was a lot he was willing to do in the name of mischief, but letting someone pour liquid mint into his eyes was not one of those things. 

As she turned toward him, he avert his eyes and settled absently on a cloud in the distance. "Haha yeeaaahhhh guess I'll just have to take your word for it," he replied hastily, feigning a small laugh. He had to do something to steer this poor girl in the right direction. "Do you smell... honeysuckle?" he inquired, raising his nose into the air like a dog following the scent of steak. "Good potions made from honeysuckle. Er, so I've heard. I think I can't track it."

It took everything in his power not to burst out laughing as he faked his way through leading the woman through the power of blind man nose straight to a collection of the fabled plant. "Should be around here somewhere," he asserted as he gestured toward an entire field full of them. 

Damn, she was pissed. 

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Jackpot countered as nonchalantly as he could manage, keeping an absent gaze just beyond her. "So what do you need to do, anyways? Pick up some materials?" He kicked a pebble, which skittered down the street. "Sounds kinda boring. Just figured you might appreciate some company." 

The truth, of course, was that Jackpot was just so thoroughly entertained by the notion that she literally thought he was blind, and felt the need to see it through to the end. His curiosity had gotten the best of him, and while he'd originally planned on dumping the girl off to pick up her quest and dip, but now it seemed that he was stuck with her.

What a joy.

"Are we, uh, out of the city yet?" he inquired, feigning ignorance. "Still sounds... kinda loud." Then, the edges of his lips curled into a wry grin. "Guess I can hear, somewhat."

His chin slipped from his hand and his head began to fall, his face smashing directly onto the countertop he'd been leaning against. 

"THAT AIN'T NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY!" he roared as he came to, his voice echoing through the cave. Confused, he took a look around to gather his bearings. He was in his shop. "A dream?" he mused. "No, it couldn't be." The last thing he remembered was being really upset about all of the women the bosses had let down by evacuating like that. Not only had their shot at freedom been ripped out from under them, but the perfect physiques of the bosses had been fading back into the heavens. What were the women to look at now? Men like Jackpot? They didn't hold a candle.

But, as it turned out, it had all just been some vivid hallucination. It had to have been, as Jackpot was a decent salesman, and would never fall asleep in his shop. Ever. Has he hunched over and laid his cheek back into his palm, he vowed never to let something like this happen again while he was on the clock. He repeated the mantra mentally until he had drifted off once more.

One way or another, Jackpot was still alive. But a cursory glance at his health bar, and he almost wished he was.

He'd lost his friends in the midst of the chaos, and was now completely a utterly alone. He felt an urge to flee - to remove himself from this situation, distance himself from what he could only surmise was certain death, and cling to the life he held so dear from another day. But beyond that, he felt an overwhelming need to find his friends, ensure their safety, and escape with them together. Though he feared what was to come if he remained on the battlefield, he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself if his fleeing caused the death of any of them.

Dederick. Lilik. Elora. When had he grown so attached to them? It was all so strange. 

One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, he willed himself against his cowardice. Nervous whiskey eyes darted back and forth in a frenetic fervor in search of his friends, but to no avail. One would think that they wouldn't be difficult to pick out of a crowd, given their unique appearances. But with enough people, everyone began to look like the same homogeneous blur.

[No action taken.]

Nice. They were both gone. Now all that Jackpot had to focus on was Dederick. "Phew. Thank god that's over," he remarked, as though they weren't still locked in combat with literal deities.

Dederick, of course, didn't respond. Instead, the knight dashed forward after the pair, seemingly intent on backing them up. Jackpot, left in the dust with his jaw on the ground, stared on in abject horror as he watched his... friends? Acquaintances? Rush toward their certain death. After a moment, he gulped, and with a timid, "D-damn it!" ran after them.

Though, he didn't make it very far until the entire world seemed to flip like a pancake all around him. Say what you want about cowards - one thing they all share in common is an uncanny ability to sprint faster than any other living being. Jackpot's momentum, in fact, had carried him so far from the point that he tripped that he actually managed to perform an entire front flip before coming to a sudden and violent halt as his face dug into the ground. How's that for fashionable?

[Jackpot tries to back up his party, but a Nyek-Nyek Cultist trips him.]

"Have you ever seen so many nerds in one place?"

Jackpot's shoulders tensed as he heard her voice. Now Lilik had joined the fray?

"It's all so fascinating. They're so into it."

Great. So now he was surrounded by attractive women who more or less hated him. In one of the scariest endeavors he'd ever suffered since getting trapped in this virtual hell. He almost felt as though being avoided by them would have been better. 

"H-heyyyy Lilik." It almost sounded more like a question than a greeting. Had he held the "hey" too long? Oh god, he'd held the "hey" too long, hadn't he? Back in high school, if a girl did that, guys were supposed to assume that meant they liked them. Would Lilik think that? Had he greeted Elora like that? Jackpot cast his whiskey-colored eyes on Dederick, who was too distracted drilling holes into the bosses with his eyes. Jackpot was on his own.

"U-uh, Elora, this is Lilik. Lilik, Elora. You two should, uh, talk." And allow me to excuse myself from this entire situation.

[No action taken.]

"Wh-wh-wh-what the hell?" Jackpot stuttered as he feasted his eyes on the magnificent ghouls before them. No sooner had the foolishness escaped his lips than he felt his energy begin to wane. He fell to one knee, groaning at the discomfort of the whole ordeal. "D-Dederick... I don't know if being here is such a good idea..."

"Jackpot?"

He vaguely recognize the voice, and craned his head in its direction in an effort to discern its source. It was Elora. Of course it was Elora. Here to witness his cowardice for a second time.

"Sh*t," he muttered as he scrambled to his feet. "Uhhh Elora, hey. What, uh, brings you here?"

"Probably the announcement," came his companion's icy response.

"Ahh haha yeah, that would make sense." Jackpot was suddenly keenly aware of how pathetic he likely looked in comparison to his stalwart partner, his cool gaze still calmly transfixed to the demons that threatened their very existence. "This is, uh, Dederick. He's a tank. Tanky boy." He was just rambling nervously now. "But I don't think even he can stand up to something like this."

[No action taken.]

"You can't just continue walking around like this or you're going to end up hurt, or even worse..."

Ew. What was that? Concern?

"Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be too difficult for me to find what she needs to make the serum. You should stay here for now, it's too risky for you to leave the city walls."

What a kind chum. 

"Yeah, okay. Sounds good," Jackpot responded, trying to keep his eyes as neutral and absent as possible. "Wouldn't want to get hurt, and all that."

So when she left, he simply followed. Keeping his steps light, of course. No use letting her know he'd chosen to tag along until the time was right, of course. But it didn't take long for her to catch on, of course, inevitably catching him out of the corner of her eye as she shifted her line of sight around to navigate the labyrinth that was the Town of Beginnings. Then, to maintain the facade, he bumped into her as she stopped, as though he hadn't seen it at all.

"Woah- why'd you stop? Don't we have work to do outside the walls?"

"The hell's this?" Jackpot mused as he came upon the scene. "I know it was a server wide announcement, but I honestly didn't expect so many noobs to show up. What gives?"

His partner, Dederick, remained silent, but nonetheless appeared as broodish and annoyed with his unlikely companion as usual.

"Yeah, that's fine. Don't answer. Just keeping pouting. That'll solve everything."

As they meandered through the pockets of parties, waded through the seas of ever shuffling players, past the stalls and tables that had been set up by merchants and crafters to capitalize on the traffic, something occurred to Jackpot. "Either only a small percentage of people could - or chose to - make it, or... there's not that many people left in Aincrad." Either way, it settled a deep pit into his stomach. "If this really is the final showdown, we're totally f*cked."

More silence from Dederick.

"Eh, you're probably right," Jackpot responded in a nonchalant, half mocking tone. "We were f*cked the moment we got trapped in here."

Did she just push past me? How rude.

He didn't follow her when she went into the tent. Absently, he imagined that now was the perfect time to ditch the girl and go about his business, just as he'd intended. But something about her was rubbing him the wrong way. Almost like she wanted to ditch him. And that wouldn't do.

"My... acquaintance... here is hard of sight."

Hard of sight?

Jackpot actually snorted upon hearing it. Had he really made such a fool of himself that she believed him blind? Maybe there was a way he could use this to his advantage. Did he have any black shades to sell the pitch?

Of course not. This was Aincrad.

"Oh, you don't need to do that," he insisted warmly as he slowly made his way into the tent, feigning holding his hands out blindly to feel for his surroundings. "I've done just fine so far. On my own. With nobody to guide me."

Jackpot grimaced at her vulgar display, doubling back a bit and raising his hands instinctively. But why? It was his shop, after all, and she was wasting his time by loitering in it without so much as acknowledging the owner. Still, her demeanor was frightening enough to make Jackpot think twice about pushing the subject. That is, until he heard-

"Seventy-thirty. And you give me one of these."

"Hah!" he scoffed, allowing his upper body to tip backward in dramatic lackadaisical fashion. He may have been a timid fellow, but he wasn't a fool. Nor was he a bad salesman. "You wound me. Though, it's doubtful you could, with a spear like that." He pointed first to her weapon, then gestured toward the rest of her equipment. "You might have goons like that guy fooled with your getup, but you're talking to a Merchant. You might as well be walking around in a wet paper bag with a toothpick as your weapon."

Not that his own gear was much better, of course.

"Though, I'll admit that it fits nicely. Show off what you've got, girl."

He'd adequately fired back. It was time to talk business.

"Fifty-five, forty-five. I find the thing, you kill the monsters. And I was planning on bringing along some gear, anyway."

She was staring. Why was she staring? Was there something on his face? Or was it just his devilishly good looks? It almost looked like she-

What... What the hell?

She'd taken his hand. And so soon? Maybe he'd laid the charm a bit too thick. The last thing he needed was someone a bit too clingy.

"Y-yeah..." he replied nervously, voice cracking a bit as he retracted his hand and slid his fingers from hers. He attempted to take a step back, but his body began to pitch as his heel met with a portion of uneven cobble. Gracelessly, he stomped his other foot back to brace himself and prevent the fall - only for it to meet with the corner of the shop they'd been loitering outside of, and pitch his body abruptly forward and toward hers. Instinctively, his hands flew forward to break his fall, and he found his fingers inadvertently wrapped around her tiny shoulders.

Oh, what the f*ck have I gotten myself into?

"U-uh..." At least he hadn't held onto anything too inappropriate. There was still a chance to recover. "Yes. The Alchemist!" That was a bit too enthusiastic. He'd need to reel it in. "I- yeah. I know the way. Um-" He retracted his hands. "This way."

He kept his eyes glued the street as they meandered through the streets toward Evangeline's shop, lest he trip again or otherwise catch the eyes of the very person he'd tripped in front of. And manhandled, apparently. This isn't exactly going according to plan... he mused mentally as the blunder played on a loop in his head over and over. Though, what had been the plan in the first place? Whatever it was, it was a bust now. Best to deposit her at the Alchemist and move on.

They were coming up on it, now. "Yeah, uh, that's it," he managed with a meager and pathetic extension of his index finger toward the NPC's tent. As his whiskey-colored eyes flickered toward her, he couldn't even bring himself to look her in the eye. Rather, his own lingered on the peripherals of her visage, absently fixated on the scenery that lay beyond. "Sorry about, well." Don't do it. Don't bring it up.

Instead, he extended his hand for a shake. Then, just as awkwardly, forced it to his side again. He wasn't quite ready to embrace her touch again. "My, uh, name's Jackpot. Merchant. You?"

Just say something. Anything.

How long had it been since he'd seen sunlight? Judging by the perpetual squint he wore in a vain attempt to assuage its abrasive glow, too long.

Life wasn't kind on the tenth floor of Aincrad, but no more so was it on the first. Treacherous mobs roamed its fields, shifty salesmen lined the streets of its cities, and all manner of debaucherous goons skulked in its shadows. The Town of Beginnings, a supposed bastion of safety for the less combat-oriented denizens of the floating cage, had long degraded into little more than den of thieves. Whether the Militia that "protected" (and extorted) its subjects, the rogues that sauntered betwixt the shaded alleyways, or the shopkeeps that always seemed to keep their prices a bit too high, everyone here had something to gain at the expense of another. 

Though, could Jackpot consider himself much better? He'd chosen to flee to a cave in proverbial hell to escape the literal one here. Were he to-

Thud.

"[censored]!"

What?

What a shrill voice. Though, it probably had more to do with the situation than the woman herself. Yes, he concluded as his eyes scanned her slender frame. Look at how red she is. And her gear... Just another noob, not that he'd expect much more in a place like this. Though, there was something to be said about fresh meat, and how useful it could be when developed properly. It was just a perk that she was easy on the eyes, too.

So he smiled.

"Lost?" he inquired in the warmest intonation he could manage. "So am I." A lie, but a disarming one. "Where were you headed?"

Name: Dawn's Demise
Your Profession: Merchant
Your Rank: 5
Acquisition Roll ID: 123908B
Identification Roll ID:
#140932 LD:19 Absolute Accuracy (Easter Bunny's Blessing '20)
#125229 BD:10 CD:12 LD:5 Fallen
#127472 LD:6 Fallen (Halloween '19 Sticker)
#127473 LD:20 Phase (Halloween '19 Sticker)
Item Type: Two-Handed Straight Sword
Tier: 3
Quality: Demonic
Enhancements: Fallen | Fallen | Phase | Absolute Accuracy
Description: "Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves."
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18214-f10-grandmaster-merchant-youve-hit-the-jackpot/?do=findComment&comment=602424

Rerolling Easter Bunny's Favor roll based on previous roll exceeding enhancement caps.
ID: 144939
LD: 5 (Holy)

Name: Dawn's Demise
Your Profession: Merchant
Your Rank: 5
Acquisition Roll ID: 123908B
Identification Roll ID:
#144939 LD:5 Holy (Easter Bunny's Favor '20)
#125229 BD:10 CD:12 LD:5 Fallen
#127472 LD:6 Fallen (Halloween '19 Sticker)
#127473 LD:20 Phase (Halloween '19 Sticker)
Item Type: Two-Handed Straight Sword
Tier: 3
Quality: Demonic
Enhancements: Fallen | Fallen | Phase | Absolute Accuracy
Description: "Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves."
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18214-f10-grandmaster-merchant-youve-hit-the-jackpot/?do=findComment&comment=605461

Rolling.

Finally.
 

Rolling.
 

Item: Tactical Outfitting Mk. III
Enhancements: Vampiric - Defensive, Fireproof, EVA
Changing Enhancement: Fireproof

<<Reroll Ticket>> used.
ID: 139617
LD: 14 (Evasion)

Item: Tactical Outfitting Mk. III
Enhancements: Vampiric - Defensive, EVA, EVA

Wow. Lot of business today. Weird.

"Yeah, uh, okay," Jackpot muttered as he grabbed the items. In the end, it seemed as though he'd hit his mark with Oscar's item. For whatever reason, he miraculously managed to reidentify Evasion onto it in place of Fireproof.

"Ahh, yeah, been there," he heard Bahr admit as he scooped up Dawn's Demise and secured it to the small of his back. "Hope you have better luck on the reroll. For now, I've gotta head out." And then he was gone.

"Here ya go," Jackpot finally piped up, producing the new and improve armor. "Got an evasion slot for you. You're all set."

As Doctor Doofus took his leave, Jackpot's eyes remained steadfast on the woman that remained. She seemed to pay him no mind, her eyes illuminated by the dull glow of the message they traced. He tapped his finger against his folded arm, eyebrows furrowing in frustration from being so thoroughly ignored. He conspicuously cleared his throat, and when that garnered no attention he decided to speak.

"Legendary weapon, huh? Sooouuuunds coooool."

But no words came as a response. Not like that would dissuade him.

"Might need help for something like that. Help from someone with, say, resources. Probably." His eyes began to wander around the shop, stopping briefly at each of the various artifacts, buffs and equipment that lined the shelves and walls. This was by design, of course. If she didn't catch on on her own, perhaps he could guide her to the conclusion he'd hoped she'd come to.

"Someone who has experience with weapons," he prodded, continuing to build his case. "Probably someone who's identified a ton of them. You never know what a weapon you stumble upon might have - that's why nobody uses one before getting a Merchant to check it out, right?"

If she wasn't getting it by now, he'd probably have to be a bit more blunt.

"Saaayyy," he began once more. "I happen to have that exact skillset. How about I do you a favor and help you out on this one?" He had selfish machinations woven in, of course. He'd need compensation for graciously offering his services. "We could split the col, fifty-fifty. What do you say?"

Name: Dawn's Demise
Your Profession: Merchant
Your Rank: 5
Acquisition Roll ID: 123908B
Identification Roll ID:
#125228 LD:13 Bleed
#125229 BD:10 CD:12 LD:5 Fallen
#127472 LD:6 Fallen (Halloween '19 Sticker)
#127473 LD:20 Phase (Halloween '19 Sticker)
Item Type: Two-Handed Straight Sword
Tier: 3
Quality: Demonic
Enhancements: Fallen | Fallen | Phase | Bleed 
Description: "Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves."
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/17883-bahrbaric-evaluations/?do=findComment&amp;comment=584550

Using Easter Bunny's Favor to change the Bleed slot to a randomly rolled unique enhancement.
ID: 139568
LD: 4 (Paralytic Venom)

Name: Dawn's Demise
Your Profession: Merchant
Your Rank: 5
Acquisition Roll ID: 123908B
Identification Roll ID:
#139568 LD:4 Paralytic Venom (Easter Bunny's Blessing '20)
#125229 BD:10 CD:12 LD:5 Fallen
#127472 LD:6 Fallen (Halloween '19 Sticker)
#127473 LD:20 Phase (Halloween '19 Sticker)
Item Type: Two-Handed Straight Sword
Tier: 3
Quality: Demonic
Enhancements: Fallen | Fallen | Phase | Paralytic Venom
Description: "Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves."
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18214-f10-grandmaster-merchant-youve-hit-the-jackpot/?do=findComment&amp;comment=601080

"Alright, fine," Jackpot relented, scooping up the items and inspecting them both. "This is a real dangerous piece of equipment you've got here," he mused as he scrolled through the data on Dawn's Demise. From what he could tell, it had taken quite a bit of effort on Bahr's part to get it from where it started to where it currently was. "Well, here goes nothing."

The application of the Easter Bunny's Favor went... less than fantastically. Judging by the enhancements currently on the weapon, Jackpot had surmised that he intended to have Holy added in place of Bleed. Sadly, that did not happen.

Instead, it came out as Paralytic Venom. It still offered fair synergy with the rest of the enhancements, but both Jackpot and Bahr knew that it could have been better. Regardless, the deed had been done, and there was no going back now.

"Sorry I couldn't snag you something better. Hope it works for you."
 

Rolling.

Rolling.

All items scrapped.