Can Someone (Anyone!) Please Turn Off the Auto-Skill Setting?! - Chapter 6
“How could I make such a basic mistake!”
Even when she had just opened her shop, she had never done something like this. Nancy tore at her hair in frustration. But the system, indifferent to her distress, calmly finished its calculations.
【 Nancy’s Current Balance: -13,280 Gold 】
【 Remember, if your negative balance persists for more than three days, Expropriation will be initiated.
— *The Expropriation is calculated based on the lowest price, not the average amount. 】
The words “Expropriation” and “lowest price” were highlighted in red, emphasizing their importance. Expropriation referred to the system forcibly selling off your possessions until the negative balance was covered.
This time, the entire sentence was in red, with a skull mark kindly added at the end.
Of course, it was important. It was very important.
Nancy felt her breath catch in her throat. She had heard stories of people whose goods were forcibly sold off by the system when their balance went negative. That’s why she had always been extremely careful, ensuring that no negative balance occurred when placing orders.
“I can’t believe I’m now a target for Expropriation, something I only knew from rumors…”
Feeling dizzy, she clung tightly to the warehouse door. Truthfully, she wanted to just collapse and escape reality, but there was one more word that concerned her.
Lowest price.
This was a term Nancy had never heard before. She assumed it meant that the system would calculate based on a price lower than what she had set.
The problem was how low that price would be…
With a trembling heart, Nancy searched for the lowest price of the pork.
The pork she had bought for 6 Gold was suddenly being treated as ‘just pork’, worth a pittance. Nancy quickly opened her shop’s item list to check the prices of her other goods.
Every single selling price was slashed with a red line, and new, lower prices were written next to them. 1 Gold, 2 Gold—it varied, but a quick calculation showed that even this wouldn’t cover her negative balance.
“O-Oh…”
Her legs gave out, and Nancy slid to the floor.
How did things come to this?
As she sat there, a poster on the wall caught her eye.
Challenge yourself for a chance to become the hero who will draw the Sword of the Hero and save the Ere Continent!
Yes, the beginning of all this trouble was that Hero’s Festival.
The Hero’s Festival, held once every 50 years, was a celebration that most people would only see once in their lifetime. Its popularity was beyond question. Not just from Verus, but from the entire Ere Continent, challengers and spectators would flock to it.
Where there were crowds, there was an unparalleled opportunity for merchants. Nancy’s heart had raced with excitement at the thought of making a fortune.
“That’s why I chose pork after careful consideration…!”
Breathing heavily, she grabbed a piece of pork in a fit of madness. She ripped open the packaging and shoved it into her mouth.
If she was going to die because she couldn’t repay her debt, she might as well die with a full stomach. Fortunately, the ‘Salted and Delicious Pork’ was, as the name suggested, really delicious.
But unfortunately, Nancy had a small appetite. After finishing just one piece, she was already too full to eat any more.
She resealed the second piece of pork and fell into thought. Somehow, she felt that her luck had been off since that morning.
‘Oh, a coin!’
Nancy had looked around and, seeing no one, quickly picked up the coin.
Finding money on the street felt like a good omen. She thought it meant the goods she was waiting for would finally arrive.
And they did—too many of them.
Was this her punishment for violating God’s teachings not to covet others’ belongings? Had the coin been a test from God, and she had failed by greedily taking it?
Nancy looked up at the sky.
“How was I supposed to find the owner of that coin! I’ll find the owner now and return it, so please, let’s just forget about those 3,000 pieces of pork!”
Dark clouds gathered, as if God was annoyed, asking why she was blaming Him for her own mistake.
Nancy continued to cry, blaming God for a long time. When there were no more tears left to shed, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, sniffling.
Her eyes were strangely clear as she lifted her head. After crying her heart out, she felt oddly refreshed.
“Things can’t get any worse from here.”
The thought that any attempt would put her in a better situation than she was now gave her courage. She cut the pork she had opened into small pieces to use as samples and arranged them on a tray.
Stepping out onto the street, she shouted,
“Come and try! Salted pork, it’s very delicious!”
Offering samples to passersby proved effective. In just one hour, she sold as many as 30 pieces.
‘If I can keep this up for 45 hours…!’
But as soon as she started to think about it, rain began pouring from the sky, as if telling her not to dream.
She hoped it was just a brief shower. She would have to sell for 45 hours without sleep from now on…
