Nanomemes: Thank you! I'll try to keep improving the story.
Howard the Merchant was... how would she put it... rather unpleasant, if not outright an obviously greedy douche.
Money clearly drove his morals and reasoning. She got straight to the point and asked what he was here for, thinking he was just a temporary, traveling merchant. His response honestly just made her feel somewhat irritated.
"Here's the deal, alright? You provide me a home and protect me." Howard grinned. "Then, I'll set up shop and allow you to purchase all the goods and tools you'll need for your exploration of our world! How does that sound?"
"That sounds great!" Mikan exclaimed, before she dropped her fake enthusiasm. "Aren't you supposed to be paying me for the house?"
Howard blinked, before he laughed. "Hahaha! What are you saying? That's funny!"
What was? she wondered.
The Merchant calmed down and flashed his thumbs-up pose. "It's alright! I'll teach you about how business works later, so just get moving with the house renovations!"
...can I kill NPCs? Mikan felt like bashing this old man's head in, somewhat.
That asides, however, he did have some pretty useful items for sale. Four, in fact, she found to be necessary to buy. The rest, she bought anyways to stuff into the research and duplicate system later. The four notable items, though, were: the Mining Helmet, the Piggy Bank, the Iron Anvil, and the Bug Net. The first guaranteed her an equip-able light source so she won't have to keep pulling out her torches; the Piggy Bank is like an extra storage space, so she didn't need to worry about filling up her inventory; the Bug Net supposedly will let her safely catch critters, bugs, etc. without accidentally killing them.
What excited her the most, however, was the Iron Anvil.
Anvils are the stuff blacksmiths uses, don't they? she thought. This could only mean one thing - it was time to start crafting stuff and upgrade herself!
All she had are really just small, weak ores, but that's how people often begin. That's why, she had nothing to worry about, as long as she kept doing her best.
After buying one of everything he had for sale (making him wonder how much money she had), she took the workbench she previously made before leaving Andrew, and left the house to sit atop the rooftop.
Sitting on the roof of a house was kinda cool, after all, even if that was sort of a cringe mindset.
And now... Mikan was alone.
She grinned to herself and started throwing her items into the research toolbox, growing amused at this corrupted system. Oh, how she felt bad for the Merchant, but she really didn't think much about it. Then, as she was analyzing each item's number for duplication eligibility...
"Ms. Mikan," a voice called from below.
The girl jolted slightly before crawling over to the edge. "Oh, hey, Andy."
"...it's Andrew," he said with a sigh. "What might you be doing on the roof?" he asked.
"Uh, just researching and duplicating items, I guess," the girl replied. "Also might look into crafting new things later, so I can last longer out in the wild."
"I see. That does sound useful for further world exploration," he remarked. Then, he looked around, feeling slightly awkward for having to converse with an acquaintance from a level below, but then the awkwardness became pretty trivial. "So I see you've amassed lots of money during your stay in the wild. How many monsters did you defeat, if I may inquire?"
"...well, uh." Mikan scratched her head sheepishly. "A zombie... and a few slimes."
Andrew blinked.
"...and I duplicated the money until I became stinkin' rich..."
The man sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Our world's player has already been corrupted by money... oh, dear."
At that, Mikan scoffed. "It's not like I'm looking to swim in my pool of riches!" she retorted. "It's just... clever utilization of the player benefit of duplication, yeah. That, and I'm basically helping the ecology of this world's merchant association or whatever, yeah?"
"Economy," Andrew corrected, "and I suppose that's one way to twist it... oh, well. I'll let that slide." He sighed once more. "So what're you planning on doing now?"
"Eh, nothing different," the girl replied. "More prepared now, so I can go back out there and keep looking for more stuff to loot... I mean, discover."
"...right. If that's what you'll do, then so be it, I guess." Andrew chuckled. "Do stay safe, Ms. Mikan. You never know what you might find out there."
She nodded in response. "Yeah, I learnt that the hard way... there's this weird place out there with creepy, disgusting monsters made out of meat or something," she recalled. "That was terrifying, like, it might even haunt me when I sleep."
"...that must be..." Andrew paused, before shaking his head. "No, never mind. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see."
"Hey, you were about to say something about it, weren't you?" Mikan asked, frowning. "You know something about that place, don't you? Spill it!"
Andrew shrugged. "I can try, but I believe there's a tribe out there who's more knowledgeable about it than I am. I am but a mere Guide for explaining the uses and benefits of items," he said and shook his head sympathetically.
"Alright, that's enough sass out of you," the girl said , letting out her own sigh. "I'll keep an eye out for whatever other person might be out there, sure. Lousy ass game and NPCs..."
Satisfied, Andrew headed back into the house to converse with Howard the Merchant, and perhaps, relax for the rest of his day.
Some time later, Mikan brandished her Iron Shortsword and departed from her base of operations once more, her pet finch on her head, both ready to kick some slime asses. And zombie asses. ...and whatever new monstrosities she finds this time, probably.
As the light began to fade into orange, signaling the approaching sunset and night time, the girl knew things were about to get deadlier in an hour or a few.
Therefore, as the slime began to retreat and the stench of undead began to materialize, now would be the perfect chance to get used to reality and start hunting retreating monsters as if one were a real hunter.
Hell, maybe continue into hunting zombies would be good practice too.
...
Andrew glanced outside, slightly worried. "I wonder how she's doing tonight. It does get dark pretty quick, and the monsters that come out at night are nothing to laugh at."
"Bah, the lassy will be fine," Howard replied and waved the concern off. "She's here to save the world. I'd be disappointed if our 'hero' couldn't handle somethin' like this."
"And just what might this prophecy be?" Andrew asked. "We must keep in mind that other than being brought here, she is nothing more than someone caught up in our world's affairs."
The merchant shrugged. "Hey, destiny is destiny. I don't know anything about a prophecy, but what else would this 'Player' existence be, if they're brought to our world?"
Sighing, the blonde looked away from his new acquaintance. "Even then... extra expectations shouldn't be put onto one just for being from somewhere different..."
Suddenly, a spot shone brightly in the room, and Mikan appeared back inside the house.
"Ms. Mikan?" Andrew said.
"What, didja die already?" Howard asked.
The red haired girl gritted her teeth. "I forgot to make better equipment, god damn it!" she cursed to herself.
"..." As little as he cared, the Merchant was beginning to wonder if he should really be supporting this klutz.
Andrew, meanwhile, chuckled. What an interesting person she is.