Marvelous Merchandise/2020-10-26/Story
Last updated 2025-07-27
EventStory
Dialogue
Regular Dialogue
- (Talk to Liben))
- Liben: Ah, hello. Do you need something?
I'm here to do some business.
- (If you haven't submitted the items yet)
- Liben: The items needed today are as such.
- (Opens the Today's Required Materials screen.)
- (If you have already submitted the items)
- Liben: I thought you'd already taken a Box o' Marvels for today? That said, feel free to inspect the others. You'll see I don't cheat any of my customers.
I'm here for my Box o' Marvels...
- Liben: Here you are: genuine goods at a pleasing price. Worst-case scenario, it'll top up your coin pouch.
- (Opens the Box o' Marvels selection screen)
Can you run me through your background again?
- Liben: I'm Liben, and once upon a time I sold curios.
- Liben: But I've finally said goodbye to that now that I've made it enough to rub shoulders with the Qixing. No more Mr. Small-Time Merchant for me!
- Liben: And that's why you and I are about to start doing business together, and both of us are going to make a handsome sum!
- What kind of business?
- Liben: Simple. You find me a few basic every items, cooking ingredients and the like, and then you trade them with me for a Box o' Marvels, full of all kinds of nice little treasures.
- Liben: Keep in mind that I've filled these Boxes o' Marvels with the fortune I made in my time as a seller of curios. There's no booby prizes to be found here, and I treat all my customers the same.
- Liben: Why box them up and turn it into a lucky draw, you say?
- Liben: What can I say, people like a gift box. It just makes everyone a little more inclined to get involved.
- How do you earn any money like this?
- Liben: See, this is where the clever bit comes in.
- Liben: I have recently became privy to some highly confidential intel from the Qixing. It's tough times ahead for the whole of Teyvat, apparently.
- Liben: If I start stockpiling everyday essentials now, before long I'll be able to sell them off at much higher prices and make a huge profit.
- Goodbye.
- Liben: See you around.
Day 1
- (Talk to Liben)
- Paimon: That guy over there seems pretty chipper. Wonder what he's so happy about?
- Liben: Friend! That we should meet means that fate has surely smiled upon you. Oh, I have an excellent business proposition for you. If I could just have a moment of your time?
- Paimon: Why do you merchant types always sound so suspicious?
- Liben: Oh, come now, don't be like that. The integrity of a Liyue merchant is as steadfast as the Geo Archon themselves.
- No harm in hearing you out, I guess.
- Liben: It's simple. Every day you find me some basic items, and trade them in here for a box full of exciting little curios.
- Liben: Even the worst boxes have precious metals inside them... in the form of Mora cast at the Golden House, no less.
- Okay, but what's in it for you?
- Liben: Oh, my business model is a little too complex to explain right now. But, if I have your consistent support in this business deal, then perhaps I will consider letting you in on how it works one day. Hahaha!
- Liben: So, whaddya think? Interested?
- Can't hurt to try it out.
Day 2
- (Talk to Liben)
- Liben: Ahh, I see you've willingly returned. That must mean you trust me, even if only a little.
- Paimon: Paimon's heard of scams that start like this though. They rope you in with all the benefits in the beginning, so you let your guard down and that's when they get ya!
- Liben: Hahahaha, please! I don't rely on scams to make my Mora. I rely on my keen sense of business trends.
Day 3
- (Talk to Liben)
- Liben: I was once a merchant of curios. Why curios you ask? Well, because logically speaking, the rarer something is, the more expensive it is.
- Paimon: Well Paimon's super rare — there's only one in all of Teyvat! So, ah, where's the Mora?
- Liben: Ehehehe, something big is about to happen to our world. And what do you think is going to become scarce once that happens?
Day 4
- (Talk to Liben)
- Liben: What was it I was telling you about yesterday? Ahh yes, supply and demand.
- Liben: You should know, because of Mondstadt's Stormterror attacks, orchard production was affected and stocks are low. As such, we can expect the price of Mondstadt's wines and ciders to go sky-high, all across Teyvat.
- Paimon: Yeah, we know a thing or two about the Stormterror issue...
- Liben: So, let's see how well you can put two and two together. Tell me, why am I swapping out my curios for basic household items?
- Paimon: Because... the whole world is about to be destroyed!
- Liben: Hahahaha.
Day 5
- (Talk to Liben)
- Liben: What was I mentioning yesterday?
- Paimon: Ah yes. Okay, so let's say the world really was on the brink of destruction — how would you even know that anyway?
- Liben: That is one of a merchant's other talents. Not only must we read the market and act accordingly, so too must we have our connections.
- Liben: I happen to be in the know about some very top secret intel. Intel which has come from none other than the economic authority that is Qixing themselves.
Day 6
- (Talk to Liben)
- Liben: So yesterday I was telling you about... ah, that's right. The Qixing's intel.
- Liben: The Qixing are the seven greatest merchants in Liyue, who govern over everything to do with our economy, so it goes without saying that their intel is very accurate.
- Paimon: So just what is this intel then?
- Liben: Stormterror has affected Mondstadt's agricultural production, whilst the Fatui have been getting rather imperious in Liyue and Inazuma.
- Liben: According to confidential intel said to have come from Ningguang, Tianquan of the Qixing herself, the Qixing plan to break ties with the Fatui, and simply let Liyue bear the brunt of the economic impact.
- Liben: And when that time comes, the Qixing will be sure to make a pretty penny off the inflated price of everyday items.
- Paimon: But where would that leave the poor people of Liyue?
Day 7
- (Talk to Liben)
- Liben: No, no, no, this isn't right... The word about the rift between the Qixing and the Fatui should be out by now...
- Paimon: Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe this "secret intel" of yours is being "leaked" to you on purpose?
- Liben: You mean, this is a ploy by the Qixing to control small and medium business owners?
- Paimon: Based on our interactions with others, it seems like you're the only one getting duped.
- Liben: I... I've been scammed... by Ningguang...
- You're not going to ask me to return my stuff now, are you?
- Liben: Integrity is the cornerstone of being a merchant, so I won't go back on my word but... But... this is terrible...
- Paimon: Well, don't give up! You've still got a long life to lead!
- Liben: You're right. My heart wasn't in the right place. How could the Qixing ever turn their backs on the people of Liyue in order to make a profit? Those everyday items are a necessity for the people to just get by. No one should attempt to corner the market like that, and I shouldn't have allowed myself to go along with it.
- Liben: Friend, you have seen with your own eyes my very rise and fall. Let my mistakes be a lesson for you.
- That lesson being... to not become a merchant?
- Liben: *sigh* I'm going to need some time to myself to think about what's happened. Business will at least continue to go on, but in the immediate sense that doesn't help me a whole lot...