Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Even in Another World, Still a Workhorse
In the blink of an eye, Ryan had turned ten years old.
At ten, he was finally allowed to leave the orphanage during the day and find work to earn money.
He had been waiting a long time for this opportunity.
There were several other children in the orphanage around his age.
Most of them followed Kaya’s advice when choosing their paths.
Some chose to become guards or maids for nobles.
Others chose to become apprentices in weapon shops.
Kaya’s suggestion for Ryan was to become a merchant’s apprentice. With his arithmetic ability, she believed he would surely become a renowned merchant in the future.
Ryan agreed.
After all, crafting firearms required a certain amount of capital.
The profession of a merchant could help him accumulate sufficient funds.
Of course, Ryan would not lose sight of his priorities.
Being a merchant was only a temporary means in the early stages.
His ultimate goal was still to craft firearms and strengthen himself.
Aunt Kaya had many connections in this town, as people often came to her for treatment.
It was easy for her to find a merchant willing to teach Ryan.
The merchant’s name was Mark, a fairly well-known trader in the town.
According to Kaya, Mark came from a family of merchants, and his business extended across several towns around Lute.
For Ryan, he was already considered quite a prominent merchant.
Ryan studied under Mark for three months.
During that time, he displayed astonishing learning ability.
No matter how complex the account books were, Ryan could calculate the results quickly and accurately.
After discovering his talent, Mark immediately invited Ryan to join his family.
Ryan decisively refused.
Even after several more invitations, Mark eventually gave up when he realized Ryan truly had no intention of joining.
People in this world did not know, but Ryan himself understood his situation clearly.
He was not a genius.
It was simply that the arithmetic level of this world was too low.
That was what made him seem impressive.
In short—he only stood out because of weak competition.
After three months of study, Ryan had gained a solid understanding of commerce in this world.
He learned about market prices for various goods, as well as trading rules across towns and settlements.
Since he was only an apprentice, he received no wages during those three months.
Today, Ryan formally informed Mark of his intention to leave.
Mark knew that Ryan had already mastered the basics, so he did not try to keep him.
After that, Ryan began searching for temporary work within the town.
Because he was only ten years old, his options were limited.
By the standards of his previous life, any shop that hired a ten-year-old child would immediately get into trouble.
But this world was different.
Not to mention ten-year-olds—even younger children were often employed.
It was only due to Kaya’s rules that children from the orphanage were not allowed to work until they turned ten.
During the day, Ryan found work as a helper in a bakery.
His duties included kneading dough, cleaning the shop, passing freshly baked bread, and packing orders for customers.
The work environment was safe and did not require much strength, making it suitable even for a ten-year-old like him.
The pay, however, was low—5 copper coins per day.
But there was one advantage: meals were provided.
After all, once children in the orphanage turned ten, they were no longer given free meals.
Working children had to cover their own daily food expenses.
After careful consideration, Ryan chose this job.
This way, he could save the entire 5 copper coins he earned during the day.
But that was not all.
The bakery closed around 6 PM each day.
After closing, Ryan would head to a tavern to work as a waiter.
He served dishes, carried drinks, washed dishes in the kitchen, and prepared vegetables.
After a long day of labor, people loved to gather at the tavern in the evening to drink and chat, so the tavern stayed open very late.
As a result, Ryan often returned to the orphanage around midnight.
However, the rewards were quite generous.
Not only did the tavern provide a late-night meal, but it also paid 10 copper coins.
Altogether, Ryan could earn 15 copper coins per day.
Given the exchange rate of 1 gold coin = 10,000 copper coins—
To earn 1 gold coin through labor alone, Ryan would need to maintain this level of work for nearly two years.
After calculating the exact time, Ryan could not help but curse inwardly.
In his previous life, he had at least graduated from university at 23 before becoming a workhorse.
But in this world, he had started at just ten years old.
And it was even harsher—aside from 6 to 8 hours of sleep, every moment was spent working.
Even capitalists would shed tears at this.
Of course, Ryan had no intention of maintaining such a grueling routine for two full years.
This level of work was only meant for initial accumulation.
The first bucket of gold was always the hardest to obtain.
Earning 1 gold coin from nothing and earning 100 gold coins from 1 gold coin were completely different in difficulty.
Right now, Ryan was in the process of accumulating his initial capital.
During his time studying under Mark, he had already conducted market research.
Compared to his previous world, the variety of goods in this world was far more limited.
Therefore, earning his first capital would actually be quite simple.
As long as he could accumulate 2 to 3 silver coins, he could begin introducing products from his previous world.
Coincidentally, he had connections like Mark.
There was no way he could produce goods himself, so all he needed was to create a sample and then sell the production techniques and methods to Mark.
In this way, even if he did nothing, he could receive a steady stream of dividends every year.
He had also discreetly inquired with Kaya about Mark and his family’s reputation.
As expected, both Mark and his family had an excellent reputation.
In fact, almost all merchants had good reputations.
Otherwise, they would not even be able to operate beyond this small town.
As long as he signed a contract with Mark, his future source of funds for crafting firearms would be completely secured.
That was precisely why Ryan was working so desperately.
And so, after enduring this intense workload for twenty days, Ryan had finally saved 3 silver coins, successfully achieving the goal he had set for himself.
When he earned his first bucket of gold and returned to the orphanage, his legs gave out completely. His vision went black as he collapsed backward.
Before losing consciousness, he vaguely heard someone calling his name.
But he no longer had the strength to think about who it was.
He had only one thought—
He was exhausted.