Fantasy Writers 1860

Samuel clutched a counterfeit hundred-dollar bill in his hand, so realistic it was almost indistinguishable from a real one, a sly smile playing on his lips.

He contacted the fake document maker he had met at the dock and persuaded him to draw such a huge counterfeit bill, but he did not tell him why he wanted to make such a huge counterfeit bill.

The other party was still stuck in their old perception, believing that counterfeit bills with such large denominations would be neither spendable nor attractive enough to arouse suspicion.

He, who neither reads books nor newspapers, was completely unaware of the impact of the novel "The Millionaire List".

More importantly, this kind of influence certainly won't last forever. If more and more people think of this kind of operation, they will inevitably be exposed. They must stop and run away before this operation becomes known to the public.

The best window of opportunity may only last a few days.

He straightened his old, faded coat, took a deep breath, and strode confidently into a clothing store far from his usual haunts, a place where absolutely no one would recognize him.

"Sir, we don't have your size here." The young clerk at the door didn't even look up, only glancing at Samuel out of the corner of his eye before speaking rather perfunctorily.

The most crucial moment has arrived!

Although Samuel had prepared himself mentally, he was still a little nervous when the moment actually arrived.

He quietly clenched the hem of his coat, then let go, pretending nothing was wrong.

At this moment, you absolutely cannot show weakness. You must be confident and upright as you enter. If you don't even have confidence in yourself, how can you expect others to believe you?

When you go out, your identity is given by yourself!

Samuel silently repeated the sentence to himself, then swaggered into the store as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Hey sir, didn't you hear me? I said we don't have what you're wearing in our store." Seeing that the other person didn't seem to hear her, the clerk repeated herself slightly more urgently.

It would be good if the other party understood what he was saying and left on their own; he didn't want to make things too ugly.

"I haven't even come in yet, how do you know they don't have my size? My figure isn't that unusual, is it?" Samuel replied matter-of-factly.

"Hey, you..." The shop assistant immediately stood up, ready to make him look presentable, but stopped abruptly just as his hand was about to touch Samuel's clothes.

A thought flashed through his mind.

This scene looks familiar...

He recalled that not long ago, a similarly impoverished and poorly dressed young man walked into the store. Everyone, including himself, thought he was there to cause trouble, but he casually tossed out several large bills and bought the store's most expensive suits.

I even tried to sell him a walking stick back then, but he didn't like any of them. He said he wanted to buy a walking stick with a sword attached. I even recommended some good places to buy it...

In the shop assistant's recollection, that not-so-distant memory became clearer and clearer, and he vaguely remembered the person's name: Dorian.

A normal homeless person would have run away long ago if they saw that he was about to stand up and chase people away, but he didn't seem to want to run away at all, and his every move was quite authoritative.

Could it be that he really is like Mr. Dorian that day, a rich man who likes to wear shabby clothes?

"...Your gentleman is indeed quite extraordinary..." Thinking of this, the shop assistant's attitude immediately became amiable, and a smile appeared on his face.

Become!

Samuel knew he had already succeeded more than halfway when the shop assistant didn't kick him out immediately.

Influenced by the "Millionaire List," he must have begun to doubt whether he was the kind of eccentric tycoon.

The performance must continue to fulfill his expectations.

Samuel was secretly pleased, but his face remained impassive and calm. He nodded slightly and said in a tone that was both languid and undeniably authoritative, "Hmm, bring me some of the better styles to try."

He deliberately imitated the mannerisms of the wealthy people he had seen in his memory, as if he didn't care about the price at all.

Seeing this, the shop assistant helped Samuel try on one expensive suit after another, silk shirts and fine leather shoes, while Samuel turned around in front of the mirror, nodding from time to time.

"Just take this one. I don't need my old clothes. You can deal with them yourselves," Samuel said calmly.

The sales clerk quickly calculated the price, "Sir, this set is 1 gold and 16 denarii."

Samuel slowly pulled the crumpled counterfeit hundred-dollar bill from his pocket, handed it over, and said in a flat tone, "Okay, please give me your change."

The shop assistant took the hundred-dollar banknote with the royal emblem printed on it, his pupils dilated instantly, and he seemed to tremble slightly.

He held the banknotes in his hands, which were trembling slightly, and looked at them several times before glancing up at Samuel's matter-of-fact expression.

"One...one hundred gold list?!"

Goddess above! He really is... a truly eccentric tycoon!

Everything written in the novel is true!

Do people really exist?!

This gentleman probably watched "The Millionaire List" and deliberately used it to cause such trouble!

Although the 100-gold-list banknote wasn't as exaggerated as described in the novel, a novel is still a novel. In reality, the largest denomination banknote is the 100-gold-list banknote, and most people would never need such a large denomination. It rarely circulates in the market, and this was the first time he had ever seen it in person.

The store didn't have enough cash to give as change.

Sweat beaded on the clerk's forehead, but his smile remained, and his tone became even more respectful: "I'm sorry, sir, our shop simply doesn't have change for such a large denomination of bill. You see…"

He recalled a scene from a novel and tentatively asked, "How about... we let you pay on credit this time? We can settle the bill when it's more convenient for you later?"

"Okay, that's fine. Put it on my tab first," he said, then asked the clerk for paper and pen, wrote down his name and address, "I'll pay for it all together later."

"I'm so sorry, I came out in a bit of a rush this time and I really didn't bring any change with me. I'm so sorry..." Samuel put on a pretentious apologetic expression.

"No problem, no problem, we'd be happy to serve you." The clerk quickly waved his hand.

The clerk respectfully put away the slip of paper with the fake name and address, while Samuel turned and walked out of the store. He deliberately slowed his pace to make himself look more like a gentleman accustomed to a life of luxury than a conman who had just come out of a cheap rental.

The first step has been taken, so the rest will be much easier.

He can use this fairly upscale clothing store to endorse himself, further confirming his status.

Instead of rushing to cash in immediately, he spent several days wandering around those mixed pubs, clubs, and underground casinos, subtly creating the persona of "a strange rich man who watched 'The Millionaires List' and found it interesting, so he came out to pretend to be a poor man to experience life."

When the time was right, he would intentionally or unintentionally bring up some "insider information," such as a mining area that was about to be developed, a shipping route that was about to open, or a startup company that was still unknown but had great potential...

He never asked for anything, never explicitly stated his identity, and always acted as if he didn't care about such a small amount of money, which made everyone believe that he was a real tycoon and that the inside information he gave was true.

In the end, he would always reluctantly accept a little bit of everyone's "goodwill," from guillemot to guillemot, just enough to reach a point where "even if it doesn't work out, the loss won't be significant, but if it does, the gain will be huge."

Meanwhile, Dorian, completely unaware of this, was comfortably resting in his new home, enjoying the pleasure of having nothing to do all day.