Behind the counter of a neighborhood pawnshop, every customer swears their gold is real. Inspect what walks in. Scratch it, weigh it, run the serial, then decide what to buy, what to refuse, and what to report. Three bad calls and you're done.
COUNTER CLERK CONTRACT. The pawnshop.
The clerk answers for what they buy. Three bad calls in one day and you are dismissed on the spot. Wages settle each night: a base, plus a little more for every good buy. The clerk's own pawn, ticket No. 0031, keeps running. Thirty a night, owed apart from your wage. Miss three payments and the house keeps what you pledged.
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Are you the Expert?
You're the new hire behind the counter of a neighborhood pawnshop, the kind that buys what people can't afford to keep. You took the job because you needed it, and because something of yours is already back there in the boss's case, the interest ticking up every night. Everyone who walks up has a story about why their stuff is worth more than it is. Some are telling the truth. Most aren't.
Your job is to catch the lie. Among the regulars bringing in rings, watches, and old guitars are undercover cops, wanted faces off the morning bulletin, and people asking a favor you'll regret. Each item lands on your counter and the call is yours: buy it, refuse it, or pick up the phone and report it. The boss teaches you one new thing to check every day and it never leaves you. Get it right and you inch back toward buying your own pledge out of that case. Get it wrong and it's gone.
All brands, serials and signatures in the game are fictional.