Chapter Six: The Marketplace and the Trial Card

He pushed open the door and stepped outside.

A street stretched before him, not much different from those on Earth. The building across the way was a wall lined with doors side by side. He glanced back at the building behind him; it was the same. If not for the numbered plaques on the doors, he would have thought it nothing more than a sheet of metal wall.

Still, it was only the color that resembled metal—he had no idea what the actual material was. Glancing at the floating signboards overhead, he made his way toward the commercial district.

Space must have been compressed here; in less than a hundred meters, the scenery shifted. Compared to the residential area, this part of the city was far more bustling, and the architecture displayed greater variety and flair.

The shops themselves were equally diverse. As he wandered the streets, he saw many different races—some even resembled those imagined by humankind in fiction. In the comment section, the screen was awash with exclamations and teasing suggestions for him to approach some of the more strikingly attractive races.

Like a man out for a stroll, Sun Meng observed everything around him and listened to the conversations nearby.

Combat was forbidden within the city, but he could still use his inner strength to enhance his hearing. Before long, he picked out a few key phrases: shop rentals, system shops, and the stall street.

Rental shops referred to the varied storefronts he saw; these were leased from the system in exchange for points. The owners had steady sources of goods and enough confidence in their merchandise to open up shop.

Most sold specialties from their own planets, though there were also specialty shops such as restaurants and weapon enhancement workshops. What puzzled him was how, given that this ‘game’ had only begun four months prior, these people had managed to accumulate so many points.

It wasn’t until he reached a system shop that he understood. Goods in system shops refreshed at set intervals; the offerings were not fixed. However, the system always bought back and auctioned items—including those exchanged from participants’ personal marketplaces!

He wasn’t sure if this was intentional or a loophole. For example, a standard pistol with a full magazine would fetch five points if sold to the system, yet cost ten points to redeem from the marketplace. However, if you redeemed the gun as separate components, it cost only two points, and bullets just one point. By assembling the parts, one could accumulate a fair number of points this way.

One could also sell technological knowledge or skills unique to one’s own civilization; the system would automatically assess and assign a price. However, it would not buy back duplicate technologies, and the price for repeat submissions was much lower. Thus, many preferred to sell via auction or open their own stall rather than sell directly to the system.

Finally, there was the stall street. Each person was entitled to one free stall—a place for open trade, under system supervision, so no one could force another into a deal.

Most who sold here either couldn’t afford to rent a shop or needed to offload items quickly. Another reason was the limited number of shop locations; rental periods were fixed, there was no option to renew, and when the time was up, it was first come, first served.

He glanced at the items currently available in the system shop. He could only afford three of them.

A hundred-point psychic seed, which, once used, would open up the path to developing psychic power. A magic bow, priced at five hundred points, capable of firing energy arrows up to fifteen hundred meters, with maximum power equal to a full-strength strike from a mid-second-tier being—though using it at that level would destroy the bow. A set of genetic enhancement serums, also five hundred points, which could push someone at the peak of tier one into the early stages of tier two, with no side effects.

Truth be told, Sun Meng’s own strength was only at the peak of tier one; advancing further would take some effort. But he didn’t plan to buy anything, since none of the others seemed interested in purchasing either.

The red barrage of comments, however, hoped he would buy the serum with enough points and exchange it for Earth. Once Earth acquired the technology, they could manufacture it themselves, which was different from what Sun Meng could do by himself.

Arriving at the stall street, Sun Meng followed the system’s guidance to his assigned stall.

It was nothing more than a small spot on the ground, covered with a cloth marked by a serial number.

Comparing it to the shops he’d seen earlier, it seemed rather shabby.

He stepped behind the stall to his seat, and the system prompted him to choose what to display for sale.

He didn’t have to stay here the whole time—if someone wanted to buy something, the system would initiate a call. Of course, if Sun Meng left the main city, his stall would automatically close.

Items for sale could be originals or replicas. Originals fetched a higher price, while replicas incurred a thirty-percent fee from the transaction, deducted by the system; originals did not. Items purchased here could not be resold or bought back by the system.

After some thought, Sun Meng put up basic martial arts techniques and the visualization method from the Maoshan cultivation practice, as well as a longsword and some ginseng—all as replicas. Then he left the stall to browse the others.

From his perspective, stalls were just cloths with goods laid out. For buyers, though, it appeared as a display shelf interface; only by entering the detailed screen could one see the items. Normally, only the stall’s title was visible.

He noticed his own stall had no name—just the default title: General Store.

He quickly renamed it ‘Basic Cultivation Methods’ and continued wandering.

He found that most other stall names were set similarly—related to their goods, though not always comprehensive.

For example, a stall called ‘Elven Weapons Sale’ had only a mid-tier dagger, a pair of mid-tier shoes, and a late-tier defensive amulet, all with hefty price tags.

A quick comparison: the dagger was priced at three hundred points, while Sun Meng’s sword was listed for only one hundred. “Maybe it’s enchanted or something? Otherwise, aside from being a bit more stylish, there’s nothing special about it,” he mused. The screen allowed for a 360-degree view of the goods, but that was it.

Only price and level were explicitly displayed—no other information.

This meant you either bought it or contacted the stall owner for more details.

Leaving the dagger behind, Sun Meng checked a few more stalls and found the wares fell into three categories: specialty stalls, which focused on one type of item—like weapons or medicines; special product stalls, which included a prefix indicating their civilization and usually charged high prices to encourage direct contact with the seller; and general stores, which sold a bit of everything—often items brought back from mission worlds, things not useful for their home civilization, or simply considered worthless.

He saw, for instance, a ‘Tier One Crop Seed Compendium’—from a technological civilization, no less!

To be honest, Sun Meng doubted anyone would pay for that. Any civilization capable of competing was at least mid-tier one; how could they lack food reserves? Even if they had seeds, there was no guarantee they’d grow successfully. It was, in short, a rather pointless item.

Another stall offered the ‘Falvo Eagle Eye Technique’, origin unknown but with a distinctly magical flavor. It sold well, though—at three hundred points, it wasn’t cheap.

After browsing, he found nothing he particularly wanted. The Earth viewers were growing impatient as well.

Leaving the stall street, he made his way to another bustling area.

If the stall street was for passive trading, this was a true market. Here, many people shouted, trying to recruit participants for a game called ‘Wasteland Treasure Hunt’.

He checked the system interface—it was one of the city’s three major dungeons. The other two were Hunting Outside the City and the Arena. Wasteland Treasure Hunt required teams of five, with twenty teams per match. The last team standing in a limited space would win.

In his memory, this was much like a battle royale—something Earth in this world still lacked.

Hunting Outside the City required buying a return scroll from the system before leaving the city. Beyond the walls lay the wilds—a natural environment filled with aggressive creatures that would attack those who ventured out. Slaying them yielded system rewards, much like loot drops in games, and points as well.

However, the system noted that the weakest creatures outside were mid-tier one, and there were no safe zones. Who knew when a passing tier-three beast might stomp you flat?

The Arena was a place for participants to wager in duels. There was no risk to life, but medical treatment cost points.

Of the three, Wasteland Treasure Hunt drew the most attention, thanks to its chance of awarding a special prize: the Trial Card.