The Villain's Shopping System

Chapter 25: Chapter 24 - Amount

"I get weaker when I'm exposed to the sun. Yeah, I'll write this down..." Kaito says with his right hand out of his window. Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m n0v𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)/m

There is a small cut on the palm of his hand, created by himself, which heals more slowly. Then, when he turns his hand back inside the apartment, the cut closes almost instantly.

"Sheshh... Lucky the portal I entered didn't take me into a desert or something, otherwise I'd surely be dead right now." He says, throwing himself onto his bed.

As his head touches the pillow, he slowly turns to his left and his eyes coincidentally rest on the white envelope on his dresser. This effortlessly reminds him of last night, when he stopped in the alley to look at the contents of this envelope he received from a stranger.

- 10:46 PM on 6/20/2070, aka the night before. -

Kaito felt mixed emotions as he stared at the envelope in his hands, but his curiosity overcame his distrust of the Alliance. So he opened the envelope and turned it upside down so the letter would fall out. However, to his surprise, it was not a letter that fell into his left palm, but a circular object, made of metal and with an inner circle made of glass. Kaito recognized this, after all, he had seen some of these before during his troubled time in Compulsory Education.

"A holographic disk?" He asked, surprised, and placed the disc on top of a trashcan near him, which caused the video recorded on the device to start playing.

The light coming out of the glass circle came to life and a man with gray hair and black skin appeared before Kaito. His voice proved deep and full of authority as he began to speak:

"Recently, highly elevated gamma waves of unknown origin have been detected in Safe Area Z4. The intensity of the gamma waves is an indication of great risk, so more dangerous and unstable portals will appear in the coming days. However, in addition to these waves also posing a potential risk to citizens, with the possibility of increasing the number of cases of Lethargic Encephalitis, if not properly regulated and controlled, they will be a risk to all awakened people, who may feel their powers more unstable as well." continued the man in the video.

Kaito's eyes widened and he was also certainly relieved because that seemed to be more of a general warning than a specific message for him.

"Thus, awakened ones who do not register with a local association or government office and do not follow the guidelines set by the Alliance could become a threat, both to themselves and to society. We are here to offer guidance, and support, and to ensure that your skills are used in a responsible and beneficial way. We strongly recommend that if you are an unregistered awakened, you register as soon as possible to receive the proper training, ensure everyone's safety, and fight for your world. Together we are stronger."

At the end of the message, the Alliance representative emphasized that Safe Area Z4 had been identified as an area of special interest and that they will be closely monitoring any activity related to the awakened in that region for the next few weeks, including monitoring the awakened as well.

Kaito was silent at the end of the message, processing the information he had just received. He felt a mixture of concern and curiosity. On the one hand, he understood the importance of regulating his condition, especially if it posed a danger, but on the other, he wondered about the Alliance's real intentions and how this would affect his freedom.

The hologram concluded its message with a final warning. "The decision to register is free, but remember that we are here to help you ensure that your potential is used safely and effectively. We await your cooperation or your surrender."

Finally, the hologram disappeared, leaving Kaito with a whirlwind of thoughts and decisions to make. Thus, throughout the night he pondered the Alliance's words, about the risks and benefits of registering.

*

Returning to present times, Kaito stands up after staring at the white envelope for a few seconds.

"Like it or not, they're right... And until I have a record, I won't be able to go to Celestial Abode or rise in Rank officially." Kaito says, and then looks at his weblink, which is next to the white envelope. "But first I need some money for registration and for equipment. Time to test that option..."

Kaito takes the weblink and fits it to his left wrist, which makes a window appear before his eyes.

[Connecting...]

[Connecting.]

"Open Merchant Shop." Kaito professes as he walks through his small apartment.

A large system window opens before Kaito, displaying two different parts of the store at the same time. However, Kaito is not interested in the items this time, but rather how much money he has.

[Current amount: 700 bronze coins].

This amount was how much Kaito got after selling some items obtained from the portal that he judged would not be useful, such as monster remains, normally used only by smiths and alchemists, as well as other found resources that he had no use for. Obviously, none of these items were the rare items he obtained after defeating the Shaman Goblin.

"Open Inventory."

[Opening Inventory...]

[Kaito's Inventory:

- Shaman Goblin Prey (2x);

- Scroll of Magic Detection (1x);

- Amulet of Magic Resistance (1x);

- Lucky Stone (1x);

- Map of the Safe Area Z4 (1x);

- Magic Crystal Fragment (1x).]

Kaito carefully examines his inventory and bitterly remembers that he lost the Meridional Dagger after stabbing it into the eye of the Shaman Goblin.

"That reminds me that I'm going to have to buy another weapon. That's bad, I practically lost money... Anyway, this is a handy passive skill." Claims Kaito over his inventory as he pulls the Magic Crystal Fragment out of what appears to be a portal. "Sell."

[Do you wish to sell the item 'Magic Crystal Fragment' to the Merchant?]

Kaito immediately clicks YES.

[You received 300 bronze coins from the Merchant].

"Now I have enough money to test that other function that was mentioned in the beginner's manual." Kaito opens the Merchant's Store again, but this time he clicks on his amount.

Opening the new window, Kaito examines the options that appear.

[1 - Exchange bronze coins for silver coins.

2 - Convert coins to credits.

3 - Send feedback on the Merchant Shop.]

Kaito hesitates for a moment, but even after thinking a bit about how he could spend this money, he knows that he needs to convert his coins to credits, so he will be able to buy other things in ordinary stores, not to mention that the Merchant has almost abusive prices for the ordinary things he offers. Also, if he wants to go to the Celestial Abode, he can't go with just a simple dagger as he did to enter the dungeon, he will need basic things that are not offered at the Merchant's Store.

However, while Kaito lives his life normally, even after infiltrating a dungeon posing as someone else, the consequences come for someone else.

Many blocks away from Kaito's building, on the rooftop of a high-rise and security building in the center of Safe Area Z4, a fat, balding man looks very angry.

"What do you think you've done, Ishikawa!? I paid you enough for you to take my son on your first foray and yet you betrayed my trust!!!" The man hits the iron table hard, causing a loud bang.

"Calm down, Mister Willian. I am sure your son was there. In fact, he saved all of us."

"What are you talking about?" The man asks, closing his eyes angrily. "Ooh! Do you think you can fool me using cheap psychology? No, Ishikawa, not today. We've been buying the items from your groups' raids for a few months now and I thought we could trust you, but it seems we were wrong. Guards! Guards! Take this man out of here and throw him among the rats in the basement."

"Wait, sir! What have I done!?"

"Don't give me that clueless talk. While you're eating rat shit, give some thought to what words you will use at our next meeting!"

"No, Mr. Hammond, please!"

*

[You have earned 5 evil points for slander].

"Huh?! What's that?" Kaito wonders.