Endless Shop

"Wow, this list really has everything. There are even daily necessities, like soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste, which can be redeemed for just over ten yuan... There are also changes of clothes and such..." Ma Qiao exclaimed as he flipped through the booklet.

"During this special period, we should save on unnecessary items as much as possible," Luo Jun said. "The main thing is to check if we have any daily necessities; food and water are even more important!"

Ma Qiao turned a page, then suddenly his eyes widened. "Over two hundred yuan a day for water and food per person? Does that mean a Hundred Treasure Box is only enough to last four days? The four of us can only survive for one day?"

"I feel like even a day has been too long..." Sun Xiaowei looked at the slightly dimly lit maze around her. "I don't want to stay in this place for another minute!"

"How long we stay is not up to us..." Luo Jun flipped through the booklet. "Aside from food supplies and daily necessities, it's mostly conventional weapons."

"These weapons aren't worth exchanging for. There are some special items later, but they're also very expensive," Old Yuan said.

"Indeed..." Luo Jun flipped through the pages, and sure enough, items worth thousands of dollars began to appear. For example, there was a Wall-Piercing Door that could open a door directly in the current wall, worth a thousand dollars; Teleportation Beacon that could be placed in a certain location in the maze and teleport back within an hour, worth a thousand five hundred dollars; and Guide Bee that could indicate the location of the nearest relic of a predecessor, worth a thousand two hundred dollars...

"A relic only costs a thousand, but the tool to guide you to it costs a thousand two? This merchant is outrageous!" Ma Qiao scoffed, then whispered, "Why don't we smash up the shop and just rob it!"

"No way!" Luo Jun shook his head and said, "This Endless Maze is unpredictable. Who knows what kind of background this merchant has? If we trigger any punishment, it will be troublesome."

Of course, Luo Jun stopped Ma Qiao not only out of fear of the consequences. When he first saw the shop, he took out his Fate Peering Glasses to check the success rate of the robbery. The result showed a difficulty of 101, indicating that the robbery was a complete failure. It was estimated that this merchant was not a real person at all, and the items he was selling were not actually here. He was probably teleported to this location the moment the transaction was completed.

"This thing is really useful!" Sun Xiaowei suddenly pointed to a prop. "Personal Map. Once activated, it can display the terrain within a one-kilometer radius around you in real time for an hour, and it can also mark important locations and encounters!"

"But it doesn't mark the exit..." Ma Qiao scoffed. "That's basically useless, especially since exchanging it costs five thousand dollars, which is too expensive!"

"That's still very useful." Luo Jun nodded. "It's certain that the Endless Maze will be a protracted task. Finding the exit won't be a matter of a day or two. What we need to consider more is how to survive here. Marking key locations can at least help with the search and resupply."

"Are there any props that can be used to mark the exit?" Sun Xiaowei asked.

"That must be very valuable, let's flip through the pages." Ma Qiao started flipping through from the back and immediately spotted the last item in the list.

"Haha, there really is one! Exit Indicator. Once activated, it shows the straight-line direction of the exit for one hour. Its value is... 100,000 yuan?"

"What is this thing? This one thing costs 100,000 yuan? And it can only be used for one hour?" Ma Qiao was shocked. "If we can't find the exit within an hour, won't we have wasted our money?"

"It's almost certain we won't find it within an hour," Luo Jun scoffed. "Didn't you see it says 'straight line' here? It doesn't give a path, just a direction. Who can find it in this three-dimensional maze?"

"Then what's the point of this thing?" Sun Xiaowei didn't understand either.

"This might be the only clue about the export route," said Old Yuan. "I just did a quick look through it, and apart from this most expensive indicator, I didn't see any other items related to the export route. Moreover, even this Blur indicator costs 100,000; if there were more specific ones, they would definitely be much harder to obtain."

"Forget about the 100,000 for now, let's figure out if we can get the Personal Map out first," Luo Jun suggested. "Right now we only have one relic, which can be exchanged for 1,000 points. The remaining 4,000 points can only be obtained by exchanging treasures. Do any of you have any unused treasures? Let's pool our resources."

"This..." Upon hearing that he had to offer up his treasure, Ma Qiao's face darkened, but Sun Xiaowei was very generous. "I have an Elite-level ring that randomly creates one low-quality pill every day, which is basically useless."

As she spoke, she actually took out a ring.

"This kind of treasure that can provide supplies is quite useful," Old Yuan said with some surprise.

"You'll know once you've used them; the effects are pretty lackluster." Sun Xiaowei shook her head and said, "The pills they provide are all of the lowest quality. For example, there's the Wound Medicine, which can only slowly heal the skin and flesh; the Rejuvenation Pill, which restores Five Breaths Vital Energy; Vitality Restoration Pill painkillers, which can temporarily relieve pain, etc... How should I put it? Although they're produced by a treasure, their effects aren't much stronger than ordinary medicines, and they can't be accumulated; they disappear if not used on the same day..."

Looking into Sun Xiaowei's clear eyes, Old Yuan shook his head, thinking to himself that this girl was truly honest. Normally, when given an opportunity to contribute to the team, people would try to exaggerate their losses so they could get more benefits when the rewards were distributed later. How could she be so quick to downplay her contributions...?

After listening to Sun Xiaowei's explanation, Luo Jun did not accept her ring. Instead, he frowned thoughtfully, then opened the Hundred Treasure Box and took out a badge.

The effects of the treasure that Sun Xiaowei described reminded Luo Jun of a treasure he had kept sealed away in his Hundred Treasure Box.

Generous Person Badge!

Once activated, this badge grants a daily reward based on the current Worldview and local currency. In Zhendan, you receive Zhendan Coin; in the Federation, you receive Federal Credit; in [Martial World], you receive silver and copper coins; in [Utopia], you receive Empire Banknote...

So, is it possible to collect the local currency inside the maze?

Luo Jun tried it out. After injecting his vital energy, a flash of light appeared, and a stack of banknotes appeared in his hand. The face printed on them was that of the Fat Merchant!

"It really works!" Luo Jun exclaimed in surprise. Everyone else was astonished at the sight. "How did you conjure up money?"

Luo Jun didn't answer, but picked up the bills and counted them; it was exactly three thousand yuan!

So much?!

Luo Jun was somewhat surprised. In reality, this Generous Person Badge could be exchanged for more than three thousand yuan at a time. However, the problem was that three thousand Zhendan Coin was only a small amount of money, enough to buy at most a mobile phone. But three thousand yuan in this maze was enough to exchange for very high-level extraordinary items!

Does that mean you get three thousand yuan no matter where you are?

No... the three thousand+ yuan exchanged in real life had varying amounts, but here it's exactly three thousand... There should be a standard for paying for badges, but what exactly is it?

Luo Jun casually flipped through the product catalog. Three thousand dollars could buy special items, but badges wouldn't be priced based on such extraordinary items. Ordinary exchange items were cheaper, and most items were priced in whole or odd amounts. Luo Jun noticed a supply pack for three hundred dollars, containing a day's worth of water and food, as well as a small amount of daily necessities and a change of clothes. It was enough to meet a certain standard of living, and buying it in a package was cheaper than picking and choosing separately.

Three hundred yuan exactly, ten of them would be three thousand yuan... Does that mean the badges are enough to cover living expenses for ten days?

That makes sense, but when I think about giving more than three thousand at once in reality... who would be so kind as to spend more than three hundred a day? Prices in Zhendan aren't that outrageous!

Based on Luo Jun's previous experience, 1,000 yuan a month is more than enough to live on in Ningdong. Even if an average person isn't particularly frugal, 100 yuan a day should be enough to get by...

But then Luo Jun thought again that it wasn't that simple... He used to be able to make ends meet with less than a thousand yuan a month, which was based on the premise of receiving a housing subsidy. If you factor in a few hundred yuan for rent, that little bit of relief money definitely wouldn't be enough. And the old, run-down apartment he was renting was definitely below average living conditions, at least in Ningdong. If the apartment were any better, the cost of living would certainly be much higher...

By extension, if you spread all the expenses in life, including buying and decorating a house, buying, maintaining and refueling a car, medical care and education, social insurance, leisure and entertainment, shopping and socializing, internet and phone bills, water, electricity and gas, etc., the cost would definitely be higher than you imagine.

At least in Ningdong, a second-tier city, the average pre-tax salary is already eight or nine thousand yuan. There are also a lot of people in debt. So, if you want to live a relaxed and high-quality life, spending more than three hundred yuan a day is not an exaggeration.

However, in this Endless Maze, all those miscellaneous expenses disappear. As long as food and hygiene are guaranteed, that's considered a quality life. So, a supply pack of 300 is all you need for a day.

From this perspective, the deliberately inflated prices of basic resources in the mission, intended to increase survival pressure, have actually inadvertently enhanced the function of the Generous Person Badge?

Regardless, with three thousand coins in hand, Luo Jun now only had a one thousand coin short. He rejected Sun Xiaowei's ring. Even if the items provided by this kind of treasure that could provide supplies regularly were useless, they would still be of some use in this situation.

Luo Jun arrived at the store with the money in his hand. His Hundred Treasure Box had several hundred compartments, filled with many things he had casually picked up, such as blue skies, green grass, and white clouds, and he wouldn't feel bad selling them.

The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.

After negotiating with the Fat Merchant, Common-level treasures were under 100 yuan, Fine-level ones were around 300 to 500 yuan, and Rare-level ones could sell for over 1,000 yuan each. Luo Jun casually sold some junk and got a little over 2,000 yuan in return.

Since he wasn't short of money, Luo Jun decided to keep the belongings for a rainy day. However, he concealed them with his body during the process to prevent those behind him from seeing them.

Luo Jun already had over 5,000 yuan, but instead of exchanging it for a map, he used 3,000 yuan to exchange for ten supply packs.

Then, with the remaining two thousand or so, he stood in front of the store. After about several tens of minutes, he picked up the Generous Person Badge and earned another three thousand!

That's right, Luo Jun entered the mission around 8 or 9 pm, and now more than three hours have passed, exactly one day has passed, and the badge has refreshed.

It's worth mentioning that Luo Jun's dice didn't refresh.

The mission rules stated that the Time Flow Rate here is different from that outside, which reminded Luo Jun of a similar situation he had encountered in the Tower of Choice, where the dice did not cool down faster due to the acceleration of time.

This also indicates that the external time has not yet passed midnight, and the Maze Time Flow Rate should be faster.

However, from another perspective, even though the badges are affected by the rules of the maze, the dice still follow the standard time outside. Does this mean that the power of time distortion is not unbreakable? Then, are there any room for negotiation regarding the other rules of the maze?

There's still no concrete clue, and more information needs to be gathered, so Luo Jun decided to exchange for the Personal Map first.

Returning with the map and ten sets of supplies, Luo Jun first gave one set to each person, then put the rest, along with the map, into his Smart Equipment Pack.

This newly acquired equipment comes with its own storage space. Although it can't hold magical artifacts or carry ordinary items through the world, the ten cubic meters of space is enough to store a large amount of supplies in this maze.

Incidentally, even the Jade Bracelet was secretly taken by Luo Jun. This shows that although this relic is nominally Hundred Treasure Box, it cannot actually be considered a magic weapon, which also explains why it cannot be opened with a lock-picking magic weapon.

"I didn't expect you to have so much stockpiled at such a young age!" After receiving his share of supplies, Ma Qiao beamed. "You just casually exchanged a thousand points?"

"It's nothing. I just happen to have a Rare-level that I'm looking to sell, but I can't get a good price for it and haven't found a buyer yet. I'll just need it today."

"That's still amazing," Sun Xiaowei praised. "I was really hesitant to take out even a Fine-level."

So you do know how to feel sorry for someone now? Judging from your attitude just now, I thought you didn't care at all...

The group had been inside for several hours and were somewhat exhausted, so they decided to eat something. The food in the supplies was plentiful, not the kind of compressed biscuits or nutritional pastes that were only meant to provide nutrition without considering taste. They found an open space, spread out the food, and enjoyed it, almost like a picnic.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Old Yuan used Talisman Paper to send a message to the others, briefly mentioning that there was a clue to the exit in the shop. Then, the group continued on their journey.

Ma Qiao suggested using a map, but Luo Jun rejected it. After all, they hadn't reached the point of desperation yet. A map could indicate encounters and resource points, and could be a lifesaver in critical moments, so it shouldn't be used lightly.

The group could only continue to rely on luck and intuition to move forward, but this time, they were not as lucky as before. They walked for more than ten hours without encountering any special events.

"This journey is so boring..." Ma Qiao sighed. "Even encountering a monster would be nice..."

"That's precisely the difficulty of the Endless Maze..." Old Yuan shook his head and said, "What defeats you isn't necessarily the monsters or the traps, but perhaps the maze itself, and that unbearable sense of loneliness."

Sun Xiaowei sighed, "If it's this tough for the four of us together, how much more painful must it be for those of us acting alone..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Yuan frowned, took out Talisman Paper, and said, "Someone has sent a message!"

(End of this chapter)