"Wish Order System?"
Once Abel was sure he wasn't hallucinating as he lay dying, his spirits immediately lifted.
As expected, a transmigration without a cheat was incomplete!
Maybe he could change this terrible situation after all.
He immediately summoned the system with a thought and began looking it over.
The system's interface was simple, with four sections: [Character], [Orders], [Shop], and [Inventory].
Opening the character page showed:
[Host: Gustavus Abel] [Beginner Trading Qualification] [Gender: Male] [Age: Ten] [Height: 140 cm] [Weight: 25.5 kg] [Lifespan: 5 years and 21 days] [Talent: None] [Abilities: None] [Trading Points: 0]
Abel was a little disappointed that he had no [Talent] or [Abilities], but he could accept it.
After all, in his previous life, aside from being handsome, he hadn't had any particularly outstanding talents either.
He hadn't expected that after transmigrating, he would still be a man who was "good for nothing" except his looks—no, a boy now.
Still, he believed that this time, things would be different.
But first, he had to find a way to stay alive a little longer.
A hellish start was one thing, but they'd only given him five years to live. It couldn't help but cast a shadow over Abel's heart.
He quickly checked the system's other functions.
At last, he figured out exactly how his cheat worked.
The [Orders] section had two options: "Accept Order" and "Post Order."
With his Beginner Trading Qualification, he could get one free "search" every 72 hours. By searching, he could obtain a "Wish Order" from a different world.
Completing these orders would earn him Trading Points and even additional special rewards.
Free "searches" could not be accumulated, but searches purchased with Trading Points or obtained by other means could be saved up.
The "Post Order" option was grayed out and inactive for now. He would have to reach Intermediate Trading Qualification before he could use it.
Once he understood that, Abel immediately opened the system [Inventory] and claimed his newbie gift pack.
[Newbie gift pack opened. You received 1,000 Trading Points, 1 Four-Star Good Review Card, 1 Order Release Experience Card, and a limited-time sale of a random four-star bargain item.] [Four-Star Good Review Card] (Limited Edition) Single-use item Effect: Use when submitting an order to guarantee a four-star good review for that order. Note: Only usable with beginner Wish Orders
[Order Release Experience Card] (Limited Edition) Single-use item Effect: Use to generate a "Wish Order" based on the host's needs and the reward offered, then send it to a different world. Note: If the wish is too difficult or the reward offered is worth too little, no one may accept the order.
With his Trading Points in hand, Abel immediately opened the System Shop.
[Shop] (Beginner): Three random items refresh every seven days. One limited-time discount item is added at the beginning of each month.
There were five things available for purchase in the System Shop.
The first was the random four-star bargain item he'd received from the [Newbie Gift Pack].
Special Item: [Red Heart] ×99 (Special items do not disappear during weekly refreshes. Available while supplies last!) Description: Anyone who's played games knows that one heart represents one life. Effect: Permanently adds one year to the user's lifespan. Cannot be used on others. Price: 1,000 Trading Points each (struck through) Four-Star Surprise Discount: 100 Trading Points each! Quantity: 99 P.S. A crazy fire sale! Buy now and you're already making a profit. What are you waiting for?
The second was the beginning-of-the-month limited-time discount item.
[Talent Mutation Ray] (Purple) Description: A godsend for those without talents, and the ultimate "little pill" for ordinary people! Effect: Delves deep into the user's potential and mutates it into an innate talent. (Takes effect immediately after purchase. Those who already have a talent cannot use it.) Price: 2,000 Trading Points (struck through) Beginning-of-the-month limited-time flash sale: 100 Trading Points! Quantity: 1 Time remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes P.S. Will you settle for the ordinary, or take a brave shot?!
The remaining three were ordinary items that had refreshed for the week: a bunch of bananas, a piece of clothing, and a coin.
Item: [Banana Grenade] (White) Single-use item Description: You think it's a banana, but it's actually a bomb! Effect: Explodes after a three-second delay. Price: 5 Trading Points Quantity: 10 P.S. Banana, you bastard—die!
Item: [Lightweight Bulletproof Vest] (White) Equipment item Description: Just an ordinary bulletproof vest. Its only advantage is probably that it's lightweight? Effect: Resists bullets. Protection: 100 Price: 50 Trading Points Quantity: 1 P.S. It only stops bullets, not anything else.
Item: [I Am Just a Passerby] (Blue) Single-use item Description: It was supposed to be a love story between three people, but I didn't even deserve to have a name. Effect: For ten minutes after use, your presence will be greatly reduced, and other people will subconsciously ignore you. Note: Reduced presence is not the same as invisibility, so try not to remain in other people's sight for too long. And definitely don't do anything strange to deliberately draw attention. Price: 100 Trading Points Quantity: 1 P.S. Huh? Who are you? Where did you come from?
Abel couldn't help getting excited!
The special item [Red Heart] could add years to his life. Ninety-nine of them meant ninety-nine extra years!
In other words, as long as he had enough Trading Points, he wouldn't have to worry about his dwindling lifespan for the time being.
And that wasn't even all the pleasant surprises the system had in store for him.
The [Talent Mutation Ray] was a purple item that normally cost 2,000 Trading Points, but it was now on sale for just 100. What a bargain!
(Most items were ranked from lowest to highest as white, blue, purple, orange, and red. Special items were not included.)
The three ordinary items also each had their own uses, making it hard to resist buying them.
But although a thousand Trading Points seemed like a lot, they didn't go far.
After weighing his options carefully, he spent only 150 Trading Points for now, buying the [Lightweight Bulletproof Vest] (White) and [I Am Just a Passerby] (Blue).
Both items could help keep him alive, and they were exactly what he urgently needed right now.
As for the rest, he could think about them after reaching somewhere safe.
As soon as Abel completed his purchase, the two items appeared in the system [Inventory].
The system [Inventory] had an unlimited number of slots, but it could only store system items.
Abel immediately took out the [Lightweight Bulletproof Vest] (White) and put it on.
The black vest looked reassuringly sturdy, and it wasn't heavy at all—probably only about half a kilogram. He had no idea what special material it was made from.
Then he put his bloodstained uniform jacket back on over it.
After that, he checked the [Orders] again.
[Begin searching for a Wish Order?] [Searches remaining: 1 (Free)]
Abel thought it over and chose to confirm.
His reasoning was simple: the first search was for testing the system and gathering information, so the sooner he used it, the better.
The system immediately started running.
[Searching for a Wish Order. Search complete!] [One beginner Wish Order obtained] [Order description: A boy known as the "Shinigami Elementary School Student" was captured while investigating a murderer. He urgently needs a sharp knife to cut through his ropes.] [Order request: A sharp tool capable of cutting through ropes] [Order base reward: One pair of Leg Strength Enhancement Shoes, 100 Trading Points] [Time remaining: 4 minutes 59 seconds]
"There's a time limit, too?"
The five-minute countdown caught Abel by surprise, but it didn't make him panic.
Instead, he calmly began analyzing the order and gathering the information he wanted.
"Looks like completing an order doesn't require some sort of 'equivalent exchange.'"
"Otherwise, there's no way an ordinary knife could possibly be worth the same as a pair of Leg Strength Enhancement Shoes."
"Of course, that's assuming the 'Shinigami Elementary School Student' in the order description is the one I 'know.'"
"So the orders are probably generated according to a kind of 'supply and demand' logic."
"In other words, they're based on what the customer [needs] at the time and what they can [offer]. The two don't necessarily have the same actual value. Whether I profit or lose depends entirely on my own judgment."
Abel wore a thoughtful expression.
It was simple. Take this example.
Someone was stranded in a desert with plenty of gold but no water left.
In that situation, which was more important: gold or water?
If someone offered enough water for him to make it out of the desert in exchange for the gold he was carrying, what would happen?
Probably ninety-nine percent of people would agree, because staying alive was what mattered most!
There was no need to mention the fools who cared more about money than their lives.
So, in Abel's view, the true value of an [Item] fluctuated depending on each person's [Needs].
An ordinary bottle of mineral water might only sell for a dollar or two in the city, but if sold to a thirsty traveler in the desert, it might be worth a ton of gold. That was more or less how it worked.
Once he understood, Abel wasted no more time and began searching through the nearby corpses with some difficulty.
Most of the people in Freyvans had been shot to death, but quite a few had also been hacked to death with knives. And there were plenty of residents who had picked up weapons to fight back.
So, even though anything valuable had long since been stripped from the corpses here, some worthless odds and ends had been left behind with them.
Just from where Abel was looking, he could see dozens of broken knives stuck in chests or lodged between bones.
He soon found a knife that fit the requirements.
It was a pointed kitchen knife clutched tightly in someone's hand. The dead man was in his forties, his eyes wide open and refusing to close, as if he'd put up a fierce struggle before he died.
The blade of the kitchen knife he'd used to cut vegetables had several chips in it.
If he'd had enough time, Abel would have tried searching around for something better. But time was short, so he had to use this knife to submit the order.
[Order item confirmed. Beginning transfer.]
The pointed kitchen knife in Abel's hand vanished almost instantly.
[Beginner Wish Order completed. The customer gave a two-star rating (so-so)!] [Comment: Are you kidding me?! I asked for a sharp knife, not a saw!] [The two-star rating deducted 20% of the base Trading Point reward. The remaining rewards have been issued automatically. Please check your inventory.]
"Two-star rating?"
Abel was stunned for a moment. Then he realized he'd only received 80 Trading Points and a pair of Leg Strength Enhancement Shoes. Sure enough, twenty percent of his Trading Points reward had been deducted.
"System, what's going on?"
[Please review the relevant rules for details (full)]
Abel immediately opened them and found out.
It turned out that after completing each order, he would receive feedback from the customer. There were five possible ratings in total.
One-star rating = Terrible review. Fifty percent of the base Trading Points reward would be deducted.
Furthermore, after receiving three one-star reviews, his trading qualification would automatically drop by one level. If he already had the lowest qualification, with nowhere lower to fall, the system would sever their connection and leave.
However, whenever his trading qualification increased by a level, all previous bad reviews would immediately be cleared, and the count would start over.
Two-star rating = So-so. The customer wasn't especially satisfied, but the item was at least usable. Twenty percent of the base Trading Points reward would be deducted, and the review wouldn't count toward the bad-review total.
Three-star rating = Ordinary good review. The customer's needs had basically been met. There were no extra surprises, but the result was well above the passing mark. No reward would be deducted, and no bonus would be given.
Four-star rating = Pleasant surprise. The customer's basic needs had been met, and some of their unspoken needs had also been fulfilled, leaving them delighted! The base Trading Points reward would increase by an additional fifty percent, and there was a chance of receiving an extra tip from the customer.
Five-star rating = Perfect review. An unequivocally positive review, with not a single flaw for the customer to pick out. The item perfectly met all of the customer's needs. The base Trading Points reward would increase by an additional one hundred percent, and there was a very high chance of receiving an extra tip from the customer.
Ratings from one to five stars gave users a great deal of freedom in choosing trading items. They also encouraged users to do their very best with every customer's Wish Order instead of handling it carelessly.
PS: My writing skills are limited, and I can't write something that pleases everyone. If you don't like it, please leave quietly. Let's part on good terms; there's no need to go looking for attention everywhere. Instead of spending time typing things to disgust others, why not go study some basic Marxist theory and improve your character? Anyway, if I see it, I'll mute you and delete your post. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Before you continue