The System Shop Has Opened

[Congratulations, Host. Your compatibility with Ryomen Sukuna has increased by 10%. →]

[Your compatibility with Gojo Satoru and Ryomen Sukuna is now 50% in total. The System Shop has been unlocked for you.]

The system chimed as soon as Su Wu agreed to let Maro follow him.

Let's see what the System Shop has.

Su Wu found a place to sit. Maro limped along behind him, not saying a word or complaining of pain. His face was fixed in a look of reverent admiration.

The White-haired boy seemed to be staring into space, but in reality he was focused intently on the virtual screen only he could see.

The shop the system had unlocked contained all sorts of... Cursed Tools.

That made sense, considering the system was getting ready to send him to the Jujutsu Kaisen world.

But would these Cursed Tools work as intended in the Hunter World?

And the prices...

There was a weapon in the inventory that looked very familiar.

[Item Name: Ama-no-Sakahoko

Effect: forcibly cancels an activated Cursed Technique.

Price: 10 billion Geni.

Review: The Gojo Satoru of Cursed Tools. Toji Fushiguro used this weapon to take Gojo Satoru's virginity.]

Was that why you were selling it for 10 billion Geni? Fine, I admit it. It was worth it.

But would this thing even work in the Hunter World?

[Rest assured, Host. All products have been modified to work in any world.]

That sounded great, and the effect was tempting. It was just that the price was so high, it put the item out of reach.

Su Wu only had 50 million on him right now. He couldn't afford anything.

"System, do you have Gojo Satoru's sunglasses?" Su Wu asked silently.

[That item is exclusive to Six Eyes users. Since there are very few potential buyers, it is not in stock.]

Not enough people needed them to make a profit, so you just didn't sell them? What a swindler.

"Actually, sunglasses aren't a necessity. I kind of like things this way..." Su Wu murmured.

At first, when the strain had been too much, it had hurt like an electric drill was boring into his brain. When his nose bled, he'd heard a ringing in his ears.

But after experiencing it enough times, he'd gotten used to it. It didn't bother him much anymore. His headache and nosebleed didn't stop him from fighting, and there was something kind of special about it.

If that feeling disappeared, things might get a little boring.

A lot of the time, Su Wu wondered if he had a masochistic streak. He absolutely wasn't just trying to make himself feel better. Absolutely not.

"What sort of feeling do you like, sir?" The golden-haired boy suddenly poked his head into view, his voice strangely excited.

"...The feeling of defeating a very strong opponent." Su Wu thought for less than two seconds before giving his answer.

"I see..." Maro's eyes widened, then his face filled with admiration. "As expected of you, sir."

Could this guy be his number-one fan? The kind of fan who was so fanatical that everything he said was right?

Su Wu narrowed his eyes as he studied Maro, then looked away a moment later.

Well, it didn't matter what the other guy thought.

A weakling's thoughts weren't important. They couldn't affect anything.

Su Wu turned his attention back to the System Shop and fixed his gaze on one of the items.

[Item Name: Ugly Treasure

Effect: can store items.

Price: 1 billion Geni.

Review: A little storage whiz who calls you Mommy.]

This thing was admittedly kind of ugly, but it could store stuff, and it only cost 1 billion. He could buy it.

Whenever he carried a backpack, there was barely any room inside. He had to restock every few hours or days, which was a huge hassle.

With Ugly Treasure, he could live out in the wilderness for a month, or even a year, without worrying about supplies.

He could get Ama-no-Sakahoko, too.

So the only question now was—

"How am I supposed to earn 11 billion Geni?" he mused.

Robbery? Would that be a bit much? Maybe he should first find out which mafia group had the most money, then make his move.

Start a business? That would take an initial investment, and it wasn't a quick way to make money.

As the old saying went, murder and arson filled your belt with gold. Most ways to make money fast weren't exactly legal.

Even in the Hunter World, robbery and murder were crimes. Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a thing as wanted criminals.

If he did that, he'd end up on the wanted list... Though now that he thought about it, that actually sounded kind of fun.

But Hunters would keep coming after him to claim the bounty. The more he killed, the higher the bounty would get. Eventually, he might even draw the Hunter Association's attention.

Then he'd become the villain of this world.

Forget it. He'd think of another way to make money.

"Sir..." A hand offered him a cup of juice. The cup had been fashioned out of a dark green leaf, and it held freshly squeezed apple juice.

"Do you need money?" Maro asked with concern.

"Yeah." Su Wu took the juice and answered absently.

"Here, please take this." Maro held out a card with both hands.

"When I left home, I took some things with me and sold them for Geni."

"But I didn't have anything to spend money on. I only took those things because I couldn't stand how unfair it all felt." He lowered his head, his voice calm.

"How much is on it?" Su Wu took the card without hesitation.

"About 200 million Geni. It's still a long way from the amount you want, sir, because I couldn't take much with me at the time." Maro sounded somewhat ashamed.

When he'd left home, he'd taken the little trinkets displayed in his biological father's study. He couldn't carry anything bigger, and there was no way to leave openly with it.

"Hey... You're pretty rich." Su Wu slipped the card into his backpack, silently declaring that it had a new owner.

"Should I call you Young Master?" the white-haired, blue-eyed boy asked, sounding almost mocking.

The golden-haired boy lowered his head and poked at the fire in front of him, carefully watching the meat as it cooked.

The flames crackled. Then he spoke softly:

"My full name is Maro Pelisha. My father, Kasumu Pelisha, is one of the people who actually holds power in Yorknew. The things I took with me are worthless in his eyes."

"But I'm just an insignificant illegitimate child. My mother was a young prostitute who grew up on a street of brothels, and my father has more than thirty children born in wedlock alone."

"People questioned whether I was really his son. They said I was a bastard, born of my promiscuous mother and one of her other customers. I was branded lowborn from the moment I was born."

"My brothers and sisters all looked down on me and made sport of bullying me. They often competed to see whose new trick could make me cry and beg for help fastest."

Su Wu's expression didn't change as he listened to Maro's account.

It was so common. There was nothing original about it.

His whole family hadn't been slaughtered, and both his parents weren't dead. He wasn't burdened with a debuff of incurable illnesses all over his body, either.

After watching all sorts of anime, playing countless games, and seeing plenty of tragic, beautiful NPCs and characters, Maro's background didn't stir the slightest emotion in him.

The golden-haired boy continued speaking, his voice calm. He glossed over many details and said nothing about how he'd felt then or how he felt now. He spoke only as an observer.

"Once, when I was locked in a dog cage and about to pass out from hunger, I met a man. He didn't free me from the cage, but he made me a delicious meal.

"Before he left, he told me he was a Gourmet Hunter. He said the cage was for pets, and he hoped that the next time he saw me, I wouldn't be inside one."

"I want to become a Gourmet Hunter, too."

"Oh, it's ready. Please try it." He lifted the grilled meat and offered it to Su Wu with a bright smile.

"You really do have the cooking skills to be a Gourmet Hunter." Su Wu assessed the meat as he ate, as if he hadn't heard Maro's confession at all.