"Open God's Mall," said Bowen.
"As you wish, host. Scanning…. Reaper William. Identity confirmed. License White XXXX01," replied the system.
Suddenly, Bowen found himself in a white room. A small fairy with a purple frock, mushroom-cut hair, and tiny butterfly wings floated in front of him. She was the size of an adult fist.
"Welcome to God's Mall. I am Tia, the friendly shopkeeper assigned for Reaper William. How may I help you?" said the big fairy with a big cheerful smile.
"Oh, hello. Umm, first of all, can you give me a basic intro to the mall?" asked Bowen.
"Of course," said Tia, and started the explanation. "This is God's Mall of branch AAA87729, assigned for buying and selling products from other realms. Every God's Mall has many levels. According to customer William's rank, you are only eligible for level 1 for now. Oh! I forgot. Since this is your first time, you are allowed to take one object from level 0 for free."
"There is a level 0?" asked Bowen.
"Actually… Tia hesitated for a moment and then continued, "It's a place like a store room, you see. It's a place for useless things. So, we clean it up, giving things away for free."
"I am sorry," Tia added, "you know it's orders from my superiors."
(Sigh) "It's okay, Tia. I know I can't hold you responsible for that. Okay, show me what you have got."
"Really? You are not angry at me?" asked Tia, her eyes filling with tears.
"Why would I be… wait… hey… why are you crying?" asked Bowen.
"Umm… it's… (sob) it's because there are rude customers who always scold Tia. But… but you seem to be a good person, Mr. Will," Tia said, sobbing.
Bowen thought, "It's because you are too frank. Even now, you could have not said the truth about level 0 and just chosen a random thing and given it away for free. Then the customers would have been more grateful than scoffing about you giving useless things."
"Oh, sorry for wasting your time… sob sob… It's just that there have… have not been many kind people visiting Tia… sob sob…" Tia said, crying.
"Okay, Tia, don't cry. How about this? You can help me by recommending things in level 0?" suggested Bowen.
"Really? I can do that?" Tia became excited.
"Yes, I believe in you," said Bowen.
Tia started to cry in happiness harder than before. It took Bowen a lot of time to make her stop sobbing, and then with Tia's guidance, he reached level 0. Just like he thought, thousands and thousands of items lay in heaps over heaps like waste scraps. He really wondered how he would find the one item that he could take.
"Ummm… Mr. William… see if you like anything," Tia said, starting to tell information about the things there. There were many things in the pile like body nourishment pills, one-point strength pills, golden silk to increase charm, some otherworldly money, cursed gems, animal parts, skins, some plant roots, etc. 99% of them didn't have proper information about them. Tia patiently explained things after things, and Bowen kept searching for hours. Even then, he couldn't decide what he wanted. Finally, with Tia's suggestions, he decided to take a 5-point luck-increasing charm, a necklace that has an ornament invisibility option. He was not very satisfied with the object, but it was the most useful item he could find there. He climbed the treasure pile to take the charm, just then a small piece of black puzzle-like structure lay visible near the charm caught his eye.
"What's this?" he asked Tia curiously.
"This?" Tia replied. "Can you please give it to me for a closer look?"
Bowen handed the puzzle piece to Tia, who kept staring at it, turning it in different angles.
"Umm, Mr. William, I'm so sorry, I cannot find what this is," Tia said, flustered.
"You don't know?" Bowen then asked the system about the item.
"Sorry, host. With your current rank, I am not eligible to acquire the information on this item," replied the system.
Even though he knew most of the items here might be useless, something about the item made him want to choose it.
"Fine then, I will take this," decided Bowen.
"Aah, this one? Mr. William, you know it may be trash or a broken item. It may even be a cursed one. Please think carefully, but I'm not telling you that you can't take it. Tia wants good for William. I'm sorry if I spoke over my limit, but Tia wants to advise," Tia said.
"It's okay, Tia. I know this may be a dangerous item, but I still want it."
"Oh? Fine, if Mr. William likes it very much, then let me give you a tour of level one," she said.
William went to level one, which had only one door with a nameplate. On the door was written "Books (Basic)."
"As you are in level one, you will have access to only one door," said Tia.
"Okay, let me see what it has," said Bowen.
Tia opened the door, and both of them strode inside. Inside looked like a normal room with many exhibits neatly placed on the desk just like in the museum, covered by glass covers. Bowen went round the book exhibits one by one.
"Basic Sculpting" by Etios, "Winning the Bet" by Harper Leons, "Fun of Being a Spy" by Usherer, "How to Make a Pot" by Warry Sky Maiden, "Cooking with Closed Eye" by A Bind Pal, "Book of a Drunkard," etc. There were many books for day-to-day lives, but Bowen didn't find any skill or magic books. Bowen had a bad premonition.
"Tia," he called.
"Hmm?"
"Where are the skill books?"
Tia thought for some time, then said, "Oh, you mean fighting skills and magic arts? They are on the third level and above."
"Third...third level?" Shocked Bowen exclaimed. Now it was Bowen's turn to cry.
"Mr. William...umm...Mr. Will...what's the matter?" Tia asked in confusion.
"What about weapons?"
"In upper levels."
"Magic potions?"
"Upper levels."
"Divine treasures?"
"Upper."
"Divine herbs, artifacts, ancient scripts...?"
"Hmmm?...all in upper level," said Tia innocently, without knowing why Bowen was so depressed.
" YOU DECEIVING BASTARDS!...I am resigning from my job right now, damn it. I will be paid generously you said. How could you make my life any more miserable than this? It's better to suffer in hell than work for your black company. You only let me be in reaper mode once every six months, and you send me a system that always sends me to my doom in the name of missions. And now this? I only get these useless books to help me survive in this dog-eat-dog world? I know you hear me, you deceivers. I should have never believed and signed your contract." Bowen kept shouting at the ceiling of the room.
Tia didn't understand what was going on, but she felt terribly helpless right now. Finally, Bowen calmed down and let out a ragged breath. "No use in shouting at those bastards. See when I go to that world edge or something again. Tia, I cannot decide what I want right now. Can I come later?"
"Oh yes, yes. You can come whenever you want. Tia will be waiting for the kind customer." Making a big goodbye to Tia, Bowen exited the God's Mall.
Bowen decided to see his final reward that remained untouched. "System, random skill gacha please."
Immediately, a giant structure appeared before Bowen. The Gacha Machine was a tall, cylindrical structure adorned with intricate carvings of mythical creatures and runes that glowed with a faint, otherworldly light. It was powered by an unknown source of magic, emanating a faint hum that resonated with the energies of the realm. At the top of the machine was a large, crystal-clear glass dome that revealed a swirling mist of multicolored magical energy.
"Host, please pay up 50 DP for one round of gacha."
"???"
Bowen was already tired of arguing, so he let out a long breath and reluctantly paid 50 DP, his hard-earned money.
As Bowen pulled on the handle attached to the front, the machine emitted a series of clicks and whirrs as gears and cogs came to life, and the mist within the glass dome began to swirl and churn with greater intensity. As the mist settled, a small compartment in the front of the machine opened, revealing a glowing orb. Bowen touched the glowing orb immediately...
***ting***Congratulations for the host on winning Elemental aegis skill. (epic)
Host can conjure eight modes of Aegis shield through elemental manipulation, depending on the elemental mastery of the host. Each mode of shield consists of three levels:
Aegis of fire (1/3)-locked
Aegis of water(1/3)-locked
Aegis of wind(1/3)-locked
Aegis of earth(1/3)-locked
Aegis of lightning(1/3)-locked
Aegis of wood(1/3)-locked
Aegis of light(1/3)-locked
Aegis of darkness(1/3)-locked
Bowen was happy to have spent his 50 DP on such a skill. It might be useless for him now, but when he masters the elements, it will be his trump card for the win. Bowen has already become much stronger in a short span of two months since he got back his memories of him being William.
"Finally, show my current status," ordered Bowen to the system.