I always read stories where the protagonist is hit by a truck and stays alive for a few minutes, thinking and reflecting on life. I always thought about how painful and disturbing it must be to lie on the cold ground, watching your life slip away, unable to do anything.
I guess I was lucky because when Truck-Sama "kissed" me, I didn't feel any pain—I just ended up in this white space.
In front of me, there's a green screen with golden letters that read "Multiverse Merchant System." It's an interesting screen because below it, there are icons: a [?] labeled "Helpbot," a [$] labeled "Store," a [👍] labeled "Status(?)," and a final one [🧭] labeled "Map."
Let's take a look at each one separately.
Pressing the [?], the screen then shrinks to the size of a cellphone and lands in my hand.
The interface now looks like a WhatsApp chat. Let's see how it works.
Helpbot: Hello, how can I assist you?
You: What is this?
Helpbot: I didn't understand the question; could you rephrase it?
You: What are you?
Helpbot: I am a chatbot created to help the host with the system.
You: What is the system?
Helpbot: The Multiverse Merchant System, as the name suggests, allows the host to travel across the multiverse as a merchant, conducting business.
You: What kinds of business can I do?
Helpbot: The host can engage in any business that does not break the system's rules.
You: What rules?
Helpbot: To see the full list of rules, please type /gamerules.
You: /gamerules?
Helpbot: List of all rules for system version 0.09:
Rule 1: A merchant must be honest.
Rule 2: An honest merchant should not earn more than a 20% profit.
Rule 3:
Rule 4:
.
.
.
.
.
Rule 7985: Don't sell on credit.
🙃 Wow...
You: Is there any summary of the rules or an audiobook?
Helpbot: The summary would be, "Be honest."
You: Changing the subject, how do I get out of here?
Helpbot: I didn't understand the question; could you rephrase it?
You: How do I get out of this place?
Helpbot: Do you want to leave this chat? Just think about going back.
You: No, I mean, how do I get back to my world? How do I leave the place I'm in!
Helpbot: Understood! To travel for business, you should go to the map option and choose a destination.
I think about exiting the chat, and the screen returns to show the previous four icons.
I click on "Map," and the screen transforms into an actual map. At the top, there are tabs labeled Local Map, Saved Maps, and Travel Map.
In the Local Map tab, there's nothing—it just says no locations have been discovered. Saved Maps is the same, so I move on to the last tab, Travel Map.
Here, I see a change: various names appear, some familiar, like Dragon Ball, One Piece, Marvel, DC, and others unknown to me, like Jujutsu Kaisen, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Shingeki no Kyojin, Spy x Family, Star Wars. I click on Marvel.
[Would you like to travel to the Marvel world?]
I quickly click "No"; that seems dangerous. I'll check out the other functions first.
So, I go back to the main screen, and this time I select the [$] Shop option.
The screen changes, showing a layout similar to Amazon but in green and gold.
In the upper left corner, I see Multiverse Merchant System, and in the upper right, it says {Current Balance: 0◇}.
I start browsing through the products: a pair of sneakers costs around 385◇, a television costs about 11,000◇, a frozen hamburger costs 80◇ each… Okay, these prices are a bit confusing.
go back to the main system screen and click on the last option, [👍] Status. The screen changes, now looking like the character creation menu from The Sims 3.
Oh, look, there's a 3D model of me over there, haha.
On the right side is a 3D figure that looks just like me, and on the left, there's some information.
Name: Larry Cooper
Age: 19 Years
Gender: Male
Physical Stats:
Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Endurance: 2
Mental Stats:
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 3
World Will Energy [WWE]: 0
Health: Healthy, with temporary debuffs
(Debuff 1: Shocked and numb due to death)
(Debuff 2: Altered adrenaline and dopamine levels)
(For reference: Martial artists have 7 in all physical stats. A person like scienttist have 5 mental stats)
This seems kind of weak, and what are these debuffs? Am I really in shock? Hard to tell. I wonder how long they'll last… Well, whatever.
Then I go back to the system's main screen and start a chat with the bot.
Helpbot: How can I assist you?
You: What happens when I select a location on the map as a travel destination?
Helpbot: By choosing a destination, you'll travel there and can stay until you choose another place to travel.
You: Is there any limit or rule about where I can travel?Helpbot: The only limit is the ticket price.
You: What do you mean by ticket price? I didn't see any charge when I checked.
Helpbot: Yes, you need to pay to travel to a location, but since you haven't traveled before, the first trip is free, and you'll receive a bonus depending on your destination.
You: What kind of bonus is that?
Helpbot: I can't specify, as the bonus is random depending on the destination.
You: About the shop, I saw that my balance is 0. Tell me more about that.
Helpbot: Your balance is 0◇ because you haven't conducted any business yet.
You: How do I conduct business?
Helpbot: Find someone and sell them something from the shop; the deal is sealed with a handshake.
You: What do I gain from selling?
Helpbot: You earn 20% of the sale price when selling an item.
You: Okay, but I still don't understand what I gain from selling an item. What money?
Helpbot: The items in the system can only be sold using the currency ◇, which you know as gold; the conversion is 1g of gold for 1◇.
You: ...
You: Is there a way to use another currency? I saw a TV for sale for 10,000; where am I supposed to find someone willing to give me 10kg of gold for a damn TV?!
Helpbot: No, it must be gold. Regarding that, remember rule 6798: An honest seller must seek supply and demand.
You: f***, how is that a rule?
Helpbot: It's a rule because dishonest merchants create artificial and vile supply and demand, like drugs or selling defective products, like the lightbulbs in your world.
You: I'll change the subject before I die again. Tell me about those status points, the World Will Energy.
Helpbot: World Will Energy is used to increase your stats; each point permanently increases your stat by 1. World Will Energy can also be used to buy some special and unique items.
You: What are unique items?
Helpbot: Things that go beyond material, like knowledge or powers.
You: How do I obtain those points?
Helpbot: Conduct any business with an anchor from a world, and you'll earn 1 point.
You: What do you mean by anchors? Like anchors from ships?
Helpbot: Anchors are important individuals in a world. Even if the individual isn't powerful, as long as they have significant importance, they will be considered an anchor.
You: Is there any way to know who an anchor is?
Helpbot: Yes, to assist the host, the system ensures that anchors have a symbol of ₩ above their heads.
After asking the Helpbot a few more questions, I understood the basics of the system. Here's a summary:
The system is basically a virtual shop that sells anything, but only I have access to it.I can only earn money in the system through a sale; I can't deposit gold I've earned in other ways.The only thing the system doesn't sell is living beings. According to the Helpbot, items like meat or wood are artificial; they didn't come directly from an animal or tree, but they have the same properties and vitamins as the real ones.The unique items I checked in the shop are indeed incredible abilities. If I have enough points, I could even buy the Omnitrix or the powers of Superman One Million.The points can infinitely improve my stats, which is great because if I ever want to go to the Dragon Ball world, I can at least be at Krillin's level.
I can even buy the Dragon Balls; they're in the unique items. Apparently, when I buy them, I'll have my own Shenlong.
Now I need to decide which world to visit first.
My desire would be a world like Boku no Hero, but there are four problems.
The first problem is that, according to the Helpbot, I won't automatically learn the language of the world I go to. So, since I don't know Japanese, it will take me a while to learn, and I have a time limit before the plot starts.
The second problem is that I won't have an identity when I go to a world, so I would be a homeless person who doesn't know Japanese. If I don't get arrested by immigration, I might end up dead at the hands of some villain on the streets.
The third problem is that there's nothing I could sell that couldn't already be found in that world. Maybe I could sell things like spaceships, but how would I get the WWEnergy?
And the fourth problem would be, let's say I manage to find something to sell—where would I find someone with enough gold to buy it? Maybe Momo, who has the creation ability, could create gold and sell it to me. But what if the gold she makes has her DNA? Would the system accept "artificial" gold?
Maybe The Walking Dead would be a good choice. If I can convince people, I might be able to create a shop where the barter would be gold for things they need. For them, it would be easy; they just need to find a jewelry store or a museum.
Huh? I just realized something. I quickly open the Helpbot.
Helpbot: How can I assist you?
You: If I go to a world like The Walking Dead, will I get infected by the virus?
Helpbot: Yes, when traveling to worlds, you will be exposed to everything in them, including the Walking Dead virus.
You: Shouldn't the system protect me from that?
Helpbot: The system passively protects you from some things, like curses or threats to your existence. However, for specific protections, like shielding from viruses, you can buy the ability in the shop.
You: And a zombie virus isn't considered a threat to my existence?
Helpbot: No.
Author's note: I will remember this 😈.
🤡 This system is Chinese; a not filial son.
Okay, I need to choose a world with easy opportunities where gold is the normal currency but without dangers like a zombie virus.
I thought about going to a world like John Wick, but I don't think it would be easy to get gold from the Continental.
Maybe a medieval world? I recently watched The Witcher; maybe I should go to Geralt of Rivia's world? No, gold in that era was only for the nobles; commoners lived only with copper coins and sometimes silver.
I spent a good amount of time scouring all the available worlds and finally found a perfect one.
Vikings.
It's perfect; it has gold, it's a normal world, and it's far from having viruses— even the Black Death is about 400 years in the future.
Plus, they have a lot of gold from their raids, and they don't use it; most of it is buried to use in Valhalla, even Ragnar did that. Also, there are anchors; if I were to bet, I'd say I already have 3 anchors: Ragnar, Floki, and Bjorn.
Now, there are two important issues:
I don't know Old Norse.I don't know how to fight.
So I need to find a place to go where I don't have to speak Norse or fight.
Maybe, just maybe, this could work.
I open the map and choose Vikings.
[Do you want to go to the world of Vikings?]
I click yes.
[Choose the time and place of your arrival]
This function is pretty OP; I can see the entire world as if I were in spectator mode in Minecraft. Luckily, the system has the option to display locations based on the episodes of the series; otherwise, I would have to search literally the whole world for the place I want.
I quickly find the location I want to go to, choose the date, and confirm. Then a door appears in front of me.
"May Odin help me," I say as I step through the door.
End
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"Hey, author here! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
I used ChatGPT to translate (just to make it clear, I wrote this story in my own language, this is not a a chinese fanfic), so if you find any issues, let me know."