[Would you like to make your first trade?]
Jared stared at the notification for a while.
He knew it was going to take a while for him to get used to the system popping up notifications without any prior warnings.
'Trade? What do you mean by that?' he asked, resting his back on the tree.
[Your system currently has three major features that are going to be helpful to you.]
[— Infinite Shop
— Shop points (Sp).
— Inventory.]
Jared read each word as the system delivered them to him.
[Infinite Shop: This gives you an endless supply of items you can purchase with Shop points. It also gives you an endless option to sell items to the shop. The more valuable the item, the higher the price.]
[Shop Points: These are currencies you can use to buy things from the shop.
Note: You earn 100 Sp daily. Sp can also be earned from performing major actions and increasing bonds with key people around you.]
[Inventory: This gives you a pocket space to keep anything you wish to save for future purposes.]
Jared understood every word the system said—at least to a certain degree.
'How many Sp do I have now?'
[Current Sp: 100]
'Okay. Can you show me the shop? If you have an infinite supply of items, then I'm guessing there should be food?'
[Correct.]
[Shop (Food Category)]
[Raw rice: 40 Sp.
Bottle water: 7 Sp.
Protein shake: 13 Sp.
Burger: 19 Sp.]
And the list went on.
Looking at the list of food items as he kept scrolling, Jared couldn't help but feel both surprised and amazed.
'This shop even has things from my former world. That's insane.'
He stopped scrolling.
[Energy drink: 8 Sp.]
It was exactly what he needed.
Jared proceeded to buy three energy drinks from the system.
[24 Sp has been deducted from your account.]
[You have 76 Sp left.]
Opening the can, he gulped down one of the energy drinks, taking it all in one go.
Giving out a satisfied sigh, Jared smiled. 'I never thought I would drink this again. With this, I should be able to walk miles without feeling tired.'
He turned his attention back to the shop.
'The system did say I can trade things, so what if I...'
Jared placed the fruits on the ground, picking out three from the five he had with him.
"Trade," he announced.
[Three Taris Rops.]
[Price earned: 20 Sp.]
[Would you like to continue with the trade?]
Jared smiled. It was as if he had stumbled on a cheat code.
"Continue," he said to the system.
[20 Sp has been added to your account.]
[You now have 96 Sp left.]
'This is only making me curious to see what else I can sell and buy from the system.'
Jared looked up at the sky, realizing the sun would soon be going down.
'I don't have the luxury of time. I should head back to the village first. Yosh! Let's get moving.'
And with that, Jared continued his journey toward the village.
After walking for a long time, Jared finally felt the exhaustion hit him.
The only reason he had been able to keep going for so long was due to the energy drink he had on him.
Finally, his body gave up.
Jared collapsed to the ground, his eyes slowly closing.
'Ah... damn. And I was so close to the village,' he whispered to himself before falling unconscious.
…..
Bang!
The noise was loud, like it was directly throbbing inside his head.
Bang!
It came again, this time louder, as if someone was intentionally hitting two pieces of wood together.
Slowly, Jared opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was the weird doll connected to the ceiling, dangling in front of his face.
Next was the small room he was in, which had only one small bed and a few other working tools inside it.
He sat upright, placing his hand on his head as he tried to remember what had happened.
Jared knew he had collapsed at the side of the road; everything else was a complete blur.
Still, the room he was in looked awfully familiar, including the hay-stacked bed covered with fabric.
His eyes widened as he realized it.
'Am I back at the village?!'
Jumping up from the bed, Jared raced toward the door and opened it to check what was going on outside.
The moment he opened the door, he was met with yet another familiar sight.
A girl with long black hair and a beautiful curvy body stood before him.
She had a white flower at the side of her head, and she was dressed in a white dress with a black ribbon tied around her collar.
She was also holding a bucket of water with a small rag in her hand.
Jared knew who she was instantly.
"Lucy," he said out loud.
Baam!
The bucket and cloth dropped from the girl's hands as she covered her mouth, her eyes widening as tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"You're awake..." she said in a shaky voice. "You're finally awake."
"Seems like it," Jared smiled.
Feeling hesitant at first, Lucy took her time before hugging Jared as she silently cried her eyes out.
After a few moments, she led him back into the room and allowed him to sit on the bed while she stood in front of him.
Lucy Grayha—while she was Jared's friend, she was also his personal assistant in a way. Perhaps a better word would be that she was assigned to Jared by his father to take care of him.
Not much could be said about her since she was always so secretive.
But if there was one thing people in the village knew about her, it was the fact that she was always protective of Jared.
And since she was by far the strongest, it made it even scarier for anyone to mess with Jared.
"I'm glad Lord Jared finally woke up from his slumber. The entire village was worried."
Jared had a serious look on his face.
He wanted to know the state of the village and what had happened while he was away.
But first, he needed to know just one thing.
"How... how is my father?" he asked.