Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Finally Unlocking The Shop
Shelia and Ophelia decided to take an afternoon stroll while Isabella stayed behind, settling onto a spare log. She watched them disappear into the distance, the midday heat making the air thick and heavy.
She sighed. Bored.
Then, as if struck by lightning, she suddenly rembered sothing—her system!
"Bubu, you’ve been real silent. What’s going on?" she called out ntally.
A second later, a familiar voice echoed in her mind, dripping with attitude. [Well, you’ve been so busy ignoring . Every ti I send you notifications for upgrades or points, you just dismiss them. Not even a flinch. No reaction. Nothing. It’s honestly offensive.]
Isabella nearly burst out laughing. Her system was really sothing else. "When did you get this sassy?"
[Actually, we copy the behavior of our hosts. The more you act like that, the more I—well, you know.]
She blinked. "Wait, what?"
[You heard .]
Isabella stared blankly into space. So... was this thing learning from her? Was that why it had beco so sarcastic? That was terrifying.
Shaking it off, she decided to focus on what mattered. "Fine, whatever. How many points do I have now?"
[520.]
Isabella almost choked. "Five hundred and twenty points, and you told
NOTHING?!"
[Oh, NOW you care? You’ve gained enough points. Your stats have changed. You’ve gained abilities. But did you check? Nope. Did you ask? Nope. Do you even glance at my notifications? Nope. I might as well not exist.]
Isabella groaned. "Alright, alright. I get it. You’re feeling neglected. I’m checking my stats now, okay?"
A translucent blue panel appeared before her eyes.
---
[STATUS]
Na: Isabella Devereaux
Race: Human
Age: 21
Power Rank: F-
Cultivation Level: None
Main Stats:
Survival Rate: 17/100
Health: 8/100
Stamina: 5/300
Strength: 3/1000
Agility: 14/500
Combat: 2/1000
Defense: 1/100
Charm: 100/1000
Additional Attributes:
Intelligence: 76/100
Survival Instinct: 9/100
---
At first, she nodded in satisfaction. The numbers were rising, even if slowly.
But then her eyes landed on Charm.
100/1000.
She froze.
"What. The. Hell?!" she nearly scread.
Before, it had been 100/100, aning she’d maxed it out. But now... the limit had skyrocketed to 1000?!
"What is this nonsense?" she demanded.
[Oh, that? Yeah. Since your charm stat was originally at its limit, things were easy for you. You got away with a lot. But now that you’re getting the hang of this world, I figured... why not make things harder? Plus you’ll get getting acquainted with a lot of people now. You can’t always have things go your way.]
"EXCUSE ?!"
[You’re welco.]
Isabella gaped at the panel, feeling personally attacked. No wonder people had been acting slightly different around her lately! The system nerfed her charm!
She grumbled, muttering complaints under her breath, but the system ignored her completely.
Then, after a brief pause, its voice returned—
[Would you like to open the shop?]
"Yes," Isabella said, bracing herself. As she stared at her points amount on the screen.
The mont she confird, a sharp ding echoed in her mind, followed by the worst sight imaginable—her points dropping from 520 to 20.
Her chest ached. Physically.
She clutched her heart dramatically. "That hurt," she muttered.
But her pain was soon forgotten when a massive shop interface unfolded before her eyes.
Her jaw nearly hit the ground.
[SHOP UNLOCKED]
Subsections Available:
1. Skincare & Beauty – Basic self-care items.
2. Basic Weapons – Low-tier weapons available for purchase.
3. Cultivation Boosters – (Locked until cultivation begins.)
4. Survival Tools – Essential items for basic survival.
5. Cooking Ingredients – Basic resources for food preparation.
6. Household & Cleaning – Sanitation products and essentials.
And the items... oh, the items.
She clicked on Skincare & Beauty first, because why not?
Instantly, an overwhelming list of products flooded her vision.
Herbal Face Cleanser – 50 pts
Hydrating Rosewater Mist – 75 pts
Smoothing Aloe Vera Gel – 100 pts
Glow-Boosting Face Serum – 150 pts
Exfoliating Sugar Scrub – 80 pts
Anti-Aging Elixir (Slows Skin Aging) – 250 pts
Sunscreen Cream (Blocks Magical & Sun Rays) – 200 pts
Deep Hydration Face Mask – 120 pts
Detoxifying Charcoal Mask – 90 pts
Soothing Cucumber Eye Patches – 70 pts
...And that was just ONE section.
There were thousands of things in this shop. Thousands.
Her eyes sparkled. Gosh!
But then, reality hit her.
All these amazing products... and she was broke.
Her excitent quickly turned into a headache. She frowned, calling out to her system, "Bubu."
[Yes?]
"I won’t be able to buy all this stuff every ti. I need to distribute things to the village, and I can’t afford to keep spending points like this. What am I supposed to do?"
[Simple. You can purchase an item once, and when you do, you’ll be given an option to purchase a detailed manual on how to recreate it yourself.]
Isabella perked up. "Wait... that actually sounds useful."
Then, a suspicious thought hit her. "How much per manual?"
[250 points.]
Silence.
Then—
"WHAT?!"
Isabella felt her soul leave her body.
"250 POINTS?! FOR A MANUAL?!" she shrieked.
[Yes.]
"That’s robbery!"
[You only think that because you don’t work hard enough to earn more points.]
"...Excuse ?"
[If you trained and completed more tasks, you’d get points faster. So really, this is your fault.]
Isabella narrowed her eyes. "I do not act like this. There is no way you copied my behavior. You’re way more annoying."
[That sounds exactly like sothing you’d say.]
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Then groaned in frustration. "Fine. There must be another way."
[There is.]
Her eyes brightened. "Okay! Tell ."
[For each item you buy, you’ll be given an option to recreate it.]
"Right," Isabella said, waiting.
But then the system kept talking.
[If it’s a small-level item, 10 pieces will cost you 5000 points.]
"...Huh?"
[10 pieces = 5000 points.]
A vein popped on Isabella’s forehead.
5000 POINTS. FOR JUST TEN PIECES?!
She took a deep breath. Counted to three. Then forced a calm, eerily emotionless tone.
"...Bubu."
[Yes?]
"Are you poor?"
[No.]
"Are you struggling? Do you... need these points to survive?"
[No.]
"...Are you using the points for anything at all?"
[No.]
Silence.
Then—
"IF YOU’RE NOT USING THEM FOR ANYTHING, WHY DO YOU NEED SO MANY POINTS FOR NOTHING?!"
The system responded, completely unfazed. [Because you’re lazy. You need to work for it.]
Isabella scread into her hands.
After soti of wailing, she realized she couldn’t win. So, with defeat in her heart, she decided to scroll through the other items.
Of course, she couldn’t look at everything at once, but at the very least...
She switched over to the Cooking section.
Reviews
All reviews (0)