Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

“Do I wait or not?”

Leaned back in a beach chair, Oliver stared at the night sky over the Pacific Ocean as he mused to himself. “Waiting is likely the smart choice. Just healing magic alone will make everything a good bit safer. And the offensive spells... My guns have done well, and I'm pretty stocked on ammo... But ammo runs out, while mana regenerates. And having more offensive options wouldn't hurt, anyway...”

“But how long would I have to wait? How long will the bounties be up before someone even looks at them? And how long would it take them to complete any? A day? A week? Months?”

“Or longer?”

“I should definitely keep track of how long it takes. Start building a baseline so I can better organize and prepare in the future...”

Oliver stood slowly and stretched, his hands reaching towards the sky as he yawned. “It will be a couple weeks at least before Tyrone has things set up. I'll wait a day before I start looking through bounties myself. I... I can't just sit around and wait... I'll go crazy...”

“Well, crazier..”

A bitter laugh escaped his lips as he headed towards the room he had rented.

Lounging in the same beach chair, Oliver nodded to himself. “Well, I didn't really expect results in less than a day anyway... May as well get to work.”

With a thought, he opened the system window and quickly flipped to the Universal Bounties page. His eyebrows rose involuntarily at the number available. For a long time, Humanity had wondered if there was other intelligent life in the Universe. And, based on what the system was showing him, Oliver was certain that there really was intelligent life out there.

Far more than even he had expected, and he was much more open minded about such things since he gained the System.

With page after page of bounties in front of him, Oliver quickly shook of the sense of awe it had inspired and focused his mind on his objectives.

“Ok. For my first Universal Bounty... If I want to be safe, should focus on something that at least sounds less dangerous... But if I want to be safe, I should wait until I get the healing spell.”

He chuckled darkly to himself. “Yeah... I guess I'll be somewhat reasonable. A little danger is fine. Getting killed because I'm emotionally unstable would just be stupid...”

He nodded slowly, a general plan taking shape in his mind. “The reward doesn't really matter for this one. It's my first step out into the Universe, so it's really more to test the waters and learn how things work...”

With a general plan in mind, Oliver started to read through the bounties.

Note: All Universal Bounties currently offered are in environments capable of sustaining the life of the Host.

Universal Bounty: Slave Rebellion

Objective: Assist in putting down the rebels/killing the rebel leader

Duration: Until the rebellion is ended or their leader is dead

Details: The damn Habin slaves are rebelling... 'Freedom fighters'? Ha! They have been our property for a millennia! They wouldn't even know what to do with freedom. But, small and weak as they are in body, there are far too many of them to put down easily. I guess our breeding program was a little too efficient. Whatever. We just need someone to come help us cull the little bastards... Or assassinate their leader, Moza! The cowards will surely yield without his rabble-rousing!

Compensation: 100 credits per rebel killed, 20,000 credits for Moza

Posted by: Bal Orokin, Grand Chieftain of the Oro

Universal Bounty: Revolution!

Objective: Assist the Habin people in gaining freedom

Duration: Unknown

Details: My people have been oppressed by the Oro for too long... We were once a peaceful people, welcoming to all... Until the Oro arrived. Never having known war or conflict, we were easy prey for these vicious creatures. Or so say the tales of our elders, passed down from generation to generation. I never wished to fight... Until my daughter was born. And now... Now, I would rather die fighting for her than see her suffer under the cruel hand of these beasts! But this is a struggle I know we cannot win on our own. I need warriors, skilled and fierce, to help me. Knowledge and experience with strategy would be a plus. For the sake of our children, I beg you... Please, help us!

Compensation: 15,000 credits, plus whatever loot you take from the Oro

Posted by: Moza

Universal Bounty: Salvage Security

Objective: Protect salvage team 3

Duration: 3 weeks

Details: Since the fall of our home, my people have been forced into a nomadic existence. Our ship has sustained damage, and our food supply dwindles. We have been forced to engage in salvage operations as a result. While this endeavor has been mostly safe, incidents have occurred that resulted in injuries, my own included- though no fatalities, thankfully. As I was one of the individuals that protected the team, I am in need of a substitute while I recover. The three week duration will be divided between days for salvage and days for travel between potential sites, so you will not be actively engaged the entire time. I know the compensation offered is low, but our situation is strained as it is. You are, of course, free to whatever salvage you wish to retrieve for yourself. If that is not sufficient, I am authorize to trade items from among the non-critical supplies and contraband storage. Hell, you can take all of the contraband, for all I care. The idiots were told not to bring it on the ship anyway...

Compensation: 10,000 credits, salvage rights, other items(negotiable)

Posted by: Omi of the Rach

Universal Bounty: Harvest Season

Objective: Help harvest our crops

Duration: Until all of our fields have been harvested or Winter comes

Details: The war was bad enough, but losing so many of our young men... Even with the returning peace, it will be a challenge for us to harvest all of our fields before winter. There just aren't enough people fit to work the fields right now... That is why the twelve of us pooled our funds into this attempt to find assistance. Not only is this our livelihood, but people will starve without this food! And at least it isn't dangerous, now that the war is over... Well, aside from the occasional vulp or grevvle, but we can handle that- and most of them steer clear of the farms anyway. This will be hard work, don't doubt it. But it's simple and honest.

Compensation: 7,000 credits, an assortment of fresh produce

Posted by: Grandpa Joe (with the agreement of The Jonin Village Farmers)

Page after page of bounties left Oliver deep in thought. He had expected some of the more violent ones- rebellions and war were a Universal truth, so it seemed. But a surprising number of the bounties were surprisingly... Mundane. Miners asking for help in transporting stone and ore? A fledgling City State asking for help with construction? And farmers just trying to harvest their fields while they recover from a war...

The list of bounties was interesting, to say the least.

“That's life, I guess...” He mused to himself. “Not everything will be about fighting. Some things are simple. Though, I guess even simple things can be life or death in their own way. A lack of people able to do farm work after a war is something that has happened even in human history...”

He sighed softly and shook his head. “I can kinda sympathize with them, but I have little interest in doing back-breaking farm work. Especially for so little... Though I am kinda curious what their food is like...”

Speculation aside, Oliver immediately eliminated all of the simple manual labor bounties. Even if they would be exceptionally safe, the credits offered were lackluster... And he would rather have to fight a little than dig up vegetables.

“Man, I wish this thing had some sort of filter... Whatever. I can manage.” He chuckled slightly. “Ok. So, no to the manual labor... Getting pulled into a war? No thank you; the level of danger is higher than what I want right now. Let's eliminate those as well.”

“A happy middle ground... Salvage Security? Relatively safe, but potential for a little danger... The compensation isn't great, but being able to salvage stuff from an alien world sounds fun. And there is no telling what they consider contraband...”

“Besides, I like the water, so sailing sounds pretty good. I wonder what an alien ocean is like?”

Oliver double checked his warehouse to ensure he was well supplied for the trip. Then, with a smile on his face, he clicked to accept the Bounty.

And instantly found himself somewhere else.