Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

Oliver felt like he had had enough excitement for one night, and Polina readily agreed. After a quick goodbye to his friends, they were out the door and heading back to her house. Adrenaline still coursing through him, Oliver tried his best to relax in the passenger seat. Eyes closed, he took one deep, slow breathe after another- Until a ding sounded from the system, snapping his eyes wide open.

Hidden Criteria met.

Initializing System Update.

Oliver sagged in his seat as all the adrenaline in him seemed to disappear and a sudden lethargy set in. Feeling like the system was sucking the energy from him, he could barely keep his eyes open as they pulled into the driveway and Polina put the truck in park. It took him a moment to realize she was talking to him. “Hmm?”

“Are you ok Oli? You look like you're about to pass out.”

The concern in her voice helped him shrug off some of the drowsiness that was pulling him down. “Yeah. Just... adrenaline crash, I guess. I never really fight...” A massive yawn cut off his words.

Before he could continue, Polina was already out of the truck and opening his door. Getting her arm around him, she helped him out and towards the door. “Yeah, if you're not used to it then you'll crash pretty hard. Let's get you to bed first though, OK?”

Oliver stumbled along, letting her lead him to the bedroom. Without him even noticing, she managed to strip him down and get him into the bed. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.

Oliver clawed his way awake, desperate to escape dreams filled with twisted creatures rampaging through a burning city. As his eyes opened, the memory of the nightmare quickly grew hazy and indistinct. Staring up at the ceiling, his arms involuntarily tightened around Polina, pulling her close.

Seeing her still asleep next to him, he took a few minutes gather himself and quickly discarded the idea that the events of last night may have caused the nightmare. Though violence wasn't his usual solution to his problems, he wasn't particularly bothered by it. He was confident he didn't possess some form of personality disorder-and had, in fact, sought therapy on several occasions, especially after his mother's death. Even so, he knew his way of thinking wasn't entirely normal, but that was something he could live with.

With his mind finally settled, Oliver felt it was time to check what changed with the system update. Glancing at Polina still sleeping peacefully next to him, he opened the system to check it out.

Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

Attributes

Commissions Board

Currency Exchange

Development

Locked-(Costs 10,000 credits to unlock)

Locked-(Costs 25,000 credits to unlock)

Bounty Board

Oliver paused at the new addition. A bounty board? How did that fit in to a merchant system? Unless... He sighed as a possible explanation arose in his mind. Arms dealers and hitmen were often called merchants of death, so maybe this Bounty Board was just a hit list, filled with people the system wanted dead? While he had a few reservations about the idea, it felt all too possible for him to ignore. Hoping he was wrong in his assumption, he opened the page.

Bounty Board

All penalties and punishments are at the sole discretion of the System Host.

All reward calculations based on (Proximity x Threat) + Punishment modifier.

Judge Wisely.

Jameson Eugene Ball – White male. Age 43. Height: 5'10”. Weight: 190lbs. Blonde hair. Blue Eyes. Distinctive Features: none.

Proximity - 1

Threat Level - 2

Crimes - Child Molestation, Statutory Rape, Creation and Distribution of Child Pornography, Murder.

Posted by: System Posted

Jackson Roberts – Black male. Age 22. Height: 6'1”. Weight: 200lbs. Black hair. Brown eyes. Distinctive Features: missing left index finger.

Proximity – 2

Threat Level – 2

Crimes – Theft, Possession of Marijuana, Drug use(Marijuana).

Posted by: System Posted.

Min Hu – Asian female. Age 29. Height: 5'2”. Weight: 100lbs. Black hair. Brown eyes. Distinctive features: Green Eastern Dragon tattoo, left bicep.

Proximity – 2

Threat Level- 3

Crimes – Domestic Violence, Assault, Battery

Posted by: System Posted.

Each entry came with a picture showing the face of the target, he assumed to make identifying the target easier. The list went on, page after page, and Oliver closed it without delving much further. It was a lot to take in, and even more questions arose from it. He assumed that he was the System Host it mentioned, as it made the most sense, and from the very first sentence it was clear he was expected to be Judge, Jury and Executioner for these bounties. How was he not only expected to find these people, but to determine suitable punishments for them? Was it even his place to do so? Who was he to judge these people?

Though, looking at some of the crimes listed, he was very tempted. Anyone who could hurt children like that deserved to be judged. Harshly.

There were too many unknowns for him to decide easily. What sort of distance were close or low proximity? Did it mean they were in the same city? Same country? The same universe? How did a multi-dimensional system determine it?

And what was the criteria the system needed to unlock the Bounty Board? Was it him getting into a fight? Or something else from last night? Try as he might, he couldn't recall anything else it could have been. But, then again, he had no idea how the system operated, let alone how it determined these things. Was it sentient in some way?

Oliver pushed aside both his thoughts on the system and his questions about the Bounty Board in particular. He knew he wouldn't find answers easily, and he didn't feel like he was ready to start hunting criminals. Even if some of them deserved it.

Even if he wanted to, he admitted to himself.

After having lunch together, Oliver gave Polina a quick kiss and left her to get ready for her shift at work that evening. While there was a bit of homework he needed to catch up on, he knew it would only take an hour or two, leaving him plenty of time to work on building up his credits again with a few commissions. Scanning through the commissions tab, he saw some of his favorites still listed, as well as a few variations on the ones he had already completed. Fertilizer, Siege Supplies, Soap, The Spice of Life... He even found a variation of the one for paper, though the pay for it was only half as much. There were also a few new commissions that caught his eye.

Think of the Children – This is our second year with a poor harvest. With the lack of trade through our area, We are growing concerned with the effects a lack of fruits and vegetables will have on the children. The tales of our grandparents paint a terrible picture of what could happen, and none of us wish to see our sons and daughters suffer so. We will happily offer 1 credit per pound of vegetables and 2 credits per pound of fruits. As well, we have heard stories... of strange lands and mystical solutions. If there is any other way to help our children, we would welcome it and reward you well.

Bouquets for the Wedding – The wedding of Lord Suvrel and Lady Alimna is nearing, and the Lady requests flowers. In abundance. With the local flora being out of bloom, we have resorted to purchasing them. The Lady prefers brightly colored flowers, and shades of red, white, and purple in particular. We will pay 1 credit per stem, or 20 credits per bouquet. Minimum of 100 flowers, maximum of 2000.

With a list of commissions to fill Oliver decided to visit the wholesale store in the next county over. Though a bit of a drive, he felt it was worth it to both to maximize the scale of this deal as well as to avoid frequenting the same stores- the system may be secure, but sooner or later his unusual purchasing habits would draw attention if he wasn't careful.

The long drive gave him ample time to organize a list of what to get, and he made use of that as he descended on the store with zeal. Breezing through the aisles, Oliver soon discovered he need a second cart... and then a third. By the time he was ready to check out, he was almost questioning whether he had gone overboard or not. Thankfully, one of the associates there was on hand to help him load everything into his truck. With his thanks, and a generous tip, they waved and wished him a good day as he drove off.

Knowing all the questions his roommates would have if they saw his truck loaded down like this, Oliver pulled off on a side road to send off all his commissions. With no cars or buildings anywhere nearby, he figured this to be a perfect spot. Ignoring the completion prompts, he rapidly fired of one commission after another, watching in awe as each disappeared right before his eyes. With the last one sent, he checked his credit balance on the Currency Exchange tab.

Account Balance – 35,317 Credits

Oliver stood there beside his truck stunned at the total until a passing driver stopped to ask if he was ok. With a friendly smile and a quick excuse about checking his tires after running over something in the road, he climbed back into his truck. Quickly going back to check the completion prompts, it only took him a second to find why he had made so much more than he expected.

Think of the Children. He knew he was thinking outside the box a little when he picked up a whole case of children's multivitamins for that commission, but he certainly didn't expect to make 25,000 credits from it. An unexpected, but pleasant, windfall to say the least.

Taking his time on the return trip, he mulled over how to best spend it all. Increasing attributes was a solid option, as far as he was concerned. But he was also curious about the two remaining locked tabs; their combined total to unlock being just within his means. Though that would leave him nearly broke, he was very tempted by the idea. Maybe there was another way for him to make even more credits with them unlocked? Preferably something a bit less potentially dangerous and violent than the Bounty Board, though he was still debating whether to make use of that feature as well.

Finally home, Oliver waved to his friends in passing and headed straight for his room. After locking the door, he settled in at his desk. While not fully committed to spending all of his newly earned credits, he had firmly decided on unlocking the next tab. Holding his breath, he clicked the unlock button and watched as 10,000 credits disappeared before a new prompt flooded his vision.

Warehouse tab unlocked!

Warehouse

The warehouse is a temporally locked sub-dimension linked to the Host.

Current Warehouse dimensions: 10ft x 10ft x 10ft

Warehouse Inventory:

(None)

Warehouse Expansion Cost: 10,000 credits

Reading through the new information, he let out an excited laugh. He had seen variations of this in so many games, everything ranging from classic inventory slots popular in video games to a bag of holding in Dungeons and Dragons, and now he had one in real life! While slightly smaller than his bedroom, it wasn't by much- and he could expand it to be bigger. Though the system didn't give any indication of how big it could get, just the ability to safely store things and have easy access to them was well worth the credits he spent.

Even better, it was temporally locked. Anything he put inside it would effectively be outside of time and completely immune to its effects. And apple stored today would remain completely unchanged. Even if he pulled it out after a few years it would still be fresh and juicy like no time at all had passed.

Because for the apple no time had passed.

Oliver was almost overwhelmed by thoughts of how cool it was. He had to remind himself, as useful as the Warehouse would be, it was pure utility and offered no new ways to make credits. Once again he was left with a dilemma: Unlock the last tab or increase his attributes and attempt to hunt a few bounties. Both were filled with unknowns. The last tab could almost anything and the bounties didn't expressly state their rewards, not to mention the potential dangers of going after criminals and the question of what to do with them. And the uncertain morality of it all, though Oliver wasn't sure he really care about that, at least for some of the bounties he read.

With the unknowns threatening to drive him crazy, he took a break to try to distract himself by catching up on homework. Thoughts about the system fought for his attention as he worked his way through the assigned reading for English Literature. Twice he had to start a chemistry equation over again as he got sidetracked by comparing his credit total with possible attribute increases. By the time he made it through the last of his homework, Oliver was frustrated with himself. Never had he struggled so much to focus on class assignments.

Pushing aside his textbooks, he had to admit there were some benefits to his wandering thoughts. Now, at least, he knew what direction he was going with his credits. Pulling up the Development tab, Oliver started spending. One by one he increased his attributes, giving himself ten minutes between each so as not to overload his body again. First Strength to 14, then Agility and Vitality to match. Raise Luck to 12, then again to 13. And finally increasing Spirit to 13 as, despite him still not knowing what it did. The rapid vibration of his muscles and the warm currents running through his body brought a smile to his face. He felt stronger, tougher.

He felt alive!

His smile dimmed slightly as he saw his credit total drop by 20,000 in just an hour, leaving him with just a little over 5,000. But he knew it was worth it, and necessary if he was going to follow through on his plan. Bounty hunting wouldn't be easy, after all.