"Wish Order System?"
After making sure it wasn't a hallucination brought on by dying, Abel felt a surge of excitement.
Sure enough, a transmigration without a cheat ability would be incomplete!
Maybe now he could change this miserable situation.
He immediately summoned the system with his thoughts to check it out.
The interface was simple, with four sections: [Profile], [Orders], [Shop], and [Inventory].
Opening the profile showed:
[Host: Gustavus Abel]
[Basic Trading Qualification]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 10]
[Height: 140 cm]
[Weight: 25.5 kg]
[Lifespan: 5 years, 21 days]
[Talent: None]
[Abilities: None]
[Trade Points: 0]
…
Seeing that he had no talents or abilities was disappointing, but Abel could accept it.
After all, in his past life, aside from being handsome, he didn't have any particularly outstanding skills either.
Who would have thought that after crossing over, he'd still be a man—no, a boy—who was "good-looking but otherwise useless."
However, he believed that this time, everything would be different.
The premise was that he had to find a way to live a little longer.
A hellish start was one thing, but only being given five years to live? That alone cast a heavy shadow over Abel's heart.
So he quickly checked the other functions of the system.
At last, he figured out the exact way to use his golden finger.
[Orders] was divided into two options: "Accept Orders" and "Post Orders."
With his besic trading qualification, he could get one free "Search" every 72 hours. Through "Search," he could obtain a "Wish Order" from a different world via the system.
By completing these orders, he could earn trading points and even receive extra special rewards.
The free "Search" attempts could not be stacked, but additional ones purchased with trading points or obtained by other means could be saved and accumulated.
The "Post Orders" option was currently greyed out and inactive. He needed to reach intermediate trading qualification to use it.
After figuring this out, Abel immediately opened the system [Inventory] and activated the newbie gift pack.
[Opening Newbie Gift Pack… You have obtained 1000 trading points, Four-Star Positive Review Card ×1, Order Posting Trial Card ×1, and a limited release of a random Four-Star Super Value Discount Item.]
[Four-Star Positive Review Card] (Limited Edition)
One-time consumable item
Effect: Use when submitting an order to guarantee a four-star positive review for that order.
Note: Only applicable for Basic Wish Orders.
…
[Order Posting Trial Card] (Limited Edition)
One-time consumable item
Effect: After use, generate a "Wish Order" based on the host's needs and rewards, and send it to a different world.
Note: If the wish is too difficult or the reward value is too low, the order may go unaccepted.
…
With trading points in hand, Abel immediately opened the system shop.
[Shop] (Basic): Refreshes three random items every seven days, and lists one limited-time discount item at the start of each month.
At the moment, there were five items available in the shop.
First on the list was the random Four-Star Super Value Discount Item he obtained from the [Newbie Gift Pack].
Special Item: [Heart] ×99
(Special items will not disappear with weekly refreshes; once sold out, they're gone!)
Description: Anyone who has played games knows that one heart equals one life.
Effect: Permanently increases lifespan by one year upon use. Cannot be used on others.
Price: 1000 trading points/each
Four-Star Surprise Discount Price: 100 trading points/each!
Quantity: 99
…
The second was the monthly limited-time discount item.
[Talent Mutation Ray] (Purple)
Description: A blessing for those without talent—the ultimate "little pill" for ordinary people!
Effect: Deeply excavates the user's potential and mutates it into a personal innate talent. (Takes effect immediately upon purchase; cannot be used by those who already possess talent)
Price: 2000 trading points
Monthly Limited-Time Flash Sale Price: 100 trading points!
Quantity: 1
Time Limit: 23 hours 59 minutes remaining
…
The remaining three items were the weekly refreshed ordinary goods—a bunch of bananas, a piece of clothing, and a coin.
Item: [Banana Grenade] (White)
One-time consumable item
Description: You thought it was a banana, but it's actually a bomb~
Effect: Explodes with a 3-second delay
Price: 5 trading points
Quantity: 10
…
Item: [Lightweight Bulletproof Vest] (White)
Equipment-type item
Description: Just an ordinary bulletproof vest. Its only merit is probably… being light?
Effect: Blocks bullets. Defense Value: 100
Price: 50 trading points
Quantity: 1
…
Item: [I'm Just a Nobody] (Blue)
One-time consumable item
Description: Clearly it's a love story between three people, yet I'm not even worthy of having a name.
Effect: After use, for ten minutes your presence will be greatly diminished, causing others to subconsciously ignore you. Note: Lowering presence does not mean invisibility, so avoid staying in someone's line of sight for too long, and don't deliberately draw attention by doing strange things.
Price: 100 trading points
Quantity: 1
…
Abel couldn't help but get excited!
The special item [Heart] could extend his life. Ninety-nine of them meant ninety-nine years!
In other words, as long as he had enough trading points, he didn't need to worry about his dwindling lifespan for the time being.
And the surprises from the system didn't stop there.
That [Talent Mutation Ray] was a purple-tier item originally worth two thousand trading points, yet now it was only 100 trading points on a limited-time flash sale—an absolute bargain!
(Most items are ranked in value from low to high as white, blue, purple, orange, red. Special items are not included in this ranking.)
As for the remaining three ordinary items, each had its uses, making it tempting to buy them all.
However, while one thousand trading points seemed like a lot, they could be spent quickly.
After some careful thought, he spent 150 trading points to buy the [Lightweight Bulletproof Vest] (White) and [I'm Just a Nobody] (Blue).
Both were potentially life-saving items and exactly what he needed right now.
As for the rest, he would wait until he was somewhere safe to decide.
Once Abel completed his purchase, the two items immediately appeared in the system [Inventory].
The system [Inventory] had unlimited slots but could only store system items.
Abel immediately took out the [Lightweight Bulletproof Vest] (White) and put it on.
The black vest already gave off a strong sense of security just by looking at it. It wasn't heavy at all—only about a pound in weight. He had no idea what special material it was made from.
Then he put his blood-stained uniform jacket back on over it.
Once that was done, he checked the [Orders] again.
[Start searching for Wish Orders?]
[Current search count: 1 (Free)]
Abel thought for a moment and chose to confirm.
His reasoning was simple: the first time was just for trial and gathering information, so the sooner he used it, the better.
The system immediately went to work.
[Starting search for Wish Orders… Search complete!]
[Acquired a Beginner Wish Order]
[Order description: A young boy known as the 'Shinigami Elementary School Student' was captured while investigating a criminal. He urgently needs a sharp knife to cut the rope.]
[Order content: An object sharp enough to cut rope]
[Base reward: A pair of Foot Strength Enhancement Shoes, 100 trading points]
[Order time remaining: 4 minutes 59 seconds]
…
"There's even a time limit?"
The five-minute countdown surprised Abel, but it didn't make him panic.
Instead, he calmly began analyzing the information he had just obtained.
"It seems completing an order doesn't have to follow any 'equivalent exchange' principle."
"Otherwise, how could the value of a simple knife possibly match that of a pair of Foot Strength Enhancement Shoes…"
"Of course, this is assuming the so-called 'Shinigami Elementary School Student' is exactly who I think he is."
"If so, then the order generation likely follows a kind of supply-and-demand logic."
"That is, what the other party currently needs versus what they can currently offer in exchange. Their actual values might not match—it could be a profit or a loss depending on my perspective."
Abel's eyes showed a thoughtful look.
It was simple—an example came to mind.
A man stranded in the desert has plenty of gold, but his water is gone.
At that moment, what's more important—gold or water?
If someone offered enough water to get him safely out of the desert in exchange for his gold, what would happen?
Ninety-nine percent of people would agree, because staying alive comes first!
As for those foolish enough to choose money over life, they weren't worth mentioning.
So in Abel's eyes, the true value of an [Item] fluctuated at all times, depending on each person's [Needs].
A plain bottle of mineral water might sell for just a couple of coins in the city, but in a desert it could be worth a ton of gold—that was the idea.
Once he understood, Abel wasted no time and began searching through the corpses nearby.
Although most of the people in Flevance had been shot to death, a significant number had been killed by blades—not to mention those who had picked up weapons to fight back…
So even though anything of value had long been stripped from these corpses, there were still plenty of worthless "junk" items discarded with them.
Just from what Abel could see at a glance, there were dozens of broken blades stuck in chests or wedged between bones.
He quickly found a suitable knife.
It was a pointed kitchen knife tightly gripped in the hand of a man in his forties. His eyes were wide open, refusing to close, as if he had fought fiercely before his death.
Even the blade, originally meant for chopping vegetables, now had several chips along the edge.
If time allowed, Abel would have searched further, but given the time limit, he could only use this to fulfill the order.
[Confirming order item… Beginning transport]
In almost an instant, the pointed kitchen knife in Abel's hand vanished.
[Beginner Wish Order completed. Client rating: Two stars (So-so)!]
[Comment: Are you kidding me?! I asked for a sharp knife, not a saw!]
[Two-star rating: 20% deduction from base trading point reward. Remaining reward has been automatically issued. Please check it yourself.]
…
"Two-star rating?"
Abel froze, then realized he had only received 80 trading points and a pair of Foot Strength Enhancement Shoes—exactly 20% less than the base reward.
"System, what's going on?"
[Please check the detailed relevant rules yourself.]
Abel opened them immediately and finally understood.
Every completed order would receive client feedback, with a total of five possible ratings:
One star = Terrible review. 50% deduction from the base trading point reward. Accumulating three one-star reviews would automatically downgrade your trading qualification by one level. If you were already at the lowest basic level, the system would unbind and leave. However, leveling up your trading qualification would reset all negative reviews to zero.
Two stars = So-so. Not particularly satisfying, but barely usable. 20% deduction from base trading points. Does not count toward negative review accumulation.
Three stars = Average review. Meets the client's needs without any extra surprises. No deductions or bonuses.
Four stars = Pleasant surprise. Meets the client's basic needs and also satisfies part of their hidden needs, delighting them. 50% bonus trading points from the base reward, with a chance for extra tips.
Five stars = Perfect review. Absolutely flawless, fully meeting all of the client's needs. 100% bonus trading points from the base reward, with a high chance of extra tips.
The one-to-five-star rating system not only gave freedom in selecting trade items but also encouraged the user to complete each [Wish Order] as perfectly as possible instead of half-heartedly.