Return to Level 0

Chapter 6 Exchange of the Creator

There in his status menu, Luck saw his new class skill called [Exchange of the Creator]. He had no knowledge of this skill or of any of his class skills for that matter as he had never encountered this class from his future memories.

He thought he should take the time to experiment with them but shook off his curiosity since he was more concerned about his sister than the game.

But, Luck could not take his eyes off the skill as it was constantly blinking. Even when he tried to close the status menu it would make an incessant beeping that he initially tried to ignore it.

As he was viewing his map and deciding where to go next, he couldn’t think clearly and begrudgingly tried to get the annoying beeping to stop. He tried to turn off his in-game sound but that didn’t work. 

After messing with his settings a bit more, he thought to look at the skill directly.

He scrutinized his blinking skill and hypothesized how to get it to stop making noise. He thought to poke at it to see what would happen and to his surprise another menu popped up.

At the top of this new window, were the words.

[Welcome to the Exchange Shop]

[Would you like a tutorial?]

[Yes/No] 

Without hesitation, Luck accepted and was subjected to a long lecture about the use of this menu.

[Welcome Creationist! This is the Exchange Shop Skill that is granted to those who have gained the Creationist Class. In this menu, you may exchange your items with a form of shop currency known as resource points. Resource points can be used to buy a variety of items in the Exchange Shop which can vary depending on your situation. Ideally, everything can be found in this shop, and we mean everything.]

[From potions, to skills, equipment, even information and life, all can be created with the use of resource points. Currently, with the current [Age of Expansion] you are limited on the items you can buy until you have completed the system’s prerequisites. But do not worry, you will have access to all things available up to the [Age of Kingdoms]. To get started, please insert any random item into the slot below.]

Luck thought to himself that this interface AI had quite the realistic personality. It was as if it were a teacher guiding a new student through the ins and outs of a class and school. This was quite surprising, since a class skill with an interface AI was highly irregular.

But not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth, he shrugged and took out a small magic crystal from his bag.

While he didn’t want to waste any of his precious stock, he knew from experience that nothing ventured meant that nothing was gained. So, taking a chance he put the small magic crystal into the indicated slot of the exchange shop.

[Thank You!]

[Congratulations on your first exchange. Your new balance of resource points is now 100 RP]

[Please take your time in viewing the store and if you need any help, please feel free to ask.]

A bit weirded out by how cheery the interface AI’s voice was, Luck again chose to ignore this incongruity and began to examine the shop.

He found that he could truly buy anything. From the most junk items like rocks to the rare items like the medium magic crystal.

What really shocked him was how he could buy all the available potions in the [Age of Kingdoms].

He could buy poison potions, health potions, mana potions, strength potions, agility potions, and a slew of others that he thought he would have to make himself.

Luck was a bit irked as this flew in the face of all support or crafting classes as it meant that his [Beginner Alchemy and Blacksmithing] were now obsolete.

He wanted to pull out his hair in annoyance as it was a strike to his craftsman’s pride but felt that he should make use of this class skill.

When he attempted to buy a simple health potion, it appeared in his hand and with his [Eye of the Creator] he confirmed that it was the real deal.

Seeing his balance of RP go down by 10 he calculated that for each small magic crystal he could get 10 health potions.

“OH COME ON! THIS IS SO BROKEN!”

Luck shouted up to the sky as this rate of conversion from magic crystal to RP to then potion was wholly a cheat. Usually, a single small magic crystal would be used to make a single potion, for him to be able to convert one into ten was jaw dropping and truly brutalized his craftsman’s spirits.

After letting out a bit more of his exasperation to the trees and the sky, Luck calmed down and began thinking on what he should do.

He already had to adjust his plans so many times today and he was starting to get annoyed, but he bore the annoyance as he believed it would all pay out in the future.

Before he got started in buying more potions, he remembered that his stream was still live and panicky turned it off.

While viewers could not see his status or menu, they would have been able to see the sight of a potion magically appearing in his hand which would raise a few eyes and would draw too much attention.

He didn’t get a look at his view count when he turned off the stream but would worry about that later. He guessed that he was in the clear as he expected that no one would be viewing a common player like himself.

Turning his attention to the exchange shop, Luck deposited half of his stock of small magic crystals and got a good amount of RP.

He now had 4990 RP and began buying the potions he had intended to make. Health potions when in a pinch, buff potions to help with his fire power, and a few offensive potions that could spread poison and acid.

Each of these potions were of the basic level and only cost 10 RP. After getting the number he needed, he still had 4800 RP left and thought to get some gear.

A set of lightweight metal armor cost him 1000 RP so he bought himself one as his current equipment was already severely damaged from his day of fighting slimes.

He then bought himself a new weapon since he needed something more appropriate for where he was going next. This cost another 1000 RP and Luck began to realize that an item’s mass and volume affected the cost.

He still had no idea how this exchange shop conversion worked but that was a mystery he would try to fully figure out in the future.

Equipping his new gear, he thought that everything seemed to fit perfectly. The helmet, arm guards, chestplate, and greaves were snugly fitting to body and his new weapon was of a perfect length. It seemed that the exchange shop took into account the size of what it sold to who, and Luck was glad he didn’t have to get anything refitted at a blacksmith in town.

Looking over his exchange shop again, he was intrigued by another tab which divided the sorted items into different categories.

The intriguing tab said [Original Creations] and Luck tapped it. In it were numerous grayed out options that he was unable to access and buy. As he scrolled through them, he noticed a pattern in all the names of the items and their descriptions.

“These are…my creations!? I can’t believe they crossed over.”

“You have a question? Creationist?”

“Wah, what the? Why are you talking all of a sudden?” Luck was utterly shocked when he heard the interface AI’s voice in his head, but realizing that he had asked a question, Luck righted his posture and coughed a bit before continuing.

“I Uh well. What are these?”

Picking up on his meaning, the interface AI began to elaborate.

“These are the items you can buy with your resource points. This tab is wholly reserved to the items patented and made by you specifically. It is surprising that you have so many options at the start, did you happen to play this game before?”

“In a way, yes. I’m familiar with Level 0 so I guess some of my knowledge carried over.”

“I see.” The interface AI said in a curt and plain tone as if unimpressed with his response. “In any case, I’ll leave you be as you seem a bit tense. I will change my settings so that I will not surprise you in the future.”

[Interface AI Setting has been set to button prompting rather than voice prompting. To ask a question, please push the indicated question mark icon.]

The Interface AI then went silent and Luck relaxed. He was still weirded out by the interface AI since talking to it seemed like he was speaking to a real person, but he knew better than to believe that an in-game system would have a will of its own.

Sighing, he looked at the clock in his menu and saw that it was getting late and would call it a day for now. 

As he logged out, he swore he heard the interface AI say a cheerful farewell to him but shrugged it off as he thought that it was only his imagination going wild.

He thought to perhaps take a break while he gamed so that he didn’t have these auditory hallucinations in the future.