"Wish Order System?"
After confirming it wasn't a deathbed hallucination, Abel's spirits immediately lifted.
'Of course! A transmigrator without a cheat is incomplete!'
Now he might actually be able to turn this desperate situation around.
He immediately summoned the system interface with his thoughts and began exploring.
The system interface was simple, with four main sections: [ Character ], [ Orders ], [ Shop ], and [ Inventory ].
Clicking on [ Character ] revealed...
[Host: Gustavus Abel]
[Basic Trading Qualification]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 10]
[Height: 140cm]
[Weight: 25.5 kg]
[Lifespan: 5 years and 21 days]
[Talent: None]
[Ability: None]
[Trade Points: 0]
Abel felt a twinge of disappointment at discovering he possessed neither Talent nor Ability, but he accepted it.
After all, in his previous life, aside from his good looks, he hadn't possessed any particularly outstanding talents either.
He hadn't expected that even after transmigrating, he would still be a man—no, a boy now—who was 'good for nothing' except for his looks.
Abel believed that this time, everything would be different.
But first, he needed to find a way to survive longer.
A hellish start was bad enough, but the System had only given him five years. This cast a dark shadow over Abel's heart.
He quickly explored the System's other functions.
Finally, he figured out how to use the Cheat.
The "Order" section was divided into two categories: "Accept Order" and "Post Order."
With his beginner-level trading qualification, he received one free "Search" attempt every 72 hours. Using "Search," he could obtain a "Wish Order" from a different world through the System.
Completing these orders earned him Trade Points and even special rewards.
Free "Search" attempts didn't stack, but "Search" attempts purchased with Trade Points or obtained through other means could be accumulated.
The "Post Order" option was currently grayed out and inactive, requiring him to reach intermediate-level trading qualification to use it.
Having understood this, Abel immediately opened the System's "Inventory" and activated the Newbie Gift Pack.
[Activating Newbie Gift Pack... You have received 1000 Trade Points, Four-Star Good Review Card x1, Order Posting Experience Card x1, and a limited-time offer for a random Four-Star Special Item at a discounted price.]
[Four-Star Good Review Card (Limited Edition)]
[Consumable Item]
[Effect: Use when submitting an order to guarantee a four-star good review.]
[Note: Only applicable to beginner-level Wish Orders.]
[Order Posting Experience Card (Limited Edition)]
[Consumable Item]
[Effect: Upon use, generates a "Wish Order" based on the host's needs and the rewards offered, sending it to different worlds.]
[Note: Orders with excessively difficult wishes or insufficient rewards may go unclaimed.]
With his Trade Points secured, Abel immediately opened the System Shop.
[Shop (Basic): Refreshes with three random items every seven days. A limited-time discount item is added at the beginning of each month.]
Currently, the System Shop had a total of five items available for purchase.
At the top of the list was the random Four-Star Value Discount Item he had obtained from the [ Newbie Gift Pack ].
[Special Item: Red Heart x99]
(Special Items do not disappear with weekly refreshes. Available until sold out!)
[Description: As any gamer knows, a Red Heart represents a life.]
[Effect: Permanently increases lifespan by one year upon use. Cannot be used on others.]
[Original Price: 1,000 Transaction Points/each (Struck Through)]
[Four-Star Surprise Discount Price: 100 Transaction Points/each!]
[Quantity: 99]
[PS: Blood-soaked, fire-sale prices! Buying is earning! What are you waiting for?]
The second item was a limited-time discount product for the beginning of the month:
Talent Metamorphosis Ray (Purple)
[Description: The savior of the talentless! The ultimate 'little pill' for ordinary people!]
[Effect: Deeply unlocks the user's potential and imprints it as their own Talent. (Activates immediately upon purchase. Unusable by those who already possess a Talent.)]
[Price: 2,000 Transaction Points (crossed out)]
[Limited-Time Flash Sale Price: 100 Transaction Points!]
[Quantity: 1]
[Time Remaining: 23 hours, 59 minutes]
[PS: Will you settle for mediocrity, or dare to take a chance?!]
The remaining three items were standard goods refreshed weekly: a bunch of bananas, a piece of clothing, and a coin.
[Item: Banana Grenade (White)]
[Consumable]
[Description: You thought it was a banana, but it's actually a bomb!]
[Effect: 3-second delayed explosion]
[Price: 5 Transaction Points]
[Quantity: 10]
[PS: Banana, you bastard! Go die!]
[Item: Light Bulletproof Vest (White)]
[Equipment Type Item]
[Description: Just an ordinary bulletproof vest. Its only real advantage is probably... its lightweight design?]
[Effect: Deflects bullets. Protection Value: 100]
[Price: 50 Trade Points]
[Quantity: 1]
[PS: It only protects against bullets, not other threats.]
[Item: [I'm Just a Passerby] (Blue)]
[Single-use consumable]
[Description: In this love triangle, I don't even deserve a name.]
[Effect: Upon use, your presence will be drastically reduced for ten minutes, causing others to subconsciously ignore you. Note: Reduced presence does not equal invisibility. Avoid lingering in others' line of sight for extended periods and refrain from drawing attention to yourself with strange behavior.]
[Price: 100 Trade Points]
[Quantity: 1]
[PS: Huh? Who are you? Where did you come from?]
Abel couldn't contain his excitement!
The Special Item, [Red Heart], could extend his lifespan—99 hearts meant 99 additional years!
In other words, as long as he had enough Trade Points, he wouldn't need to worry about his dwindling lifespan for the time being.
And the System's surprises didn't end there.
The [Talent Metamorphosis Ray], a purple-grade item originally priced at 2,000 Trade Points, was now available at a limited-time flash sale price of just 100 Trade Points—a true bargain!
(Most items are ranked by value from low to high as White, Blue, Purple, Orange, and Red. Special Items are excluded from this classification.)
The remaining three ordinary items also had their uses, making him want to spend his Trade Points.
However, while 1,000 Trade Points seemed like a lot, they could be spent quickly.
After careful consideration, he decided to spend only 150 Trade Points for now, purchasing the [Light Bulletproof Vest] (White) and [I'm Just a Passerby] (Blue).
Both items could be crucial for survival, making them his immediate priorities.
As for the rest, he'd deal with them once he reached a safe location.
Upon completing the purchase, both items immediately appeared in his System Inventory.
The System's Inventory had an infinite number of slots, but it could only store System Items.
Abel immediately retrieved the Light Bulletproof Vest (White) and put it on.
The black vest exuded a sense of security, yet it was surprisingly lightweight, weighing only about half a kilogram. He wondered what special material it was made of.
He then put his bloodstained uniform jacket over it.
With these preparations complete, he finally checked the Order again.
[Initiate Wish Order Search?]
[Current Search Attempts: 1 (Free)]
After a moment's thought, Abel confirmed.
His reasoning was simple: the first attempt was for trial and error, to gather information. The sooner he used it, the better.
The System immediately activated.
[Initiating Wish Order Search... Search complete!]
[Acquired a Basic Wish Order]
[Order Description: A boy known as the "Death God Elementary School Student" was captured while investigating a murderer. He urgently needs a sharp knife to cut through his restraints.]
[Order Contents: A sharp tool capable of cutting through ropes]
[Base Reward: A pair of footwork-enhancing shoes, 100 Transaction Points]
[Remaining Time: 4 minutes 59 seconds]
"There's a time limit?"
The five-minute countdown caught Abel off guard, but it didn't panic him. Instead, he calmly began analyzing the situation to gather the information he needed.
"It seems completing an Order doesn't necessarily require adhering to the principle of 'equivalent exchange.'"
"Otherwise, the value of a simple knife could never be equated with a pair of shoes that enhance leg strength..."
"Of course, this assumes that the 'Death God Elementary School Student' mentioned in the Order description is the one I'm 'familiar' with."
"In that case, the Order's creation likely follows a supply-and-demand logic."
"Specifically, it matches what I currently need with what I can offer at this moment. The true value of these two may not be equal; whether I profit or lose depends entirely on my subjective assessment."
Abel's expression turned thoughtful.
The concept was simple. Take, for example, someone stranded in the desert with plenty of gold but no water left.
In that situation, which is more important: the gold or the water?
If someone offered enough water to help him escape the desert in exchange for the gold, what would the outcome be?
Roughly ninety-nine percent of people would agree, because survival is paramount!
As for those fools who value money over their lives, they're not worth mentioning.
Therefore, in Abel's view, the true value of an item fluctuates constantly based on each person's needs.
A plain bottle of mineral water might sell for only a dollar or two in a normal city, but to a traveler dying of thirst in the desert, it could be worth a ton of gold—that's the principle at play.
Having grasped this, Abel wasted no time and immediately began painstakingly searching the nearby corpses.
Although most of Flevance's residents had been shot to death, a significant number were slashed to death with blades, not to mention those who had armed themselves to resist...
So even though any valuables on these corpses had long been looted, some worthless "junk" remained, discarded alongside the bodies.
Just within Abel's line of sight, there were dozens of broken blades embedded in chests or wedged between bones.
Abel quickly found a knife that met the requirements.
It was a sharp-tipped kitchen knife clutched tightly in the hand of the deceased, a middle-aged man in his forties. His eyes were wide open, refusing to close, as if he had put up a fierce struggle in his final moments.
The blade of the kitchen knife, originally used for chopping vegetables, now bore several nicks and chips.
If he had more time, Abel would have searched more thoroughly. But with the clock ticking, he had no choice but to submit the order with this knife.
[Confirming order item... Initiating transfer.]
In an instant, the sharp-tipped kitchen knife vanished from Abel's hand.
[Beginner's wish Order completed. Customer rating: Two stars (Mediocre)!]
[Comment: Are you kidding me?! I asked for a sharp knife, not a saw!]
The two-star rating has deducted 20% of the base Trade Point reward. The remaining reward has been automatically distributed. Please check your account.
"A two-star rating?"
Abel paused, then realized he had only received 80 Trade Points and a pair of foot-strengthening shoes, confirming that 20% of his Trade Point reward had indeed been deducted.
"System, what's going on?"
[Please consult the detailed rules for further information.]
Abel immediately opened the rules and learned the truth.
It turned out that after each completed Order, customers would provide feedback through a five-star rating system:
One-Star Rating = Extremely Negative Review: 50% of the base Trade Point reward is deducted. Accumulating three one-star ratings automatically downgrades the trader's qualification level by one tier. If already at the Beginner's Trader qualification level (the lowest tier), the System will sever its binding and depart. However, each time the trader's qualification level is upgraded, all previously accumulated negative reviews are immediately reset.
Two-Star Rating = Mediocre: Not particularly satisfactory, but barely usable. 20% of the base Trade Point reward is deducted, but these ratings do not accumulate towards negative review thresholds.
Three-Star Rating = Average Positive Review. The client's basic needs were met, though there were no additional surprises. The performance was well above the passing grade. No bonus points were deducted, nor were any extra rewards given.
Four-Star Rating = Unexpected Delight. Not only were the client's basic needs met, but some latent desires were also fulfilled, leaving the client pleasantly surprised! The base reward of Trade Points would be increased by 50%, and there was a moderate chance of receiving an additional tip from the client as a bonus.
Five-Star Rating = Perfect Positive Review. An absolutely flawless review, leaving the client unable to find even the slightest flaw. The performance perfectly met all the client's needs. The base reward of Trade Points would be doubled, and there was a very high chance of receiving an additional tip from the client as a bonus.
This one-to-five-star rating system not only provided users with greater autonomy in selecting transaction items but also encouraged them to fulfill each client's Wish Order to the best of their ability, rather than simply going through the motions.