Chapter 9: Somewhat Familiar Daily Tasks and the Group Mall
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "March, isn't that your usual online handle?"
[Astral Express - Shutterbug]: "Even so, who uses their actual online gaming handle to chat with real friends?!"
[Astral Express - Shutterbug]: "And knowing you, you definitely changed yours just now to mess with me. I bet you were using your real name a second ago, weren't you?"
Stelle stiffened, a single bead of imaginary sweat sliding down her forehead. March knew her far too well. The pink-haired archer's instincts for calling out her nonsense remained as razor-sharp as ever.
At the same time, a slow, proud smirk crept onto Stelle's face. Her diligent efforts in training March to be her personal straight-man were clearly paying off. This dynamic was infinitely more entertaining.
Following Paimon's helpful, albeit slightly long-winded, tutorial on handling the chat interface, the rest of the group finally managed to update their display names to something recognizable.
While the group was distracted by the digital name tags, Belle stumbled upon a blinking icon in the corner of her screen.
[Ding! Congratulations! New Eridu - Belle has successfully signed in and received 67 Points.]
The crisp system notification popped up in the middle of the chat log. Up until this moment, the group had been entirely absorbed in the sheer shock of communicating across different universes. In their excitement, they had completely overlooked the basic interface functions lining the edges of the holographic screen.
[Astral Express - March 7th]: "Points? What are we supposed to do with those?"
[New Eridu - Belle]: "It looks like a digital currency system specifically for this chat group."
[New Eridu - Belle]: "If you look at the sidebar, there are tabs for a 'Points Mall'and a'Cultivation Room'. We probably need to spend these points to use them."
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "In that case, everyone hit the sign-in button! Let's see who the true RNG god is!"
A flurry of notifications cascaded down the screen.
[Ding! Stelle received 60 Points.]
[Ding! March 7th received 88 Points.]
[Ding! Dan Heng received 50 Points.]
[Ding! Wise received 65 Points.]
[Ding! Paimon received 72 Points.]
[Ding! Lumine received 76 Points.]
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "Rigged! Complete garbage! Are we really going to let the Great Demon King March 7th rule this group with her absurd luck?"
[Astral Express - March 7th]: "Hey! That is enough out of you! Stop complaining about your terrible gacha luck and go check out the mall. Let's see what kind of souvenirs we can buy from other universes!"
Dan Heng, who had already bypassed the mall entirely to open the Cultivation Room tab, let out a quiet sigh. 'As expected of March. The temptation of a new shopping district is impossible for her to resist, even if it is strictly digital.'His teal eyes scanned the glowing text, narrowing slightly as he absorbed the details.'The mechanics of this Cultivation Room warrant serious investigation.'
The interface listed the lowest-tier room at a cost of one hundred points per day. The description boasted a built-in temporal dilation field. Twenty-four hours spent training inside the room would equate to a mere sixty seconds in the real world., it advertised a passive enlightenment bonus that supposedly enhanced cognitive processing and martial comprehension.
He crossed his arms, tapping a finger against his bicep. 'True temporal manipulation? Or does the system simply transport the user's consciousness to a pocket dimension with an accelerated flow of time?''And the underlying principle governing this enlightenment bonus remains completely ambiguous. Without empirical data, drawing conclusions would be premature. I will need to test it myself once I accumulate enough points.'
Meanwhile, the rest of the group had eagerly flooded into the Points Mall.
The very first banner to greet them was a massive, flashy gacha page. A vibrant sign advertised a Beginner Wish Event priced at one hundred and sixty points per pull. To entice newcomers, the first two ten-pulls were heavily discounted by eighty percent.
The drop rates were listed in agonizingly small print at the bottom of the screen. White-tier items sat at a massive ninety-five percent. Green-tier items held a meager four point four percent. Blue-tier items dropped at half a percent, and Purple-tier items were a statistical myth at zero point one percent. The only saving grace was a hard pity system guaranteeing one of five selectable Blue-tier items after eighty consecutive pulls.
Scrolling further revealed the Intermediate and Advanced gacha pools, demanding two hundred and eighty, and eight hundred points per pull, respectively. The item qualities in these premium banners shifted upward, introducing the elusive Gold and legendary Rainbow tiers.
Staring at those abysmal drop rates and exorbitant costs, a phantom ache suddenly throbbed in the collective livers of everyone present. It was a visceral, instinctual dread born from the universal trauma of gacha mechanics.
Fleeing the gacha page, they handled to the direct purchase storefront. The digital shelves were stocked with a dazzling array of multiversal goods. White-tier items were priced at a reasonable ten points. Green-tier items spiked to five hundred. Blue-tier demanded twenty thousand, Purple-tier skyrocketed to two hundred thousand, and Gold-tier sat at a staggering half a million points. The price tag for Rainbow-tier items was simply a string of question marks.
The group's initial excitement deflated like a punctured balloon. They had rushed in expecting to arm themselves with legendary artifacts, only to realize their meager sign-in points could barely afford a single bottle of White-tier mineral water.
Despite the crushing reality of their poverty, the sheer novelty of the storefront kept them scrolling. Window shopping cost nothing, and the inventory was nothing short of miraculous.
Even if they could not purchase a single thing, purely observing the items offered a fascinating glimpse into the mechanics of other universes.
The Green-tier section featured highly practical skills. There were martial arts manuals that promised the ability to scale vertical walls with a single leap, and combat techniques designed to let a single warrior hold their ground against a hundred ordinary soldiers.
The Blue-tier items escalated the power scale dramatically. These were complete, foundational power systems extracted from foreign dimensions. One scroll offered a complete Immortal Cultivation method guaranteed to push the user to the Golden Core stage. Another thick grimoire contained a structured magic system capable of elevating a novice to the rank of Archmage.
Purple-tier items brushed against the very laws of reality. These listings included forbidden soul-manipulation secret arts, Void-Piercing movement techniques that shattered spatial boundaries, and conceptual weapons that defied physics.
As for the Gold and Rainbow tiers, the descriptions were written in esoteric concepts that bordered on the beyond understanding. They were items of divine authority, far beyond the current understanding of anyone in the chat.
[Astral Express - March 7th]: "I do not even know what to say. Everything looks absolutely amazing, but it is all so ridiculously expensive! This is torture!"
[New Eridu - Belle]: "Exactly! The price scaling is completely broken. It multiplies by insane amounts the moment you go up a single tier."
[New Eridu - Belle]: "Wise and I already have to micromanage our electricity bills every month just to keep Fairy running. Now I have to budget my digital chat points too? The proxy life is suffering!"
The heavy atmosphere of poverty instantly dissolved. Reading Belle's dramatic complaints about her electric bills brought a wave of genuine amusement to the group, washing away the frustration of the exorbitant storefront.
[Ding! System Notification: Acknowledging the difficulty members face in acquiring Points, the Daily Quest module has now been unlocked.]
[By completing four personalized Daily Quests, members can earn an additional 60 Points per day, independent of the daily sign-in bonus.]
[, Cross-World Events will be applied at a later date to provide group members with opportunities to acquire substantial Point rewards.]
[New Eridu - Belle]: "Ah, there it is. The classic daily grind. Why does my life suddenly feel like a freemium video game?"
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "Belle, your comedic timing is already sharper than March's. Would you consider signing a contract to become my dedicated straight-man from now on?"
[Astral Express - March 7th]: "You are actually the worst! And since when did I ever agree to be your dedicated straight-man?!"
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "You always have been. I mean, look at what you are doing right this very second."
Aboard the Express, March 7th opened her mouth to argue, found absolutely no logical defense, and slumped against the parlor sofa in total defeat.
[Teyvat - Paimon]: "Ooh! These daily quests look super easy! One is just signing in, one is sending a message in the chat, and the last two are all about eating delicious food! This system is the best!"
[Teyvat - Lumine]: "That definitely sounds like a quest list generated specifically for Paimon. It looks like the last two tasks are tailored to each person. Mine are telling me to go clear out hilichurl camps."
[New Eridu - Belle]: "That makes sense. The first two are generic chat tasks. For the last two, Wise and I just have to manage the video store and rent out a few tapes."
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "This is absolute perfection. My daily quest is literally demanding that I rummage through three different trash cans. The system has spoken, March. You have no legal right to stop me anymore."
March 7th buried her face in her hands, groaning loudly, while Dan Heng merely closed his eyes and accepted his fate. Stelle's trash-raccoon tendencies had just been validated by a multiversal entity. There was no saving her now.
Still, Lumine's theory held true. The quests were entirely personalized. March 7th's interface instructed her to take three new photographs, while Dan Heng's screen quietly requested that he spend an hour organizing the Express's data archives.
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "By the way, did anyone else catch that 'Cross-World Events' mention at the end? Does that mean we actually get a chance to visit each other's universes?"
[Teyvat - Paimon]: "Maybe! If you guys do come over, Lumine and I will definitely cook a massive feast to welcome you to Teyvat!"
Floating beside her blonde companion, Paimon puffed out her chest, naturally assuming her role as Lumine's official diplomatic mouthpiece. Her priorities, as always, remained firmly centered around the dinner table.
[New Eridu - Belle]: "Wise and I would love to host you guys too! If you visit New Eridu, we will give you VIP access to Random Play. Free movie rentals for everyone!"
[Astral Express - Stelle]: "You guys are the best. The doors of the Astral Express are always open to you. Whenever you manage to cross over, I will personally give you the grand tour of the star sea."
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