Red light flared—and Fenric re‑formed in Samsara Square.
"System, send me to the Samsara Tower Mall."
A blink later he stood beneath soaring eaves of a structure completely unlike the clean, glassy retail block in the Safe Zone. The Tower mall radiated pressure—pillared halls, hanging banners marked with world sigils, drifting item phantoms under rotating holo‑price tags.
The difference wasn't just architecture. Inventory was on an entirely different level.
Safe Zone Mall: Snacks, low‑impact tools, disposable trinkets; almost nothing that truly boosts combat power.
Samsara Tower Mall: Real gear. Foundational skills. Recovery kits. Exotic props. Even surplus special items consigned by other Samsara players.
Access itself was gated: only officially inducted Samsarasplayers could browse purchase listings. Safe‑zone rookies didn't even have view permissions.
Exactly why Fenric was here.
A fan of light bloomed before him: categorized holo panels. He filtered to Basic Skills → Weapons → Sword.
Basic Sword Technique (Proficient) – 650 Samsara Points.
Cheap. Effective. And he was now carrying Black Blade Shusui; no point wielding a national‑treasure tier weapon with street‑brawler form.
He confirmed the purchase.
[Ding! You have learned Basic Sword Technique (Proficient).]
Good. He could refine live‑combat habits later; for now, system‑fed baseline form was worth far more than its price.
He flipped to Consumables. Rows of restorative and stimulant vials scrolled by. His eyebrows rose.
Stamina Recovery Potion – 1,500 points.
Trauma Repair Serum (partial heal) – 1,500 points.
"Too pricey," he muttered.
Still… that injury serum could mean not dying on a bad pull. In the early game, survivability beats convenience. He gritted his teeth and bought one Trauma Repair Serum.
System medicines were usable anytime, anywhere, no prep window, which explained the gouge. Emergency margin justified the spend; stamina potion he skipped. Early Samsara players barely scraped enough points for attribute growth—burning them on fatigue relief was for whales.
After closing the system storefront, he opened the Private Consignment Center—a bazaar wall of player‑listed loot spinning in layered panes. Unlike the fixed store, anything might appear here if someone cleared a world and didn't need (or couldn't use) the drop.
Fenric's eyes lit up. This was where the real treasures hid.
Scroll… scroll…
"Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms" (manual)
Source: Legend of the Condor Heroes instance.
Price: 50,000 points.
He snorted. "Yeah, no." Even if he could afford it, why buy when he knew he could clear the martial dungeon later and pull techniques firsthand?
He kept going.
"..."
Listings flickered past:
"Kusanagi Ancient Martial Arts" – from The King of Fighters world. 12,000 pts. (Offers accepted.)
"Inu Inu no Mi – Wolf Form (Zoan)" – from One Piece. 40,000 pts. (Firm price.)
Special Skill: "Burst Dash" – from Honor of Kings adaptation. 12,000 pts. (Firm.)
"Shadow Clone Technique" – from Naruto. 35,000 pts. (Offers accepted.)
One‑Use "Exorcism Talisman" – from Mr. Vampire (Mr. Zombie). 2,000 pts. (Offers accepted.)
The Samsara Space never stopped amazing him. Fictional universes, game worlds, ghost stories—systematized, instantiated, and lootable. No wonder so many believed only a godlike force could have built it.
He scrolled again—
And froze.
There. Exactly what he'd been hoping to find.