Orsaga opened the exchange list in Matrix Purgatory.
The items were divided into seven tiers: S, A, B, C, D, E, and F.
Everything from cheap, single-digit-point basic healing potions to over-the-top things like the Superman bloodline, and the body of a Primeval Saint was available.
At first glance, it looked fairly well-organized and professional.
But after reading through the descriptions, he immediately realized that many of the so-called high-tier items were nothing but trash.
Superman, for instance—only a few million tons of strength and flight speeds of just a few dozen times the speed of sound?
And the so-called Primeval Saints, said to be eternal and indestructible, were ranked on the same level as that low-rent Superman?
Orsaga immediately pulled a face of disgust and muttered:
"What is all this garbage-tier low-end crap? A bunch of ultra-downgraded knockoffs from third-rate universes. I ought to punch the hell out of whoever put this together!"
Judging by the power levels described, those so-called elites were only good for showing off in backward civilizations.
As for his true form, just a gentle breath from him would be enough to wipe out the lot of them.
So, with a complete loss of interest in Matrix Purgatory's bloodline exchange system, he turned his attention to more important things—like food.
---
A dozen or so minutes later, Orsaga casually pushed open the door and walked out of his private room.
That so-called private room was basically just an empty void.
After completing the beginner mission, he had automatically gained access to it.
By spending reward points, he could modify the space's decor to his liking or summon food and other essentials directly.
He also now had the ability to leave the room and enter the neutral zones of Matrix Purgatory to interact face-to-face with other Purgators.
---
Looking around at the other Purgators—some dressed as sword immortals, others as Iron Man, even hanging off each other's shoulders—Orsaga felt… nothing.
After all, he'd seen far weirder stuff in the Abyss. This kind of scene was practically mundane.
Many passersby cast envious or hostile looks his way and muttered coldly, "Tch, android."
In their minds, there was no way a human could be born with such perfect looks. He had to have used reward points to customize his appearance.
Hearing that, Orsaga was instantly alarmed.
"Crap! I underestimated these guys!. They could actually tell that this body was artificially made?. Looks like my identity as an Abyssal Demon won't stay hidden for long. Guess someone as awesome as me just can't keep a low profile!"
Just then, another voice drifted over.
"You guys hear the news? Three newcomers just cleared the rookie world with a full five-star rating!"
A man with bull horns turned to his companions and said, "Apparently, once they finished the rookie world, their guides each tried to recruit them into different teams…"
"And all three rejected the offers—flat-out!"
"Things even got heated. Now all three teams are furious and have issued kill orders on them!"
Hearing that, Orsaga perked up immediately.
Five-star rating?
Cleared the rookie world?
Rejected team invites?
"I get it now! No wonder that guide of mine was so blunt—
She actually put a bounty on me!"
Realizing that, Orsaga started nodding with glee.
"Finally! The protagonist treatment is kicking in!"
"I'm seriously hyped!"
The minotaur-like guy continued, "Word from one of the teams is that the three five-star rookies are named Li Wei, Huang Liu, and Draco. Their faces have even been posted."
"Anyone who kills one of them gets twenty thousand reward points!"
"Whoa! Twenty thousand?"
"I'm so killing them!"
"Screw that! I am! You back off!"
"???"
Orsaga's expression darkened. He walked over and asked, "Wait, what about my name?"
The minotaur looked at him, puzzled. "Who are you?"
Hearing that, Orsaga's excitement instantly deflated. He turned and left, grumbling:
"Damn it, got excited for nothing…"
Once he confirmed that the bountied newbies weren't him, Orsaga completely lost interest.
He began wandering aimlessly through Matrix Purgatory's neutral zone.
Honestly, the place wasn't that different from the outside world—except you couldn't hurt each other here.
---
Various stalls and shops of all sizes filled the area, all rentable with reward points.
The streets were bustling with Purgators.
Even just a rough glance from a high vantage point revealed at least six figures' worth of people, so the place had a decent crowd.
After a while, a certain stall caught Orsaga's eye.
It was a small space opened up like a storefront, with a visible portal leading inside.
Through the portal, all sorts of items were scattered about.
One particular pile drew his attention—mostly because he had nothing better to spend his points on.
He stepped in and pointed at the pile. "How much for this heap of trash?"
To him, that's all it was—just a decent pile of junk.
Part of the reason he was interested at all was his professional instinct as a scavenger kicking in.
The stall owner, who had been focused on some kind of magic incantation, looked up with a scowl and followed Orsaga's finger.
It was a pile of metal scraps of varying sizes.
From the wreckage, you could vaguely make out that they had once been humanoid machines.
The stall owner paused, then recalled where they were from.
His team had entered the Mobile Suit Gundam universe on a mission. The scraps came from a battle where they clashed with story characters and took these as spoils.
Though badly damaged, they figured the parts were worth bringing back to Matrix Purgatory, if only for their origin.
The shopkeeper glared at Orsaga and snapped,
"You've got no manners!. That's Destiny Gundam and Akatsuki Gundam from the Mobile Suit Gundam world!
How dare you call them trash?"
Orsaga nodded calmly. "Right. So how much for the trash?"
The shopkeeper barked back, "I told you, they're not trash!"
Orsaga politely repeated, "Okay, so are you selling this pile of trash or not?"
The stall owner slammed the table and shouted, "I SAID they're not trash!"
Orsaga kicked a nearby stool across the room and roared back:
"I don't care what you think. I care what I think! Now are you gonna sell it or not, dammit?!"
Seeing his stool go flying, the shopkeeper gritted his teeth and growled, "Fine, I'll sell it!"
Orsaga went straight to the point. "How much?"
The shopkeeper tried to save face:
"Even if they're broken… no, I mean— Even if they're damaged Gundams—they're still rare loot. At least 100,000 points!"
Orsaga didn't even blink.
"I don't give a damn. 30,000. Take it or leave it."
Hearing that, the shopkeeper looked as if he'd just been slapped.
A two-thirds price cut?
That was downright insulting!
He grumbled bitterly, "Can you at least go a bit higher?"
"Nope. That's final," Orsaga replied bluntly. "You in or not?"
Under the oppressive aura and with no real bargaining power—money was in Orsaga's hands, after all—the stall owner could only clench his jaw and concede.
"Fine!"
A quick exchange later, Orsaga stored the scrap pile into his dimensional item and walked off.
The shopkeeper picked up his poor stool with a bitter expression, clenching his fists as he muttered:
"Damn it... what a terrifying high-level Purgator!. I couldn't even get a read on his strength—he just felt like a regular human!"
From the moment he first saw Orsaga, he could tell the guy wasn't some small fry.
That scornful gaze, that arrogant tone, and the fact that he acted even more domineering than himself—all of it made that clear.
The "ordinary human energy signature" must have been an extremely advanced disguise.
And that was exactly why he chose to swallow his pride and back down.
After all, to make a living in this place... sometimes you just had to eat dirt.
_____
T/N:
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