Chapter 8 - 8) The CODE MARKET tabs

The interface of the CODE MARKET was actually quite simple for something he believed capable to cater to the needs of multiple races.

From the top, the name CODE MARKET was displayed visibly, just below it to the left side, an option, Delve was greyed out for whatever reason.

To the right, there was a Notifications tab currently pulsing in a red light, urging him to tap on it, mentally of course.

Giving in to the urge, he watched as a new background spiralled over the old one, streams of text filling it at absurd speed.

'The CODE MARKET- Where the universe shops.', the first line read, serving as a sort of catchy slogan.

'The CODE MARKET is an astra- physical plane where anything and everything in the known universe can be bought. From weapons capable of cleaving planets, to potions capable of changing races, even whole planets can be bought, for the right price of course.

The main currency used are CODEcoins (č) generated from the slaughter of every undead. Other currency such as EXP , Empirium chips and local planet currency are also acceptable as long as there is mutual agreement and understanding between involved parties.

Every merchant has the right to set their own prices for their products provided they perform their stated functions.

Different forms of discounts apply to different achievement holders such as the [NEWBIE], which offers 50% discount on any first purchase under 1000 ĉ, [DUNGEON LORD] which offers a 10% discount on beasts, among other discounts.

The CODE MARKET is not responsible for any scams or loss of goods since, the [CODED Eye] feature and the [OMNI- CODE] exist to counter these problems at a small fee.

Wishing you good luck in your quest for strength against the forces of undeath.'

"Well, that was… unexpected, but still helpful, at least I know who the universal enemy is." Mateo muttered as he left the notification tab.

Under the Delve and Notification tabs, several items were listed in a linear fashion.

Reading the list which had no meaningful order to him, Mateo wore different expressions when he reached each tab.

With a small smile, he acknowledged being the first tab, information was power after all, and it seemed to be true even at the universal scale.

The and hum smiling the widest as his mental palms itched to press them.

The tab earned no emotion from him, not even the disgust a normal person would have shown to a tab dedicated to slavery.

, and made him scoff and wonder their usefulness and popularity when compared to other tabs, but then his mind drifted to Amber and he thought, maybe they weren't so useless after all.

felt pretty normal as he believed construction still went on no matter how magical a world became.

left him wondering whether there were illegal races being held, and how to join in.

felt like it was for random things that didn't get their own tab, probably like screwdrivers, soap, gloves and writing pens.

The crown jewels on the list, in his opinion were undoubtedly, the and tabs.

To Mateo and probably every other human on Earth, the idea of buying a whole planet was absurd, even the hidden families were rumoured to control countries in secret, not whole continents, so to see a tab for planets listed like just another item to be added to an online shopping cart felt surreal.

The tab on the other hand felt like a cheat code to getting the [DUNGEON LORD] achievement which offered a 10% discount on beasts.

Using a childhood rhyme to serve as the gacha machine for which tab to open first, the rhyme ended on and with no hesitation, he tapped on it and met…

*Access level low. Requirement - Become an Ascendant.*

Refusing to be disheartened, he kept the same enthusiastic smile on his face and moved to the next tab, .

*Restricted Access. Requirement - Become a Dungeon Lord.*

"Tsk. So much for the glitch I found. Guess it's hard to outsmart the universe, but at least I don't need to become an Ascendant, whatever that is." Mateo mumbled, his smile cracking to one of acceptance.

Grudgingly tearing his attention from the main attractions, he settled for the tab and opened it.

Much to his delight, he wasn't denied this time but unfortunately for him, his eyes and brain got overloaded with the shifting list of potions that made his mind blank out.

Forcing his eyes to lock onto a random line of text among the shifting group, he was a bit surprised at the line he had randomly chosen.

*Mama Rynani's nasal hair growth potion - 60č*

"What the-, why would anyone even want that."

Redirecting his focus to another line,he managed to get something relatively decent but still useless in attaining his newfound goal.

*Druc1ahji's spicy ghost pepper - 100č*

A few more tries to get himself used to the erratic shift patterns led to him discovering: a potion that changes your skin colour, one that makes you sick and another that increased the sensation of hunger for a period of time.

After a few more minutes of scrolling, he came upon two discoveries.

First, the tab needed to be renamed from to because why else would scorpion venom be listed on sale for a price of 17č.

Secondly, there was a search bar which he could use to look up potions he needed, unfortunately …

10č - 1 day

67č - 7 days

250č - 30 days

2900č - 12 months

28000č - 1 decade

270000č - 1 century

2600000č - 1 millennium.

To use even the search bar feature, you had to pay a subscription fee, with available packages going even beyond a millenia.

"Shit. Seems like the owner of the CODE MARKET is one greedy being. I mean who even makes a subscription package a century long, not to even talk about the millennium and decamillennium offers."

Hoping to have enough money to subscribe for at least a day, he left the tab.

Underneath the list of tradeable commodities, there two final tabs, one with a (č) sign which he believed represented his CODEcoin Wallet and the other with a (?) sign, which he hoped represented a FAQ section.