Chapter Title: First Friend
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"..."
The owner of the nickname Ice Queen, 'Han Soo-yeon', was quietly staring at Castaway's reply.
She had no idea how he could communicate with people from 2channel, but the items he was trading were anything but ordinary.
'Rice? Ramen? Instant rice?'
Han Soo-yeon knew what kind of world 2channel was.
A fantasy world inhabited by humans, elves, dwarves, and various other races.
She had learned that from posts on the gallery.
📰 Breaking News Title: Woo-hyoo~ Got an Elf Photo from 2ch! (A photo of a burly, muscular, topless dwarf's upper body) But I handled the elf photo, so rest easy. Wink. 💬 Comments — GachaFailed Hey, you bastard! — Anon Wink? Wink? I'll rip your eyes out. — GalleryVet10Years Upload that elf photo right now or I'll permanent ban you. — GFWanted Elves are super closed-off to begin with, so they don't even take photos easily. ↳ Reply The few that got posted were ridiculously pretty. — Ironclad I wanna go to 2ch where you can peep on elves. ↳ Reply Think they'd accept you? ↳ Reply My ability's A-rank, so yeah. ↳ Reply A-rank? Fuck, jealous.
Anyway, it was astonishing that 2channel not only had conversations but also ramen and instant rice.
'And he's offering to send them first?'
In times like these, when no one could be trusted, that was unthinkable.
It was an era where people didn't just backstab for profit—they'd stab you in the back without hesitation.
"..."
Separate from that, the double amount of food Castaway had offered was ridiculously low.
'If rationed carefully, about a week.'
What if she sold the Awakening Stone for 200,000 points?
Since 4channel jelly cost 5 points each, that would buy 40,000 of them.
'With 40,000...'
At two per day, that's 57 days—nearly two months for her group.
Of course, it had to sell first, but even accounting for that, it was a definite loss.
'Need to look into this more.'
Han Soo-yeon thought she needed to dig into Castaway's identity and sent a reply.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
'No dice, huh?'
I looked at Ice Queen's reply and thought I'd lowballed too hard.
Slashing from 200,000 points to 1,980 left no room for excuses.
'But asking for the reason gives some hope.'
I pondered how to respond.
The good thing was, Ice Queen and I would never meet in person.
'Different channels. Different worlds.'
Plus, different channels couldn't even read posts.
'I can read them somehow, though.'
And I knew others could read my posts too.
In short, revealing my info to Ice Queen wouldn't affect me.
'At worst, she'd post about it on 3channel.'
Someone from 2channel coming to find me?
If that were possible, they would've crossed over already.
'Anyway, let's talk.'
With that decision, I replied immediately.
Help?
'If you're helping, just sell me the Awakening Stone.'
Of course, I knew she had a group to be responsible for, so it wouldn't be easy.
But if I helped her in return, it could benefit us both.
'Worst case, I don't lose much.'
So I honestly told Ice Queen about my situation.
I woke up here. The gallery popped up in front of me. I got an ability, and now this is my situation.
Oh?
Surprisingly, Ice Queen agreed to sell the 200,000-point Awakening Stone.
"...?"
Bloodstones?
It seemed abilities weren't just acquired and done—you strengthened them afterward.
'Get the ability, then reinforce with bloodstones?'
I tilted my head at the idea that bloodstones took priority over food or points.
Naive? I'd only been in this world a few hours.
I didn't know each world's situation yet, so I hadn't thought about it.
But if Ice Queen was right...
True, if unknown people found me, who knows what would happen.
I might end up a machine just buying modern items under strict surveillance.
'If it comes to that, even Ice Queen couldn't help.'
Different worlds, after all.
I checked the modern items menu for their prices.
-Boneless Spicy Chicken: 20 points
-Beer 500ml: 2 points
Totaling 1,200 points.
'With the originals, 3,180 points.'
For reference, I had 2,608 points now.
Obviously short, so I immediately listed 1,000 red bean buns and 1,000 milks on 2channel.
Fortunately, the red bean buns and milk on the exchange sold well as always.
Ramen and smokes...
'Worth a shot?'
It would take time for the 2channel buns and milk to sell out.
With time to kill, I bought a box of ramen and a carton of cigarettes.
'Ramen box 23 points. Cigarettes carton 45 points.'
After buying both, I hit register on 3channel exchange—and it went through fine.
'Can list across channels, huh.'
I switched to [Auction] and listed the ramen.
Auction time was settable; I picked 3 hours, no need for longer.
Next, the cigarettes—
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Beep— The exchange allows a maximum of three items to be listed.
'Huh?'
Unexpectedly, three slots max—cigarettes didn't list.
No big deal; I could relist later.
'At least I learned the limit.'
Soon after, my ramen auction got flooded with comments.
💬 Comments — IncheonMechanic Eh? What? It's ramen!! — PlantZombieHunter Ramen!! One box!! 40!! — ZombieSlayer Fuck off everyone! The ramen's mine! ↳ Reply Bullshit. You got the funds? ⭐ Top Comment — BlackBearBoss This ramen's ours from Black Bear Gang. Anyone who interferes dies. ↳ Reply Black Bear Gang? Who's that? Some no-name group popping up. ↳ Reply No-name? Where you from? — IncheonAlliance41 Castaway-nim. Incheon Alliance here. Possible for 1:1 chat?
Ding— Ding— Ding—
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Nickname 'IncheonAlliance47' has requested 1:1 chat. Nickname 'SaveMeOppa' has requested 1:1 chat. Nickname 'IncheonAlliance60' has sent a PM. Nickname 'BlackBearGang5' has requested 1:1 chat. Nickname 'SurvivingAtLighthouse' has sent a PM. ...
Along with that, 1:1 requests and PMs poured in from countless people.
Sensing the hassle if I accepted any, I immediately asked Ice Queen.
In 2channel, it was just a few; 3channel was different.
Requests kept coming, so I asked for help, and Ice Queen replied.
I'd heard adding friends shares location.
But different channels, so no issue.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Nickname 'Ice Queen' has requested to add you as a friend. Accept? [Yes.] [No.]
I hit [Yes], and Ice Queen appeared in my friends list.
⚔ FRIENDS LIST ⚔ 1. Ice Queen(3ch)
'In a way, my first friend.'
I followed her instructions into settings.
Detailed options existed, but I found and hit 3channel block.
'Done.'
Confirming cut off the endless 1:1s and PMs cleanly.
The noisy alerts silenced too. I checked the gallery again.
[One Box of Ramen (40 packs)] Current Bid: 460 points. Time Remaining: 2 hours 57 minutes 48 seconds.
The gallery showed ongoing auctions.
'460 points? Higher than expected.'
Ramen was already profiting over 10x instantly.
With plenty of time left, maybe 20-30x.
'Pure profit-wise, this might be better.'
Ding~!
Another alert mid-thought.
The 2channel buns and milk had all sold.
'But sales seem slower than before.'
Felt a bit sluggish compared to earlier.
Food gets consumed daily, so it'd sell eventually.
[Points: 4,540]
'Anyway, points secured.'
I bought and sent Ice Queen the items she requested.
"...?"
Scam maybe?
But contrary to my worry, Ice Queen sent a trade request, handing over the Awakening Stone and 10 bloodstones.