Chapter 51: Mana Storage Ring!

He then closed the feature window and finally entered the actual marketplace.

The first thing that caught Kyle’s attention wasn’t even the products.

It was the interface.

He blinked twice.

"...Huh?"

The entire UI had changed.

Compared to the previous version, which looked like something designed in the early 2000s and reminded him of an ancient Craigslist page, the new marketplace looked surprisingly modern. The layout was clean and minimalist, the product cards were properly organized, and everything appeared much easier to navigate.

Even the fonts and icons looked polished.

Kyle slowly moved his cursor around the screen, examining the various sections.

"Did it customize itself according to my preferences?"

He wasn’t sure whether that was actually what had happened, but he wasn’t complaining.

The previous marketplace had been functional, but this one actually felt like a modern e-commerce platform. Whoever—or whatever—had designed the new interface clearly understood user experience.

At the top of the screen was a simple navigation bar.

His current System Point balance was displayed on one side, followed by the shopping cart, the option to switch to his Seller account, which was currently locked, and finally his user profile icon.

The profile icon was the familiar circular image placeholder found on his system dashboard.

Kyle nodded approvingly.

"Much better."

Then his attention shifted toward the products.

"Alright, let’s see what we’ve got."

He rubbed his hands together, his eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.

He had been waiting for this.

If this marketplace truly contained products from different worlds, then there had to be something capable of giving him an advantage before he eventually used his Dimension Travel Ticket.

He opened the product listings.

[Categories: ALL]

[Recommended Items:]

[Item: Nourishment Pill]

[Seller: ImmortalPillStore]

[Description: A basic nourishment pill commonly used by Qi Refinement cultivators to replenish bodily energy and reduce hunger. Requires a functioning Dantian to properly absorb.]

[Price: 900 SP]

Kyle stared.

His excitement immediately vanished.

His face became sour as though someone had squeezed an entire lime directly into his mouth.

"What the hell is this price?"

He leaned closer to the screen.

"Nine hundred SP for a fucking nourishment pill?"

He had only 1,766 SP left.

That single pill would consume more than half his remaining balance.

"And I can’t even use it because I don’t have a Dantian!"

Kyle scrolled further.

The next item was a book.

[Item: The Legend of the Moonlit Princess]

[Seller: OldBookMerchant]

[Description: A popular fantasy romance novel from the Kingdom of Valoria.]

[Price: 1,500 SP]

Kyle stared at it with disbelief.

"What the fuck?"

He pointed at the listing.

"Why is a fucking storybook 1,500 SP?! It doesn’t even give me anything useful! It’s literally just a book!"

He scrolled again.

His expression somehow became even worse.

[Item: Rusted Iron Sword]

[Seller: Blacksmith_Grandpa]

[Description: A heavily rusted iron sword. Structural integrity: 31%.]

[Price: 5,000 SP]

Kyle’s mouth hung open.

"...Five thousand?"

He stared at the sword.

"Five thousand fucking System Points for a rusted sword?"

He leaned toward the screen.

"Is the seller stupid? Who the fuck is going to buy a rusted sword for 5,000 SP?!"

There wasn’t even a fancy description attached to it. It was literally a rusted sword.

Kyle continued scrolling, hoping the first few listings were simply overpriced exceptions.

They weren’t.

If anything, things got worse.

There were pills costing several thousand points, magical staffs reaching tens of thousands, cultivation techniques priced in the hundreds of thousands, enchanted armor, magical beasts’ cores, weapons forged from bizarre materials, and countless other items that Kyle couldn’t even identify.

One particularly ridiculous sword was listed for 100,0000 SP.

Kyle stared at the number for several seconds before slowly scrolling past it.

"Who the hell has this kind of money?"

He looked at his own balance.

[1766 SP]

Then back at the marketplace.

[100,0000 SP]

The difference was almost insulting.

"Ahh... man."

Kyle leaned back and released a long sigh.

"There has got to be something useful. I didn’t upgrade this thing just to get duped out of my money."

He continued browsing.

The marketplace contained products from worlds that seemed completely different from one another.

There were cultivation pills from Eastern-style martial worlds, magical potions from fantasy kingdoms, enchanted weapons, scrolls containing martial arts techniques, mana crystals, monster cores, talismans, alchemy ingredients, magical accessories, and even strange pieces of technology from worlds far more advanced than Earth.

But almost everything useful was absurdly expensive.

And the worst part was that Kyle could see actual reviews beneath many of the products.

These weren’t fake listings.

People were genuinely buying them.

He opened one of the more expensive items.

[Item: Fivefold Adamantium Sword]

[Price: 16,000 SP]

[Rating: ★★★☆☆]

Kyle scrolled through the reviews.

[DaoistBittenBySnake: This snake of an owner sold me five Magic Adamantium Swords claiming they wouldn’t break under any kind of Sword Qi! But when I used one against a Sword Master, it turned into dust! I had to eat dust like an animal! Absolute scum of a seller! Absolute snake! DO NOT BUY FROM HIM! I have reported him! I will make sure I get my money back!]

Kyle stared at the review.

"Well... he’s definitely frustrated."

He scrolled down.

There were several other reviews, some praising the sword and others complaining about its durability.

Kyle couldn’t help shaking his head.

The marketplace really was like any ordinary online marketplace.

Even across dimensions, people could apparently sell garbage, exaggerate their products, and then argue with customers in the reviews.

’Humanity really is universal.’

Still, Kyle had a serious problem.

He needed something specifically useful to someone like him.

Most of these items were designed for people who already possessed supernatural abilities.

Cultivators had Dantians.

Mages had mana cores.

Warriors possessed battle energy.

Some races apparently had innate magical abilities.

Kyle had none of those.

"I need something for a powerless guy."

He continued searching through the combat section.

There were cultivation manuals.

[Basic Iron Body Technique — 2,5000 SP]

Too expensive.

A beginner sword technique.

[Seven-Star Sword Art — 3,8000 SP]

Too expensive.

A low-grade fire spell.

[Ember Bolt — 2,0000 SP]

Still too expensive.

A magical dagger.

[Windfang Dagger — 4,5000 SP]

Again, too expensive.

Kyle’s expression gradually became more desperate.

"The buyers must be loaded."

He looked at the reviews again.

"How the hell are these people buying things worth thousands of points?"

He scrolled and scrolled.

Hundreds of products passed before his eyes.

Most were either useless to him or completely outside his budget.

Kyle finally slammed his hand lightly against the desk.

"I wish there was a filter button to sort by cheapest!"

He paused.

"Why the hell do I have to scroll through all of this manually?"

He was used to ordinary e-commerce websites where he could simply select a price range and sort everything from lowest to highest.

The Level One Marketplace apparently hadn’t given him that luxury.

Kyle continued scrolling through the combat section, determined to find something.

Then—

"Oh?"

His scrolling stopped.

A small ring appeared on the screen.

Unlike most of the previous products, its price wasn’t outrageous.

And its name immediately caught his attention.

[Item: Mana Storage Ring]

[Seller: BroomBroomLady]

[Description: A ring made using inexpensive mana-conducting runes. It can store a limited amount of mana and may be used to replenish the user’s mana when their reserves are depleted. It can also be used to store magical energy for later use.]

[Capacity: 100 Mana]

[Price: 500 SP]

Kyle’s eyes widened.

"Five hundred?"

For the first time since entering the Level One Marketplace, he didn’t immediately feel like throwing his computer out the window.

He stared at the ring.

’Wait... this might actually be useful.’

He didn’t have mana.

He didn’t even know if he could use magic.

But unlike the cultivation pills and martial arts techniques he’d seen earlier, this item didn’t appear to require a Dantian.

Kyle leaned closer to the screen.

A faint smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Alright..."

He clicked on the product.

"Let’s see what you can actually do."