Chapter 60: Chapter 59: New Products and the Market

A guiding beam of light that leads to a target’s location...

Guan Tong finished reading the item’s description. He figured it could be used for finding people or treasure, but he definitely had no use for it right now.

What intrigued him even more was that this item was actually tradable.

’This is the first time a tradable item has appeared. I bet it’s not just me; a lot of the survivors must have gotten tradable items from their Survival Treasure Chests.’

This meant that besides being spent in the terminal’s Sublimation Store, Sublimation Coins finally had another use.

Ascenders could finally circulate Sublimation Coins among themselves.

Guan Tong felt this should be a good thing for him.

Although his [Wordless Book] could only create Binding Coins, which couldn’t be used to trade with other Ascenders, he could use the Binding Coins he created to make purchases in the Sublimation Store and use the non-binding coins rewarded by the rules for trading.

But the emergence of tradable items would also create an unavoidable phenomenon.

Namely, the powerful would quickly grow stronger by consolidating resources.

Although some people online were spouting phrases like "human evolution," "the age of supermen," and "power unto oneself," current Ascenders possessed no great "power" to speak of. They were far from being "supermen."

Guan Tong didn’t think his own development was spectacular, but he believed he should at least be in the top ranks among Ascenders globally.

But even so, if a professional organization targeted him relentlessly, he would find himself in an extremely dangerous situation.

The same went for other Ascenders. Even with Psychic Power items that granted all sorts of strange abilities, they were still fundamentally mortal. A single bullet could take any of them out.

With the advent of tradable items under these circumstances, the groups or organizations that currently held power might resort to force, coercing others into selling items for cheap or buying junk items at exorbitant prices.

Guan Tong thought of the nationwide string of kidnappings he was involved in. Perhaps one of the masterminds’ goals in kidnapping people ahead of time was to exploit the kidnapped Ascenders once tradable items appeared.

’If this goes on, Ascenders like me—with no organization, no group, and no backing—will likely become prey for these various powerful organizations if we aren’t strong enough.’

’It seems that most Ascenders who operate individually or in small groups might choose to join a powerful organization in the near future.’

Guan Tong recalled the Psychic Power Development Academy that the government had been heavily promoting. It would surely see a huge wave of enrollments once it opened.

Because the academy had official backing, enrolling was equivalent to receiving government protection. Some of the ordinary powerful groups and organizations among the populace would have to be more cautious and wouldn’t dare to target the academy’s students so easily.

A sense of crisis spread through his heart. Guan Tong wondered what he should do.

Should he continue to develop as a lone wolf, or should he join an organization or group to gain mutual protection?

After a moment of thought, he shook his head slightly, shelving the issue for now.

The most urgent thing right now was still to strengthen himself on all fronts.

The moment he started thinking about relying on others or seeking protection, he would be planting a seed of hidden danger. No one would protect you for free. No matter what organization he joined, he would have to pay a price to enjoy its benefits.

It was like the Ascenders who chose to join the official Strategy Research Room. While they received all-around government protection, they were also obligated to spend Sublimation Coins to purchase designated items and provide experimental test data as required by the research room.

"...I should probably just check out the newly listed items first."

Guan Tong stopped pondering the issue. He opened the Sublimation Store to see what new items had been listed this time.

This was a high-priority task. After this rule, people would realize that the new items listed in the Sublimation Store after each rule could potentially help them pass the next one.

Just like the [Basic Food Box] listed before the [Fasting Therapy] rule, and the [Thermoregulating Technology Underwear] and [Multi-Terrain Marching Boots] listed before the [June Snow] rule.

Combined with the hidden setting of "limited quantities," people would undoubtedly stop waiting and would instead check and buy things the moment the store updated.

When the item interface opened, Guan Tong saw that two new items had been listed.

[Multi-functional Protective Suit · Basic Set]: Provides a certain degree of defense against cuts, slashes, chops, and scrapes. Appearance is customizable.

[Price: 120 Sublimation Coins]

...

[Rapid-Burning Stick x10]: Upon use, instantly generates a handheld burning stick. Burn duration: 15 minutes.

[Price: 80 Sublimation Coins]

...

After reading about the two new items, Guan Tong couldn’t help but frown. "An Anti-stabbing Suit and burning sticks... Is the fifth rule going to be some kind of all-out battle royale?"

Otherwise, he couldn’t understand why the store would list these two items.

But he couldn’t jump to conclusions. Given that the Fire Thief often made unconventional moves and liked to throw in hidden settings, no one could make an accurate prediction before the rule was officially announced.

’I have 150 coins right now, so I can only buy one. Coinage... I’ll skip it for now. At this stage, my precious Psychic Power should be used primarily to improve my combat and self-preservation abilities.’

After a moment of consideration, Guan Tong spent 120 Sublimation Coins to buy the [Multi-functional Protective Suit · Basic Set].

In his opinion, it was more useful than the burning sticks. At the very least, wearing it would give him a greater sense of security.

Since it was a set including a top and bottoms, Guan Tong customized its appearance to look like a long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, which he then put on.

Now his three-piece set of underwear, shoes, and clothes were all from the terminal. Although they were all basic models, they felt pretty good.

Then, it occurred to him that since tradable items had appeared, the "Market" tab within the terminal’s "Trade" function would no longer be blank like before.

He opened it, and sure enough, the number of listed items was displayed as "9999+".

"So many people are selling items..."

Guan Tong himself was unwilling to sell. Even if he had no immediate use for his [Guiding Flashlight], he would rather hold onto it in case it became useful later.

However, after browsing a few pages, he realized that many of these sellers weren’t serious about selling at all; they were just listing items for fun.

For example, there was a one-time-use item called the [Flashing Pointer]. Its effect was to allow the user to instantly teleport to any location within 10 meters in the direction the pointer was facing.

Although it was a single-use item, its effect was undoubtedly powerful. It was a life-saving item; using it to instantly teleport away in a critical moment could save your life, making it extremely valuable.

But the seller had set the price at "999 Sublimation Coins." It was obvious they had no intention of selling and were just showing it off.

Because even if you passed all four previous rules and saved every single rewarded Sublimation Coin without spending a cent, you still wouldn’t have 999 Sublimation Coins.

The only people who could personally hold so many coins would be the powerful figures who were now starting to plunder. Some of them might have already started using force to coerce others, flipping items like mad to earn coins.

For example, they could point a gun at another Ascender’s head and force them to sell a tradable item for 1 coin. Then, they could put that item on the market and sell it for a low price of a few dozen coins.

With just one flip, they could make dozens of Sublimation Coins. Repeat that a few dozen times, and such a powerful figure could genuinely amass 999 coins on their own.

In this way, such individuals could rapidly increase their overall strength by possessing a large number of items. Even if their Psychic Power limit wasn’t high, they could use this method to close the power gap with high-Psychic Power Ascenders.