2 The System and the ‘TRADE’ Function

'Congratulations to host for receiving the Special-grade Equivalent Exchange System.'

Listening to the flat and unexcited tone of the system congratulating him, Long Yu felt irked somehow.

Before even trying to figure out what happened, Long Yu was already able to easily connect the dots. The wishing star, the strange reaction given off by the jade pendant and the torturous event that he just went through. If he could not recognise their connection to the appearance of the system, he might as well call himself a retard.

Suppressing his curiosity regarding the system's function, he promptly tried to connect with it.

'Where is the jade pendant?'

No response.

'System, where is the jade pendant?'

On the second try, there was a response from the system.

'The pendant, which was deemed as the host's most precious possession was paid as a price to obtain the Equivalent Exchange System. Everything was according to host's wish. All exchanges completed cannot be undone.'

It seemed as if the system understood his thoughts and was informing him that Luo Xi's jade pendant could not be recovered anymore. Although Long Yu was crestfallen at hearing this news, he knew better than to cry over spilt milk. At least the system which the pendant traded for would stay with him from now on.

What he needed to do now was to figure out what this system was exactly and how he could take advantage of it. From the name itself, he was more or less able to tell that he would be able to exchange for things using the system.

Long Yu wanted to know more, so he continued asking the system about various stuff. From the information he managed to obtain from the system, he concluded that it was more than just platform to exchange items. Rather, it was just as the system mentioned. He would be able to exchange for anything and everything he wanted, provided he could cough up the price determined by the system.

Furthermore, the more precious the object, the higher the price he needed to pay. He could exchange for items which were considered as famous legends and myths. He speculated that even futuristic sci-fi objects would be available.

After Long Yu finished his Q&A session with the system, it was finally time for him to start experimenting. As he activated the system's interface with his mind, futuristic blue holograms appeared in front of him. It was similar to those sci-fi movies where holographic panels and 3D models could be interacted with through touch and hand gestures.

Long Yu explored the system interface by trying to control it with his mind. He tried to move the panels around and even changed their sizes. It seemed that all of the holographic elements were at his command and could be fitted to his comfort.

Looking towards the biggest element which had the word 'EXCHANGE' on it, he willed his mind to activate it. Instantly, two platforms with words appeared in front of him. One had an image which indicated 'purchase' whereas the other one indicated 'trade'.

It was fairly straightforward as Long Yu could tell that the 'purchase' platform would let him acquire whatever he searched for, while the 'trade' platform allows him to dispose an existing item in exchange for some form of currency.

Grabbing a random object on top of his desk, he hurriedly placed it on the 'trade' platform. Once the object was on the platform, it changed into a holographic version of it instead. Long Yu now realised that the object that he previously grabbed was his new alarm clock, which he bought from a 10 yuan store two days ago[1].

Seeing the number floating above the alarm clock, he could tell that the system would give him 3 yuan in exchange for the clock.

Long Yu removed the alarm clock from the platform and placed it back on his desk. Once the clock left the platform, it changed back into its physical form. Next, he placed a half-eaten candy bar on the platform to check its value. The number which appeared above it indicated that it was worth 0.5 yuan to the system.

After spending a full 20 minutes on checking the value of various objects in his room, Long Yu finally came to a conclusion. He did not know if he could receive any other form of currency besides money from the system, but he had established that anything he traded to the system would have its value reduced by half.

For instance, that half-eaten candy bar on his desk. He had originally bought it at a supermarket for 2 yuan, which the 'trade' function of the system would supposedly exchange it for 1 yuan. But since he had eaten half of it earlier on, the system had reduced its value by another half, bringing its worth to 0.5 yuan.

So basically, as long as the item that he wished to trade to the system was new or in decent condition, he would receive back half of its market value in money. Long Yu was also happy to find out that the items that he could trade in was not limited to small objects.

When he thought of trading in his bed, the system had instead scanned it and displayed a holographic miniature version of it on the platform. With this, he did not have to worry about objects suddenly disappearing in front of other people whenever he wanted to check their worth in public.

Nonetheless, the scan function also has it limitations, as it only allows him to scan objects that are within 3 metres from his location.