Jin didn't head back to his old spot after the trade.
He didn't need to.
Armed with a toolkit, a ration pack, 17 Trade Points, and a growing sense of purpose, he wandered deeper into the sprawl—toward the border of The Heap and what locals called the Scar Zone.
Most didn't go near it.
Not because of guards or fences, but because the air itself felt... wrong there.
Jin had always chalked it up to radiation or residual energy from some forgotten war. But now, with the system activated, he wondered if there was more to it.
The wind shifted as he crossed into the zone. Static prickled along his arms. The metal around him was warped in strange ways—melted and twisted into unnatural spirals, like gravity had lost a fight here. Even light bent strangely near the center of the Scar.
And that's when he saw it.
A tear.
Hanging in the air like cracked glass suspended in time, a jagged rift pulsed faintly at the heart of the zone. It shimmered with unnatural hues—violet, black, deep emerald—and hummed like a dying star.
Jin's system flared to life.
[Unstable Dimensional Gate Detected]Status: DormantClassification: E-Class Rift (Monstrous)
Access Requirements:– System Rank: 2– Minimum Combat Capability– Guild Sanction: Required
Current Status: SealedResidual Energy Detected: 4.3%
Warning: Proximity effects may cause hallucinations, mutation, or system interference.
Jin staggered back.
Monstrous? Dimensional Gate?
He had heard rumors, of course. Whispers in the slums about people vanishing. Creatures appearing in dead zones. Whole squads of enforcers swallowed by thin air.
But this… this wasn't a rumor.
It was real.
He turned to leave—only for the system to flash again.
New Market Opportunity Detected: Rift SalvageSubmarket: Rift Leavings – Unstable Trade Threads
📦 Potential Salvage Nearby: [Corrupted Core Shard]Value Estimate: 25–30 TPRisk Rating: Moderate
System Tip: Trade Threads may only be visible to bound Traders.
Jin's breath caught.
Was it risky? Yes.
But it could also mean leveling up, maybe unlocking the second market rank. And if he wanted to survive in a world where rifts like this existed—he needed every edge he could get.
He crept forward, toolkit in hand.
The shard was half-buried beneath collapsed conduits. It pulsed weakly, cracked and bleeding faint green light. Jin used the insulated gloves from the kit to scoop it into a salvage container.
The moment he secured it, a new window opened.
Item Acquired: Corrupted Core Shard (E-Class Rift Residue)Trade Options Available:– Rift Market (Specialized – Locked)– System Exchange [Convert to Purified Fragment]
Offer: +40 TP, +1 Energy Node Fragment, Reputation Boost (???)
He almost dropped it.
Forty points? That was more than double his entire total so far. And a new item—an Energy Node Fragment? He had no idea what that did yet, but anything coming from a rift had to be rare.
He made the trade.
Light flashed—and warmth surged through his chest.
⚙ Inventory Updated:– [Trade Points: 57]– [Energy Node Fragment x1]– [System Alert: Rank Threshold Approaching]
📈 Progress toward Rank 2: 73%
Jin backed away from the rift. He didn't dare get closer. Not yet.
But the implications haunted him.
Gates. Monsters. Energy shards. Entire markets born from these tears in reality.
The world wasn't just rotting anymore—it was evolving.
And whatever was behind these gates... it was leaking out.
⏳ A Few Hours Later...
Back in a safer area, Jin sat on a shipping crate and stared at the new addition to his inventory.
[Energy Node Fragment]Classification: UnknownUse: UnknownStatus: DormantMarket Value: ???System Note: This fragment holds dimensional resonance. Use with caution.
"What does that even mean?" Jin muttered.
Before he could speculate further, a new notification chimed:
🔔 Message from System Hub: Global Trader Broadcast – Public Access (View?)
Curious, Jin tapped "Yes."
[TRADER HUB BULLETIN – DAY 2339 | UNIFIED SYSTEM ACCESS]
⚠️ Multiple rifts reported across known territories📈 Dimensional Market Activity: UP 14%🏅 Top Trader: Aveline the Platinum Broker (Rank 8)
📌 Quote of the Day:"Where others see monsters, I see markets."— Guildmaster Ferron
Jin leaned back, stunned.
He wasn't alone. There were other Traders out there—higher ranked, more experienced, operating in organized guilds. Some probably even thrived off rift-related trade.
And if the system had a global bulletin... then that meant this was bigger than his city. Bigger than his slum. Bigger than he'd imagined.
And yet, here he was—just days in—and already gathering fragments from a sealed gate.
System Notification:Trader Identity Progress – 3/5 Trades Complete
New Function Tease (Rank 2): [Dimension-Link Storage], [Combat-Grade Trades], [Rift-Scout License]
Keep trading, Merchant.
Jin stood slowly, tucking the energy fragment into the pouch. The Scar Zone still loomed behind him, pulsing faintly in the distance.
He wouldn't forget what he saw.
He had entered this world looking for food. Now he was walking the edge of interdimensional commerce and rift markets.
And one day, he would trade not just across cities or systems...
But across realities.
To Be Continued…
📌 Author's Note:
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— [RealmVendor]