Online Reviews

Luca was praying for more than just a pat on the back.

In his haste, he didn't even change into a different uniform; he just went straight into his space.

The effect was instantaneous. He wasn't sure if it was a placebo effect, but he immediately felt better upon entering.

"Host, it's not your imagination. The Dungeon is saturated with spiritual energy, so it's everywhere, and you don't even need to concentrate much for it to penetrate your body."

That seemed genuine because now he had more energy to walk toward the lake. He wanted to drink the spiritual water to recover at least some of what he had lost earlier.

"At least I've stopped steaming. I thought I'd return to that point where I looked like a dry ice with all the fumes I had going on."

"Then this is great, host! It seems like you're now able to retain enough energy!"

*Woot! Woot!*

D-29 celebrated in Luca's mind as he continued to drink the spiritual water. He was drinking way more, about the same as he would drink normal water, but he made sure to do it slowly, just in case he overestimated his body's tolerance.

He had been in so much pain the past few days and, at one point, felt like he was being such a masochist.

But Luca had no such kinks, so he tried being nicer to his new body.

"D-29, how are we supposed to input enough energy to open the barrier? Is there a way for us to know how much energy I'd need to use?"

"Hmmm… If you can touch the barrier, that should do it. But I believe it would be better to do it once you've rested a bit."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Time works a bit differently here, so we should have enough time."

Luca continued lying down on the grass. And he had decided to pick out a few apples with his spiritual tendrils, just so he could snack on something.

They were woken up all of a sudden, so he had no time to eat anything. And someone as weak as him shouldn't be doing something that risky.

Then he remembered to check his online store. He wasn't really sure what to expect since he had sold all of his inventory just on opening day.

But normally, customers would leave reviews, and he was curious about that.

True enough, Luca was shocked to see so many reviews under his listings.

[When is the next restock?]

[How come there are no more products to buy?]

[Upstairs, it's just an apple, right? Why not try apples from other sellers?]

[To the commenter upstairs, are you another fruit vendor? I tried other apples after buying from this store, but everything else was a disappointment.]

[I agree with the upstairs commenter. I was convinced that the other more expensive apples would taste similar, but no!]

[Seller, please be hard-working and update your store with products.]

[Does the Seller not want money? What about working hard?]

Luca had to take a moment to process the comments on his online store. At the same time, the Fruit forum was more lively than ever.

This was thanks to anchor Dylan's live stream. Because he abandoned it midway, clips of his stream were shared widely. 

This prompted his viewers and other interested parties to check on the Star Mall. But they were surprised to realize that not one apple was left available for sale.

So the others, suddenly craving apples that looked similar to Dylan's apples, started buying from other vendors. This single-handedly raised the sales of apples for a day, and even the administrators of Star Mall had to wonder what was wrong with the sudden influx of orders.

They were used to experiencing this for things like tech and cosmetics but never for something so novel as apples.

However, several disgruntled buyers and those who had tasted Luca's apples took to the forum to complain about the substandard apples they ended up purchasing from other vendors.

[I never thought we were being fooled before, but after tasting that store's apples, I now realized how badly we were all being scammed.]

[+1 I agree with upstairs. I now regret eating my apples too fast. The ones I just bought are nowhere near as good.]

[+1 The ones I just bought taste like dry starch]

And the sellers of these poorly reviewed stores could only reply aggrievedly at how they were being slandered because they have been at the top of their game for years, some even decades.

And the sight of buyers and sellers fighting was something that Luca never got to see, as he had no idea where to look for the forums. 

So, while everyone else was fighting, Luca snacked as he discussed their future restocking plans with D-29.

"Host, it seems like the products were a hit with the interstellar people. What about restocking soon?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe we have to check how many fruits the trees here produce. I only used what I know from Tesseris. What if the apple trees here produce so little?"

But this would shock Luca for another day, as apples are now grown in tanks rather than picked from trees.

In the end, Luca decided to update his shop at least every three days.

"Let's adjust it depending on the people's reactions. And maybe after a while, they would get tired of eating the same thing?"

"Then, host, it would be perfect for when we open the barrier. You'll have access to more fruits and the land you've planted on before." 

"Yes, you're right." This made Luca sit up. He had just remembered planting some crops for his personal consumption.

He was unpaid before and could only survive because he had access to food from his space. However, after losing his corporeal form, he forgot about this, as his spirit didn't need to eat human food.

"Seems like I've rested and gathered enough energy. Want to see if we could open it now?"