019 – What Do You Call Someone Stuck Between Bad and Good Luck?

[The Second Friend Invitation Letter has been sent.]

The system's announcement startled Souta.

But before he could even check who had been invited—

The system's voice continued:

[The 'Multiverse Friend System' now has 3 users, fulfilling the requirement to unlock the Shop System and Quest System.]

[Shop System Unlocked.]

[Quest System Unlocked.]

A barrage of notifications overwhelmed him.

Souta quickly paid for his coffee, left the café, and hurried home.

Once inside, he eagerly pulled out his system phone and started checking.

Just as expected—

Two new features had appeared on the system's interface:

[Shop] and [Quests].

Souta opened the new features and started exploring.

The shop system had a simple interface, with only two items available for purchase:

[Travel Card] – 500 points

[Invitation Letter] – 10,000 points

So expensive!

Especially the Invitation Letter!

Souta immediately felt a strong urge to complain.

But after thinking about it, it made sense—

The Invitation Letter creates a permanent connection between worlds, while the Travel Card is just a one-time-use item.

Given that difference, the price gap was understandable.

A Valuable Invitation Letter

Speaking of which, Souta still had one Invitation Letter from his beginner's gift pack that he hadn't used yet…

He started taking it more seriously.

Since this item was so valuable, he needed to choose wisely before using it.

He had to make sure it wasn't wasted.

"Only two items for sale… is there anything else?"

Souta continued browsing through the shop.

Soon, he noticed a section labeled [Upload Item].

He blinked in confusion.

"Huh? What's this supposed to mean?"

"System, what's the purpose of this 'Upload Item' feature?"

[This is a trading platform for members of the Friend Group. Members can upload their items, abilities, knowledge, or experience as goods for sale. The system will evaluate their value, set a price in points, and any points earned go to the seller.]

Trading Knowledge and Abilities?

"Wait, what?! I can sell stuff?!"

Souta's interest skyrocketed.

He immediately began thinking about what he might be able to sell.

"Can I sell my immortality and time manipulation abilities?"

[Yes. However, abilities are non-duplicable. Once uploaded, the seller loses the ability permanently, and it can only be purchased by one person.]

"…Okay, definitely not selling those."

"What about knowledge and experience?"

[Knowledge and experience are duplicable. Uploading them does not cause the seller to lose their own knowledge, and these items can be purchased multiple times.]

"Wow… this is actually a really convenient trade system."

Souta was impressed.

But unfortunately…

The system was the one determining the price of uploaded items.

So much for exploiting the system!

If users could set their own prices, then someday, if a swordmaster joined the group, they could sell their swordsmanship knowledge at a low price…

And then, suddenly, everyone in the group would become a swordmaster!

Too bad. That would've been fun.

Souta sighed, but he didn't dwell on it.

Being able to sell things at all was already a great feature.

Out of curiosity, Souta decided to test the upload function.

Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to sell his immortality or time powers.

Instead, he uploaded a pack of instant noodles.

A moment later, the system evaluated its worth:

[1 point]

(Minimum price: 1 point)

A notification appeared:

[Souta has uploaded an item: [Pack of Instant Noodles]]

Item Description: Food. Can be eaten to relieve hunger.

It seemed that all Friend Group members received the alert.

But since no one had points yet, no one would buy it.

Souta wasn't trying to make money, anyway—he was just testing the system.

And from what he saw, it worked perfectly.

"Time for the lottery?"

"Right, wasn't there supposed to be a lottery feature?"

Souta scanned the shop interface again.

Finally, in the bottom-right corner, he saw a colorful spinning wheel labeled [Lottery].

Underneath, it said:

[200 points per spin]

Because of his beginner's gift pack, he had one free spin available.

Should he use it now?

Souta thought about it.

Maybe it was better to check out the Task System first, then decide.

So he closed the shop and opened the Task System.

Task System Overview

There were two categories:

[Multiplayer Tasks]

[Solo Tasks]

However—

Both categories were completely empty.

Not a single task.

It was cleaner than his bank account.

"System, what's the difference between multiplayer and solo tasks?"

[Multiplayer tasks are usually world-saving missions. They are high difficulty and only appear under specific conditions. Multiple Friend Group members can participate, and rewards are shared based on each member's contribution percentage.]

[Solo tasks are individually assigned and can only be completed alone. If the user receives outside help, the rewards will be forfeited.]

Souta fell into deep thought.

So multiplayer tasks were high-difficulty, large-scale missions that required team coordination…

And they were mostly about saving worlds?!

Yeah… that definitely sounded insanely difficult.

As for solo tasks, it seemed like they were meant to test and develop each individual.

And they couldn't be shared.

So even if he got a simple solo mission, he couldn't ask Kurumi for help.

Fair enough.

It seemed like tasks were the main way to earn points, so he would keep an eye out for when they became available.

"Come on, system, where's my first mission?"

After exploring the new features, Souta stared at the empty mission page.

Nothing.

No missions meant no points.

No points meant no Travel Cards.

As an anime fan, there were so many worlds he wanted to visit—so many landscapes he wanted to see…

But for now, all he could do was dream about it.

As for the Invitation Letter…

It was too valuable to use casually.

It was better to save it for an emergency—something that could change everything.

"Forget it. Let's try the lottery."

Souta shifted his gaze to the colorful spinning wheel at the bottom-right corner of the shop menu.

The system had said the lottery prizes included:

Items, Abilities, Knowledge & Experience, Even living beings?!

The variety of potential rewards excited him.

But at the same time, he felt a little nervous.

"My luck isn't bad, but it's not exactly good either… What if I get something useless?"

If he pulled a bottle of soda, he was going to lose it.

Taking a deep breath, Souta prayed to the gods of good luck, then tapped the [Spin] button.

His one free spin was consumed instantly.

The wheel began to spin.

Each section was a different color, but there were no labels for the prizes.

Just spinning colors.

Even so, Souta stared at it intensely, waiting for it to stop.

And then—

The wheel slowed down…

Stopped completely…