Chapter 23: Installment Payment (Thanks to Xiuyuan for the monthly ticket, kisses!)

“Host, the system shop is now open. You can check the items inside anytime,” 9538 announced.

A virtual screen suddenly appeared before Wang Keyue, making her pause in surprise. She looked around, but no one else seemed to notice, so she realized that only she could see this virtual display.

The images projected on the screen were simple. Two icons were illuminated—one for food, the other for daily necessities. The rest were grayed out: medicine, weapons, skills, pets, engineering, technology, special items, and even some locked icons. These piqued Wang Keyue’s curiosity.

With the system’s assistance, there was no need for manual operation; a mere thought could prompt 9538 to present whatever she desired.

For now, Wang Keyue had only 100 gold coins, a rather limited sum for shopping.

9538 opened the food category and said, “With your current 100 gold coins, you can purchase either 100 jin of sweet potatoes or 10 jin of rice from the system’s inventory.”

Food and medicine wouldn’t be in short supply for the time being. What Wang Keyue really wanted were some modern weapons, or perhaps something more unique for defense.

“9538, is it possible to take out a loan? Or maybe pay in installments?”

She recalled that in her world, when buying large appliances, cars, or houses, it was common to arrange for interest-bearing or interest-free loans, so it seemed reasonable that the system might offer such options.

9538 froze. “Host, your request exceeds 9538’s current comprehension. Please wait while I report to the main program.”

Well, the 9538 system’s intelligence wasn’t quite up to handling this yet. Wang Keyue hoped the main program would be more flexible, or better yet, offer interest-free loans with zero down payment.

After a long wait with no response, Wang Keyue went to the mud-brick house and filled three basins with water, finally managing to wash away the sweat and grime.

She lay down on the kang, feeling relaxed, and before she could close her eyes to sleep, 9538’s voice chimed in: “Host, the main program has now launched this service. You may check the shop for details.”

Wang Keyue thought the system’s operator was impressively efficient.

She closed her eyes and let her consciousness sink into the system. The shop interface appeared, identical to before, except for a new installment payment option in the lower right corner. Clicking it revealed a voucher for installment purchases, which she could claim.

“Host, this project has just been launched by the main program. Each installment consumption voucher costs 100 gold coins. However, this one is a reward from the main program and is free of charge,” 9538 explained.

Wang Keyue hadn’t expected this method, and thought the main program was truly a business genius—after all, just the voucher alone could yield a tidy profit.

“After claiming this installment voucher, you’re qualified to purchase any item from any category, but the total price may not exceed twenty times your current assets,” 9538 continued.

Wang Keyue considered this fair. With only 100 gold coins, she could buy items worth up to 2,000 coins, which would prevent overspending.

Feeling lucky, she opened the weapons category—previously grayed out, but now accessible.

Inside, there were three types: cold weapons such as knives, forks, bows, and crossbows (not urgently needed for now); small handguns, though without bullets. Bullets themselves started at 2,000 coins—she chuckled at that. There were also security weapons, including tranquilizer guns and electric batons.

The firearms she truly wanted were clearly beyond her current purchasing power of 2,000 coins.

Sighing, Wang Keyue turned to the skills category. This menu was even more barren—only basic skills were available: basic martial arts, basic tai chi, basic self-defense, basic fist techniques…

All quite practical, but none compelling enough for someone who already knew basic swordplay.

Next, she checked the pet category. One option was a cat—or rather, a leopard cat cub, priced at 1,000 coins each, not including any pet supplies. There were also several unidentified animal cubs, but Wang Keyue didn’t look closely; she couldn’t afford them anyway, much less take care of them.

The engineering and special categories remained grayed out, clearly locked due to insufficient funds or access—mainly, a lack of money!

At last, she glanced at the technology category. Just the name evoked memories of the high-tech gadgets from her world: phones, computers, robots—she wondered if any of those would be available here.