Backrooms: The First Trade
Pomegranate.
A tempting red fruit drops from the inventory.
Without even thinking to catch it, it just falls and rolls around like a ball.
Water.
Just like a hole opening in the inventory, a huge amount of water suddenly gushes out.
While I'm standing there dumbfounded, the water fills up to the level where I could swim in it.
My inventory contains the Backrooms.
In other words, every element of the Backrooms is stored in the inventory.
However, when tested, not much can be done with the inventory itself.
You can take things out, but you can't put them in.
It seems like the Backrooms themselves are being treated as something inside the inventory.
What can be taken out is walls, air, water, pomegranates, and everything in the Backrooms.
Even entities can be taken out.
But there's no reason or need to take them out.
The good part is that I can solve water and food without moving my hands at all.
It's convenient, but compared to the terrifying goal of conquering the Backrooms, it's rather trivial.
In this very mysterious situation, even after searching the community, I couldn't get any useful information.
Simple Guide for Newbies
By the time you're reading this, you've probably received the main quest through the guide?
Or, if not, just go out and check the guide.
Then, the main quest will guide you to the place where you can meet the closest person.
Listen to me without fail.
Give up the idea that you can survive alone.
There's no guarantee that gathering together will save you, but if you scatter, you will definitely die.
Short but intense.
The comments showing overwhelming recommendations and zero rebuttals made it clear this was crucial advice for newbies deciding whether to live or die.
The only problem was that something went wrong starting from the third line.
It said the closest person could be met.
Knowing there were humans in the same world was genuinely pleasant news.
But the survivor confirmation result of zero humans in the world was meaningless to me.
Still, this confirmed that my situation was truly unprecedented.
No matter how much I searched the community, all I found were posts assuming no survivors at all, even in the Backrooms.
It was sad, but it was still too early to fall into despair.
I was alone in the Backrooms.
In other words, no one else had obtained ownership of the Backrooms themselves like I had.
"Water-water trade... I guess I have to."
I had to make the most of the only benefit given to me.
Water-water trade seemed to involve items in the inventory, so there was nothing to worry about.
After all, the Backrooms were almost infinite, so I might as well sell everything.
Once I decided, I left the community and immediately entered the water-water trade.
Water-water trade worked like the community, with post titles listed.
Clicking a post opened the trade window with the main text, where items were exchanged through the inventory.
It wasn't difficult.
After roughly scanning the posts, most people were primarily looking for food and water.
The rambling stories in the main text were all serious ones, like not having drunk water for three days or surviving on dew for a week while dealing with zombies.
And right now, I had an enormous amount of water and fairly decent food.
In other words, I could sweep up everything they were offering at once.
But I couldn't make such a simple decision.
Jeong Ji-an's daily trade limit is 1 time. ※It increases according to main quest progress.※
The notification floating at the bottom of the trade window warned that I could only trade once a day until I hunted entities.
It was unavoidable! But rushing to hunt entities was too much to ask.
After all, I had far more time and material freedom than them, so there was no need to rush.
I just had to exchange something usable within the range that wouldn't cause chaos in the market.
"But if it comes out like this, I'll definitely have a choice dilemma..."
They were all similar serious stories and similar desired items.
So I had no choice but to compare what I could offer.
The magic stone that was frequently mentioned seemed to have high value.
"The one who offered the most magic stones..."
While scrolling through the posts, I noticed one that stood out.
-Do you know this duke has fresh air?
Among the posts that usually just listed what they wanted and what they had, this guy was saying something only he could know.
Curiosity piqued, I clicked it.
This Duke Knows Fresh Air?
You can breathe in and out as you please.
This duke is just envious of it.
Please grant this duke the blessing of clear air.
Magic stone x5
This was a strange guy.
He wanted air.
But what drew me more was the five magic stones.
Most other posts offered one to three magic stones for trade, but this one offered five.
The problem was, as I explained earlier, what was in my inventory included even the air of the Backrooms.
And it was quite clean and fresh air.
This person who wanted air.
Timing was perfect since I had air and lots of magic stones.
"No reason not to."
I immediately made the trade.
"Air is plenty anyway, so I'll give dozens."
After choosing air from what I offered, I selected 50 from the quantity.
But suddenly a warning appeared and the item selection was canceled.
Only one legendary item can be offered per trade.
Air was legendary?
Maybe because it was the air of the Backrooms, it had a different color.
Anyway, it was no loss for me.
After selecting the air quantity as 1 in the trade window, I made the trade again.
First trade preferential policy applied.
Trade successful.
It was done.
The first trade preferential policy was a bit bothersome, but it wasn't a loss for me.
"Ugh... how many hours did I sleep?"
Even with the gas mask on, the air was stuffy.
Eventually, it seemed the filter life of the last gas mask had run out.
Lizelia Anna.
Now called only Liz, the former duke's daughter of the old empire.
The reason the empire fell was because of this red fog that enveloped the entire land.
This red fog strengthened magic beasts and killed humans.
It could be detoxified through mana, but in a land without clear air anymore, there was no time to recover mana.
Just as I was thinking there was no answer.
The system and the otherworldly item, the gas mask, descended upon me.
When wearing the gas mask, I could breathe clear air for a moment.
During that time, I recovered mana and survived by detoxifying for a while.
If I used it sparingly, one gas mask was enough to last a day.
While wearing the gas mask, I hunted magic beasts and traded the magic stones obtained for survival.
It was the only way for me to survive.
But what I hadn't considered was that even in another world, the gas mask couldn't be produced infinitely.
How many gas masks could I get in a ruined world?
At best, it would be military bases or subways, and the quantity wasn't generous.
I tried hoping for new arrivals from Earth, but that side seemed to have no method either.
The reason they were ruined was the gates and gate waves in major places.
It meant I couldn't approach military bases or subway stations.
Still, I searched for trades with more magic stones than usual, thinking it couldn't hurt.
And with half-hearted hope, I slept while looking at trades that were hard to come by.
"What happened..."
One completed trade exists.
When I opened the water-water trade, the trade completion notification came immediately.
But it wasn't a particularly welcome news.
Normally, trades required both sides to press the accept button.
The only exception was the first trade system.
For first trades, since the other party was often empty-handed or desperate, the trade could proceed regardless of the other party's will.
It was sometimes annoying, but since no one among the people here had been helped by this system, there was no big backlash.
"Well, I wasn't really hoping for it anyway."
It was a trade I posted with the mindset of grabbing at a straw.
I faced realistic difficulties, but I couldn't scold them for the straw running out.
I knew it wouldn't work.
Don't be disappointed.
"..."
Still, I could have expected it once.
After all, I had no other way to survive.
It wasn't impossible that this was the first trade for an arrival who got a gas mask by chance.
Even if it was unreasonable, there was some hope.
With a bit of resignation and hope, I slowly pressed the inventory.
I had to check, but it was also scary to check.
The inventory opened with a bright light.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
After steeling my resolve and opening my eyes, I looked at the original item and the new items that came through the trade.
"...Huh?"
And the moment I saw it, all bad and good expectations were forgotten.
"...Air?"
I rubbed my eyes and checked again.
Wasn't it...?
I was doubting my own eyes.
There was no way I traded air for magic stones.
After all, I couldn't claim ownership of air.
But no matter how much I rubbed my eyes, the bright and clear air that pierced the red fog was there.
Thinking maybe my eyes were wrong, I purified my vision with mana, but it was the same.
"...Just plain air?"
My brain momentarily stopped.
If it was just to prank someone, it wouldn't say that.
But if they needed fresh air and gave real fresh air, was it high-level trolling or pure?
Logically, it should at least be an item.
I had never known air could be traded.
No, let's think hopefully.
Yeah, maybe it was an air purifier or a new magic item named air.
Even if the name of a weapon that symbolically announces liberation from poison gas was air, it wasn't that weird.
Clearly, the explanation would say it wasn't plain air.
Logically thinking, it was impossible to own and trade air through some incredibly special method just to mess with me.
There must definitely be some unexpected explanation.
It was definitely a fact.
Air
Temperature: 21°C
Humidity: 45%
Fine dust: 11 μg/m³
Ultra fine dust: 4 μg/m³
Volume: 1m³
Yes, I gave five magic stones and received air.
A very clean and breathable plain air.
The clear air that welcomed me on the way without bitterness.